It’s been an fun few days of sports news.

First off, Hockey the NHL is out in Atlanta and in in Winnipeg.. The Thrashers are now the Winnipeg Jets. I’ve got nothing against at Atlanta, it’s just that no one cares about hockey there. IN Winnipeg, Hockey is religion

Second, the NFL Labor strife is over, and the CBA seems like a fair agreement for both sides. Ray Lewis can rest easy, evil will not spread because De Smith and Roger Goodell were able to broker a 10 year CBA with no take backs. Salaries for team employees will be restored. I hope any folks who were laid off will be rehired. The best news? A $620M to $1B will be set aside for benefits for NFL players who retired before 1993 over the next 10 years. This “Legacy Fund” will be funded by money that used to go to the rookie pool:

Will my favorite player from the sixties still be left to his own devices in a nursing home somewhere? Pension funds and health benefits for retired players are increased under the new agreement, with some money that formely went to paying rookies now reassigned to former professional players. N.F.L.P.A. executive director DeMaurice Smith has included former players in the negotiations.

via The Sporting Scene: The N.F.L. Deal: A Fan’s Guide : The New Yorker

Third, Yesterday, Uruguay beat Paruguay 3-0 to win Copa América 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Brazil’s play in this tournament was sub par and underwhelming. That federation is looking to remake the team. Host team Argentina led by Messi genius could not prevail as his side faltered in the Quaterfinals vs. Uruguay. While Uruguay is the smallest country in the 12 nation tournament, Diego Forlan, who scored two goals, is football royalty at home and around the world. He is relentless in attack and is an exciting goal scorer.

Fourth, rumors of Favre to the Eagles are being firmly smacked down. I refuse to link to anything about that stupid rumor.

Hope the new owners know how to build a winner. I’m just about to go in on some season tickets. From Kevin Arnovitz at ESPN’s TrueHoop:

137 percent higher than the sale price of the team in 1996 to Comcast.

 

That’s not a bad return on your equity over 15 years, even with some operating losses. 

For what it’s worth,Forbes valued the Sixers at $330 million in its most recent team valuations.

 

via Sixers deal complete – TrueHoop Blog – ESPN.

Comcast and Ed Snider maintain ownership of the Wells Fargo Center and 10% if the franchise.

So, this is rather interesting sale right as the NBA lockout is starting up. The 76ers are a middling team with a fairly new venue to play in. without that venue the team is still worth $308m.

I’m sure Jerry Jones would have liked for Deion Sanders to be a “no man” before he vouched for Dez Bryant prior to the draft. Sanders comments (also in the video above) on his now soured relationship with former protégé Dez Bryant:

I’m not losing any sleep by any means. It’s hard to talk to a person when they have millions man because there is so much noise in their life. Everybody around them is employed and they have ‘yes men.’ You gotta start hiring a ‘no man.’ Somebody who is going to tell you no and somebody who is going to tell you the truth and a lot of these guys don’t and when it comes to him with a lot of things I had to cut my umbilical cord with him because a lot of things people do not know about. I’m trying to open schools and get these kids prepared for the future and I can’t have that on my record saying that: How am I going to send my kids to your school and this is what you are turning out over here? No I am not turning that out over there.I have nothing to do with that and I had to cut that cord because you can’t keep doing the same old things that you’ve always done. You are going to get the same old things you’ve always got, so that’s why I had to separate myself. I love him. I see him from time-to-time. I pray for him, but as a unit we had to separate.”

ez Bryant got kicked out of college athletics early because of lying about being mentored by Sanders. Dez Bryant chose Eugene Parker, the same agent as Deion Sanders upon entering the draft. Dez Bryant still counted Deion Sanders as a mentor entering the 2010 NFL Draft:

INDIANAPOLIS – Dez Bryant’s career at Oklahoma State ended prematurely after he lied to NCAA investigators about his relationship with Deion Sanders.
That did not end Bryant’s relationship with the all-time great cornerback.
“Deion is my mentor,” Bryant said at the NFL combine. “He never talked to me about football, it was more of my personal life, just seeing if my mom was OK, seeing if my brother was OK, seeing if my sister was OK.
“He checked up on me every now and then. It made me feel good, just like any kid. It’s Deion Sanders. And he was telling me the right things, not the wrong things.”

Sanders details his own extensive mentoring of Bryant in this 2009 NFL Network interview (transcript courtesy WFAA):

When I first started even mentoring Dez, the first thing I did, I called his receivers coach. His receivers coach told me everything about Dez, when Dez is late to school, he calls me. When Dez is a little tardy to summer workouts, he calls me. So we have an on-going relationship. And Dez helped me throughout the summer with my youth programs, as such. Now the problem was, someone, um, they wanted to question Dez about our relationship, and Dez was nervous about — Why these NCAA people have me in this room with a closed door, questioning me? Now, had I been liar, or falsified any incident or evidence, my story would have collaberated with Dez. We talked three times a week and they didn’t, because I don’t lie, and the kid said he didn’t come to my home, and in actuality, he did.

Deion Sanders, was indeed “turning that out over there”. He just failed to turn Dez Bryant into a responsible young adult professional. Beyond that, saying that he needs a “no man” sounds like Sanders is pretending he had nothing to do with Bryant getting to this point in his career.

This is big. For one, In football, unless you are a top franchise player, endorsement contracts are where the real money is beyond your contract signing bonus.

“Michael acknowledges his past mistakes,” said Nike spokesman Derek Kent. “We do not condone those actions, but we support the positive changes he has made to better himself off the field.”

Vick’s longtime agent Joel Segal told CNBC that “Michael is excited to have a long-term and strong relationship with Nike.” The deal was done by Chicago-based attorney Andrew Stroth.

via Exclusive: Nike Re-Signs Michael Vick – CNBC.

Vick will likely be a big part of the marketing of Nike’s new NFL contract:

Denson revealed that Nike’s NFL contract begins next April and that’s when Nike will start pumping out products for retail.

 

This is the best I’ve seen the brand new #1 play. Up on Nadal 2-0 in the Wimbledon Championship.

Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins have all won championships in the last 10 years. With that run, can Boston put the tortured sports fan angst costume in storage? That getup is just to small for you all now and I would suggest this makes them the top sports town (as far as wins go) in the last decade or so.

Also, wtf with the riots in Vancouver?

It’s about time. Shame on Ohio State for not firing Tressel when he was caught covering up for his players who had sold or traded OSU paraphernalia for gifts.

TO CLARIFY:

I don’t think the infractions of the players were that bad. But they were infractions, and they should and were punished. But Tressel’s behavior was inexcusable. The college football coach is responsible , along with the Athletic Director and the university’s President, for running a clean program and disciplining players, staff, supporters and boosters that violate the standards of the program.

First the “lockout protection” TV deal the NFL struck with broadcast networks was struck down by Judge Doty and now Judge Nelson has dealt the NFL owners another blow:

US district judge Susan Richard Nelson issued a preliminary injunction against the owners but the NFL plans to appeal.

via BBC Sport – American Football – US judge backs players over lockout in NFL dispute.

Basically, the decision speaks to the reality that the lockout causes irreparable harm to players careers (e.g. preparation for season, bonuses lost for attending OTAs, etc.)

NFL Owners will appeal this ruling. I think in seeing “who caused the lockout” articles, it’s important to remember that the NFL owners initiated the lockout by opting to waive the last two years of the CBA. Owners wanted this battle now to change the economics for owners who routinely overspend their means (even with generous public subsidy, tax breaks and private sponsorship) when building and/or renovating stadiums.

I am a good ESPN customer. I pay for ESPN Insider. I play in a few fantasy sports leagues through ESPN.com (EPL, NFL and NCAA Brackets). I use ESPN3 online streaming service (Nadal v Ferrer Federer live from Barcelona at 10:00 AM ET today!). I watch their ever growing family of broadcast cable networks. I regularly tell people to watch some episode or segment from NFL Matchup, PTI, Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson fights on ESPN Classic and/or the 30 for 30 series. The ScoreCenter Apps on my iPad and Android devices are damn solid as well.

One ESPN product I absolutely loathe is ESPN the Magazine print edition. For a company that has and has had so many excellent sports journalists (see ESPN.com’s Sports Guy’s World curated by Bill Simmons, Page 2 archive of the late great Ralph Wiley, or the late great Hunter S. Thompson) ESPN the magazine has been a repeated wasted opportunity. It’s baffling, but magazines could always be torn up and used for packing material. And then recycled. Another poor product from ESPN is the ESPN the Magazine App on my iPad.

First off, ESPN the Magazine used to be sent to you whether you liked it or not when you signed up for ESPN Insider (their exclusive information pay wall). It was and is a cliché laden picture periodical about sports. The app is included with insider membership. The UI is clumsy and the articles, outside of a few main features, still leave much to be desired. This morning I accidentally opened the app this morning and was greeted by some menagerie of sound effects and noise. Note to developers of apps and web sites and ads that are not for multimedia delivery: if you play some video or audio without me explicitly opting to “play it” I will actively seek to never use it again. I don’t like to be ambushed by noise.

When the season started, I thought it was going to be an abysmal year. More than happy to be proven wrong and happy to have all Philadelphia teams be playoff teams.

Jason Whitlock talks with Dr. Harry Edwards & Michael Irvin about Black Athletes. Don’t have any comments right now, just wanted to post and see what people thought.

All of the contestants really turned it all the way up. Fantastic.

A guy who legally tortures animals wishes harm upon against a guy who was caught and punished for illegal torture of animals.

After Saturday’s marathon day of College Basketball, Kim Clijsters repped for working moms with an Aussie Open championship over Na Li and big games by NBA phenoms Blake Griffin and Kevin Love, today should be a defacto vacation for sports fans as Novak Djokovic won the Aussie Open Men’s Final in straight sets over Andy Murray, nothing important is really at stake. (Although the Heat/Thunder and Lakers/Celtics match-ups are must see for NBA fans who pay attention to basketball before the All Star game)

The NHL All Star Game is today at 3PM on Versus (which means the NHL insists on getting the lowest viewer-ship possible).

The cool thing about NHL All Star 2011? The captains (Carolina Hurricanes Eric Staal and Detroit Red Wings Lidstrom) of the two teams picked their rosters gym class style from available All Stars in an 18 round “fantasy draft”. Everyone is hoping for a family feud as the Vancouver Canucks Sedin twins and known ice toughs (Daniel and Henrik) are split between the two sides. Daniel pegged his brother Henrik as an early favorite. I haven’t checked the line in Vegas.

The un-cool thing about NHL All Star 2011? Hockey in Raleigh, NC.

The NFL Pro Bowl game is today at 7PM on Fox.

Mike Vick and Peyton Manning headline the NFC and AFC all star teams. Best thing about NFL All Star 2011? The marathon of Super Bowl recaps on the NFLN. The worst thing about NFL All Star 2011? The impending doom of an NFL lockout (Bonus: Packers players sniping at each other through the media and micro-blogging prior to their Super Bowl appearance).

Phil Hecken discusses both All Star games at the excellent Uni Watch blog.

Treatment/roster size/long term insurance need to be improved, concussions are and will be a consequence of full contact sports, but they can’t change some rule retroactively to punish a defender and then still put a player back out on the field one or even two weeks later after he was knocked out. Players get more time out for sprains and contusions than concussions. Can’t lionize Steel Curtains, Bednarik, Butkus, Deacon Jones, Jack Tatum, etc and then poo-poo violence out of the sport. Here’s former Eagles Linebacker/Special Teamer Ike Reese:

“Anyway, he fumbled a punt return and I remember diving for the ball. He’s at the bottom of the pile. So I get the heel of my hand under his face mask and I’m bending the face mask. I’m really bending his neck back — and back. Everything is fair game on the ground and scrambling. He was their starting tailback. You have a chance to hurt him — put him out of there — you do it.”

via The700Level.com – Philly Sports & Minutiae: Ike Reese Was A Scary Individual.

Cue David “Deacon” Jones, NFL hall of fame defensive end and the person who coined the term “sack” speaking about his approach to defense:

You got this 265 pounds up to 4.5, you got an angle on him, he should go to the hospital and that’s exactly what I tried to do. No remorse in my heart I tried to put him in the hospital every time I tackled him.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is well behind the science on this topic:

But while these tragic tales resonate with fans, two people in a position to help have not come off as especially sympathetic. NFL Players Associationexecutive director Gene Upshaw told The Charlotte Observer last year that the brain-damaged old-timers didn’t pay his salary and “can complain about me all day long” for not championing their cause. Last Friday at his state of the league address, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell seemed defensive when asked about Johnson. “I don’t accept the premise that [returning too early from concussions] was common practice,” Goodellsaid, “but it does concern me.”

It should. A 2001 survey by the University of North Carolina’s Center for the Study of Retired Athletes looked at 2,552 retiredNFLplayers and found that 24% had sustained at least three concussions. Those who had were two to three times more likely to suffer from depression and three times as likely to have mild cognitive impairment, a precursor of Alzheimer’s disease.

via As more players become afflicted, the NFL is finding – 02.12.07 – SI Vault

Meanwhile, S.I.’s Peter King’s focus is finding a punishment that will prevent players from reckless helmet to helmet or “launch” tackling:

I will hand it to Rodney Harrison. In the year-and-a-half I’ve worked with him, he’s become more thoughtful about the game than I remember from his playing days, when his life was a seek-and-destroy mission. And Sunday, after watching a day of the viciousness, he laid it on the line on our Football Night in America show.

“You didn’t get my attention when you fined me five grand, 10 grand, 15 grand,” Harrison said. “You got my attention when I got suspended … You have to suspend these guys. These guys are making millions of dollars. The NFL [has to say], ‘We’re going to really protect our players. We’re going to suspend these guys, not one game, but possibly two or more games.’ ”

via Brandon Meriweather, James Harrison hits deserve hefty punishment – Peter King – SI.com.

In addition to a change in the punishments levied for dirty hits, the now team doctors need to become “sideline doctors”. I would envison a sideline doctor being an MDl paid by NFLPA and the NFL franchises equally so that there is no conflict of interest between their recommendations and the source of their pay checks (players want to play hurt, teams want to get every minute out of their human resources). In addition, time needs to be increased for players who have suffered a concussion to recover.

That is all the lead I could muster going into the last game for my fantasy football league Championship. Only problem is my opponent has Vick vs. the miserable Vikings. Cruel fantasy football irony, I am playing against the QB of my favorite team. So I hope:

• Shady McCoy runs for like 260 and two TDs.
• Akers kicks about 3 FGs.
• DJax runs back a return and reverse for 2 TDs
• Even James Harrison can get a late TD in garbage time.

anything except Vick. Just for tonight.