Mo is the Judge

by
June 9, 2009

Ten minutes to Wapner!

Judge Marilyn Milian, from “The People’s Court,” was at Yankee Stadium on Monday to present Rivera with a robe and gavel before the Yankees’ game against the Rays, which was won by New York, 5-3. The producers of the TV show read about the kangaroo court, which took place before the game on May 20, and immediately thought to approach the club about staging a meeting with Rivera.

“The Yankees brought back the time-honored tradition of the kangaroo court, and we read about it,” Milian said. “We thought we’d come out here and give them a few pointers.”

That’s cool and all, but I have a feeling that there are some matters over which the kangaroo court presides that aren’t fit for family viewing. Without going into too much detail, these guys spend a lot of time in a locker room, so you have to assume that not all fines are the result of failing to hustle down the line. This was interesting, though:

[Milian] sent pictures to her husband, Judge John Schlesinger, who was presiding over a case in Miami as she was e-mailing him evidence of her exploits.

“I sent him a text asking him a question about the kids, and he texted back, ‘I’m on the bench,’ like, ‘Don’t bother me’ ” Milian said. “So I texted back, ‘So am I,’ and I sent him pictures.”

I once saw a judge threaten to hold a lawyer in contempt because his cell phone rang in court, and this guy is sending and receiving texts while on the bench. Only in Florida.


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Millsy
14 years ago

I’m actually surprised that teams would be this public about something like a Kangaroo Court.  While they may see it as fun and games, MLB could see it as gambling.  The reason for the ban of gambling on games if you’re in professional sports is to ensure incentives are aligned properly. 

Individual incentives or disincentives have been shown to possibly interfere with the true goal of a team: Winning.  That’s why Pete Rose got in trouble…even if he really did only bet that his own team would win.

Let’s say you get a bonus if you hit 40 home runs.  Home Runs are generally seen as a positive thing, so it’s suppsoed to be an incentive.  So you’re team is in a pennant race, one game back in the last game of the season against the 1st place team.  There’s a man on 3rd and 1 out.  You currently have 39 HR on the season.  Your manager calls for the squeeze, but it’s the 9th and you want your bonus.  You swing away, pop out to the infield, and your team doesn’t make the playoffs.

The same could be said for a Kangaroo Court, especially when it’s a bunch of rowdy guys aligning the incentives (or disincentives, if you will).  Yeah, the guys will have fun with it (we did in college).  They’ll do something of the sort.  But to be this public about it?  Better be careful.

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