Saturday, November 26, 2011

NBA Lockout is over!

Players and owners reach tentative agreement, what took you so long!

NEW YORK -- NBA owners and players reached a tentative agreement early Saturday to end the 149-day lockout and hope to begin the delayed season on Christmas Day.

Neither side provided many specifics but said the only words players and fans wanted to hear.

"We want to play basketball," NBA commissioner David Stern said.

After a secret meeting earlier this week, the sides met for more than 15 hours Friday, working to try to save the season. This handshake deal, however, still must be ratified by both owners and players.

Stern said it was "subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations, but we're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin Dec. 25."

Barring a change in scheduling, the 2011-12 season will open with the Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, followed by Miami at Dallas in an NBA finals rematch before MVP Derrick Rose and Chicago close the tripleheader against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

The league plans a 66-game season and aims to open training camps Dec. 9. Stern has said it would take about 30 days from an agreement to playing the first game.

"All I feel right now is 'finally,'" Dwyane Wade told The Associated Press.

Just 12 days after talks broke down and Stern declared the NBA could be headed to a "nuclear winter," he sat next to union executive director Billy Hunter to announce the deal.

"We thought it was in both of our interest to try to reach a resolution and save the game and to be able to provide the mind of superb entertainment the NBA historically has provided," Hunter said.

A majority on each side is needed to approve the agreement. The NBA needs votes from 15 of 29 owners. (The league owns the New Orleans Hornets.) Stern said the labor committee plans to discuss the agreement later Saturday and expects them to endorse it and recommend to the full board.

The union needs a simple majority of its 430-plus members. That process is a bit more complicated after the players dissolved the union Nov. 14. Now, they must drop their antitrust lawsuit in Minnesota and reform the union before voting on the deal.

Because the union disbanded, a new collective bargaining agreement can only be completed once the union has reformed. Drug testing and other issues still must be negotiated between the league and the players.

"We're very pleased we've come this far," Stern said. "There's still a lot of work to be done."

The settlement first was reported by CBSSports.com.

Participating in the talks for the league were Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver, Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the labor relations committee, and attorneys Rick Buchanan and Dan Rube. The players were represented by executive director Billy Hunter, president Derek Fisher, vice president Maurice Evans, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.

Owners locked out the players July 1 and the sides spent most of the summer and fall battling over the division of revenues and other changes owners wanted in a new collective bargaining agreement. They said they lost hundreds of millions of dollars in each year of the former deal, ratified in 2005, and they wanted a system where the big-market teams wouldn't have the ability to outspend their smaller counterparts.

Players fought against those changes, not wanting to see any teams taken out of the market when they became free agents.

"This was not an easy agreement for anyone. The owners came in having suffered substantial losses and feeling the system wasn't working fairly across all teams," Silver said. "I certainly know the players had strong views about expectations in terms of what they should be getting from the system. It required a lot of compromise from both parties' part, and I think that's what we saw today."

But it was never easy. The day required multiple calls with the owners' labor relations committee, all the while knowing another breakdown in talks would mean not only the loss of the Christmas schedule but also throw the entire season in jeopardy.

"We resolved, despite some even bumps this evening, that the greater good required us to knock ourselves out and come to this tentative understanding," Stern said.

He denied the litigation was a factor in accelerating a deal, but things happened relatively quickly after the players filed a suit that could have won them some $6 billion in damages if the court ruled the lockout was illegal.

"For us the litigation is something that just has to be dealt with," Stern said. "It was not the reason for the settlement. The reason for the settlement was we've got fans, we've got players who would like to play and we've got others who are dependent on us. And it's always been our goal to reach a deal that was fair to both sides and get us playing as soon as possible, but that took a little time.

And led to the second shortened season in NBA history, joining the 1998-99 lockout that reduced the schedule to 50 games. This time the league will miss 16 games off the normal schedule.



Source: Associated Press


 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Penn State: Sandusky molestation case

The Sandusky molestation case massively rocked the reputation of Penn State and the ripple effects destroyed the school’s leadership: Joe Paterno is gone, president Graham Spanier is gone, vice president Gary Schultz is gone, athletic director Tim Curley is on leave and unlikely to return, assistant coach Mike McQueary is in the same boat.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Manny Pacquiao wins against Juan Manuel Marquez




Though it is controversial, Juan Manuel Marquez didn't do enough, he's the challenger he should have been more aggressive than Pacman. If that's what happened then he deserve to win. It is his own fault.

Marquez lost a majority decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena with judge Robert Hoyle scoring it 114-114 and Glenn Trowbridge and Dave Moretti giving it to Pacquiao by 116-112 and 115-113, respectively.

Pacquiao was roundly booed by the crowd with most fans believing Marquez was a clear victor. The Filipino champion was pelted with beer and popcorn as he left the arena. Marquez also felt he had won the second fight of the trilogy in 2008, only to lose on the scorecards.

Heading into the closing rounds of the fight, Marquez was informed by trainer Nacho Beristain that he was clearly ahead.

“I always thought the judges and the commission in Nevada were the fairest,” Beristain said. “But this has been a robbery of the utmost.”

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

RIP Joe "Smokin' Joe" Frazier



Joe Frazier won the heavyweight title in 1970 by stopping Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round at Madison Square Garden. He defended it successfully four times before George Foreman knocked him down six times in the first two rounds to take the title from him in 1973.

In 1971 he was in "The Fight of the Century," at Madison Square Garden where he knocked Ali and won in a unanimous decision. Ali won a less-dramatic rematch in New York in 1974, and the rubber match was "The Thriller in Manila," held in a sweltering arena in Manila in 1975, where Ali outlasted Frazier, who was disqualified in the 14th round after his eyes nearly shut, streaming with blood. Frazier wanted to go out for the 15th round but was held back by trainer Eddie Futch.

Rest in Peace Smokin' Joe!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

2011 NFL Regular Season Standings


 AFC
 East W L T Pct PF PA Home Road Div Conf Streak  
 Buffalo Bills 5 2 0 .714 211 147 4-0-0 1-2-0 1-0-0 3-1-0 Won 1  
 New England Patriots 5 2 0 .714 202 160 3-0-0 2-2-0 2-1-0 4-2-0 Lost 1  
 New York Jets 4 3 0 .571 172 152 4-0-0 0-3-0 1-1-0 3-3-0 Won 2  
 Miami Dolphins 0 7 0 .000 107 166 0-3-0 0-4-0 0-2-0 0-6-0 Lost 7  

 North W L T Pct PF PA Home Road Div Conf Streak  
 Pittsburgh Steelers 6 2 0 .750 176 139 4-0-0 2-2-0 0-1-0 4-2-0 Won 4  
 Cincinnati Bengals 5 2 0 .714 171 123 2-1-0 3-1-0 1-0-0 4-1-0 Won 4  
 Baltimore Ravens 5 2 0 .714 185 110 4-0-0 1-2-0 1-0-0 3-2-0 Won 1  
 Cleveland Browns 3 4 0 .429 107 140 2-2-0 1-2-0 0-1-0 2-3-0 Lost 1  

 South W L T Pct PF PA Home Road Div Conf Streak  
 Houston Texans 5 3 0 .625 206 145 3-1-0 2-2-0 3-0-0 5-2-0 Won 2  
 Tennessee Titans 4 3 0 .571 139 145 3-1-0 1-2-0 1-2-0 4-3-0 Won 1  
 Jacksonville Jaguars 2 6 0 .250 98 163 2-2-0 0-4-0 1-1-0 2-4-0 Lost 1  
 Indianapolis Colts 0 8 0 .000 121 252 0-3-0 0-5-0 0-2-0 0-6-0 Lost 8  

 West W L T Pct PF PA Home Road Div Conf Streak  
 Kansas City Chiefs 4 3 0 .571 128 170 2-1-0 2-2-0 2-1-0 3-2-0 Won 4  
 San Diego Chargers 4 3 0 .571 161 159 3-0-0 1-3-0 2-1-0 3-3-0 Lost 2  
 Oakland Raiders 4 3 0 .571 160 178 2-2-0 2-1-0 1-1-0 4-3-0 Lost 1  
 Denver Broncos 2 5 0 .286 133 200 1-3-0 1-2-0 0-2-0 2-3-0 Lost 1  


 NFC
 East W L T Pct PF PA Home Road Div Conf Streak  
 New York Giants 5 2 0 .714 174 164 3-1-0 2-1-0 1-1-0 3-2-0 Won 2  
 Philadelphia Eagles 3 4 0 .429 179 152 1-2-0 2-2-0 2-1-0 3-3-0 Won 2  
 Dallas Cowboys 3 4 0 .429 156 162 2-1-0 1-3-0 1-1-0 3-2-0 Lost 1  
 Washington Redskins 3 4 0 .429 116 139 2-1-0 1-3-0 1-2-0 3-3-0 Lost 3  

 North W L T Pct PF PA Home Road Div Conf Streak  
 Green Bay Packers 7 0 0 1.000 230 141 3-0-0 4-0-0 2-0-0 6-0-0 Won 7  
 Detroit Lions 6 2 0 .750 239 147 2-2-0 4-0-0 2-0-0 4-2-0 Won 1  
 Chicago Bears 4 3 0 .571 170 150 3-1-0 1-2-0 1-2-0 4-3-0 Won 2  
 Minnesota Vikings 2 6 0 .250 172 199 1-3-0 1-3-0 0-3-0 2-4-0 Won 1  

 South W L T Pct PF PA Home Road Div Conf Streak  
 New Orleans Saints 5 3 0 .625 260 189 3-0-0 2-3-0 1-1-0 2-3-0 Lost 1  
 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 3 0 .571 131 169 3-2-0 1-1-0 2-0-0 3-3-0 Lost 1  
 Atlanta Falcons 4 3 0 .571 158 163 2-1-0 2-2-0 1-1-0 4-3-0 Won 2  
 Carolina Panthers 2 6 0 .250 187 207 2-3-0 0-3-0 0-2-0 1-6-0 Lost 1  

 West W L T Pct PF PA Home Road Div Conf Streak  
 San Francisco 49ers 6 1 0 .857 187 107 3-1-0 3-0-0 1-0-0 4-1-0 Won 5  
 Seattle Seahawks 2 5 0 .286 109 162 1-2-0 1-3-0 1-1-0 2-2-0 Lost 2  
 St. Louis Rams 1 6 0 .143 87 192 1-3-0 0-3-0 0-0-0 1-5-0 Won 1  
 Arizona Cardinals 1 6 0 .143 143 183 1-2-0 0-4-0 0-1-0 1-4-0 Lost 6  


x-Clinched Playoff Spot; y-Division Champ; z-Clinched Home Field
Last updated Saturday, Nov 5, 2011 11:06 am EDT
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