Andrew Feinstein takes on coach of Denver Nuggets

Andrew Feinstein, co-creator of Girls and Sports, has created a web site devoted to inspire the Denver Nuggets to fire their head coach George Karl. He is not doing it anonymously, nor as he states as a personal attack on the Nugget’s head coach.

As Andy explains in an early post,

As a lifelong Denver Nuggets fan, I am used to rooting for teams that have no chance whatsoever to do any damage in the postseason. The 2007-08 season was meant to be different, however, Like the 1976-77 Nuggets, this squad had a real chance to at least go to the conference finals. The roster – thanks to the work of Rex Chapman and Mark Warkentien – is loaded….

…This blog will argue that it’s coaching, and that Nuggets coach is George Karl.

George Karl’s three-and-a-half year reign over the Nuggets has produced four total playoff victories, no 50-win seasons and no first round wins. This in spite of having one of the highest payrolls in the league, a deep and talented roster, and being one of the league’s highest paid coaches…

Near the beginning of the NBA Season, I bet my friend Billy a sandwich at the Larchmont Deli in Hancock Park that the Nuggets would not only win 50 games, but advance past the first round of the playoffs, as well. If this blog can somehow unify the Nuggets Nation to put enough pressure on our organization to make a coaching change, or get Coach Karl to actually start coaching, I might just win that sandwich!

The blog, which has been up since the first of February is getting quite a bit of attention and has been threatened with legal action. Karl’s lawyer, without consent from his client, sent a threatening email that stated,

“Is your life really this boring and meaningless that you would spend the hours necessary to create such a website? As Coach Karl’s counsel I am putting you on notice that I will sue you into bankruptcy should you cross the boundaries of permissible speech.”

When asked by the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog for a response, the attorney stated,

Thanks for your email. While George Karl may be a public figure within the sports community, there are limits to what is fair comment under New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964). Many cases quote from the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 59 that a statement is defamatory if it â??tends to harm the reputation of another as to lower him in the estimation of the community or deter third persons from associating or dealing with him.â? Sure, people are free to criticize Mr. Karlâ??s record, his coaching style, or both. But free speech has its limits. My role as Mr. Karlâ??s counsel is to see to it that the line between free speech and defamation is not crossed. I stand by my statement that people should have better and more important things to do than to create mean-spirited blogs and that, while I respect (and exercise) free speech rights, there are boundaries and consequences

Coverage of the lawyer’s action and Andy’s site has gone nationwide. According to Andy ESPN.com has covered it three times, Deadspin, a major sports blog, has covered it as well as the above mentioned WSJ Law blog and both Denver newspapers.