Legal Commentary

True Genius:

By David Post

Every once in a while in sports, someone performs at such an incredibly high level that s/he simply elevates him/herself far, far above the crowd of even the most talented competitors ? Gretzky at his peak, Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods. At the moment (for those of you who can tear yourself away from March Madness), it?s Lionel Messi, the Argentine forward who plays his club soccer for the best club in the world, FC Barcelona. Messi, all of 22 years old, has had a week that has no parallel in recent soccer history ? eight goals in his last three games. [For those of you who don?t follow soccer closely, you should know that eight goals is a pretty decent season for soccer players at the highest level, and a ?strike rate? of one goal every two games is considered world-class). It?s not like he?s been playing against second-rate opposition, either ? three goals against Valencia, the third place team in Spain, two goals in the European Champions League against Stuttgart, three goals today against Real Zaragoza in La Liga. And every goal has been a true beauty, a real masterpiece of skill and creativity ? the Valencia goals are here, and the Stuttgart goals are here. Worth a look ? they?re things of beauty. If we?re all lucky, Diego Maradona, coach of the Argentina national team who?s making something of a mess out of, potentially, one of the great teams in the world, will figure out how to get Messi involved in the offense at the world cup, and we can all enjoy his magic on the biggest stage of all.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on March 21, 2010 (boomark / email).