Category: NFL (Page 127 of 1282)

NFL Players seeking $707 million in damages

May 13, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

According to SI.com, locked-out players asked a federal judge on Thursday to make $4 billion in disputed broadcast revenue off limits to the league and to award them at least $707 million in damages.

Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for the players, urged Doty to rule quickly on the request to put the $4 billion “war chest” in escrow because of the ongoing lockout. The players have argued that the league can make it through the work stoppage in part because it illegally secured that money by renegotiating TV contracts for 2011 that allows the NFL to get paid even if there are no games to televise.
Gregg Levy, an attorney for the league, said the players have no right to damages, and he accused them of “sandbagging and ambush.”
Levy told reporters afterward the league never intended to finance a work stoppage with money from the networks. He said the players don’t have the right to access the money, however, and balked at the proposal for an escrow arrangement.
“It would in effect give the players some entitlement to that money which we don’t believe they are entitled to,” Levy said.
The damages award alone could amount to a huge piece of leverage for the players in their fight with the NFL over the next collective bargaining agreement. And so could making the broadcast money off limits.
“I think that the owners predicated a lot of their strategy in having a revenue stream for 2011,” said Marc Greenbaum, a labor law professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston who is following the case. “If Judge Doty grants the players’ request, an important part of their strategy is undermined.”

It’s interesting to read how the owners “never intended to finance a work stoppage with money from the networks.” Then how were the owners going to fund their lockout? With loans? Were they going to borrow money from their parents? And what was going to happen to all that TV money if the lockout wiped out the entire 2011 season? The owners were just going to let it sit there as they lost money hand over fist? Come on – that was their insurance policy.

Granted, I don’t think the players should be awarded that money either. In fact, had they not foolishly worked it into the contracts that the league would get paid no matter if there was football to televise or not, I think the money should go back to the networks. I mean, the networks paid to televise football. If there is no football, then there should be no deal.

But alas, the TV networks agreed to pay the league no matter what, and now they’ve unknowingly created a monster in the form of this $4 billion revenue pot.

External Sports, NFL

2011 NFL lockout NFL lockout nfl players vs owners

Bernard Hopkins says Donovan McNabb isn’t black enough

May 12, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

One would think that boxer Bernard Hopkins would have bigger things on his mind these days then whether or not Donovan McNabb was black enough. But one would be wrong.

From the Philadelphia Daily News:

According to Hopkins, McNabb had a privileged childhood in suburban Chicago and, as a result, is not black enough or tough enough, at least compared with, say, himself, Michael Vick and Terrell Owens.
“Forget this,” Hopkins said, pointing to his own dark skin. “He’s got a suntan. That’s all.”
Hopkins also implied that, while Vick and Owens remained true to their roots, McNabb did not, and that McNabb was rudely awakened when the Eagles traded him to the Redskins last year.
“Why do you think McNabb felt he was betrayed? Because McNabb is the guy in the house, while everybody else is on the field. He’s the one who got the extra coat. The extra servings. ‘You’re our boy,’ ” Hopkins said, patting a reporter on the back in illustration. “He thought he was one of them.”
Replace “guy in the house” with “slave in the house,” then replace “on the field” with “in the field,” and Hopkins’ message is Uncle Tom-clear.

According to Hopkins’ Wikipedia page, by the age of thirteen he was “mugging people and had been stabbed three times.” At seventeen, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison after committing nine felonies.

Is that what being black is to Hopkins? Because if it is, then McNabb probably isn’t too worried about Hopkins’ definition of being black. Maybe if McNabb did some jail time after being a detriment to society, then Hopkins would consider him “black enough.”

I would love to know what McNabb did in a previous lifetime to get so much criticism and verbal abuse in this one.

Boxing, External Sports, NFL

Bernard Hopkins Donovan McNabb

Redskins to spend big in free agency?

May 11, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Here’s a shocker: the Redskins have money to burn and they’re not afraid to burn it. (What?)

From Mike Jones at the Washington Post:

The NFL Draft took place just more than a week ago, and whenever the lockout is lifted, free agency could begin. The Washington Redskins have money to spend and are champing at the bit, according to people inside the organization.

This comes after Mike Shanahan spent all three days at Radio Music Hall two weeks ago stockpiling picks and making a commitment to rebuilding through the draft. Even though GM Bruce Allen was hired to cut back on owner Dan Snyder’s spending, it looks like the men running things at Allen Park are still committed to winning now.

And that’s fine. It’s fine if a team wants to spend big to bring in talent like cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha or defensive end Corey Williams. But that model has not worked over the years, just as teams like the Packers and Steelers (organizations that build through the draft) have proven.

I’m sure Shanahan and Allen are thinking that if they can bring in the right mix of big money free agents and rookies that they’ll be able to compete next year. And hey, maybe they will. But years of Snyder’s reckless spending is the reason why they ended up in the mess that they were/are in. Signing free agents to big money deals isn’t always an unwise move. But it would be nice to see a team like the Skins follow the Packers and Steelers’ approach for once and just rebuild solely through the draft. There’s reason why those two teams are usually competitive: Their methods work.

We’ll see if this report is accurate and the Skins do spend big once the lockout lifts.

External Sports, NFL

nnamdi asmougha Washington Redskins

Carroll: NCAA should be more proactive than reactive when it comes to problems

May 11, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Pete Carroll might make his home in the NFL now, but he’ll always have ties to the NCAA (some good, some bad).

That’s why when he was recently asked about the way the NCAA monitors and enforces its rules, Carroll was more than willing to share his opinion on the topic.

From the Seattle Times:

Carroll said he believes the NCAA starts with the objective of finding wrongdoing, something that is reactive rather than trying to protect the game from outside influences to prevent problems. He pointed out that schools are being punished for actions of people who aren’t even affiliated with the university.
“If you notice, it’s people from outside the community of the actual working body of the university,” Carroll said. “In our situation at USC, it was absolutely that. What are we doing about that? How are we dealing with that?”
Instead, the focus is on after-the-fact punishment.
“You can only spank them so many times,” Carroll said. “I don’t think that has anything to do with making things right.”
As for paying college players? “No,” he said. “I’ve never thought that. That’s not the issue. They have a great life.”

When you think about it, college players are already being paid to play. They get free room and board, free tuition, free tutoring and free books. Granted, they also have the pressure of playing a collegiate sport, but let’s not act like these kids aren’t getting something in exchange for their services.

And as far as what Carroll is saying about the NCAA being reactive – he’s right. The NCAA should be spending most of its time trying to prevent these agents, tattoo owners and car dealers from luring players in with free goods and services instead of constantly having to crack the whip. The best way to avoid diseases is prevention.

Of course, that’s easier said than done and I don’t have any solutions here. There’s only so much coaches can do before they have to trust that these players will get it through their thick skulls not to accept improper benefits. The same goes for the NCAA, which can only do so much in order to steer athletes in the right direction.

Still, as Carroll points out, it wouldn’t hurt for the NCAA to get more proactive than reactive. Instead of waiting for these athletes to mess up and then flexing its muscles, how about the NCAA gets more involved in order to prevent these bad influences from penetrating its programs? What’s that old saying: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem?

College Football, External Sports, NFL

college football scandals Pete Carroll

Chad Ochocinco…the bull rider.

May 11, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

After giving Major League Soccer a try earlier this year, Chad Ochocinco will continue on his quest for attention (I’m kidding! I’m kidding!…Relax…) when he gives professional bull riding a try.

Ochocinco has accepted a challenge from Professional Bull Riders chief operating officer Sean Gleason to ride a bull at the LucasOil Invitational this weekend in Duluth. The Ocho will earn $10,000 if he rides a bull and if he can stay aboard for the required eight seconds, the PBR will give him a new Ford F-150 and allow him to name the bull.

USA Today has the rest of the details.

Sean Gleason, chief operating officer of the PBR, responded with this tweet to Ochocinco: “that’s the deal. Show up and get on the bull u get 10K, ride him for 8 secs and its a brand new F150 from @teampbr @fordtrucks.”
Ochocinco then posted: “if I stay on for 8 seconds FORD will give me an F-150? I challenge your best bull and i’ll give the truck to 1 of my followers.”
“The Ford F-150 we’re offering will be there, we hope (Ochocinco) is too,” Gleason said. “He’s a gifted athlete, but bull riding is a much different sport and climbing on the back of a bull in the chutes takes a little more than Twitter confidence, let alone calling for the gate (to open).
“We admire Ochocinco’s interest in the sport. If he actually gets on and nods his head (to open the gate), he’ll find out that two-a-days in the summer heat are nothing compared to the eight seconds faced by PBR bull riders week in and week out.”

So this is what it’s come down to huh, NFL? You’ve got me blogging about an attention-seeking athlete (I’m kidding! I’m kidding!..Relax…) and his bull riding adventures. You and your lockout make…me…sick.

External Sports, NFL

chad johnson bull riding Chad Ochocinco chad ochocinco bull riding Cincinnati Bengals

Category: NFL (Page 127 of 1282)

NFL Players seeking $707 million in damages

Bernard Hopkins says Donovan McNabb isn’t black enough

Redskins to spend big in free agency?

Carroll: NCAA should be more proactive than reactive when it comes to problems

Chad Ochocinco…the bull rider.

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