Page 1578 of 2957

Lawyer denies sexual assault allegations against Roethlisberger

According to Profootballtalk at NBC Sports, a civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault has been filed against Ben Roethlisberger, although the quarterback’s lawyer is denying that Big Ben has done anything wrong. A Nevada Harrah’s employee named Andrea McNulty filed the lawsuit.

Lawyer David Cornwell acknowledged the suit but defended Big Ben to PFT, releasing this statement: “Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone.”

He also underscored that no criminal charges were pending. “The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct,” Cornwell said. “If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated.”

Roethlisberger is potentially staring at one civil count of assault, one civil count of sexual assault and battery, one civil count of false imprisonment, one civil count of false pretenses, one civil count of fraud, and one civil count of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

According to the PFT article, McNulty alleges that Roethlisberger asked her to come to his hotel room to fix the television and thereafter forced her to have sex with him. But who knows? Is she telling the truth or is she making things up because he’s a star athlete with an exorbitant amount of money?

It is important not to jump to conclusions here. Big Ben hasn’t been convicted of anything and until more details are released, we shouldn’t assume anything. For all we know, this is just a huge misunderstanding and Roethlisberger will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Mets’ Manuel, Minaya assured they won’t be fired

For those Mets fans that were hoping either manager Jerry Manuel or GM Omar Minaya (or both) would be fired after yet another disappointing season in NY, think again.

With nine players on the disabled list, including three members of the Mets’ core, it became apparent early on that neither Jerry Manuel nor Omar Minaya was going to take the fall for the team’s dismal performance this season.

Manuel is signed through 2010, and Minaya’s three-year contract extension doesn’t even begin until next season. So it wasn’t surprising that a source confirmed today that COO Jeff Wilpon already has assured both Manuel and Minaya that their jobs are safe. The story was first reported by SI.com.

There’s no question that injuries have played a huge role in the demise of the Mets this year. So maybe Manuel and Minaya do deserve a mulligan for this season.

But regardless of injuries, this year has been an utter disaster for the Mets in terms of the most basic things in baseball. They can’t field pop ups, the outfielders don’t communicate on fly balls, the team struggles on a whole running the bases properly, etc. Those things have nothing to do with injuries – those are basic fundamentals of the game.

Now, is all of that Manuel and Minaya’s fault? Maybe not. But they both have had a hand in how poorly this club has played this year – injuries or no injuries.

Ten Predictions for the MLB second half


The second half of the 2009 MLB season has kicked off and with that, I’m going to make some predictions that are sure to be proved wrong in a couple months.

Feel free to whip out your crystal ball in the comments section but before you do, please do everyone a favor and take off your favorite team prescribed glasses and be objective for once in your life, will ya?

1. The Blue Jays will trade Halladay…to the Phillies.
Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi is reminding everyone who will listen that he doesn’t absolutely need to trade Roy Halladay – which he doesn’t. But the bottom line is that he’ll probably get more in return for the “Doc” this season than he would next when Halladay is set to become a free agent after the 2010 season. And despite Ricciardi stating that he’s open to trading Halladay within the division, he’s not stupid. He’s not going to trade Halladay to the Red Sox or Yankees and risk becoming public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Jays fans for not only getting rid of their best and most popular player, but also trading him to a division rival in the process. In the end, I think Ricciardi will trade Halladay to an NL team and my guess is that it will be Philadelphia that will eventually puts a package together to acquire him. Although they might balk at the $7 million that’s remaining on Halladay’s contract, the Phillies are built to win now and need more starting pitching to make another run at a World Series. They also have enough appealing prospects to entice Ricciardi to make a deal.

Continue reading »

Gordon’s contract actually worth $58 million, maybe more

When the Pistons signed Ben Gordon, most reports pinned the contract at about $55 million over five seasons. But Chicago Now has the real numbers and they are a bit higher.

09-10 $10,000,000
10-11 $10,800,000
11-12 $11,600,000
12-13 $12,400,000
13-14 $13,200,000 (Player Option)
5 Years for $58,000,000.

He also has a clause for incentives which are considered unlikely (meaning he didn’t reach them last season), but I don’t specifically know what they are.

Ben Gordon came out ahead by taking the QO and was the first person to do so. Now, even looking at the 5/50 offer the Bulls made, Gordon was the clear winner by waiting even disregarding the circumstances that at the time of the 5/50 offer he was the best or second best player on a team expected to contend for a championship.

Gordon has a reputation for being a below average defender and he isn’t a playmaker. He’s a scorer, and sometimes he displays poor shot selection. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — I’m surprised that the Pistons made an offer this strong, especially since it turns out that the Bulls never even made an offer to Gordon this summer. I think Detroit will come to regret this contract, but only time will tell.

« Older posts Newer posts »