I'm a little out of my comfort zone when posting about things like the "transmission of international norms," but watching the Olympic hockey the other night, I caught a reference to an Olympic rule that was different from the one that applies in the NHL. (I can recall something similar with international basketball and the NBA.) This made me wonder whether players whose professional leagues have adopted a different rule than the international rule are at a disadvantage when playing in international competitions, as they have to adjust to the international rule. Is there an incentive for leagues (which tend to be national or regional in nature) to adopt the international rule so that their players will be used to it? Is this an example of how international norms make their way into the domestic arena (pun intended)?
Speaking of the Olympics, reading about all of the money some governments spend on their training programs (i.e., subsidies), I'm convinced there is a WTO violation in there somewhere, although I can't quite figure out where. Perhaps we need a new WTO agreement to regulate this spending. ;)
