Car dealer school pay-to-play sport asks covers fees, what he can get you in this car

If you see as a pure-as the driven-snow place, where corporate sponsors are never, school sports, you take from your blinders. The major shoe companies are on even the smallest schools showers, and my oldest son as they, North Carolina and Duke were high school a basketball court with the name of the the mobile phone company has the alumnus Dwyane Wade on the payroll has.

Schools are like everyone else these days – take money, where it, before everything you get with budget cuts present a painful problem. However recently announced deal struck me as clearly, inasmuch as it is charitable at first glance seems a sponsorship deal - but is not really as a non-profit, it looks like.

Ray Skillman, who nine car dealership in Indianapolis area ("where we stack ' em Deep… and ' sell 'em cheap"), the payment is $1.1 million to cover the costs of the pay-to-play fees by in Center Grove School District in Greenwood, Indiana Center Grove, like many circles, established initiated fees for students play sports, to come the Athletic Department to its tax rounds. Skillman of donation covers $210,000 per year worth of sports fees over the next five years, just about the expectations of Center Grove to increase.

However, Ray Skillman, who lives in the school district, has only by the kindness of his heart. By the associated press:

In return, Skillman, advertising signs on several track schools, receives book scoreboards and concession areas.

It is wonderful that Skillman is offering to cover the pay for play fees. But not like Skillman life within testify, Center Grove just poor city. Skillman $ 1.1 million would have even greater impact in a more troubled or the money would have been limited to families below a specific income level, and gone back further.

But Skillman not grow up to several car dealers have not knowing, such as in customer favor. He now has a solid car buying demographic happy grateful for saves them money, which now, oh, may be a new Kia or Mustang Cobra Jet. As for the school district no wonder that it is trying to find more sponsors to cover the costs of the school. The Center Grove School District is perhaps a little bit of Ray Skillman about ''em deep stacks and apply learn 'em cheap.

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Close to Brazil stages of complete for World Cup 2014

Brazil is on the way to update and Build-Out their 12 stadiums FIFA football team 2014 to get during the World Cup, said the country's Sports Minister on Thursday.

Orlando Silva, Brazil's top sports official, took operation naysayers, and told international reporters on a conference call with 8 of 12 stadiums used for the World Cup football are until the end of next year will be completed according to plan. All 12 stadiums will be completely rebuilt or re-created and end 2013. total infrastructure costs estimated at around $15 billion.

The World Cup will have expected significant economic impact on Brazil. A recent study by Silva's Department forecasts that the World Cup could generate 2014 about $117 billion in economic activity for Brazil. In addition, it estimates that the sporting event could create 700,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Last month, the Government agreed, at least two of the largest airports in Brazil open - including São Paulo largest airports, Congonhas and Guarulhos, privatization. Owned by the Government airport management company INFRAERO, allowances to be auctioned only 49% of the new subsidiaries from 22 will allow this year on Aug.

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Confessions of an SEC whistleblower

Since the beginning of the investment fund regulation in the United States (1940), the whistle on his employer has blown only a compliance Director of a mutual funds company ever. While this statistic do you think that misconduct is very rare in the industry could lead, beat the mutual fund scandals earlier this decade, ausgebrochen differently. The truth is that many nasty things in the fund industry over the past happened 60 years, that internal compliance directors fought mightily see to avoid.

The only mutual fund compliance Director whistleblower none other than the author was called up and when the issue occurred in the late 1980s, it was not until a decade later non-public. I have been researching since my first whistleblower experience and the whistle on many investment fraud with companies that I never, in General employs was blown by contacting State and federal securities regulators and law enforcement for pension investors. So, perhaps not surprisingly, over the decades I have regularly from informants and would-be informants in the financial services industry contacts and questions about whistleblowing.

With the SEC, now informant reward amounts between 10% and 30% of the entire sanctions is the interest in this topic. As a former whistleblower, let me provide some insight into the realities of whistleblowing.

First of all, the history of corporate misconduct, that informants come shows rarely.  This is not surprising. In my experience the vast majority (like 99%) of employees in the serious misconduct is nothing sensitized with their employer. Employees in general they favor want curry with their employers, not piss off.  Actions and financial rewards to those who support the company and its objectives, to find deeply contrary to those profound weaknesses in business practices and management decision making. People are also hardwired emotionally to generally avoid looking for confrontation and the consent of the other. I would bet that if you most people regarding whether it is a publicly unpopular ethical position to take and endured five years criticism right be established, the response would be prevalent, "No, thank you."

The fact is that it's better to be wrong at the right time and enjoy the praise of your colleagues as to be directly at the wrong time and hated are. Ask any politician.

Of course, most employees are strong are dependent on their employers for financial support and risk adverse.  You are willing to risk your job, your career, your financial future is often face at some point the question informants.

In my experience, informers generally present (or at least start their journey) assuming which may or may not correct that she rewarded performing for the attention of their employers are. These people see themselves as loyal employees, uncovering something else within the Organization has seen no one, are beyond the call of duty to perform.  Occasionally, ends the whistleblower experience happy with the misconduct raised and detected the whistleblower for his contribution. The ubiquitous offence; The larger benefit the participation of top management and of course the participating companies income, the less likely the whistleblower reporting of misconduct.

Remember that the whistleblower, little idea at the time of reporting on the extent of which can lead to misconduct. Top management can appear surprised or shocked by activity, further investigation shows she were involved or even initiated. Therefore, the positive response, a whistleblower notice first of all, can quickly ugly turn in reporting an issue as the shadow extends the debt.  As a result, informants should suspicious if she can be misconduct, reports that management already known or even involved. More many years of practice, the more likely has someone else within the Organization the alarm in the past to sound. Informants are well advised to search the corporate records for previous reports.

The standard corporate response to informants is that "disgruntled employee" defense. This defence is trying to shift attention from allegations of wrongdoing on the integrity of the individual. I'm not saying that informants are never angry employees. Some are clear. However care what we? As long as the allegations are true, the motives of the employee are irrelevant.

Despite intense lobbying from the corporate community, to its credit whistleblower new rules of the SEC whistleblowers require to first report problems internally and no. There is no reason for this condition.  If human nature and the financial dependence involved, staff informers are usually internally report choose first. However, whether it or not do, is absolutely, positive, does not affect the America.

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Bartoszek back in the lineup as possible Mets investor

Ray Bartoszek goes on the New York Mets visit the possibility of the owner of a minority owner Fred Wilpon today about revisiting in the unprofitable, debt laden baseball team, according to my source.
In June, Bartoszek New York told the times that he earlier had reported by Allen & co., the Investment Bank, the Mets in their search for an investor, that he, had come in second is. As a result, the Mets announced that hedge fund manager David Einhorn was invested $200 million in the team and the business would take place by the end of June.
After the previously announced June was passed for a business, and in July reported that the deal with Unicorn would happen in August. But if my source is correct, he leads a cheaper deal that Wilpon is looking for someone to replace Unicorn, can cut. The deal with Unicorn would have estimated at $783 million the Mets.
Bartoszek made his fortune as a commodities trader Glencore International, and has since worked as a consultant for the publicly traded company.

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Brazil's rights 2014 host could lose in the World Cup?

There is no doubt that the most powerful man in Brazilian sport today Ricardo Teixeira, President of which is Brazilian football Confederation (CBF). First choice for the job in 1989, Teixeira is serving his sixth term as head of the CBF, and he has alliances with everyone, his influence in Brazil and abroad is created in the football world to secure. Despite is intensely disliked by football fans (mainly because of its constant interference in the coaching duties of the Brazilian national team), Teixeira enemies never had able or willing, to meet him.

Up to now.

As Brazil fights for deadlines for the preparation of the FIFA World Cup 2014 meet, Teixeira a unexpected attack on the Football Association (FA), the governing body of football in England imported - if not bizarre-: he accused it of a "conspiracy". Teixeira David Triesman, the former Chairman of the FA, which British Government and the BBC, claims have been conspired specifically undermine Brazil's hosting of the World Cup in the hope that would increase FIFA England in and save the day. To be fair, England are in fact prepared for the task upon completion of the preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Is Brazil really in danger of losing the chance, world's most widely-viewed sporting event hosting? That is not good completely out of the question. When this happens, Teixeira and the country's absurd bureaucracy is to blame. Teixeira's much-publicized paranoid comments done nothing the weaknesses of the CBF and the Brazilian authorities have however available.

Truth be told, Brazil does not have much to show more than 45 months after he was awarded the World Cup. There were serious delays in all 12 cities games, especially in the construction of the stadiums and modernisation of airports chosen, to stage, of which most were before the end of the second WELTKRIEGS have built and reached saturation point on the volume of passengers flying to and from the country. These are all important infrastructure challenges, relating to not only the World Cup, but also Brazil's development in General. According the Brazilian General Aviation Association (EXPO AERO BRASIL), a group of boats owners, are Brazil's airports unable to deal with the event side, at football fans that 2014 make pilgrimage to Brazil in the year. Adalberto Febeliano, Vice President of the Association, believes that it would take to renovate "three or four years", and adjust the airports. And that's only when policies do not come.

This is another question. The Brazilian Government has still not yet announced how much they are prepared, investment in infrastructure. A document that recently legislative advice appreciates Brazilian Senate from a record high of $40 billion, by far the largest total in World Cup history be costs of the preparation for the 2014 event, five times more expensive than the 2010 World Cup in South Africa hosted.

Then is the corruption. The Minister for the decision that the Brazilian federal responsibility it is to recognise impossible to avoid cost control and over billing. To combat this one became known official program as Jogando Limpo (play it clean) to help that Government informed taxpayers about its spending to keep that for the World Cup in June introduced. But a group trying it is shut down by members of Congress, opt out of transparency. Also President Dilma Rousseff has indicated, that they probably secure "Does it clean," due to pressure by Teixeira allies in the Government is to be examined not like allegations of corruption against football Chief himself.

Despite his senior friends and allies, Teixeira, independent representing the old, semi-feudal Brazil once as an 'arrogant bully boy"in a 2000 article by the journalist Tim Vickery of the described. He will certainly keep its position as the President of the CBF at least until the end of 2014 (in 2007 he was re-elected for another term of 7 years before the establishment).

Unfortunately, the only certainty about the World Cup is to rule the country Teixeira-going 2014 in Brazil.

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Bartoszek back in the lineup as possible Mets investor

Jul 20 2011-8: 43 am | 1320 Views | 0 Recommendations | Image via Wikipedia

Ray Bartoszek goes on the New York Mets visit the possibility of the owner of a minority owner Fred Wilpon today about revisiting in the unprofitable, debt laden baseball team, according to my source.

In June, Bartoszek New York told the times that he earlier had reported by Allen & co., the Investment Bank, the Mets in their search for an investor, that he, had come in second is. As a result, the Mets announced that hedge fund manager David Einhorn was invested $200 million in the team and the business would take place by the end of June.

After the previously announced June was passed for a business, and in July reported that the deal with Unicorn would happen in August. But if my source is correct, he leads a cheaper deal that Wilpon is looking for someone to replace Unicorn, can cut. The deal with Unicorn would have estimated at $783 million the Mets.

Bartoszek made his fortune as a commodities trader Glencore International, and has since worked as a consultant for the publicly traded company.

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Wife of billionaire Patriots owner Robert Kraft dies

Jul 20 2011-1: 16 pm | 1,380 Views | 0 Recommendations | New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft (image by Getty Images via @ Daylife)

Myra power, a Boston philanthropist and wife of billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, died today. She was 68 years old.

The Patriots announced Kraft's death in a statement:

"Words can not the deep concern, we learn that the passing of Myra Hiatt Kraft feeling Express." Myra died early after a courageous battle with cancer. We are all heartbroken. "The world community have suffered a great loss philanthropic and the New England Patriots family."

$ 172 Million, Kraft's husband bought the struggling NFL in 1994 for record. The team is now almost $1.4 billion. Myra power to the to benefit her family wealth and status to many philanthropic causes.

She was a series of non-profit boards, including the greater Boston, combined Jewish aid organisations the young & girls clubs of Boston, the United way of Massachusetts Bay, Brigham and women's Hospital in Boston, American Repertory Theatre, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and her alma mater, Brandeis University.

In a 2007 interview with the Boston Globe, power stressed that that was their primary role as a philanthropist. "It is easy to write a check," she said. "But that's what I see as what is my profession." I do not know how to play bridge, nor will I learn how to bridge play. "This is what I do."

Their deployment Kapitelserreichtwurden with sadness and words condolences from all over the NFL community, the greater New England region.

The Kraft's are married since 1963. The pair four sons all working in their family business, the Kraft group. Today has the company in addition to the Patriots, real estate, paper companies, private equity, New England Revolution soccer team and Gillette Stadium. The family is also a sponsor American Football League in Israel. The 2011 Forbes world billionaires list in March had Robert Kraft a net worth of $1.5 billion.

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Taxes, beer and baseball: get more Americans than everyone?

Jul 20 2011-9: 57 am | 833 Views | 0 Recommendations | Image by Getty Images via @ Daylife

Baseball fans all over the country can a breathe easier.

No, it is not, because the Phillies managed to crank are two in the ninth last night running East NL.

Rather, it is, because the favorite of baseball finally paid these days, Christian Lopez, from the case for taxes is not.

In the event that you under a rock - have been asleep or have the same interest in baseball as my mother - Lopez is the 23 year old New York cell phone seller, Derek Jeter 3000th hit ball is caught and then, it's worth noting, gave it back.

And if you are even less of a baseball fan when my mother, Derek Jeter as one is the best shortstop in the history of the Florida Marlins with a glaring error: he played his entire career for the New York Yankees.

Lopez could have kept the ball. It definitely has a value. Only 28 players have reached, that 3,000 milestone, including greats such as Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb and George Brett hit.

But Lopez gave the ball back Jeter and the Yankees, so that it mark on law, which at the moment - could its place in baseball history in the hands of those delivered and not on some auction block. In exchange for the pretty amazing gesture the Yankees Lopez gave memorabilia, including his own baseball card (he is an avid collector) and a 2009 World Series ring. Lopez received some rather nice lodges future Yankees games, signed balls, bats, and merchandise. And everything was in the baseball world... right, until the IRS came knocking.

Lopez found out that he may have federal income taxes on the merch and tickets to pay. The most tax experts tend to agree with that the Exchange hardly a gift under applicable law could be viewed by the ball for the merch. The rules for gifts can be complicated, but tend to whether something in return for the transfer has been received at the Centre. In this case, Lopez received quite a bit support for baseball, give the argument hard to present. The IRS imposes a federal gift tax "on the transfer of a single property to another." "while you get in return nothing, or less than full value affecting tax whether the donor the transfer intended to a gift or not be." And, of course, if it had been a gift, the tax burden would have been to the Yankees for that man Lopez.

It is no gift tax, which must be obtained to Lopez. It is income tax. It is likely that the Merch could price gains were taken into account the taxpayer immediately be (like Ludacris learned from Oprah). Or could it was that were exchanged for value and shall be treated, be regarded as a sale. No one knows just yet (if also definitely fun to speculate).

Estimates of the amount of the tax liability fall depending on the characterization of the tax of between $5,000 to $14,000. This is a pretty big Wallop for a guy is still paying off student loans (writes the girl still paying off her).

So a couple of companies have strengthened to help him. Miller high life (by Miller Brewing Company) has offered, cover Lopez' tax liability. The company gave statement last week says:

Miller high life believes that you do for the right thing, not punished should be rewarded. We want to recognize Christian Lopez, and in turn all may do it for the common sense and still high life life to help him.

And Yes, Miller is probably aware that pay the tax could be also taxpayers. Such as Oprah, Miller will likely "to contribute gross" to capture the full value of the tax, so that Lopez hit with yet another tax do not receive.

So, pretty, right?

It will be better. In addition, the sporting model has were (the company, the Lopez, that has world series ring), offered to help Lopez with his student loans.

It is a pretty spectacular ending for someone who has a pretty good thing for baseball. And the promotion of AMIS, model of and beer of giant Miller Brewing Company not to shabby either.

I am only glad that Jeter a twin was not Minnesota.

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Barack Obama and the WNBA, change, in the faith

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Earlier this week I heard an interview with first lady Michelle Obama, and it was the election in 2008 by President Barack Obama discussion. The interviewer asked Mrs. Obama, if you ever doubted whether her husband was prepared to be the President of the United States. Mrs. Obama answered confidently, that they knew that President Obama was prepared; in her mind, the question was whether the American public was ready to choose it.

WoW! The American public was ready to choose President Obama?

Now I'm not to mention President Obama, a political statement, but as an example to illustrate the historical importance of his choice to make. The racism and segregation have a storied history the United States and an African American President election was absolutely amazing.

So many Americans never thought she would see the day when an African American President would be; and many more, including myself, was an overwhelming feeling of the recording after the election.

What happens if the record, the millions of Americans for the opening of experienced about race and politics went day? What happens if it contain sex and sport? What happens if there was a dramatic shift in the perception of women in professional sports? Can you imagine, turn on ESPN or read the sports section and the women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is top billing?

Now that the WNBA of his fifteenth season celebrating, I believe, this day comes. in fact, I know it is. Fan attendance and TV ratings are up, but everyone wants to know "Where we go from here?" "When are Player salaries increased?"  "When will the teams make money and not lose it?" "As a player widely covers mainstream media?"

Personally, I think that the WNBA has the lead take over and do something out of the box and shake his current model to address these problems. Try lowering the rims; Adoption of a wild creative marketing campaign, which is so outrageous that it could, in fact work Change the ownership minority which contains hard fans as the owner; or better still, head-on tackle issues of gender equity.

Sports fans are ready go player to the next level, which can League, there to take us!

This weekend the WNBA is its top 15 players of all time during the honor the all-star game in San Antonio; and it celebrates his many achievements and set a tone for the future. I'm willing to see you get the attention they deserved player and have an own historic "Barack Obama moment." Are not you?

Follow Alana on Facebook and Twitter @ IWant2BeAnOwner. Or visit their Web site Www.IWantToBeAnOwner.com and Www.AlanaGlass.com

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During NFL owner proposal, here is the final steps required ratification to get a CBA in place

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Much was made yesterday, "a comprehensive agreement" had ratified the NFL owners to get the football season in progress.

But what really happened was that their final proposal to the players - conditions - no agreement ratified the owner (see all details) as the players must still vote, completing the business and take advantage of a CBA available.

The press release from the League had an incredible amount of information in it. But upon reading it is so interesting for what is missing for what it is.

The biggest problem outstanding is the question of the settlement of two important legal cases. You are the antitrust case, which among other things sees Tom Brady, drew Brees, Peyton Manning, plaintiff than lead, and the "lockout insurance" case in which a judge ruled that the NFL TV rights extensions take advantage to reach had negotiated about the player with a lockout. That the contract agreed with the final language, must be resolved. The Board members for the players must agree a settlement, to recommend to approve them then in class of the player in the suit. Then, the Court would have to approve and ratify the settlement.

The other important matter is the NFLPA as Union reconstitution. The Board members of the NFLPA have to recommend for the rest of the player, and then from a technical perspective, go through the process of changes to their own status with the IRS, National Labor Relations Board, and address of its Constitution and by-laws.

From there, the player would vote to ratify the agreement. Owners believe the players can do so electronically, but want the players to carry out the paper choice with signatures, as well as with the vote on desertification to provide adequate care. Take longer to perform would and could be the ratification process will take longer.

Then and only then can the players and owners get past issues such as the treatment of complaints, players use and drug policy.

Thus, it is to say that the owners have ratified a Convention a fallacy. What has happened is a savvy power play to get the player, the final proposal to agree they over matched before it saw the players.

NFL LABOR RELATED CONTENT:

MAURY BROWN to follow you on TWITTER @ BizballMaury

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NFL lockout: A schedule of task which continue to expect

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"When can team free agents?" and "When will official practice start?" That's what everyone wants to know these days.

What the NFL lockout end once expect - a damn good question, and with many possible answers. As we try a little clear the air and some light on what to expect, that if/when the block ends, here is our best educated guess what next week, when the lock Sunday ends would look like.

, Before you comment on, which is not the lock on, we know this OK. Thanks for the memory.
Sunday as the day we are all ends, as players are unlikely, projection that vote today (Friday). The data in the following slides work all of this prediction.
Sunday, July 24
The CBA Saturday should have developed, the doors to any NFL locker room opened Sunday morning.
That would be of course great news, and it would lay the ground work for team training for the season 2011 begin. This would largely a time for coach and joining players Playbooks distribute and discuss schedules.
At this time NFL teams could begin the following:
Voluntary player training without pads

NFL lockout 2011: Players the most hurt by the work stoppage

Sunday, July 24
The first legal negotiations Sunday, at 12:01 am EST, the lockout would be kick-off to end Saturday. Thus would contact with players under contract on their team about new negotiating teams begin immediately.
This includes not the full or restricted free agents. Only players who are re-negotiating an existing contract would be included.
At this time NFL teams could begin the following:
Current players negotiate contracts
Sunday, July 24, 2 Am ET
The real action begins Sunday at about 2 pm ET. That's when all NFL teams will be able to negotiate with unrestricted free agents.
Why time start the 2 pm? This allows to engage these teams on the West Coast. With a three-hour time difference across the country is this a reasonable free agency-kick-off by 11: 00 for the 49ers, Raiders, chargers, and Seahawks.
Note: Teams could not sign players only start negotiations. This is very important.
At this time NFL teams could begin the following:
Negotiate with all unrestricted free agents

Must read: 11 worst NFL free agents of ever

Monday, July 25, 2 Am ET
Not quite as exciting as the opening of unrestricted free agency period, but very important in its own right. NFL teams can now begin negotiations with 2000–01 free agents.
This is, where mark Herzlich, get the phone calls Pat Devlin, Kendric Burney, and jeron Johnson waiting for three months.
At this time NFL teams could begin the following:
Negotiate with 2000–01 free agents
Thursday, July 28
The lock should be stopped, would be an all you can eat buffet of NFL news Thursday.
No matter if the lock can finished five days from when the day breaks pencil, all hell lose.
At this time NFL teams could begin the following:
May sign of unrestricted free AgentsTeams can sign free agents to offer that SheetsTeams trade team can run under 120 million US dollar content are CapTeams can perform physicals, start sessions and start conditioning training teams
Friday, July 29
A week from today we could see at the beginning of NFL training camp - without pads. This would begin essentially not populated position seven on seven work and other drills.
This date is also important, since it is 44 days before the start of the NFL season. Sufficient time to prepare the season teams.
At this time NFL teams could begin the following:
Teams can begin training camp not populated.

Green Bay Packers: they have to do 5 things when lock is released

Sunday, July 31
For example, the lock ends on Sunday, we see live football action in just one week. How great it is that in seven days we some football would see?
If the lockout ends set you a realistic schedule for the seven days until padded training camp opens.
At this time NFL teams could begin the following:
Teams can begin fully padded training camp.
August 11
With the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game canceled is the earliest that early season will begin on Thursday, August 11-on ESPN.
And we can not freaking wait.
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By Matt Miller featured bleacher report columnist

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Einhorn treated briefly with SIPC better hand against Wilpon

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Bloomberg reported that the Securities Investor Protection Corp. a bid by the owners of the New York Mets, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, to dismiss, one billion US dollar lawsuit by the trustee liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff company in a Court yesterday submission fought.
The short means essentially that Irving Picard, the trustee in the case of shares, at restore of $ 300 million in the so fictional invests referred to win and $700 million in capital with Madoff will make progress Madoff in his lawsuit against Wilpon, Katz and their firm, sterling.
This short, connected with Ray Bartoszek refusal to invest in the Mets without also getting a stake in their regional sports channel, SportsNet New York, hedge fund manager David Einhorn is more with the team owners, use because the Mets, much to lose, have experience a mountain of debt and declining attendance of this season.
Einhorn, a poker buff, played his hand with the Mets nice and get he searched for probably the business, which, which.

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50 Most valuable sports teams in the world

The NFL has grown explosively in the past 25 years as TV revenue jumped 700%. 32 Teams in the League parts now $3.8 billion per year under the current round of the programme offers that expire in 2013 after the season. With ratings at record levels the next TV contracts are bound, be even more lucrative. Teams that are now worth $1 billion on average millions of dollars in the middle of the 1980s sold for 70.

NFL owners say they're not a large enough share of the League $9 billion are sales, but a look at 50 most valuable sports teams which shows the world how valuable NFL teams already. The list is littered with NFL franchises-all 32 teams make the cuts, led by the Dallas Cowboys, 1.81 billion $. The top franchise plays another kind of football. Manchester United is English Premier League of the world's most valuable sports team, 1.86 billion $.

The Glazer family, which the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 18 to 1.03 billion dollars) has, United purchased in 2005 for $1.5 billion, but quickly the team with a massive debt attracted the ire of fans after the purchase gesattelt. Fans feared that the team, to pay top players had not the resources. In November the Liverpool paid 330 million dollars of debt which is now at $756 million, or 41% the team value (the average debt / value ratio of the top 50 franchises is 26%). For fans of the Red Devils captured the team its record even better 19 English Premier League title this year and made the final of the UEFA Champions League before you after Barcelona (No 26 on our list, $ 975 million).

The finances of the Manchester United continue to look up. This season marked the first year of the new shirt sponsorships with Aon, $ 32 million over four years. It represents 50% of his previous deal with AIG a bump. The team is reportedly goods contract with Nike that pays millions of dollars a year already United almost 40 in line, to a similar increase for his. The current 13-year contract is to expire in 2015, but a new deal will be expected to be up to the next year, which could be as much as $ 70 million per year. Reports surfaced last month that United it is considering selling shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange at a price that would the Club to 2.7 billion dollar value.

The Cowboys are second most valuable team with a value of $1.81 billion of the sports world. Jerry Jones' $1.25 billion Stadium, which opened in 2010, has more than just a 152-foot wide HD TV screen. Cowboys stadium has 320 luxurious suites and 15,000 Club seats that are more than $100 million annually generate seat in premium revenue for Jones. America's team has also a variety of lucrative sponsorship deals signed with the likes of AT & T, Bank of America, Ford Motor and PepsiCo.

In pictures: The world's 50 most valuable sports teams

Pages: 1 2

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Summer 2011 reading lists

Marvin Joseph/Getty Images

By Laura Hillenbrand like of the Thunder stirred by Erik Larson unlikely allies remains strong: as a businessman, playwright, and a spy the American Revolution by Joel Richard Paul Sommer 1787 stored: the men who invented the Constitution by David O. Stewart, which make our democracy work: a judge view of Stephen Breyer guns, germs, and steel: fates of human societies by Jared Diamond of the wisdom of the many by James Surowiecki the Black Swan«: The impact of the highly improbable by Nassim Taleb four books in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith more»

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New proposal might be good for the business, but it is bad for baseball

The Philadelphia Phillies secured the series with a 2-1-victory on Wednesday over the Boston Red Sox in what many experts excited a preview of the 2011 world series were called for. It would be the first time met the two franchises in a world series since 1915 had. Remember anybody anything about this series? Don't think so.

However, the real point is that it can be the last time you ever play that in a world series, if plan is adopted the proposed realignment. The arrangement requires the Red Sox and the Yankees and Phillies and the three best teams in baseball over the last five years, all in the same league with the Mets, and Toronto. The Yankees and the Phillies would never be able, would create the buzz, the New Jersey Turnpike 2009 causes series and the Yanks Mets Subway Series 2000 quickly become a one-hit wonder. Can you rush Street in Chicago image when the Cubs and White Sox dueled in a world series for the first time since 1906?

Is this geographical realignment proposal for baseball really better? It is going, to which numbers his just make a fourth decrease in total present? No one really knows but I'd argue, visit is down as 14 million Americans are unemployed, not because they don't like the Division Setup.

The downturn of Bellwhether chains such as the Dodgers and the Mets, both from the field, and due to financial errors is also an important factor. Really, is the new direction that to heal sick people? Presence is not down in Philadelphia and Boston, where she from any game all season, the Red Sox sale since 2003.

Interleague game, 1995 started the excitement of the world series and the all-star game has already diluted. Why make it worse? Even if a team is happy win enough to a pennant, wrong the case of classic will be named and TV ratings plummet lower than ever before.

A Renaissance in baseball was the 1950's, the hated Yankees each year against the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers apparently was compared. Can you imagine if all three teams in the same league with the Phillies and Red Sox were? Bo-ring!

That's what baseball on reduced was - try to make, more boring so fewer people will see.

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World football challenge is a win-win situation for America and Europe

"Money buys success and success brings fans who in turn brings revenue," - Stefan Szymanski, author of Soccernomics
This simple formula has proved to be true especially in the last twenty years with the founding of the English Premier League in the business of international football. Money today's European top teams bought success for that, and these teams are aggressively trying to globalize their fan base with preseason tours of foreign countries. World football challenge, which begins tonight (Manchester United vs. New England Revolution 8 pm ESPN2), shows how beneficial are these tours for the hard fans and corporate owners.

The concept of the European teams toured of the United States began in 2003 on average 52,821 fans drawing more than nine games. Next participation for the tour fell in eleven games an average of 39,182, creation of enterprises ChampionsWorld filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2005 eventually led. The New York although a hit with American fans, who often have their favorite player in person to see, times reported, that $2 million dollars in the first issue of 2003 and $5 million dollars in the Second Edition lost the tournament. The losses are finally to the led the death knell for ChampionsWorld.

After some trial and error in early season tours between 2005-2010 of the 2011 world football challenge slated, the largest football event of the summer. Famous marketing group of creative artists Agency has teamed up with soccer United Marketing to 14 games with major League soccer teams and set the biggest clubs in the world. While some skeptics always say that the international clubs come in the United States only to some money to make, sell some gear and leave us with the invoice (see: ChampionsWorld), it should be noted, that this time it no losers in the world football challenge. Major League Soccer is a great opportunity to measure brightest and biggest clubs in the world against the course. Commissioner has pointed out, "in the past, the super clubs came in the United States only to build their brands and expanding their global footprints and in many ways, their football in the United States seize opportunities now that the clubs joined the League better with the world, come not only to build their brands, but they contribute to the development of sport in the United States"

For the world's largest teams, it is a great opportunity to expand their brands. Manchester United, the most valuable sports franchise according to Forbes (1. 86 billion), slated to $ 1-$ 2 million per game earning. Spain's two powerhouse clubs, Real Madrid (Forbes rank: 5) and Barcelona (Forbes rank: 26), the same offer also expected to make. In the meantime teams such as Manchester City and Juventus due to up to $1 million, are, while other international teams $200,000 to $300,000 make for each game.
These clubs tours add for preseason only revenue for their war chests. According to the report of Deloitte money League, Real Madrid saw sales EUR 439 million (approximately $600 million) last year. Barcelona, the earned 398 million euros ($ 560 million) was behind them. Third rank Manchester United saw a turnover of 350 million euros (US$ 492 million) in the same period. A lot of the money comes from TV revenue, and this is why teams see the value in the expansion of their global brand.

A few games in the United States and Asia bring a lot of exposure for these clubs, and finally a major bargaining chip in negotiating the TV rights.

As a whole also gains provide the world football challenge for more than just the teams. With this much star makes win the sponsors as well as pre-season tours. In total there are 11 main sponsors for the world football challenge, including title sponsor Herbalife. More than doubled year on year commercial revenues since opening event, and it has been a five-fold increase in commercial partnership offers. Since the games run during the month, it will be interesting to see how the profits since 2003 increased, and as these profits between the European and American teams shared.

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Despite Djokovic's Wimbledon win, Nadal is still King of tennis

The tennis world is still buzzing after Novak Ðokovic sensational four-set win Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon Sunday. After stuck at to play no. 3 in the world for four years behind two of the largest ever, ascended Djokovic also the No. 1 ranking.

He has lost only once in the year 2011, when his 48-1 March, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon, rivals of the season 1984 by John McEnroe, when he started 52-1. But it's one thing at the top to get and very different, there to remain and Nadal are ready in September challenge him again at the US Open. Nadal, just 25 times last month and, although his body a pounding because of his relentless style of the game, he will be a top player for at least the next five years.

There were some players such as Björn Borg, retired at 25 because their competitive fires is lost. But don't expect that from Nadal Sunday grudgingly recognized the Djokovics victory and status, but also self-critical was and said he would back. He no player ready to hand sound the baton to the 24-year-old Serb. If anything, Nadal is are determined more than ever upwards.

The third part of the equation - Roger Federer - is 30 now and is, add to a difficult time to its all-time record of 16 Grand Slam titles. While players that are 30 are still at their best the most sports, tennis is not one of them. Andy Murray of England, No 4, now is finally in this year of a breakthrough, as Djokovic also on the threshold.

While Djokovic, Nadal has beaten five straight tournament final in 2011, he will be tested most likely back in the US open and beyond. By this time next year we will know whether 2011 only a career year for Djokovic or was if he two of the best ever pass a racket.

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NFL-lockout resolution: A rookie victims

How we in a restless until the end of owner and player Stich, an issue is of two years of negotiations between NFL the same lawn over fought previously was - and is up again - chewed an agreement to have claimed the two sides to keep for several months.
We consider the ongoing drama of rookie salaries:

First round victim
This dispute is all about the first round; Round 2-7 get little attention in these negotiations. Both sides agree that the top picks; did too much This is the easy part, and they are definitely make less in the future to guarantee and total value. For example, can this year's top pick, new, cam ton, about half make what will make top pick, Sam Bradford, in the first four years of the Treaty last year. Over that period, Bradford will be 48 million US dollars; Newton received about 22-24 million US dollars.
The top-pick contracts have clearly embarrassing owners have to the point where they exhibit made this a priority of the entire CBA negotiation.

In the fifth year
Most of the negotiations on this issue really down to the fifth year of the business for beginners. The players have wanted - in exchange for reduced numbers on the deal - is the length of four years as buying one year free agency to be a major concession to them.  However, they are something they with a fifth year option on these offers first-round opposition for some time. Here are the two positions:
Players: the team would an option that corresponds to a very high in the fifth year make would have to top veteran, not rookie contracts. Picks 1-16 a fifth-year option would have a formula transition day of top 10 average salaries at their location; Picks 17-32 a fifth-year option would have the top 15-20 average salaries at their position.
Owners: she want to fixed-income and lower costs for the fifth year. Picks 1-8, an option would be at a predefined level of approximately $9 million; 9-16 takes a preset level of around 7 million would $ option.; and takes 17-32 would at a predefined level corresponds to the average salary at their respective positions be an option.
Of course, the position would be of this most affected quarterback, with top quarterback average salaries at that time probably about 15 million US dollars are.
One important note: neither proposal requires no money guarantees. So all this bargaining is a number that apply 2015, at the earliest, and none of the numbers is guaranteed! The team always the player before the independent content can release number always more effectively.

Is, also, that these offers reach anyway only rarely in the fifth year. If the player is very productive, the team usually well in advance will renegotiate the fifth year. If the player is not productive, he will probably be a former player with this team until then.
fifth year on the head always a challenge
After negotiated many first-round picks, is there always an argument about the level and the threshold values for the escalated fifth year. For example, in the negotiation of first-round contracts for players such as Aaron Rodgers of the Packers and Jeremy Maclin , the Eagle was 90% of the negotiations on the fifth year on the head.
Rodgers was Brett Favre retirement. Don't know when - or if-, that retirement would happen, it was difficult to establish threshold values for escalators and if she should occur. With Maclin, his agent expressed that while the Eagles were a pass happy team, they tended to many recipients distributed the wealth and a standard wide receiver escalator would have been not fair. We spent countless hours on these issues.
Now the question is out of the fifth year number on a macro scale as one if not play, the only sticking point links before the dissolution.

Isolated problem
For me, this issue is always a curious have been. Over 100 rookie contracts done, I always felt that these players the best value represented, the teams have. With the exception of a handful of players per year, the serious bonuses and escalators too easy and guarantees already rookie contracts use, always a fixed and reasonable player costs, balancing what is necessary to compensate for the Star experienced players on the list.

In Green Bay, I knew that Pro Bowl players such as Greg Jennings and Nick Collins make in their third or fourth years about $500,000 were a tremendous value for the team.

Simplification necessary
A range of the first round contracts that is interrupted, the endless restrictions from the rookie pool, are that these contracts volumes to make. Much had to of money due to the limitations on the amount of total CAP be issued allows for beginners in their first year NLTBE (not likely to be earned) incentives be bound, the money from the beat at first kept the CAP and get the rookie pool.

For example much of the top pick money comes only if the team in one of the categories selected, the players the best way to give to several statistical categories make improved the money. Other, top picks option bonuses and "unique incentives" would be a "second rookie pool" with second year - the "functional guaranteed" funneling money, more opportunities, was guaranteed but not on the date of signature.
This is how paperweights was these contracts. Each word or phrase is used by the NFL Management Council with analyzes which most came back to teams for revisions. In 2006 I remember that while the offer for the fifth pick in the draft, Aj Hawk, and writing a 33 seemed never in this page Treaty.

Front office and agents will think that it is these lengthy negotiations value if these rookie contracts to be simplified and shortened.
It sounds hard to believe, but it is that this problem is "Rookie-pay" one of the few problems holding the up Resolution…. for now. Stay tuned.
Follow me on Twitter at Adbrandt.

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Calgary Flames in the new NHL era

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The Calgary Flames added six new members to their organization at the NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Top pick Sven Baertschi hails from tiny Switzerland. John Gaudreau would be the smallest player in the NHL at his current height of 5-foot-6. Chris Snow has no intentions of ever playing a single game for the Flames.  The brother of Markus Granlund is a YouTube legend.

And General Manager Jay Feaster told his scouts the 2011 draft class should be the group that leads the Flames to long-term success?

Baertschi and Gaudreau will need to overcome age-old NHL stereotypes, but Feaster didn’t grab Snow for his smooth skating or rocket of a slapshot. In fact, Feaster probably doesn’t want him anywhere near the ice surface.

Chris Snow, 29, is Calgary’s Director of Statistical and Video Analysis, the first in franchise history.  Snow spent four seasons as Director of Hockey Operations for the Minnesota Wild before being let go in 2010, but still maintains a residence just a mile from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.  He joined up with the Flames at the draft and in his new position will be responsible for the planning and implementation of the club’s video and statistical data mining programs.

Snow’s job title wouldn’t raise eyebrows in the average Major League Baseball front office, an environment overrun by stat gurus, Wall Street bankers and ‘sabermetricians’.  Books such as The Extra 2% and the Michael Lewis classic Moneyball document the radical shift that’s taken place in baseball in recent years, turning America’s pastime into a complex web of acronyms and statistics.

But most fans still see hockey as a game of flow managed by former players making decisions based on instinct and decades of experience. Chris Snow has seen first-hand how quickly that culture can change.

Prior to taking the Minnesota Wild job, Snow spent a year and a half in baseball covering the Red Sox for the Boston Globe, an experience that opened his eyes to a new world.   The Red Sox, directed by whiz-kid GM Theo Epstein and famed baseball statistician Bill James, had just won their first World Series in 86 years.  Enrollment in ‘Red Sox Nation’ had reached an all-time high and most fans attributed their long-awaited success with ‘clutch hitting’ by David Ortiz or even good-luck charm Nelson de la Rosa.

Behind the scenes as a beat writer, Snow saw a more calculated operation.  “I think baseball has been a great template to look at and learn how they’ve integrated video and data into their process,” he says. “It proved to be just a fantastic window into a very progressive and detailed-oriented league that I could then draw upon after the fact.”

In hockey, hiring a Director of Statistical Analysis takes an open-minded General Manager.  Calgary Flames GM Jay Feaster has never been afraid to be unique.

Feaster began his career as a lawyer with the Harrisburg, PA firm McNees, Wallace & Nurick.  Despite having no background in hockey, he worked his way into a minor-league front office in Hershey and earned Executive of the Year honors in 1997.  Seven years later, Feaster was lifting a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the team he built put the Sun Belt franchise on the map.  Then Feaster did something few in the traditional hockey fraternity would ever dare to consider: he walked away from it all.

Feaster has always said his legal background and education allows him to avoid becoming a ‘yes-man’ in the front office.  When his strong will clashed with owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules, he resigned from the Lightning job in 2008 with three years left on his contract.  As Feaster enters his first full season as GM of the Calgary Flames, he’s looking to build a staff of specialists who aren’t afraid to debate and disagree.

Craig Conroy was plucked from the ice and named Special Assistant to the General Manager.  Craig Hartsburg was given the unique title of Associate Head Coach as part of a tiered staff under Head Coach Brent Sutter.  Clint Malarchuk brings ten seasons of NHL experience to the position of Goaltender Coach.  Feaster isn’t afraid to admit his weaknesses and surround himself with intelligent employees who can handle specific jobs far better than he can.

“[Jay] is looking for a variety of skillsets to build a team in the front office,” Chris Snow explains, comparing him to an open-minded CEO.  “Craig Conroy is a very recent player and has great relationships with other players in the league.  With myself, [Jay and I] had never met before November, but he was receptive enough to listen to what I was pitching as my potential value and also where I thought the league was going in these areas that interest me.”

Snow says he gained a lot of experience during his four years in Minnesota, but at times he got away from making specific advancements in data and video.  As part of Feaster’s staff, he knows exactly what he’s expected to focus on.

From a statistical perspective, Snow wants to add value to the front office without clouding the decision-making process.  “Our relationship is just starting out,” he says, “but I always try to give Jay Feaster a few primary takeaways.  I begin with solid information, compile it in an organized manner, and then concisely explain how I got to that conclusion.”

Complicated statistics are quickly finding their way into the hockey world, but Snow insists that logic and simplicity are still very important. “When you get into weighing statistics or making subjective value judgments, it’s hard for any member of the hockey operations staff to put a lot of belief in the takeaway.  I want to listen to the needs of the staff and add value to the process without trying too hard.”

Snow will be responsible for building a proprietary stats database for the Flames, but he’ll be utilizing the PUCKS system from Sydex Sports to manage the video aspects of his job.  Although hockey coaches have been analyzing game film for decades, today’s video software systems track player ice time and on-ice events like goals.

“The greatest strength of a system like PUCKS,” Snow explains, “is allowing the coach to work with a finished product and utilize it how he wants instead of wasting time marking each time a player steps on and off the ice throughout the entire game.”

The NHL has also put a greater emphasis on tracking shot location and other situations happening on the ice.  “The output will only be as good as the input,” Snow says.  “There’s much more information available today, it’s just a matter of reducing it to something useful.”

As I conclude my conversation with Snow, I ask if he has any specific goals he wants to accomplish with the Calgary Flames.  He says that after seeing colleagues and friends in Minnesota get fired after losses piled up, he realizes the priority has to be doing anything possible to help the team win hockey games.

The Flames finished just short of success last season.  They won 25 of 45 games after Feaster took over as interim General Manager in December, but a late-season slide left Calgary three points shy of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“Success and failure is such a fine line,” Snow says, “that’s the biggest takeaway.”

One big hit, one blocked shot, and soon, one click of the mouse could be the difference between winning and losing for the Calgary Flames.

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Obama: Plays like Nixon, bullies, as Bush

What do President Barack Obama with his predecessor Richard Nixon? The love of Poker. And with George W. Bush? Hypocrisy in trying of people from to stop online playing.

Nixon's love Poker is well documented: he allegedly financed his first campaign with Poker winnings and to react bad to lose, a hand was O'Neill he famous from other poker players, House speaker tip, which informed him reprimanded: "any guy, of about a $40-pot hollers has no business as President."

Many Presidents Ulysses S. grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson, among them were also poker players.

Truman can the keenest were: he had set a poker with President embossed seal, and he had a sign on his desk-a further poker reference declared "The buck stops here": bordering the dealer position was often marked by a knife with a buck horn as a handle, and so "Buck" would be passed.

4 March 1946 Truman played poker with Winston Churchill to 2:30 am, while she travelled together to Fulton (Missouri) where Britain's wartime leader was give his historic 'iron curtain'-speech. Play together created a more informal relationship, historian David McCullough draws. "Mr. President," said Churchill as the cards were dealt, "I think that if we poker play I Harry calls." "All right Winston," was the answer.

A poker face?

What President Obama? In the Senate Chicago he played in a regular poker game with Republicans and Democrats every Wednesday evening (which start at 7:00 pm and often went until 2:00). And during the campaign 2008 he performed as a "pretty good poker player" as "hidden talent".

Despite this personal story closed on 15 April, President Obama of the Ministry of Justice of the U.S. sites of three of the most popular Internet poker sites (PokerStars, full tilt poker and absolute Poker). It was under the supervision of the 2006 unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) - an Act turned on in the last minute on a port Bill security done. Even a poker player in the school was signed into law on October 13, 2006 by President George W. Bush-.

The law, and make sure you follow this made it but not illegal for US residents to play online illegal for financial institutions to process transactions for online gaming sites to. For U.S. based sites closed, filled foreign companies, move the blank for a few years until in April. Well, if US citizens want to enjoy an American game (poker was developed in the Wild West) on the Internet (in the United States developed) they can only do it from abroad.

UIGEA prohibits games "subject to chance." But Poker really purely based on luck?

The monthly low-stakes game, that I with friends is to play the same players tend to win. This is because a high level of skill is involved. In fact, Poker is a mixture of logic (like chess), chance (like roulette) and behavioral science. President Obama certainly believes this also: Why else would he call himself "a pretty good poker player"? No one is called "a pretty good Lottery player".

But apparently think members of Congress, which is more skill than luck lottery. Free it, together with betting on horse racing and fantasy sports, from the online ban - make it clear that in reality, that really worried the law was not with the protection of people from gambling.

"Freakonomics" author Steven Levitt and his colleague Thomas miles published in may a paper examines "The role of skill and luck in poker". It compared the performance of the players of the past successes as "highly qualified" to other players in the 2010 World series of Poker. The highly qualified "achieved an average return on investment of more than 30 percent, compared to a 15 per cent for all other players." This big gap in are strongly indicates that the game is based on skill.

You also notice that when applying similar academic tests on asset management - an area as a highly qualified, at least by consumers pay billions of dollars in management fees - found "little evidence of skill in this domain".

"Little evidence of the craft" is also an apt description of our lawmakers 2006 priority - with a focus on pointless legislation such as online poker players, harassing, rather than financial shenanigans, above-market crash of 2007-2008. It is unlikely that history much of the Obama Department of Justice 2011 either think attack on poker players.

Daniel Freedman is the Director of strategy and policy analysis at the Soufan group, a strategic intelligence advice. His writings can be found at www.dfreedman.org. He writes a bi-weekly column for Forbes.com.

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Simon family gets rich on both ends of the property market

You have to hand it the Simon family to know how to the real game in both on - and markets.

The Simon property group, co-founder of the late Melvin Simon and his brother Herbert, is the largest real estate company in America. The Mall owner is well run and has a lively market for most of the past decade been blessed. For the 10-year period up to 2010 SPS delivered a 21% compound annual back to shareholders compared to 1.4% for the S & P-500.

Last week SPG approved numbers for Herbert's nephew David package $120 million, is CEO and Chairman of the Board (billionaire Herbert is Chairman Emeritus of the Board). Hey, are bullish market, awesome, great pay!

There is also the Indiana Pacers, NBA team owned by Herbert lose the money. The Pacers play at Conseco Fieldhouse, built in 1999 at a cost of $183 million, with most taxpayer money.

As the team and the economy sputtered a few years ago Simon wanted a better deal with the city capital improvement Board, which Conseco Fieldhouse. Last year, the Board approved a plan to give the team stays in the arena for the next three years to $33.5 million in financial support to the Pacers provided. Of the nine Board voted 6-1, that is running the $10 million per year in funding, which begins this year, and until 2013.

Under presented by Mayor Greg Ballard and CIB Guide, the 30 million US dollar deal would help of the Pacers, who have seen financial losses in recent years, Conseco Fieldhouse charged the cost of running. The CIB pay would also $3.5 million for capital improvements, things, and updated telephone systems, apparently a billionaire as Simon can work as one could include new indicators.

A company spokesperson says:

"Herbert Simon had no involvement in the approval of David Simon retention and employment agreements, negotiated and exclusively by the independent directors on by the Compensation Committee of the company Board of directors unanimously."

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Calgary Flames in the new NHL era

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The Calgary Flames added six new members to their organization at the NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Top pick Sven Baertschi hails from tiny Switzerland. John Gaudreau would be the smallest player in the NHL at his current height of 5-foot-6. Chris Snow has no intentions of ever playing a single game for the Flames.  The brother of Markus Granlund is a YouTube legend.

And General Manager Jay Feaster told his scouts the 2011 draft class should be the group that leads the Flames to long-term success?
Baertschi and Gaudreau will need to overcome age-old NHL stereotypes, but Feaster didn’t grab Snow for his smooth skating or rocket of a slapshot. In fact, Feaster probably doesn’t want him anywhere near the ice surface.

Chris Snow, 29, is Calgary’s Director of Statistical and Video Analysis, the first in franchise history.  Snow spent four seasons as Director of Hockey Operations for the Minnesota Wild before being let go in 2010, but still maintains a residence just a mile from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.  He joined up with the Flames at the draft and in his new position will be responsible for the planning and implementation of the club’s video and statistical data mining programs.

Snow’s job title wouldn’t raise eyebrows in the average Major League Baseball front office, an environment overrun by stat gurus, Wall Street bankers and ‘sabermetricians’.  Books such as The Extra 2% and the Michael Lewis classic Moneyball document the radical shift that’s taken place in baseball in recent years, turning America’s pastime into a complex web of acronyms and statistics.
But most fans still see hockey as a game of flow managed by former players making decisions based on instinct and decades of experience. Chris Snow has seen first-hand how quickly that culture can change.

Prior to taking the Minnesota Wild job, Snow spent a year and a half in baseball covering the Red Sox for the Boston Globe, an experience that opened his eyes to a new world.   The Red Sox, directed by whiz-kid GM Theo Epstein and famed baseball statistician Bill James, had just won their first World Series in 86 years.  Enrollment in ‘Red Sox Nation’ had reached an all-time high and most fans attributed their long-awaited success with ‘clutch hitting’ by David Ortiz or even good-luck charm Nelson de la Rosa.

Behind the scenes as a beat writer, Snow saw a more calculated operation.  “I think baseball has been a great template to look at and learn how they’ve integrated video and data into their process,” he says. “It proved to be just a fantastic window into a very progressive and detailed-oriented league that I could then draw upon after the fact.”
In hockey, hiring a Director of Statistical Analysis takes an open-minded General Manager.  Calgary Flames GM Jay Feaster has never been afraid to be unique.

Feaster began his career as a lawyer with the Harrisburg, PA firm McNees, Wallace & Nurick.  Despite having no background in hockey, he worked his way into a minor-league front office in Hershey and earned Executive of the Year honors in 1997.  Seven years later, Feaster was lifting a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the team he built put the Sun Belt franchise on the map.  Then Feaster did something few in the traditional hockey fraternity would ever dare to consider: he walked away from it all.
Feaster has always said his legal background and education allows him to avoid becoming a ‘yes-man’ in the front office.  When his strong will clashed with owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules, he resigned from the Lightning job in 2008 with three years left on his contract.  As Feaster enters his first full season as GM of the Calgary Flames, he’s looking to build a staff of specialists who aren’t afraid to debate and disagree.

Craig Conroy was plucked from the ice and named Special Assistant to the General Manager.  Craig Hartsburg was given the unique title of Associate Head Coach as part of a tiered staff under Head Coach Brent Sutter.  Clint Malarchuk brings ten seasons of NHL experience to the position of Goaltender Coach.  Feaster isn’t afraid to admit his weaknesses and surround himself with intelligent employees who can handle specific jobs far better than he can.

“[Jay] is looking for a variety of skillsets to build a team in the front office,” Chris Snow explains, comparing him to an open-minded CEO.  “Craig Conroy is a very recent player and has great relationships with other players in the league.  With myself, [Jay and I] had never met before November, but he was receptive enough to listen to what I was pitching as my potential value and also where I thought the league was going in these areas that interest me.”

Snow says he gained a lot of experience during his four years in Minnesota, but at times he got away from making specific advancements in data and video.  As part of Feaster’s staff, he knows exactly what he’s expected to focus on.
From a statistical perspective, Snow wants to add value to the front office without clouding the decision-making process.  “Our relationship is just starting out,” he says, “but I always try to give Jay Feaster a few primary takeaways.  I begin with solid information, compile it in an organized manner, and then concisely explain how I got to that conclusion.”

Complicated statistics are quickly finding their way into the hockey world, but Snow insists that logic and simplicity are still very important. “When you get into weighing statistics or making subjective value judgments, it’s hard for any member of the hockey operations staff to put a lot of belief in the takeaway.  I want to listen to the needs of the staff and add value to the process without trying too hard.”

Snow will be responsible for building a proprietary stats database for the Flames, but he’ll be utilizing the PUCKS system from Sydex Sports to manage the video aspects of his job.  Although hockey coaches have been analyzing game film for decades, today’s video software systems track player ice time and on-ice events like goals.
“The greatest strength of a system like PUCKS,” Snow explains, “is allowing the coach to work with a finished product and utilize it how he wants instead of wasting time marking each time a player steps on and off the ice throughout the entire game.”
The NHL has also put a greater emphasis on tracking shot location and other situations happening on the ice.  “The output will only be as good as the input,” Snow says.  “There’s much more information available today, it’s just a matter of reducing it to something useful.”

As I conclude my conversation with Snow, I ask if he has any specific goals he wants to accomplish with the Calgary Flames.  He says that after seeing colleagues and friends in Minnesota get fired after losses piled up, he realizes the priority has to be doing anything possible to help the team win hockey games.

The Flames finished just short of success last season.  They won 25 of 45 games after Feaster took over as interim General Manager in December, but a late-season slide left Calgary three points shy of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
“Success and failure is such a fine line,” Snow says, “that’s the biggest takeaway.”
One big hit, one blocked shot, and soon, one click of the mouse could be the difference between winning and losing for the Calgary Flames.

View the original article here

Tanier: Lockout hurts blitzing Ds

Frank Franklin Ii / AP Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is saked by New York Jets' Shaun Ellis, right, and Bryan Thomas, rear, during the first quarter of an NFL football game at New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Monday, Sept. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)updated 10:04 p.m. ET June 16, 2011 In football, confusion favors the defense.

If you need evidence, watch the fourth quarter of a preseason game. When the rookies and roster fodder are on the field, the disorganized offense rarely gets anything done. The defense is disorganized too, but they can make basic calls, win one-on-one matchups, be athletes, and wait for the offense to trip over its own feet. Simplified football is usually low-scoring football, and defenses can still be effective when coaches just tell players to “go get ‘em.”

A few weeks ago,I wrote about how the lockout will hurt complex offenses by reducing preparation time. It will hurt complex defenses too, though not nearly as much. We can still use the Football Outsiders Game Charting Data to determine which defenses will have to scale back the most in the event of a shortened training camp. A fudge ripple defense full of tricky blitzes is bound to be less dangerous when it starts scooping vanilla calls.

The blitz is in

It’s harder to determine defensive calls than offensive plays from the television tape. We all know what a screen pass looks like, but can you tell a Cover-2 from a Cover-3 zone? Some judgments are impossible without asking the coaches themselves. The Football Outsiders game charters make as few subjective calls as possible, so we will be basing defensive “complexity” on a few easy-to-spot strategies.

Zone blitzes: In a zone blitz, a defensive lineman drops into short zone coverage while linebackers or defensive backs blitz from a different angle. Zone blitzes require precise timing, and linemen need extra practice to perfect their coverage techniques. If the lockout erases a week or two of camp, zone blitz packages may get short shrift.
Some teams rely on the zone blitz far more than others. The Ravens zone blitzed on 12.4 percent of pass plays. The Texans zone blitzed just 11 times all season, or 2.4 percent of pass plays, the Chiefs just 17 times on 3.4 percent of pass plays. The Texans have a new defensive coordinator, so leave them aside; the lockout is more likely to affect the Ravens than the Chiefs when blitzing.

Pass rush variety: There’s nothing complicated about a standard blitz: send your fastest, angriest linebacker after the quarterback, then enjoy the carnage. So a team that blitzes a lot does not necessarily have a complex defense.

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But what about different kinds of blitzes? Some teams send five defenders, some six. Some switch tactics and rush just three defenders, with the other eight in pass coverage. A few teams mix-and-match all of these tactics: one minute they are rushing three, the next they are blitzing seven. A defense with that much variety must be difficult to learn and install.

Take the Jets, a team known for unpredictability on defense. They rushed six or more defenders on 14 percent of pass plays last year. They also rushed just three defenders 13 percent of the time, and they tried everything in between. By contrast, the Lions rushed six or more defenders just 6 percent of the time, and they rushed three just six times the entire year, most of them Hail Mary-type situations. It’s safe to assume that the Jets have a more complex scheme than the Lions.

We can turn all those percentages into one number that describes pass rush variety using standard deviation. (No, wait, don’t click away!)
Standard deviation measures how “spread out” a set of numbers is. The Lions’ pass rush percentages are all spread out, going from 1 percent (for three-man rushes) to 76 percent (for four-man rushes). The Jets’ percentages are more closely bunched. The lower the standard deviation, the more regularly the defense does different things, making that defense more complex. Standard deviation isn’t meant to be used like this, but it gets the job done for a quick-and-dirty study.

The Lions’ standard deviation was 29. The Jets’ was 12. We can combine those figures with the zone blitz data to create a Simplicity Score. We just have to jiggle the numbers, because more zone blitzing makes a defense more complicated, not less. So let’s take each team’s zone blitz percentage and subtract it from 15 percent to make higher numbers equal simpler systems. That’s the last bit of math, I promise. We now have a Simplicity Score for defense.
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An ode to Vrabel’s career

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 11, 2011, 4:08 PM EDT Getty Images

After one particularly big win during the Patriots’ run early last decade, Bill Belichick warned his players about the media love they were about to receive.

“They’re going to come in here and blow smoke up your ass,” Belichick said according to Michael Holley’s excellent document on the era Patriot Reign. “They’re going to give you b–w jobs, tell you how great you are, they’re going to pile it on thick.”

Belichick finished his talk, looked at his players, and noticed Mike Vrabel’s hand was in the air.

“Yeah, Mike,” Belichick said.

“What was that you were saying about b–w jobs?”

The team died laughing. By all accounts, that moment is Vrabel in a nutshell.  He was quick enough to make the joke, and knew he was respected enough by Belichick to pull it off. Vrabel had great instincts on the field and in the classroom; he knew Belichick got a kick out of him.

(As Tom Curran points out in a great piece on CSNNE.com, Vrabel was a world class smart ass.)

There were better Patriots during the team’s three-championship run, but perhaps no player other than Tom Brady embodied the era better. Vrabel was versatile, which Belichick prizes. The new Ohio State linebackers coach lined up at outside linebacker, inside linebacker, and famously at tight end. He could stop the run as well as he could cover.

He was known for his athleticism and leadership. He played with an edge, yet was perhaps defined by his intelligence. Holley wrote how coaches were continually surprised at the amazing recall Vrabel had of formations and tendencies of opponents.

“During his Patriots career, there was no player more respected for his football intellect and revered for his leadership by his teammates than Mike,” Belichick said in a statement Monday. “He was elected a team captain by his peers and is a player who I think everyone knew was destined to become a coach after his NFL playing career was over.

“Mike Vrabel is as well-suited for coaching as any player I have ever coached. He has a tremendous feel for people, players, coaches and what his team needs regardless of the situation. He is outstanding in his knowledge of the game, which contributed to his excellence as a player. I have no doubt Mike will develop tough, intelligent, fundamentally sound winners.”

Drafted by the Steelers, but barely used until he got to New England, Vrabel will ultimately be remembered as one of the catalysts to New England’s title run.

“He is a champion in every sense of the word and I’m confident all of these qualities will make him a great coach,” Chiefs G.M. Scott Pioli said Monday. “I cannot overstate my respect for him as a person and a football player. If there were a Hall of Champions, Mike Vrabel would be a first ballot selection. ”

Vrabel won’t make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but that’s not the point.  Those Patriot teams weren’t about the stars.  Heck, Brady is the only surefire Hall of Fame player from the run. (Richard Seymour, Adam Vinatieri, Ty Law, and Rodney Harrison will have arguments.)

Vrabel stuck out, even on a team greater than the sum of its parts. On this day, he deserves a little smoke blown up his ass.

Tweet Posted by Mike Florio on July 12, 2011, 9:17 AM EDT Reuters

We’ve done several lockout-related polls, and the outcome has shown much more support for the owners’ positions and interests than would be expected from the average fan.

It’s time to do one on the rookie wage scale.

On Monday, we obtained a copy of the memo breaking down the respective positions of the league and the players.  As to the critical question of paying first-round draft picks, the owners want the first 32 players selected to be required to sign four-year contracts, with a team option for the fifth year.  For the first eight players in round one, the fifth-year pay would be 150 percent of the average salary of a starter at the player’s position, with a floor of $6 million and a ceiling of $12 million.  For the next eight players in round one, fifth-year salary would be 125 percent of the average starter, with a guaranteed minimum of $5 million and a limit of $10 million.  For the second half of round one, pay in the fifth year would be the average salary at the player’s position, with no minimum pay figure.

The players have proposed instead as to the first 16 rookies picked a fifth-year option salary based on the average pay for the 10 highest-paid players at the position. For the second half of round one, the players have proposed an option-year salary based on the average pay for the 20 highest-paid players at the position.

Since the problem the league purports to be addressing relates to the payment of gigantic amounts of guaranteed money to rookies who never earn it, we continue to be confused by the league’s reluctance to reward in year five a player who has earned his pay in years one through four.  It makes us think we’re missing something.

So we’ll leave it to you to let us know whether we are.  Cast your vote in the poll pasted below.

Tweet Posted by Michael David Smith on July 12, 2011, 9:16 AM EDT

In the 1990s, one of the best barstool debates for NFL fans was whether Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith was the best running back in the league. But while that may have been (and may still be) a fun argument for fans and members of the media, it’s not an argument that Sanders will participate in.

Asked in a radio interview if he was better than Smith, Sanders answered, “I would never say that. He was too great of a player, and I loved competing against him.”

Sanders might not want to get into it, but the rest of us can. The arguments for Sanders are that he was more of a big-play threat than Smith, that he averaged 5.0 yards a carry to Smith’s 4.2, and that he was doing it behind a much weaker offensive line, and without a great passing game to keep defenses honest. The arguments for Smith are that he lasted longer, racked up 3,000 more career yards, was better in short yardage and did much more in the postseason.

At least, those are the bare-bones arguments. I’m sure PFT Planet will go into more detail below. I’ll get things started by saying that my vote, admittedly biased as someone who was a Detroit-area 12-year-old when the Lions drafted Sanders, goes to Barry.

Tweet Posted by Josh Alper on July 12, 2011, 8:54 AM EDT Getty Images

Checking in with Bills DT Marcell Dareus’s preparation for his rookie season.

The Dolphins don’t have many big moves to make in free agency.

Said Patriots coach Bill Belichick of Mike Vrabel, “Mike Vrabel is as well-suited for coaching as any player I have ever coached.”

Jets QB Mark Sanchez took a fan to the premiere of the latest Harry Potter film.

WR Derrick Mason said he’ll retire if the Ravens win the Super Bowl.

The family of former Bengals RB David Turner is looking for more answers about what led to his death in an altercation with police.

RB Jason Snelling would be an interesting player for the Steelers to look at in free agency.

Was 2010 Texans WR Andre Johnson’s most impressive season?

Rob Rang of CBSSports.com thinks Stanford QB Andrew Luck has mental aptitude to rival Colts QB Peyton Manning.

A look back at the first home win in Jaguars history.

Titans RB Stafon Johnson is involved in an effort to improve the health of kids in Los Angeles.

Former Broncos TE Shannon Sharpe will be presented for induction at the Hall of Fame by his brother Sterling.

LB Andy Studebaker thinks his time with Mike Vrabel on the Chiefs will help him become a starter.

Another list of free agents with Raiders CB Nnamdi Asomugha at the top.

The legacy of Chargers QB Philip Rivers is already being discussed.

The Cowboys could cancel training camp in San Antonio very soon.

Eagles DE Brandon Graham hopes to get medical clearance to return to action in September.

Reasons for optimism and pessimism about each of the Redskins rookies.

It is looking less likely every day that the Hall of Fame Game will be played.

Is Packers QB Aaron Rodgers the best choice to lead a NFL team in 2016?

The Vikings need to find a replacement for S Madieu Williams.

Have the Saints hit a stumbling block in the NFC South race?

The latest “timeline” for a labor deal would likely save the Buccaneers’s trip to London.

Said Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald of his contract ending after the 2011 season, “If they want to keep me they’re going to have the first option to keep me. If they don’t, then obviously I have to find employment elsewhere.”

Taking issue with former Rams RB Marshall Faulk’s decision to have his agent present him at the Hall of Fame ceremonies.

Are the 49ers going to move Nate Clements to safety?

A closer look at Seahawks rookie CB Byron Maxwell.

Tweet Posted by Michael David Smith on July 12, 2011, 8:35 AM EDT Getty Images

Can Cam Newton start for the Carolina Panthers from Week One? He thinks he can — and he says that if he gets that chance, he’s not going to blow it.

“If the opportunity presents itself, whatever that opportunity is, I’m willing to take it,” Newton told the Charlotte Observer. “Simple and plain. And the last thing that I want or need is if that opportunity presents itself and I’m not ready and I’m not prepared for the opportunity. Because you only get one chance at greatness. If you pass on that, it very well could be no other time. Some people get two times, three times, even four. But you can’t be ticked off if that opportunity presents itself and you look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I failed.’ Or ‘I wasn’t ready.’”

Newton says that if he’s not ready to go from Week One, he’s not going to blame the lockout.

“I had every single opportunity to be successful, working at it,” Newton said. “I got the playbook. And everybody’s in my situation. I would be somewhat disgruntled if every team in the NFL had minicamp and training camps and just the Carolina Panthers didn’t. But everybody is suffering from this.”

In other words, Newton is putting it out there right now: If he’s a bust, there’s no one to blame but Newton himself.

Tweet Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 12, 2011, 8:30 AM EDT AP

While the rest of the football world waits for the NFL and NFLPA* to get their act together, the Browns are playing football.

And since there isn’t a lot else going on in the football world this Tuesday, we thought we’d bring you some notes from the fourth “Camp Colt [McCoy], courtesy of Mary Kay-Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, who is on the scene in Austin, Texas.

1. About 30 players showed up for the sessions.  They are staying at a resort in Austin, while McCoy brings them around to his favorite barbecue places.  The first day compromised of a lot of classroom/tape work, then two hours of practice in 103 degree weather.

2. Rookies Phil Taylor and Owen Marecic met their teammates for the first time. Taylor worked out separately like most of the defense during the offseason, but this was a full-squad session.  Marecic was still in classes at Stanford.

3. Cornerback Sheldon Brown is coming off rotator cuff surgery and is limited in practice.  He says he’ll be ready when he needs to be.

4. This very well may be our last players-only practice report in a while. Perhaps a decade.  Let’s hope so.

Tweet Posted by Michael David Smith on July 12, 2011, 6:54 AM EDT Getty Images

The death of Pro Football Hall of Famer John Mackey, whose post-NFL life was a mess of health problems, has fellow Hall of Famer Gale Sayers feeling angry that the league and its players didn’t do more for Mackey.

Sayers told the Chicago Tribune that the NFL could have done more to help Mackey, who suffered from dementia and spent his final years in an assisted-living facility.

“You know, John Mackey died at 60-something [69],” Sayers said. “[The NFL] could have helped him more, I felt. But they didn’t, and the players could have helped more, and it didn’t happen.”

Although Sayers says he personally is doing fine and doesn’t need any assistance, he seems to be angry that the people making money in today’s NFL don’t show more appreciation for the people who built the league.

“There is no question that the game wouldn’t be a game if it wouldn’t have been for those people who played in the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s and ‘60s. The players today are on our shoulders. They think they made the game the way it is today. And they didn’t,” Sayers said. “The [pioneers of the game] played for $5,000 a year, or $10,000 or $15,000. They played for that much money so that these players got $10 million or $20 million a year. Today’s players think they did it by themselves. It’s unbelievable how they could think and feel that way.”

Tweet Posted by Mike Florio on July 11, 2011, 9:50 PM EDT Getty Images

As the NFL and the players attempt to iron out whatever wrinkles remain in the labor negotiations, the lawyers are expected to spend Tuesday dwelling on the details before the principals return to the room.

Both Albert Breer of NFL Network and Sal “45 Down” Paolantonio of ESPN reports that the owners and players, along with Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA* executive director DeMaurice Smith, will be back on Wednesday.

Per Breer, the lawyers for the two sides met for roughly five hours on Monday, after caucusing privately.  They’ll get together again tomorrow.

Paolantonio says that mediator Arthur Boylan will monitor progress via e-mail, and that he’s available for “a short phone call or two” if necessary.

Though we respect Boylan’s ability to take his vacation, speaking from the perspective of a guy who’s currently on vacation, there’s plenty of time in the day to take a short phone call or two.

Tweet Posted by Michael David Smith on July 11, 2011, 8:20 PM EDT AP

Last month we noted that the mother of one of Terrell Owens‘ children was suing him for failing to pay child support. Now the woman’s lawyer says the situation has been handled.

Melanie Paige Smith, who has a child with Owens, filed court papers on June 20 in Atlanta, saying Owens refused to pay the full $5,000 a month he owes. But the Associated Press reports that her lawyer, Randall Kessler, has now filed court papers to dismiss the request that Owens be held in contempt, saying that Owens has made the payments.

There have been conflicting accounts of how many children Owens has. An episode of The T.O. Show featured two of his daughters meeting each other for the first time. Owens said in an interview last year that he has a three-year-old son whom he’s never met because of hard feelings between himself and the boy’s mother. It is not clear whether Smith is the mother of one of those children.

Tweet Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 11, 2011, 7:34 PM EDT Getty Images

One thing that’s easy to forget when considering Adam “Pacman” Jones’ recent troubles: The guy was no lock to make the Bengals roster anyway.

Jones is a nickel back coming off neck surgery.  Check that: two neck surgeries.  Evan Silva noticed this section from a Bengals.com article:

“Adam Jones indicated in a Channel 9 interview Sunday following his disputed arrest in a Cincinnati bar that he “just had” surgery on the neck he injured last season,” Geoff Hobson writes.

Jones also had neck surgery last October.  So unless he was referring to that one (while wearing a neck brace), it appears Jones has undergone two surgeries of late.

We’ve counted Pacman out too early before, but this combination of events could wind up marking his eighth and ninth life as an NFL player.

Tweet Posted by Mike Florio on July 11, 2011, 6:49 PM EDT Getty Images

It’s now widely accepted that the last remaining major issue to be resolved between the league and the NFLPA* relates to the rookie wage scale, a formula for paying players taken at the top of the draft far less than they’ve been otherwise making.

The two sides really aren’t all that far apart.  Based on a summary of the situation that the NFLPA* recently provided to player reps, a copy of which we have obtained, three main points need to be ironed out.

First, the owners want first-round picks to be subject to a maximum of four-year contracts plus a team option for the fifth year.  For the first eight players in round one, the fifth-year pay would be 150 percent of the average salary of a starter at the player’s position, with a minimum of $6 million and a maximum of $12 million.  For the next eight players in round one, fifth-year salary would be 125 percent of the average starter, with a minimum of $5 million and a maximum of $10 million.  For the second half of round one, pay in the fifth year would be the average salary at the player’s position, with no minimum.

The players have proposed instead as to the first 16 rookies picked a fifth-year option salary based on the average pay for the 10 highest-paid players at the position, which essentially is the same formula used for the transition tag.  For the second half of round one, the players have proposed an option-year salary based on the average pay for the 20 highest-paid players at the position.

Next, the owners have proposed an overall dollar limit on rookie contracts of $840 million.  This would result in no additional money for players taken in rounds two through seven above minimum salaries (and, presumably, a slotted signing bonus).  The players, in contrast, have proposed a total dollar limit of $884 million, which would provide players taken in rounds two through seven a chance to negotiate salaries higher than the minimum salaries.

While the owners want to spend $44 million less per year on rookies, that’s $44 million that would go to veterans and retired players.

Finally, the league wants to impose penalties on rookies who hold out at some point during the term of their rookie contracts.  The players oppose this proposal.

The players’ financial proposal would result in savings of $157 million per year, and $1.099 billion over the expected 10-year term of the new CBA.

We’re told that, on Friday, the talks bogged down over the issue of how to pay the first eight picks.  Call us crazy, but it seems like the two sides are pretty close to a deal on that point.

It also seems like the league should accept the players’ offer.  Why shouldn’t a player taken in the top half of the draft who has played well enough in his first four years get top-1o money at his position if the team wants to keep him for a fifth year?

Again, the owners seem to be banking on the rest of the players eventually selling out the top eight draft picks.  And maybe in the end they will, especially since they’re really not fighting over all that much money.

Either way, if this is the only issue left, the two sides aren’t at the five yard line.  The ball is practically kissing the plane of the end zone, and both sides simply need to find a way to avoid pulling a DeSean Jackson.

Tweet Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 11, 2011, 5:20 PM EDT

On Saturday, the lawyer for receiver Hines Ward said his client was not impaired when arrested for a DUI over the weekend.  The police report from the incident tells a different story.

Cops who pulled Ward over said he had bloodshot, glassy eyes, according to the Associated Press.  He failed a series of field sobriety tests, and was pulled over after Ward’s car hit a curb in Georgia.

We’re a little confused why Ward would so vehemently deny the charges when he knew he failed tests and the police report would inevitably come out.

Not owning up to the charges will only bring about more negative attention.

Tweet Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 11, 2011, 4:58 PM EDT

Not everyone is feeling optimistic about a labor deal being approved by July 21.

One nameless NFL player that spoke to Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com believes the owners are using the media to pressure players into a deal.

“All that is hype coming from the owners side to try and put pressure on us to do a deal. They want to make us look bad. It’s simply not true. There is a lot of work to be done. They are not close,” the player said. “Consider where that information is coming from, it’s the owners. Their reason is to try and create all this false hope to put more pressure on us.”

While we’d love to know if the player has direct knowledge of daily labor developments, his point is fair to consider. It wasn’t long ago we heard the end of June as a realistic target. Then July 4, then July 15, and now July 21.

The player says he’d be “shocked” if we had a deal in 10 days.

“Do it one-on-one like their predecessors used to do. When Gene Upshaw and Paul Tagliabue went into a room, they got it done. That’s what needs to happen now,” the player said. “The players in there are smart, but they don’t know how to close a deal. As for Goodell, he needs to drop his nuts. He needs to have the power to do a deal. It needs to be two guys in a room.”

Tweet Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 11, 2011, 4:08 PM EDT Getty Images

After one particularly big win during the Patriots’ run early last decade, Bill Belichick warned his players about the media love they were about to receive.

“They’re going to come in here and blow smoke up your ass,” Belichick said according to Michael Holley’s excellent document on the era Patriot Reign. “They’re going to give you b–w jobs, tell you how great you are, they’re going to pile it on thick.”

Belichick finished his talk, looked at his players, and noticed Mike Vrabel’s hand was in the air.

“Yeah, Mike,” Belichick said.

“What was that you were saying about b–w jobs?”

The team died laughing. By all accounts, that moment is Vrabel in a nutshell.  He was quick enough to make the joke, and knew he was respected enough by Belichick to pull it off. Vrabel had great instincts on the field and in the classroom; he knew Belichick got a kick out of him.

(As Tom Curran points out in a great piece on CSNNE.com, Vrabel was a world class smart ass.)

There were better Patriots during the team’s three-championship run, but perhaps no player other than Tom Brady embodied the era better. Vrabel was versatile, which Belichick prizes. The new Ohio State linebackers coach lined up at outside linebacker, inside linebacker, and famously at tight end. He could stop the run as well as he could cover.

He was known for his athleticism and leadership. He played with an edge, yet was perhaps defined by his intelligence. Holley wrote how coaches were continually surprised at the amazing recall Vrabel had of formations and tendencies of opponents.

“During his Patriots career, there was no player more respected for his football intellect and revered for his leadership by his teammates than Mike,” Belichick said in a statement Monday. “He was elected a team captain by his peers and is a player who I think everyone knew was destined to become a coach after his NFL playing career was over.

“Mike Vrabel is as well-suited for coaching as any player I have ever coached. He has a tremendous feel for people, players, coaches and what his team needs regardless of the situation. He is outstanding in his knowledge of the game, which contributed to his excellence as a player. I have no doubt Mike will develop tough, intelligent, fundamentally sound winners.”

Drafted by the Steelers, but barely used until he got to New England, Vrabel will ultimately be remembered as one of the catalysts to New England’s title run.

“He is a champion in every sense of the word and I’m confident all of these qualities will make him a great coach,” Chiefs G.M. Scott Pioli said Monday. “I cannot overstate my respect for him as a person and a football player. If there were a Hall of Champions, Mike Vrabel would be a first ballot selection. ”

Vrabel won’t make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but that’s not the point.  Those Patriot teams weren’t about the stars.  Heck, Brady is the only surefire Hall of Fame player from the run. (Richard Seymour, Adam Vinatieri, Ty Law, and Rodney Harrison will have arguments.)

Vrabel stuck out, even on a team greater than the sum of its parts. On this day, he deserves a little smoke blown up his ass.

Tweet Posted by Mike Florio on July 11, 2011, 4:05 PM EDT AP

When word broke of Pacman Jones‘ latest arrest, we pointed out that, if he remains on probation for any of his past guilty pleas, he could be facing a separate problem.

Unfortunately for Pacman, he has not yet completed probation in Las Vegas due to charges arising from the NBA All-Star weekend rainmaking, which led to some gunshooting.

Per the Associated Press, Clark County District Attorney David Roger will review whether Pacman violated the terms of his probation.  Roger said that a decision to pursue, or not pursue, the matter may not come for “weeks.”

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jones had served only five months of a one-year probation term.

Typically, an effort to prove the violation of a probation order entails a much lower legal standard than “proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”  And that would make it easier for Roger to put Pacman what New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg calls “the slammer.”

That’s why it was even more important for Pacman to constantly avoid any situation that could potentially lead to a claim that he jeopardized the probation order that kept him out of jail.  Early Sunday, he failed.  It remains to be seen whether that means, after more than 10 legal problems since joining the NFL, he’ll finally do time.

Tweet Posted by Mike Florio on July 11, 2011, 3:36 PM EDT

Whenever folks leave their jobs on terms characterized publicly as voluntary, it’s common if not routine to wonder whether it wasn’t voluntary at all.  Today’s candidate for game that should be known as “The Pursuit of Other Interests” is Redskins’ COO Dave Donovan.  The team has announced that Donovan is returning to the firm at which he practiced law before becoming a full-time employee of the Redskins.

Per our friends at CSNWashington.com, Donovan disclosed the decision during a Monday staff meeting.

“We want to thank Dave for his years of service with the Redskins,” owner Daniel Snyder said in a statement issued by the team.  “Even though he is returning to the law firm where he worked prior to joining the team, he will continue to consult with the Redskins as he did prior to joining the organization.  We look forward to continuing our relationship and wish him the best of luck in his new position.”

Said Donovan:  “I have had a great six years with the Redskins.  It has been an experience I will always appreciate and never forget. For personal reasons, I am returning to partnership in the law firm that I left in 2005.  I am thrilled that I will have the ability to continue my relationship with the Redskins.  I would like to thank Dan Snyder and all coaches and staff who I have worked with over my time with the team.”

Generally speaking, working in-house for a client is regarded within the legal community as less stressful and demanding than working at a private law firm, where the competing interests of multiple clients, the pressure to generate revenue via billable hours with no reward for efficiency, and often vicious office politics make life a lot harder.  And so at first blush it will be reasonable to infer that, for whatever reason, the relationship between Donovan and the Redskins simply wasn’t working.

It’s also impossible not to wonder whether the move represents a shift by Snyder away from the aggressive pursuit of the team’s legal rights.  On Donovan’s watch, the team decided to sue season-ticket holders — and Snyder launched a highly unpopular lawsuit against the City Paper.  On that point, only time will tell.

Either way, the fact that so many people have been pushed out of their employment with fairly vanilla explanations being offered means there’s always a chance that there’s something intriguing lurking behind every fairly vanilla explanation that ever is offered when someone leaves a job.

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