Nate Davis

Mar 07, 2012

Peyton Manning

is no longer an Indianapolis Colt.

After 14 years, 11 playoff appearances, 11 Pro Bowls, eight division titles, five first-team all-pro selections, a record four league MVP awards, two Super Bowl trips and one championship, the franchise officially said goodbye Wednesday to the man it drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in 1998.

“I sure have loved playing football for the Indianapolis Colts,” said Manning during an often emotional press conference. “I’ve been a Colt for almost all of my adult life. But I guess in life and in sports, we all know that nothing lasts forever.

“Times change, circumstances change, and that’s the reality of playing in the NFL. … Our circumstances make it best for us to take this next step. This has not been easy for (owner) Jim (Irsay), and it’s certainly has not been easy for me.”

FUTURE:

Where will Manning play in 2012?

Manning suppressed tears while getting through his initial thoughts and offering his deep-felt thanks to Irsay and others.

“This town and this team mean so much to me. It truly has been an honor to play in Indianapolis. I do love it here. I love the fans. And I will always enjoy having played for such a great team,” he said. “I will leave the Colts with nothing but good thoughts and gratitude.

“I’ve been blessed to play here, I’ve been blessed to be here in the NFL.”

MEMORIES:

Top 10 Manning moments

Manning made a point of again thanking the city, fans, team and even media members.

“Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart,” he said. “I truly have enjoyed being your quarterback.”

Irsay lauded Manning’s career with the team while announcing its conclusion amid a “long difficult process.”

Irsay said the Colts’ salary cap issues and decision to rebuild necessitated a parting of the ways while thanking Manning as “completely unselfish” in accepting the outcome.

“There will be no other Peyton Manning,” said Irsay while getting emotional himself. “We’ve been so blessed to have him.

“He’s always part of the horseshoe.”

Manning said he was “confident” about resuming his NFL career

“I’m feeling closer and closer,” he said of his recent physical progress after neck surgeries and nerve damage prevented him from playing in 2011. “It sure feels comfortable, feels like home being back out there (on the field). … (But) I still have some work to do.”

He has not thought about prospective teams he might play for in the future and said money had nothing to do with his release.

“I’m at peace,” said Manning, thanking Irsay for being a sounding board and friend through an arduous process even though they seemed to engage in frosty exchanges this offseason, particularly during the week of Super Bowl XLVI, which was staged in Indianapolis but often took a backseat to Manning’s then-hazy future.

Manning now follows front office execs Bill and Chris Polian and HC Jim Caldwell out the door following the team’s 2-14 debacle of a season without its longtime field general. Irsay hired GM Ryan Grigson and HC Chuck Pagano as the club’s new braintrust.

The Colts’ record conferred the 2012 draft’s No. 1 overall pick, which is widely expected to be used on former Stanford QB Andrew Luck.

“We’re a ways away,” said Irsay of an overhauled franchise that set a record for wins in a decade at the start of the century.

Manning went 150-77 (including playoffs) and never missed a start for the team until multiple neck surgeries over a 19-month span forced him from the field for the entire 2011 season. Manning has completed 64.9% of his regular-season throws; his 54,828 career passing yards and 399 TDs both rank third in NFL history but leave him within striking distance of Brett Favre‘s career marks.

Manning conducted his first post-surgery throwing session in a December practice in Indianapolis as he tried to fight his way back into the lineup and has been working out at Duke University in recent weeks. His next NFL employer will have to be comfortable about the rate of the nerve regeneration in the triceps of his throwing arm before signing him to a prospective deal.

But even Manning seems to know his next uniform will look odd.

“I’ll always be a Colt, that will never change,” he said.

By JOE KAY
February 6, 2012
Tom Brady let his final pass fly toward the scrum of players in the end zone, hoping for an incredible finish.
Uh-uh, Tom. Not in this city, and not in this game.
Indianapolis is a Manning town, whether it’s Peyton or Eli pulling out the wins. And the Super Bowl is suddenly the province of the New York Giants, who have figured out how to topple Brady and the New England Patriots in the biggest moments.
Eli Manning led another fourth-quarter touchdown drive and won his second Super Bowl MVP on Sunday night, leading the Giants to a 21-17 victory that provided a pulsating finish to an NFL season that started with turmoil and a lockout.
“It’s been a wild game,” said Manning, who now has one more Super Bowl title than his older brother. “It’s been a wild season,”
A wild finish was certainly fitting.
The Giants (13-7) almost didn’t make the playoffs, needing a lot of help at 7-7 with two games left. Their defense finally came together, and Manning gave them a chance in every game with his penchant for comebacks — a league-record 15 touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Of course, his greatest career comeback was in that Super Bowl four years ago, when the Patriots were undefeated and Manning led a late scoring drive that included an enduring Super Bowl moment — the incredible catch David Tyree made by trapping the ball against his helmet.
Quarterback Eli Manning poses with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Giants defeated the Patriots by a score of 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium, Feb. 5, 2012 in Indianapolis, Ind.

The Patriots (15-4) had a chance to avoid more such history on Sunday. Brady, trying to match boyhood hero Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw with four Super Bowl titles, had New England in range to put it away late in the fourth quarter.
Wes Welker dropped a pass at the 20-yard line with 4 minutes left, forcing a punt that gave the Giants another chance trailing 17-15.
“It comes to the biggest moment of my life, and (I) don’t come up with it,” said a red-eyed Welker. “It’s one of those plays I’ve made a thousand times.”
Manning’s turn for more Super Bowl magic.
He threw a spot-on 38-yard pass down the sideline to Mario Manningham, fitting the ball perfectly between two defensive backs barreling down on the receiver. Manningham got both feet down before getting smacked out of bounds in front of the Patriots’ bench, a catch that was upheld on replay and reminded the 68,658 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium — one in particular — about that other catch four years earlier.
“In those situations, you are always looking to see who is going to be the guy,” Tyree said, in the Giants locker room.
Once Manningham came down with it, the Giants sensed things had turned their way, just like four years earlier.
“I think they are both spectacular catches,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “I think with Mario’s earlier tonight, the way he kept his feet inbounds and held onto the ball (while) going out of bounds was a remarkable thing.”
The Patriots were thinking the same thing, too.
“I thought that play they made on our sideline was a phenomenal throw and catch,” Brady said. “That got them going.”
They got down to the 6-yard line with just over a minute left and the Patriots down to one timeout. New York could have run the clock down to a few seconds and kicked a field goal.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick did the math and decided on a trade-off: Give up a touchdown for some time. New England pulled up and allowed Ahmad Bradshaw to run the final 6 yards with 57 seconds left.
Once Bradshaw realized what was happening, he tried to stop at the 1-yard line to keep the clock going but ended up falling backward into the end zone.
Brady would get one last chance with the Giants defense bearing down on him, as it always does. Defensive end Justin Tuck huddled the New York defense after a touchback on the kickoff left the ball at the 20-yard line.
“I think a lot of guys had their eyes lit up,” Tuck said. “This is what we’ve been working for all year, and we’ve got 57 seconds left to be world champs.”
Brady set a Super Bowl record by completing 16 consecutive passes earlier in the game, topping Montana’s record. When he needed several quick completions to get moving in the last minute, he couldn’t do it.
The Patriots got only as far as midfield with 5 seconds left. Brady threw a desperation pass into the end zone, where the ball was batted around in a scrum before falling incomplete just beyond the reach of All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, bringing the spray of confetti from above.
“You come down to one play at the end,” Brady said. “If we make it, we’re world champs. If we don’t, we’re wishing we were.”
New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw rolls into the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of Super Bowl XLVI against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012, in Indianapolis.
Brady’s had a tough time against this Giants defense. During the regular season, it pressured him into mistakes during a 24-20 New York win in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots went on to win their next 10, a streak that ended when Brady faced that same defense on Sunday.
It just seems to have his number. On his first pass of the game, Brady was pressured by Tuck in the end zone and threw the ball to an open spot downfield to get rid of it, resulting in a safety.
By contrast, Manning didn’t make any big mistakes and, again, was at his best under the last-minute pressure.
“He’s become confident over time, kind of grew into it,” said his father, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning. “I always felt like you have to experience those situations before you become confident. He’s certainly had his share.”
And nobody will question anything he says again.
Manning was criticized for insisting before the season that he’s an elite quarterback. Then, with the Giants struggling, he was overshadowed by a different Manning drama.
Peyton and the Colts were hoping to reach a Super Bowl in their stadium. Instead, the quarterback had neck operations and the team came apart, prompting ownership to clean house. The week leading up to the Super Bowl was overshadowed in town by talk about Peyton’s future.
Eli insisted he wasn’t bothered by sharing the spotlight. In the fourth quarter on Sunday, he had it all to himself.
Manning was 10 of 14 for 118 yards in the final quarter with his seventh game-winning drive of the season. Overall, he completed 30 of 40 for 296 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, leading the Giants to their fourth Super Bowl championship — two behind Pittsburgh for the record.
In the end, a Manning got to hoist the silver Super Bowl trophy in Indianapolis.
“It just feels good to win a Super Bowl,” Eli said. “Doesn’t matter where you are.”

by John Taylor

January 22, 2012

Sadly, the grim reports that dominated the college football news cycle beginning Saturday evening were a precursor to the inevitable but still numbing reality: a coaching legend has passed.

A family spokesperson confirmed to the Associated Press that Joseph Vincent Paterno has died at a State College hospital at the age of 85, just over two months after being diagnosed with a form of lung cancer. A posting to Penn State’s official Facebook page read simply: “With great sadness we mourn the passing of Coach Joe Paterno…Few have done more.”

Paterno passed away at 9:25 a.m. ET Sunday, and the official cause of death was metastic small cell carcinoma of the lung.

The legendary former Penn State head coach was surrounded by family and friends, who had been summoned to the on-campus hospital when Paterno’s health took a turn for the worse recently.

“It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Paterno passed away earlier today,” a statement from the family read. “His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled. He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.”

A statement attributed to university president Rodney Erickson and the Board of Trustees was released shortly after Paterno’s death.

“We grieve for the loss of Joe Paterno, a great man who made us a greater university. His dedication to ensuring his players were successful both on the field and in life is legendary and his commitment to education is unmatched in college football. His life, work and generosity will be remembered always.

“The University plans to honor him for his many contributions and to remember his remarkable life and legacy. We are all deeply saddened.”

Paterno was born Dec. 21, 1926, in Brooklyn, NY, and, after his playing days at Brown University were complete, was hired as an assistant at Penn State in 1950. Shortly after the 1965 season had ended, Paterno was named head coach of the Nittany Lions; for the next 46 years, Paterno lorded over Happy Valley as the face of both a football program and a university.

During his nearly five decades as head coach, Paterno accumulated 409 wins, the most in Div. I history; a record 37 appearances in bowl games; and two national championships. As great of a coach as he was on the field, he was widely hailed as, at least until the events that have transpired since last November, an even greater man off of it, donating millions back to his beloved university and shaping the lives of untold numbers of players, coaches and other football support staff.

The legacy he had built in more than a half a century at the school, however, was threatened — or erased in the minds of some — by the Jerry Sandusky child-sex abuse scandal that’s rocked the football program specifically and the university in general. Mere days after his former assistant was indicted on more than 50 charges relating to the sexual molestation of underage boys, Paterno was fired by the school’s board of trustees, which declared in a statement that their “unanimous judgment was that Coach Paterno could not be expected to continue to effectively perform his duties and that it was in the best interests of the University to make an immediate change in his status.”

Nine weeks after his final game Nov. 5 — eerily and vaguely similar time-wise to the passing of Bear Bryant after he had coached his last game at Alabama — Coach Paterno is gone.

Our condolences go out to his family, friends and every single person touched by a helluva coach and a great-but-fallible human being who will ultimately be defined by the totality of his life, both the good and the bad.

Paolo Bandini and Steve Busfield

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Drew Brees breaks Dan Marino’s record; Indianapolis Colts don’t #SuckforLuck; and who will reach the playoffs?

One of the great NFL landmarks has finally fallen: Drew Brees took the single season passing record set by Dan Marino in 1984. Both the original and the new record were set on Monday Night Football, with Brees moving past 5,084 yards with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Darren Sproles. And with a game to spare.

Brees, 32, came close to setting the single-season passing yardage mark in 2008 but finished 15 yards short.

Dan Marino said: “Congrats to @drewbrees. Great job by such a special player.” After beating the Atlanta Falcons as well as Marino’s mark, a humble Brees gave credit to his teammates for the record.

All of a sudden, the teams who have sucked hardest all season long, positioning themselves for a shot at the No1 pick in next year’s draft – and hence at Stanford’s Andrew Luck – seem to have come alive. At 0-13, the Indianapolis Colts had a two-game lead in the ‘race’ to finish 2011 with the NFL’s worst record, but that was before two wins in as many weeks: both of them against playoff contenders.

Then, on Christmas Eve, Minnesota – having been brought back into contention at 2-12 – killed off their hopes for good with a hard-fought win over Washington. With Adrian Peterson leaving that game with a cruciate ligament injury so severe that many analysts are already questioning whether he can ever be the same again, this might go down as the most pyrrhic victory in Vikings history.

Of course, as has been covered in this blog before, no NFL team ever truly sets out to lose, but it is certainly true that at a certain point of such a miserable season, many fans do begin to root against their own side. Luck will hardly be the only blue-chip prospect available next April – indeed, the draft class of 2012 looks especially deep at quarterback – but there is no doubting that the holder of that top pick is either going to get an exceptional talent, or some incredible trade opportunities.

For now, the Colts remain in the driving seat, continuing to hold the tie-breaker over the NFL’s only other two-win team: St Louis. But should they win against a bad Jacksonville in week 17, and the Rams lose against the NFC West champion San Francisco 49ers, it’s safe to assume there won’t be too many fans celebrating in Indianapolis. PB

He might have been a Heisman winner, he might have just led Auburn to a BCS title, yet Cam Newton still had plenty of doubters when he was selected by the Carolina Panthers with the first overall pick in this year’s draft. He had played only a single season of major college football as a starter – transferring to Auburn from Blinn (Texas) Junior College – and had done so in a spread offence quite unlike the systems used in the pros. His accuracy was questioned, but most of all so was his focus after he told Sports Illustrated: “I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon.”

Well guess what: Newton is all of those things. On Sunday he broke Peyton Manning’s record for most passing yards in a season by a rookie quarterback, and he did it in style too – connecting with Brandon LaFell at one point on a 91-yard touchdown pass that was the longest in Panthers history, and running one in himself from 49 yards out. It might not have been enough for the Panthers to contend this year, but they have certainly been fun to watch. Next season they will aspire to do both. PB

Victory over the Arizona Cardinals secured a winning season for Cincinnati – just their third in 21 years – and also put them back on course for a wildcard berth, as the Jets lost out to the Giants. And yet it was seen live by just 41,273 fans – Paul Brown stadium sitting more than a third empty – as it often has this season.

Afterwards the players called on fans to turn out in better numbers for their New Year’s day appointment with the Baltimore Ravens, though there could be no better sales pitch than Jerome Simpson’s second quarter touchdown. Taking Dalton’s pass at the 18 on an underneath crossing route, Simpson raced down the touchline to the endzone, only to find his path blocked by a Cardinals defender. So he somersaulted over him.

Playoff picture

AFC
The gag going round before the Broncos’ game against the Bills on Christmas Eve was that Tim Tebow couldn’t possibly lose on the day before His birthday. But lose he did – meaning that Denver must either beat Kansas City in week 17, or hope that Oakland lose at home to San Diego. That would be the same Kansas City team, of course, that is now being quarterbacked by Kyle Orton: the man who lost his job to Tebow earlier in the year. The NFL couldn’t have scripted things any better if they had tried.

As for Cincinnati, they essentially need to beat Baltimore. In theory they could still get in with a loss, but in practice they would require each of the Raiders, Jets and Titans to lose – as all would beat them on a tie-breaker by virtue of their superior conference records.

Qualified: Patriots, Ravens, Steelers, Texans
Control their own destiny: Broncos, Bengals
Need others to slip: Raiders, Titans, Jets

NFC
And so the Giants and Cowboys will meet again with all to play for. New York’s win in Dallas a couple of weeks agokept the Giants in the playoff picture. Now they will play again on the last day of the regular season, this time in New Jersey, with the winner advancing, the loser missing out.

The Falcons’ thumping at the hands of Brees and the Saints on the last Monday Night Football of the season means that they may find themselves as the number six seed, and possibly facing another trip to…New Orleans.

Qualified: Packers, 49ers, Saints, Lions, Falcons
Control their own destiny: Giants, Cowboys

12/09/2011

Baseball’s all-time home run king, Barry Bonds, was found guilty in April 2011 for lying to a grand jury 7 years earlier about his steroid use. That Bonds could not know or give a straight answer about his steroid use seems ridiculous …. he either did or he did not use steroids. I happen to be one of those who think that he did use steroids based on a simple analysis of pictures comparing Bonds’ physical changes over a short period of time…many people agree with me. However, does lying warrant putting Barry Bonds in federal prison?

Prosecutors, who in a three-week trial, had 3 of 4 charges against Bonds thrown out (mistrial) and got one to stick…obstruction of justice for impeding a grand jury from moving forward with an investigation of performance-enhancing drugs. For that charge, prosecutors want a prison sentence for Bonds of 15-21 months. So what will prison accomplish as a punishment for Bonds? I do not see the Bonds’ swagger being any less with or without prison.

Since Bonds’ crime of lying, now over 8 years ago, we have not heard of any other violations of the law… no nightclub instances or DUIs. Certainly there is no need to even use steroids now unless he’s trying to impress the ladies at the beach. His lawyers have argued that Bonds should receive probation, no jail, and cited a “history of good works”. My kids do have a signed baseball from Bonds so I’ll vouch for his good works.

Other athletes have paid a price for similar actions of lying about steroids. Marion Jones, Olympic track star, also had a run in with the feds and in January 2008 she was sentenced to 6 months in prison. In that case, federal judge Kenneth Karas sentenced Jones to prison stating that, “There are times when a sentence can have a deterrent effect.” So Jones, mother of two young boys at the time, went off to prison as a “deterrent” for someone else? Seems crazy. One would think loss of Olympic Medals, public humiliation and obvious loss of endorsement income would have also played a factor in determining additional punishment, such as prison. But for some reason, PRISON is deemed the ultimate punishment and one that offers the public some tangible measure of justice.

Barry Bonds will find out on December 16 whether or not he will do time in prison. My guess is that he will do some time, but the real question is whether his prison sentence offers us any real justice.

Nov 26, 2011

After nearly two years of bickering, NBA players and owners are back on the same side.

“We want to play basketball,” Commissioner David Stern said.

Come Christmas Day, they should be.

The sides reached a tentative agreement early Saturday to end the 149-day lockout and hope to begin the delayed season with a marquee tripleheader Dec. 25. Most of a season that seemed in jeopardy of being lost entirely will be salvaged if both sides approve the handshake deal.

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 visiting Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

Neither side provided many specifics about the deal, and there are still legal hurdles that must be cleared before gymnasiums are open again.

“We thought it was in both of our interest to try to reach a resolution and save the game,” union executive director Billy Hunter said.

After a secret meeting earlier this week that got the broken process back on track, the sides met for more than 15 hours Friday, working to save the season. Stern said the agreement 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.”

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

“All I feel right now is ‘finally,”‘ Miami Heat star 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 Hunter to announce the deal.

“For myself, it’s great to be a part of this particular moment in terms of giving our fans what they wanted and wanted to see,” said Derek Fisher, the president of the players’ association.

A majority on each side is needed to approve the agreement, first reported by CBSSports.com. 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 players and the league, which also must dismiss its lawsuit filed in New York.

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

The sides will quickly return to work later Saturday, speaking with attorneys and their own committees to keep the process moving.

When the NBA returns, owners hope to find the type of parity that exists in the NFL, where the small-market Green Bay Packers are the current champions. The NBA has been dominated in recent years by the biggest spenders, with Boston, Los Angeles and Dallas winning the last four titles.

“I think it will largely prevent the high-spending teams from competing in the free-agent market the way they’ve been able to in the past. It’s not the system we sought out to get in terms of a harder cap, but the luxury tax is harsher than it was. We hope it’s effective,” deputy commissioner Adam Silver said.

“We feel ultimately it will give fans in every community hope that their team can compete for championships.”

The league hopes fans come right back, despite their anger over a work stoppage that followed such a successful season. But owners wanted more of the league’s $4 billion US in annual revenues after players were guaranteed 57 per cent of basketball-related income in the old deal.

Participating in the talks for the league were Stern, Silver, Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the labour 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.”

Even the final day had turbulent patches. It required multiple calls with the owners’ labour relations committee, all the while knowing another breakdown in talks would mean not only the loss of the Christmas schedule but possibly even the entire season.

“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.

“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.”

It finally yielded 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.

Though the deal’s expected to be approved, it may not be unanimous as there are factions of hard-liners in both camps who will be unhappy with substantive portions of the deal.

“Let’s all pray this turns out well,” Pacers forward Danny Granger wrote on Twitter.

But getting what the owners wanted took a toll. Stern, after more than 27 years as the league’s commissioner, hoped to close a deal much sooner but was committed for fighting for the owners’ wishes even at the risk of damaging his legacy. Hunter dealt with anger from agents and even questions from his own players about his strategy, wondering why it could so long for the players to use the threat of litigation to give them leverage that had otherwise eluded them.

The sides met just twice in the first two months of the lockout before stepping up the pace in September, when it was already too late to open camps on time. The sides tried meeting in small groups, large groups and even mediation, but nothing sparked compromise.

Things changed this week with the entrance of Jim Quinn, a former NBPA counsel who had good relationships on both sides. The meeting Friday was held at the office of his law firm, though he did not take part.

Hunter said the terms of the deal would come out shortly, preferring to keep them private until they could be shared with the players. They might not like the deal, but it will be better than what many of them feared. Resigned to possibly missing the season, some had signed deals overseas so they would have some paycheck.

Instead, they’re a step closer to returning home.

By KEVIN DOLAK

Nov. 15, 2011

Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky has broken his silence on the charges of child molestation against him, insisting that he isn’t a pedophile was just “horsing around” with boys.

Speaking with sports reporter Bob Costas on NBC Monday night by telephone, Sandusky claimed that he isn’t sexually attracted to young boys, but he hesitated when asked about the numerous eyewitness accounts of his alleged sexual assaults on adolescents.

“Well I could say that, you know, I have done some of those things,” Sandusky said when asked by Costas if he is completely innocent and falsely accused in every aspect.

“I have horsed around with kids. I — I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them and I have touched their leg. Without intent of sexual contact,” Sandusky said.

The charges that Sandusky sexually abused eight boys over 15 years have rocked the university and led to the firing of the college president and iconic football coach Joe Paterno. Sandusky was arrested Nov. 5 and charged with 40 counts of sexually abusing young boys. He is free on $100,000 bail.

The 67-year-old retired coach founded the charity The Second Mile for at-risk youth, and some are now saying the non-profit functioned as a recruiting ground for his predatory actions. Speaking with Costas, Sandusky said that he isn’t attracted sexually to young boys.

“Am I sexually attracted to underage boys … sexually attracted?” Sandusky asked when questioned directly. “You know … no I enjoy young people I … I love to be around them. Umm I, no … I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”

When Sandusky was asked about an incident where two janitors said that they witnessed him performing a sex act on a boy in the showers, the former coach flat-out denied it. He then dismissed Costas’ question as to what their motivation to fabricate such a lie would be, saying, “you’d have to ask them.”

This reaction to such a line of questioning may be a legal strategy casting Sandusky as a fun-loving sportsman who liked to play around in the locker room with boys, but not in a sexual manner. This position was repeated by Sandusky’s attorney Joseph Amendola on CNN Monday night.

“Jerry Sandusky is a big overgrown kid. He’s a jock,” Amendola said. “For anybody who’s ever played sports, you get showers after you work out. I mean when people hear he got showers with kids — oh my goodness you know like …he got showers with kids … that makes him guilty right?”

But then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary told prosecutors that in 2002 he walked in the football locker room after-hours and allegedly saw a 10-year-old-boy with his hands up against the wall, being raped in the shower by Sandusky.

In his interview with Costas, Sandusky brushed off McQueary’s account as just horseplay between and the child and him.

“Ok, we were showering and horsing around, and he actually turned all of the showers on and was actually sliding across the floor,” Sandusky said. “And umm … we were, as I recall, possibly like snapping a towel, and horseplay.”

McQueary is now on administrative leave from his position at Penn State, amid outrage that he didn’t intervene when he saw the alleged child rape

Sources close to the investigation however told ESPN that McQueary did actually stop what he says he saw happening in the shower between Sandusky and the boy. He has reportedly written to his friends and players an e-mail letting them know that his side if the story has not yet been fully reported.

“I did the right thing … you guys know me … the truth is not out there fully … I didn’t just turn and run … I made sure it stopped … I had to make quick tough decisions…” the e-mail reads.

Amendola insists that McQueary’s entire story is untrue.

“Jerry got a shower with him, and gave him a bear hug … all of which I might add doesn’t involve criminal activity,” the attorney said on CNN.

Sandusky hasn’t revealed his whereabouts, and has no legal obligation to. The judge who set his bail is now under scrutiny because she had volunteered at and donated nearly $1000 to the Sandusky’s children’s charity.

District Judge Leslie Dutchcot granted the former coach a low bond and refused to require him to wear an electronic ankle monitor despite prosecutors’ request for $500,000 bail and a monitor to be placed on him.

Dutchcot told ABC News on Monday that she could not comment on any pending case going through the court system.

DAVID SHOALTS

Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011

There was only one camera crew left by Friday in front of Joe Paterno’s house, a few blocks away from the Penn State University Campus. Next to them was a lone fan, straining to hold his arm out as far as possible in order to take a picture of himself with his cellphone camera with the house as a backdrop.

They were all signs the media storm that hit the campus in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal, which took down Paterno, university president Graham Spanier and a few other administrators, was lessening. Elsewhere, the business of cleaning up after a scandal was under way.

Interim president Rod Erickson announced that assistant football coach Mike McQueary was placed on administrative leave and will not be on the sidelines for Saturday’s game between the Nittany Lions and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. McQueary testified before a grand jury that he saw Sandusky, a former defensive co-ordinator on Paterno’s staff, sexually assaulting a child in the locker-room showers in 2002. The resulting fallout led to Sandusky being arrested and Paterno and Spanier fired. A day earlier, Penn State officials said McQueary received threats.

There will also be an internal investigation. Then the school announced there will be extra security for Saturday’s game and Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne asked his team’s fans not to wear the school colour of red in order to avoid any trouble.

Trouble was on some people’s minds. Among the students, staff and faculty at Penn State, the pain remained intense, seeing Paterno, 84, the last of those U.S. college coaches whose outsize reputations dwarfed their schools, end his career in disgrace.

After 62 years at Penn State as an assistant and then head coach, two national championships and all sorts of Bowl wins, JoePa, as he was known by fans across Pennsylvania, had the same status as John Wooden, Bear Bryant, Bo Schembechler, Bobby Knight and Woody Hayes. Now he is gone, dismissed in a late-night telephone call.

A lot of those coaches came to similar ends. Knight’s days at Indiana were finished after he assaulted a student. Hayes punched an opposing player at an Ohio State football game. But everyone knew Knight and Hayes were martinets and many of the other coaching legends were remote figures.

Paterno was beloved as a coach and as a man who cared enough about his players to make sure most of them graduated. He was a familiar figure around campus, talking to anyone who stopped him. But he had the messiest end of them all, falling in a sex-abuse scandal because of questions about putting the football program ahead of the welfare of children.

In Pennsylvania, they tell you across this campus in the middle of the state, you are either a supporter of one of the professional teams in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, which form bookends on the southern side of the state, or you worship Penn State.

“When I was a baby, I came home from the hospital in Penn State clothes,” said Christopher Grassi, a graduate law student who was standing among the cluster of tents in front of Beaver Stadium known as Paternoville. They are put up for every home game by students who camp out in order to get the best seats for their general-admission tickets.

The scandal may have planted doubts about fan worship that allows many college football programs to operate as worlds unto themselves but there are few doubts about Paterno.

“Yeah, absolutely, he’s an icon,” Grassi said. “He’s the last of his generation. Even if you don’t like Penn State you’re aware of his presence. He’s done a lot of good things for the state.”

And that’s why even among the traditional adversaries of those coaching gods, the academic faculties, there is ambivalence at worst about Paterno. Bernard Bell is an English professor who describes himself as “not a major supporter of the team.”

Bell said he routinely complains about the lack of resources for his students and wonders if “they would treat Joe this way if he ran out of footballs.”

But in the next breath Bell talks about the millions of dollars Paterno helped raise to build the Paterno Library and that his wife Sue is an important member of the English department. “In terms of contributing to our department, I have nothing disrespectful to say,” Bell said.

Yet outside this town and the area around it known as Happy Valley, an irony played for full effect this week, others wonder about putting the program ahead of children.

Heath Evans is a former NFL fullback who played his college football at Auburn, one of those football factories. Along with his wife Beth, herself a victim of child sexual abuse, Evans formed The Heath Evans Foundation to help child victims. He thinks Penn State should shut down the football program immediately and cancel Saturday’s game.

Evans says the players should be allowed to transfer because they are not the guilty parties but the university should not be allowed to continue to profit from the football program. It should also announce that it will examine its role in the sex scandal and take the appropriate action before reopening the program.

“In the south, we know all about football coaches being gods,” Evans said. “It led to all the problems. Joe was the president, vice-president, the athletic director, he was that school, period.

“The flip side is these football programs create so much revenue these schools thrive off them. They bring so much the coaches are allowed to get away with anything.”

Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011

The kidnapping ordeal of Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos ended after two days when Venezuelan police commandos swooped in to rescue him in a flurry of gunfire and arrested five alleged abductors.

Ramos said he was happy and thankful to be alive, and that the final moments had been hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy fire in the remote mountainous area where he was being held.

“The truth is I’m still very nervous, but thanks to God everything turned out well,” Ramos told Venezuelan state television, speaking by telephone after arriving at a police station in his hometown of Valencia early Saturday.

He thanked the police and National Guard commandos who rescued him, saying “the boys did a great job.”

Ramos, 24, had not been seen or heard from since he was seized at gunpoint outside his home Wednesday night and whisked away in an SUV. It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, and the abduction set off an outpouring of candlelight vigils and public prayers at stadiums as well as outside Ramos’ home.

Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami announced on Friday night that Ramos was “safe and sound” after the rescue. He didn’t say whether anyone had been wounded in the gunfire.

Five men were arrested in the kidnapping, including a Colombian “linked to paramilitary groups and to kidnapping groups,” El Aissami said.

“I don’t know who those people were. I know they’re Colombians by their accent,” Ramos said. “Three guys grabbed me there in front of my house, they took me to another SUV and from there they took me into the mountains,” in central Carabobo state.

He said his abductors spoke little to him. “They simply told me to cooperate, that they were going to ask for a ton of cash for me.”

“They put me in a room with a bed. I was lying there,” he said. “It was hard for me to think about, if I was going to get out alive first of all … about how my family, my mother were.”

Ramos was to first undergo medical checks at the police station and then be reunited with his family, El Aissami said.

Ramos’ mother Maria Campos de Ramos celebrated, exclaiming on television: “Thanks to God!”

“Thanks to my country, to my neighbors and to my family, who were supporting us,” she said. Shortly afterward, she spoke with her son by phone and said jubilantly: “He’s fine.”

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo hailed the news.

“We are thrilled with reports that he has been rescued,” Rizzo said in a statement. “We greatly appreciate all the prayers and thoughts of all who have joined us in wishing for this conclusion to what has been a nightmarish 48 hours. We are eager to see Wilson and let him know just how many all over the world have been waiting for this news.”

Ramos had recently returned to his homeland after his rookie year with the Nationals to play during the offseason in the Venezuelan league.

“As soon as I feel all right, I’m going to start playing,” Ramos said.

“They didn’t physically harm me, but psychologically I underwent very great harm,” he said.

Ramos had been just outside his door with relatives on Wednesday when he was abducted in his working-class neighborhood in Valencia, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) west of Caracas. Authorities tracked down the abductors after initially locating their stolen SUV abandoned in a nearby town on Thursday.

“I was always praying to God, and thanks to God he gave me the miracle of sending me these wonderful people,” Ramos said. “I’m alive thanks to them.”

President Hugo Chavez had authorized the “rescue operation by air” that freed Ramos, Information Minister Andres Izarra said on his Twitter account.

Security has increasingly become a concern for Venezuelan players and their families as a wave of kidnappings has hit the wealthy as well as the middle class.

The country has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America, and the vast majority of crimes go unsolved. The number of kidnappings has soared in recent years.

Major League Baseball officials said it was the first kidnapping of a major leaguer that they could recall. But relatives of several players have previously been kidnapped for ransom in Venezuela, and in two cases have been killed.

Some kidnappings in Venezuela have previously been carried out by highly organized criminal groups that demand ransom.

Bodyguards typically shadow major leaguers when they return to their homeland to play in Venezuela’s baseball league.

Izarra praised the authorities’ handling of the rescue, saying that the police “hit a tremendous home run”.

Sun Aug 28,2011

Anderson Silva had long ago solidified his claim as the best middleweight in the history of mixed martial arts. For most of the past few years he’s been the consensus best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

After the ease in which he dismantled Yushin Okami on Saturday night at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the question that has to be asked is if he’s the greatest fighter in the sport’s modern history.

Silva (29-4) finished the sweep of Brazilian legends at UFC 134, the company’s first show in the country in 13 years, winning by technical knockout at 2:04 of the second round.

After a close first round that had few telling blows until a head kick by Silva in the closing seconds, the middleweight champ came out in the second and overwhelmed Okami (27-6) in similar fashion to the way he took apart Forrest Griffin two years ago in Philadelphia.

Silva’s win followed that of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who finished Griffin in a battle of former light heavyweight champions and re-established himself among the loaded division’s elite. Earlier, former PRIDE and UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, perhaps the biggest favorite of all to the Rio crowd, took out Brendan Schaub in the first round of one of the loudest events in UFC history at the sold-out HSBC Arena. Nogueira came back from two hip surgeries, a knee surgery, and several months on crutches to take the fight and didn’t disappoint the home crowd.

Still, the hometown favorite’s KO was overshadowed by the night’s main event. It wasn’t just Silva beating Okami that was so impressive, but the manner in which he did it. In the finishing sequence, Silva put his hands down by his side and basically dared Okami to take a free shot. The first time, Okami took a chance and landed a shot. Still, with Silva’s ridiculous reflexes, the champ landed a counter jab that knocked Okami down faster than you could blink an eye.

At that point, Silva wouldn’t go to the ground with Okami, instead backing off and letting Okami get to his feet.

Silva again baited Okami by putting his hands to his sides. This time, Okami didn’t know what to do, having tasted the sting the first time around. Ultimately, he couldn’t help himself and took the gimme shot, landing a left. Once again, Silva landed a solid right to the jaw to put Okami down. This time Silva figured the time was right and swarmed him with punches on the ground until referee Herb Dean stopped the fight.

Okami’s only chance to win would have been a takedown and ground control game, but despite being one of the better middleweights in that kind of battle, he was never able to come even close to getting Silva off his feet. If Silva has improved his takedown defense – often considered one of his weaker areas – you’re talking about a scarier version of Anderson Silva than ever before.

“I train hard for the best guys in the world,” Silva said. “‘Cigano’ [No. 1 heavyweight title contender Junior Dos Santos] punches my face all the time.” Silva was overjoyed with his win, probably because it was in his home country of Brazil, where over the past few months he’s become a major sports star due to the popularity of UFC on television and his win over fellow countryman Vitor Belfort in February. In recent months, he’s gotten major endorsement deals from Burger King and Nike.

While Brazil is considered MMA’s birthplace, it hasn’t really been a hotbed for live events for more than 40 years. The top fighters, like Silva, Rua and Nogueira, all had to leave the country to become stars. Silva and Rua hadn’t fought on home soil since early in their careers when they were not big-named fighters. Nogueira, who trains one mile from the HSBC Arena and lives three miles away, had never fought previously in Brazil.

The win extended Silva’s three key UFC records. His all-time Octagon win streak hit 14 bouts, even more impressive when you consider only Georges St. Pierre has ever hit nine. His all-time record for title defenses reached nine, and it really should be 10 given the fact that Travis Lutter missed weight in a 2007 title challenge. That fight was made a non-title bout and Silva submitted him in the second round. And since he will not be fighting again before Oct. 14, he will become the first UFC champion to hold a title for five consecutive years. Tito Ortiz ranks in second place at three years and five months (2000-2003), although Georges St. Pierre ties the mark at the end of next month.

Realistically, in the modern era of MMA (dating back to the beginning of UFC and Pancrase in 1993), there are three standouts in the mix for all-time greatest: Silva, St. Pierre and Fedor Emelianenko. Younger fighters like Jon Jones, Dominick Cruz and Jose Aldo Jr. have impressive records, but it will take years on top before they should be talked about in the same category.

For years, the nod has gone to Emelianenko, who currently has a 31-4 record with one no contest, but he’s coming off three straight losses. Emelianenko is a legend for the simple fact that he fought as a small heavyweight, giving up size to most of his opponents. But on the other hand, the heavyweight talent pool, when it comes to all-around skilled fighters, isn’t comparable to other weight classes. Silva does not possess the physical strength of Emelianenko, but there is also a huge discrepancy favoring Silva when it comes to the stand-up game.

Realistically, if you throw out guys Emelianenko faced that were never legitimate name heavyweights, you get a guy with a 10-3 record, and one of those losses was Dan Henderson, a small light heavyweight pretending to be a heavyweight.

Unlike Silva, 36, and Emelianenko, 34, St. Pierre, 30, has several more years to add to his legacy. He’s 22-2, and in one sense is more dominant. He rarely loses even a round, which you can’t say about Silva, but he’s also not the finisher Silva is.

St. Pierre is 14-2 against what you’d call high-quality opponents, which includes guys who have fought legitimately at a championship level, but he’s only had six finishes in those 14 wins. So it becomes a question of winning every round in a fight, which St. Pierre did for seven straight fights against high-quality opposition (his streak ended on April 30 against Jake Shields).

Emelianenko has finished five of his 13 top-level matches.

St. Pierre lost to Matt Serra in one of the biggest championship upsets in history, but Serra is still a high-level fighter. His other loss is to Matt Hughes, a genuine legend who St. Pierre beat the next two times they met.

Emelianenko, meanwhile, lost to Tsuyoshi Kosaka due to a fluke cut (one which would have been a no-contest under modern rules), as well as Fabricio Werdum via submission and Antonio Silva via TKO in addition to the Henderson fight.

Silva’s losses aren’t nearly as impressive, but they were also very early in his career. The Brazilian lost to Luiz Azeredo by decision in 2000 (15-10), Akihiro Gono, Daiyu Takase (9-13-2) and Ryo Chonan (19-12, but who went 1-3 in UFC competition). The loss to Chonan was one of the greatest submission set-ups and finishes in MMA history.

Silva is 10-1 against top-level opponents, and that lone loss was the 2006 disqualification against Okami.

Since the Chonan loss, he’s won 17 of 18, with 15 of those wins coming by finish. Not every opponent was a world beater, but the list includes hard-to-finish fighters like Chris Leben, Rich Franklin (twice, both quick and one-sided), Nate Marquardt, Henderson, Okami and Belfort. It also includes Griffin, the former light heavyweight champion who looked like a playground basketball hotshot facing an NBA All-Star once their fight started.

Whether you hold his early career losses against him in the all-time greatest debate, it would be pretty tough to argue against the fact that the Anderson Silva of the past seven years has more decisively and handily beaten more top-level fighters than any fighter in history over a similar career period.