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| New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 9 2014, 07:27 PM (45 Views) | |
| xubb | Jan 9 2014, 07:27 PM Post #1 |
Club DJ
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METAIRIE, La. -- New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson met Tuesday with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in New York to discuss matters concerning both the team and the league. The meeting came amid a backdrop of lawsuits filed by current and former Saints players whove challenged the findings of the NFLs bounty investigation. Benson also has hired the firm of former FBI director Louis Freeh to investigate the accuracy of the leagues bounty probe. It also came on a day after Louisiana state police announced investigators had found no evidence to back allegations made in an April news report that Superdome wiring was rigged so general manager Mickey Loomis could eavesdrop on opposing coaches radio communications between the 2002 and 2004 seasons. While the NFL and the Saints provided very few details about the meeting, Saints spokesman Greg Bensel described it as productive and added that Benson "looks forward to having many more discussions with the commissioner on specific Saints-related issues as well as league-wide issues." NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league generally does not discuss meetings with owners, adding that the commissioner meets with owners all the time to discuss wide-ranging matters. Goodell has used the NFLs findings as the basis for season-long suspensions of Saints head coach Sean Payton and defensive captain Jonathan Vilma, as well as a half-season suspension for general manager Mickey Loomis, a six-game suspension for assistant head coach Joe Vitt and a four-game suspension for defensive end Will Smith. Two former Saints who are still active also were suspended: Green Bay defensive end Anthony Hargrove was docked eight games and Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita three games. During a hearing last Friday on the NFLs motion to dismiss lawsuits by Vilma and by the NFL Players Association on behalf of the other three suspended players, U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan said she found the process by which the NFL disciplined the players to be unfair and the punishment excessive. She said she was inclined to rule in favour of Vilmas request for a temporary restraining order allowing him to rejoin the Saints while the case proceeds, but she said she would need more time to seek clarity on whether she had jurisdiction to do so. The judge then urged all sides to try to settle the matter with the help of a magistrate before the court has to rule. The NFLs initial bounty reports made public in March described Saints players taking part in a bounty pool that paid Saints defenders for injuring opponents from 2009 through 2011. The reports also said the Saints specifically targeted several star players for injury, including quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner in the 2009-10 playoffs. However, as the players lawsuits have played out in federal court, seven current or former Saints, along with Vitt, have testified under oath that there was no pay-to-injure program. They have said they only took part in a pay-for-performance pool that provided cash bonuses primarily in the hundreds for big plays such as sacks, forced fumbles and interceptions, and collected fines for missed assignments and penalties including unnecessary roughness. They have also testified that violent sounding terms coaches used to track pool payments, such as "whacks, knockouts and cart-offs," were all for clean tackles. However, the players did testify that "cart-offs," while legal, described hits that caused tackled players to take themselves out of games, at least briefly, to gather themselves or be checked by trainers. Citing that testimony, Goodell said during the weekend of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions that players have essentially acknowledged the Saints performance pool paid for injuries. "When you reward players for injuring other opponents, thats a bounty," Goodell said. Notes: With temperatures in the 90s, the heat got to several Saints players during Tuesdays practice. WR Courtney Roby, LT Jermon Bushrod and LB Curtis Lofton were all taken by trainers to the locker room before practice ended with what Vitt described as heat-related ailments. RB Pierre Thomas also required a break during which trainers cooled him down with sponges. Saints LB Chris Chamberlain later tweeted: "Practice was a beast today! Never seen so many guys have to get IVs in my life...this New Orleans weather is undefeated!" ... The Saints first-team defence intercepted QB Drew Brees twice during 11-on-11 drills in Tuesdays practice. Safety Malcolm Jenkins made one on a pass intended for Marques Colston and LB Jonathan Casillas snagged a pass over the middle intended for TE David Thomas. When asked about a recent spate of interceptions in practice, including a pair against Brees on Monday, Vitt said he hoped it was because the defence is thriving under new co-ordinator Steve Spagnuolo. "That is what we hope for in the games. ... The variety of coverage that Spags has brought to our defence, with the pressure, makes us see hesitancy in the quarterback and his throws." ... LB Aaron Tevis missed practice with a knee injury. Vitt declined to say which knee. Panthers authentic jersey . 7 Boise State to a 36-14 defeat of Wyoming at Bronco Stadium. Moore completed 24-of-36 passes, including an improbable Hail Mary touchdown to Matt Miller at the end of the first half, and finished with 279 yards. Joe Montana Jerseyfree shipping . It would be sweet redemption for a year ago, when he was passed by Jenson Buttons McLaren Mercedes on the final lap of a wild, rain-delayed event to let victory slip away at a race he has yet to win. http://www.cowboysteamstoreonline.com/ . Ankiel has been on a minor league rehabilitation assignment after being slowed by a left quadriceps injury in spring training that limited him to 15 at-bats in exhibition games. Customized Joe Flacco Jersey . Evans finished the 2012 Tour de France despite being ill through much of the race. He was unsure if he would recover in time to contest the Olympic road race and time trial. Authentic Dolphins Jersey . Danilo Gallinari added 19 points, Andre Iguodala had 11 and JaVale McGee scored 10. Tim Duncan went 8 for 11 from the field in leading the Spurs with 21 points in 25 minutes at the AT&T Center. LOS ANGELES -- Chris Paul had 24 points and 13 assists to help the Los Angeles Clippers, for decades synonymous with long losing streaks, break a 38-year-old franchise record with their 12th consecutive victory Friday night, 97-85 over the Sacramento Kings. The previous mark was set by the Buffalo Braves during the 1974-75 season, when current Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was 8 years old. The head coach back then was Jack Ramsay, whose formidable roster included Bob McAdoo, Garfield Heard, Randy Smith, Jim McMillian, Jack Marin and Bob Weiss. That team won 49 games -- still a record for a beleaguered organization that has called three different cities home, wasted first-round draft picks on Benoit Benjamin, Terry Dehere, Michael Olowokandi and Darius Miles, and was labeled "the worst franchise in sports history" by Sports Illustrated in an April 17, 2000, cover story. Blake Griffin had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who have had 20 double-digit losing streaks since their 11-game winning streak in Buffalo -- including a dozen of 12 or more. They lost their first 16 in 1994-95, their first 17 of the lockout-shortened 1988-89 season, and the final 14 in 1986-87. The club record for consecutive defeats is 19, set in 1981-82 and equaled in 1988-89. But those dark days are history thanks to the arrival of Griffin, the blockbuster trade that brought Paul from the New Orleans Hornets last December, and a bench that is arguably the deepest in the NBA. The Clippers, who have the leagues longest active winning streak, also own the NBAs second-best record at 20-6 and trail Oklahoma City by just one game. This is the earliest the Clippers franchise has ever reached the 20-win mark, and only the sixth time they did it with a winning record -- including a 20-11 start last season. The previous club record in that department also was set in 1974-75, when the Braves started out 20-8. Just four seasons ago the Clips finished 19-63 under Mike Dunleavy. Los Angeles beat Sacramento for the fifth straight time -- including all three meetings last season. The Clippers havent lost to anyone since Nov. 26 at Staples Center, when New Orleans beat them 105-98 and held Griffin to four points and one field goal -- both career lows. Reserve guard Jimmer Fredette had 16 points for Sacramento, which is 1-11 on the road. DeMarcus Cousins was benched for the entire second half by coach Keith Smart, who ordered him to remain in the dressing room after he scored nine points in 20 minutes. The Kings, who had their highest-scoring gamee of the season Wednesday night in a 131-127 home win against Golden State, have dropped six of seven.dddddddddddd Tyreke Evans missed his third straight game and eighth in the last 12 because of a sore left knee. He also was sidelined for the Kings 116-81 loss at Los Angeles on Dec. 1, when the Clippers posted their largest margin of victory since the franchise left Buffalo. Caron Butlers 3-pointer gave Los Angeles its biggest lead, 58-41, with 10:05 left in the third quarter. The Kings narrowed the gap to 63-57 with a 16-5 run capped by Fredettes 3-pointer with 4:25 left in the quarter, but that was as close as they got. Paul helped put the game away with a pair of 3-pointers in the final 4 minutes. Griffin powered the Clippers to a 53-39 halftime lead with 16 points and eight boards. Power forward Jason Thompson, the only player to start all 26 games for Sacramento, fouled him twice during a 1:23 span and went to the bench with 7:48 left in the first quarter. The Clippers then pulled ahead 20-11 with a 9-1 spurt that included a pair of 20-footers by Griffin, and Paul drained a 3-pointer with a second on the clock for a 29-21 advantage. Ronny Turiaf, who earlier in the game shot an air ball on a free throw and got some good-natured ribbing from his Clippers teammates on the bench, extended the lead to 43-28 with a fast-break dunk right after 6-foot-1 guard Eric Bledsoe blocked a layup by 6-10 Kings forward Thomas Robinson at the other end. NOTES: The teams the Clippers have beaten during this streak have a combined winning percentage of .401 (116-173). The Kings (8-18) are the only team they have faced twice in that stretch. ... The Clippers are at Phoenix on Saturday night, trying to break a franchise-record road winning streak of five -- by those same 74-75 Braves. ... The Buffalo Braves winning streak included neutral-site games against the Boston Celtics at Providence, R.I., and the Philadelphia 76ers at Toronto. ... The Los Angeles Lakers, who share Staples Center with the Clippers, havent won 12 or more games in a row during one season since 1999-00, when they had streaks of 16 and 19. ... Matt Barnes, who played high school ball in Sacramento and spent part of the 2004-05 season with the Kings, had 13 points. The Clippers are 14-0 when he scores in double digits off the bench. ... Los Angeles is 17-0 when leading after three quarters, and 15-0 when holding an opponent under 43 per cent shooting. The Kings shot 41.8 per cent. ... Fredette missed a free throw with 3:48 remaining, ending his streak at 33 in a row. |
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1:39 AM Jul 11