May 17th, 2013 at 4:07 PM
By Matthew HeimlichDerek Boogaard's family has filed a lawsuit against the NHL, alleging that their oversights and failures permitted conditions which led to Derek's untimely death in 2011. Derek's family has retained renowned Chicago trial attorneys Corboy & Demetrio to prosecute the case against the NHL in Cook County, Illinois. Tom Demetrio also represents the family of Dale Duerson, former Chicago Bear, who is perhaps the most visible plaintiff among the thousands who have filed concussion-related lawsuits against the NFL.
The complaint (which can be read here) is a fascinating document on a number of levels and has vast implications for the future of potential litigation against the NHL.
The complaint alleges that Boogaard was employed as an "Enforcer/Fighter" by the NHL. In support of this allegation are the facts that Boogaard had three goals versus 66 fights over his six NHL seasons, which would tend to support he was not employed for his "hockey" abilities, but rather ability too fight. However, Boogaard was not given a separate "Enforcer/Fighter" contract with a job description detailing duties and responsibilities including bludgeoning opponents with his fists. He was given the same standard player contract as every other hockey player and then engaged in fights, which is currently a part of playing hockey in the NHL. In the absence of a contractual provision stating that his duties primarily involve fighting, this allegation may be difficult to prove. Would there be statistical cutoffs for being an "Enforcer/Fighter" in the NHL, as opposed to a "regular" player who happens to fight? How many fights would a player need to have? How few points? How little ice time? Given the foregoing, it may be difficult for the family's attorneys to prove that Boogaard was specifically employed as an "Enforcer/Fighter" by the NHL.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 9th, 2013 at 7:07 PM
By Darsh U. PatelThe NCAA Rules Committee for Men's Basketball held a three-day meeting which concluded yesterday with a number of rules changes. The 12-member committee (of which 11 were present and voting) adopted a change to the replay rules as well as an adjustment to the elbow-clearing rule and a clarified block/charge distinction.
In the final four minutes of regulation and overtime, officials can look at replay to determine if a shot was a 2- or 3-pointer. In the final two minutes of regulation and overtime, officials can consult replay to determine possession on out of bounds plays and check for shot clock violations. These rules are similar to the ones employed by the NBA.
For plays in which one player hits another with an elbow, an official can assess a penalty based on replay if he determines it was an inadvertent elbow made during a basketball player, i.e., whether to call a flagrant 1 or 2, player control foul, or no foul.
Defensive players will be called for a blocking foul if they move into a space to attempt to draw a charge once the offensive player has started his upward motion with the ball.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 2nd, 2013 at 4:58 PM
By Matthew HeimlichEarlier this month, Jay-Z made it known that he had found a new business venture for himself: a sports agency. Partnering with premier sports and entertainment firm Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Jay-Z created Rock Nation Sports and signed elite second baseman Robinson Cano to his client roster after Cano had jettisoned baseball super-agent Scott Boras.
With his sights clearly set on representing athletes in each of the major sports, Jay-Z also announced plans to divest his shares of the Brooklyn Nets. This was done in order to avoid any potential conflict that might arise if and when he starts representing NBA players.
Additionally, it has been reported that Jay-Z wants to be involved in the "marketing and branding" of Seth Jones, the potential number one overall pick in the upcoming NHL draft. Son of former NBA player "Popeye" Jones, Seth has been a sensation at the junior hockey level and is widely considered to be the top prospect of his draft class.
Read more... Join the Conversation... April 3rd, 2013 at 11:08 AM
By Matthew HeimlichPrior to this week's trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jarome Iginla had been a member of the Calgary Flames since 1996, and the team's captain since 2003. To say he was the face of the franchise would be to do a disservice to his impact on the Flames and the city of Calgary. To a certain extent, he WAS the franchise. However, with the Flames wallowing in mediocrity this season and Iginla being at the point in his career where he wants a shot at a championship while he still can compete on an elite level, the organization and its star decided to part ways.
Iginla's contract provided him with a full no-movement clause, so he had complete control over where he was willing to be traded to. Reports out of Calgary were that Iginla presented Flames GM Jay Feaster with a list of four teams he would accept a trade to: The Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins and Pittsburg Penguins. This gave Feaster a few options as far as finding a suitable trade partner and at least some leverage by playing these teams against one another to drive up the price.
Read more... Join the Conversation... March 28th, 2013 at 8:35 AM
By Matthew HeimlichElvis Dumervil,one of the NFL's premier pass rushers was all set to take a paycut in base salary from $12 million to $8 million to remain with the Denver Broncos a scant thirty minutes before the deadline to re-sign him. If Denver did not have his renegotiated contract before the deadline, they would be responsible for his $12 million salary and $13.6 million salary cap hit for the 2013 season. It appears that Dumervil's agent, Marty Magid, failed to fax the paperwork for the deal back to the Broncos on time, and Denver ended up releasing him to avoid his huge salary and his even larger salary cap hit.
While it might seem like they could just sign him to their $8 million deal after he was released, it is more complicated than that. NFL.com reported that as a result of releasing Dumervil, the Broncos had to take a $4.89 million cap hit from the contract. Therefore, if they re-signed him for $8 million, he would count $12.89 million against the cap, the exact problem they were trying to remedy with the restructured contract. Subsequently, Dumervil fired his agent, found new representation with Tom Condon and Ben Dogra, and signed a five-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens. The contract has a maximum value of $35 million, a $7.5 million signing bonus and $11 million guaranteed. It averages $5.2 million per year and has a base value of $26 million, but with escalator clauses that can bring the value up to $35 million.
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