On-Hudson.com

NFL Owners To Lock Out Players After Proposal Rejected

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81eb6e46/article/league-plans-to-lock-out-players-whose-union-decertified?module=HP_headlines

WASHINGTON -- NFL labor talks broke down Friday, just hours before the collective bargaining agreement was set to expire, as the union rejected a proposal from the league, then decertified, and 10 players, including MVP quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, sued the owners in federal court.

In response, the NFL planned to impose a lockout of players, starting at midnight ET, after the CBA officially expired, two team sources told NFL Network insider Michael Lombardi. No official announcement of a lockout was made.

The players went to court to request an injunction to block such a move by the league.

Despite two extensions to the collective bargaining agreement during 16 days of talks overseen by a federal mediator -- and previous months of stop-and-start bargaining -- the sides couldn't agree on a new labor deal.

"The parties have not achieved an overall agreement, nor have they been able to resolve the strongly held competing positions that separated them on core issues," mediator George Cohen said. "No useful purpose would be served by requesting the parties to continue the mediation process at this time."

Q&A: What's next for players, NFL?

Now that DeMaurice Smith's NFL Players Association has decertified, NFL Network legal analyst Gabe Feldman breaks down the labor possibilities for both sides. More... 

» FAQ about union decertification 
» Official statements from NFLPA, NFL 
» Commissioner Goodell's message to fans
» League details its proposal to players 
» Emotions run high on all sides 
» Watch: Smith addresses media 
» Watch: Pash, Quinn explain sides 
» Watch: NFLN analysts discuss situation 
» Watch: Indiana Dean of Law analyzes 

By dissolving and announcing it no longer represents the players in collective bargaining, the union became a trade association and cleared the way for class-action lawsuits against the NFL, which opted out of the labor deal in 2008. The antitrust suit -- officially known as Brady et al vs. National Football League et al -- attacked the league's policies on the draft, salary cap and free-agent restrictions such as franchise-player tags.

Invoking the Sherman Act, an 1890 federal antitrust statute that limits monopolies and restrictions on commerce, the players are seeking triple the amount of damages they've incurred. That means the stakes could be in the hundreds of millions.

It could take a month for there to be a ruling on the union's injunction request, and antitrust judgments should take longer.

The CBA originally was due to expire last week, then was extended twice, in hopes that the sides could find common ground on the key issues: how to divide more than $9 billion in annual revenues, and how much financial information the league would be willing to reveal.

"I would dare any one of you to pull out any economic indicator that would suggest that the National Football League is falling on hard times," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said. "The last 14 days, the National Football League has said, 'Trust us.' But when it came time for verification, they told us it was none of our business."

It all sets the stage for a courtroom fight. The last time NFL games were lost to a work stoppage came when the players went on strike in 1987, leading to games with replacement players.

Even though the NFL is early in its offseason -- and the regular season is six months away -- this is hardly a complete down time. Free agency usually begins in March, and hundreds of potential free agents are now in limbo. Also this month, under a regular schedule, offseason workouts would start, and the owners meet to establish rules changes.

Plus, March and early April are when many sponsors and corporate partners renew their deals with the NFL, part of why the league says hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue now will be lost.

"This obviously is a very disappointing day for all of us," New York Giants owner John Mara said. "I've been here for the better part of two weeks now, and essentially ... the union's position on the core economic issues has not changed one iota. One thing that became painfully apparent to me during this period was that their objective was to go the litigation route."

Labor negotiations timeline

A chronology of developments in NFL labor negotiations before Friday's union decertification:

2008 
» NFL opts out of its collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association, saying its costs are too high and it needs givebacks from the players. 2010 season will have no salary cap.

» Union leader Gene Upshaw dies in August.

2009 
» After six months without an executive director, the players elect Washington attorney DeMaurice Smith.

2011 
» On Jan. 18, union files collusion claim against owners regarding lack of movement of restricted free agents.

» On Feb. 5, the two sides meet for short negotiations one day before Super Bowl in Dallas.

» On Feb. 14, NFL files charge against union with National Labor Relations Board for not bargaining in good faith because of its plans to decertify.

» On Feb. 18, federal mediator George Cohen begins working with the two sides in Washington. Sessions follow for 16 days between then and Friday.

» On March 1, U.S. District Judge David Doty rules the NFL's contracts with the TV networks to collect $4 billion even if no games are played in 2011 is "lockout insurance."

» On March 3, with the CBA due to expire at midnight, the two sides agree to extend the pact for another 24 hours.

» On March 4, the two sides agree to extend the CBA for another week.

» On Friday, after rejecting the NFL owners' proposal, the NFLPA decertifies, giving up its right to represent the players.

-- Associated Press 

The NFLPA also decertified in 1989. Antitrust lawsuits by players led to a 1993 CBA that included free agency, and the union formed again that year.

The sides met from 10 a.m. until about 4 p.m. ET Friday, discussing a new proposal by the league's owners. When the possibility of another CBA deadline extension was raised, Smith said the union first wanted assurances it would receive 10 years of audited financial information from the league.

"I will tell you this: Any business where two partners don't trust each other, any business where one party says, 'You need to do X, Y and Z because I told you,' is a business that is not only not run well, it is a business that can never be as successful as it can be," Smith said.

At 4:45 p.m., Smith and the union's negotiators left. About 15 minutes later, the union decertified, saying it now becomes a professional trade association that supports the interests and rights of current and former players.

The players' union immediately shut down its websites -- NFLPA.org and NFLPlayers.com. A search for NFLPA.org yielded this message: "Error 404: Football Not Found. Please be patient as we work on resolving this. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

NFL general counsel Jeff Pash said the owners were on a conference call discussing the NFLPA's financial-records request when the union decided to decertify.

"No one is happy where we are now," Pash said. "I think we know where the commitment was. It was a commitment to litigate all along."

A league statement added: "The union left a very good deal on the table."

After Pash spoke, outside union lawyer Jim Quinn said: "I hate to say this, but he has not told the truth to our players or our fans. He has, in a word, lied to them about what happened today and what's happened over the last two weeks and the last two years."

Smith also strongly disagreed with Pash's assessment of the deal. Smith said the players were willing to give the league up to $1 billion in cash per year to fill revenue gaps in exchange for an equity position in an NFL team or any NFL property.

"And we were told by their lawyer a few months ago that his clients weren't, quote, interested," Smith said. "And when we made that same proposal today, we didn't even get a response."

The NFL said its offer included splitting the difference in the dispute over how much money the owners should be given off the top of the league's revenues. Under the expiring CBA, the owners immediately received about $1 billion before dividing the remainder of revenues with the players; the owners entered negotiations seeking to roughly double that by having an additional $1 billion up front.

But the owners eventually reduced that to about $650 million. Then, on Friday, they offered to drop that to approximately $325 million. Smith said the union offered during talks to give up $550 million over the first four years of a new agreement -- or an average of $137.5 million.

"We worked hard," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was joined at mediation Thursday and Friday by nine of the 10 members of the owners' labor committee. "We didn't reach an agreement, obviously. As you know, the union walked away from the mediation process."

Also in the NFL's offer, according to the league:

» Maintaining the 16 regular-season games and four preseason games for at least two years, with any switch to 18 games down the road being negotiable.

» Instituting a rookie wage scale through which money saved would be paid to veterans and retired players.

» Creating new year-round health and safety rules.

» Establishing a fund for retired players, with $82 million contributed by the owners over the next two years.

» Financial disclosure of audited league and club profitability information that isn't even shared with the teams. That was proposed by the NFL this week, and rejected by the union, which began insisting in May 2009 for a complete look at the books of all 32 clubs.

 

 

Pash outlined each element of the owners' last offer and ended nearly each with the phrase: "Evidently not good enough."

When Goodell, Pash, Mara and owners Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers emerged from Cohen's office shortly after 5 p.m., they sounded hopeful that negotiations would soon resume.

"We're discouraged, we're frustrated, we're disappointed, but we are not giving up," Pash said. "We know that this will be resolved in the negotiation process. We will be prepared to come back here any time the union is ready to come back here."

Said Goodell: "We do believe that mediation is the fairest and fastest way to reach an agreement that works for the players and for the clubs. And we believe that, ultimately, this is going to be negotiated at the negotiating table. They've decided to pursue another strategy, and that is their choice. But we will be prepared to negotiate an agreement and get something done that is fair to the players and fair to the clubs."

NFL Network insiders Albert Breer, Jason La Canfora and Michael Lombardi, as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Knicks Get Anthony In Trade With Nuggets But The Big Catch Is Resigning Walsh

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2011/02/22/2011-02-22_carmelo_anthony_trade_costs_knicks_too_much_maybe_donnie_walsh_too_as_isiah_thom.html

Carmelo Anthony trade costs Knicks too much, maybe Donnie Walsh too, as Isiah Thomas lurks in wings

MIKE LUPICA

Gutierrez/AP

The Knicks surrender three starters and much more for Carmelo Anthony, mostly because Garden chairman James Dolan overrules Donnie Walsh and follows the advice of Isiah Thomas .

The Knicks get the player they want now, and don't seem to care that they got played as a way of making it all happen. They make the biggest trade in their history for Carmelo Anthony and don't seem to care that it costs them twice as much as it should have and may end up costing them Donnie Walsh, the executive who came in here and cleaned up the Garden after Isiah Thomas turned the place into a toxic dump.

The Knicks get Anthony, one of the great scorers in the game, and now we will find out over the last 28 games of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs if he scores enough to get them to the second round. The Knicks have already made themselves a team to watch again this season. Now you will watch every move they make the rest of the way.

The Knicks get Carmelo Anthony even after giving away all the leverage they had in this thing, and what feels like half their roster. The player only wanted to come to New York, only wanted to get his huge contract extension here, didn't want to go to Jersey or anywhere else. The Knicks - meaning Walsh - always had the Nuggets where they wanted them, and should have been able to make this deal with Wilson Chandler andEddy Curry's big, fat expiring contract and some other junk thrown in.

Instead they give up Raymond Felton and Danilo Gallinari and Chandler and Timofey Mozgov, too. If the trade deadline were next Thursday instead of this Thursday, Denvercould have gotten James Dolan to throw in Mike Breen and Clyde Frazier, too. Clearly Dolan still has Isiah Thomas as his muse, apparently because all the good ones were taken.

The Knicks get better now, without question. They will be more fun to watch now than they were before this trade, so much harder to defend if Anthony and Stoudemire can figure out a way to play together. As one NBA guy said Monday night, "If anything, LeBron andDwyane Wade have tried to defer to each other too much this season. I don't see that happening with the Knicks."

But the guy added: "I know (the Knicks) don't cover anybody or stop anybody, but they've got two of the best scorers around, and now that they have Chauncey Billups they've got three of the best guys in the league at getting to the free throw line."

Still, you have to know there is another bottom line to all this, for all the dancing up and down Seventh Avenue:

After Donnie Walsh made the Knicks viable and watchable again, Dolan shoved him out of the way to make this deal. Walsh wouldn't even be in New York if Thomas' reign running basketball at the Garden hadn't been such an epic, Old Testament failure, both on and off the court, in all ways, from Stephon Marbury to Anucha Browne Sanders.

 

And at the end with Anthony, Dolan clearly lets Thomas talk him into giving the Nuggets whatever they want. The best part about this was the ridiculous statement the Garden issued over All-Star Weekend, the eternally thin-skinned Dolan wanting the world to know that he, Walsh, Mike D'Antoni were on the "same page" about Anthony, and that no one outside the organization had anything to do with this.

That meant Thomas. And Dolan was actually telling the truth, even though not in the way the statement intended. Just because Thomas has never really been outside the organization. He has just taken part-time work with Florida International, where his fine work as a talent scout and coach continues with a 9-17 team, 4-10 in the Sun Belt Conference. It is amazing how bad teams now follow the guy around.

Knick fans don't care about any of that, of course. They don't care how they got Anthony, just that they get him, that now the rest of the league has to double-team him and still find a way to stop Stoudemire. And the Knicks get Billups, who even at his age is an upgrade at point guard over Felton, as much early speed as Felton showed this season.

The Knicks go all-in on Anthony the way the Giants went all-in on Eli Manning once, the way the Yankees went all-in on Alex Rodriguez. In the process, every home game for the Knicks becomes an event the rest of the way, and the Knicks will feel like a main event again, even past the start of the baseball season.

This season became a kind of new beginning for the Knicks. They haven't won a playoff game since April of 2001. Thomas had them capped out into the next millennium, had the Knicks drowning in bad contracts. Then Walsh, a great New York basketball guy, got them under the cap, got them Stoudemire, made them young again. After all the wrong turns under Thomas, including one to federal court for sexual harassment, Walsh began to make things right.

Now, 54 games into this, there is another new beginning, this week, with Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks are now Anthony, Stoudemire, Billups, Landry Fields, a bunch of other guys. They still get better. We will begin to find out fast just how much better. We already know the cost of that in players, and draft choices, and money. We will begin to find out, between now and May, the real cost.

The Knicks get a big player coming to town, another star with a chance to show he can handle the pressures and responsibilities of New York. They feel like big winners today, you bet. Just not if the player to be named later in this deal turns out to be Isiah Thomas.

 

Mello O Mellow Which Side Of The River Will It Be ?

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/021711_Sullivan_Carmelo_stakes_high_for_Hudson_River_rivals.html

Sullivan: Carmelo stakes high for Hudson River rivals

TARA SULLIVAN

NEW YORK – If the epicenter of ’Melo-drama 2011 is found a few thousand miles away, the far-reaching reverberations continue to extend all the way from Denver to the East Coast, shaking the foundations of both the Knicks and Nets. The area’s two NBA teams are suddenly re-engaged in a one-on-one game for the league’s biggest trade-deadline score, and the clock is quickly winding down on a game that has a hard deadline set for one week from today.

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY CHRIS PEDOTA

The speculation surrounding Carmelo Anthony should come to an end by the Feb. 24th trade deadline.

Whether Knicks GM Donnie Walsh gets the OK from ownership to swing a long-discussed trade for Carmelo Anthony before Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov finally delivers on a season’s worth of empty promises and makes the only blockbuster move that could make his team relevant again is the intriguing drama that carries us into the All Star break.

The Knicks ride into the break two games over .500 after a 102-90 dismantling of Atlanta, while the Nets head into intermission with another loss, a 94-80 setback in Boston. But no matter what happened on the court Wednesday night, it’s the battle off it that truly has us captivated.
 
In light of The Record report Tuesday that Prokhorov lifted the internal ban imposed last month to end trade talks with Denver, proving his franchise is willing to reopen the discussion of a deal that had gotten far too public to reach consummation, the Knicks and Nets remain 1 and 1-A candidates to acquire the disgruntled Denver star. When the Nets pulled out Jan. 19, the Knicks quickly filled the role of daily dance partner in this drawn-out tango. But much like they tried when simultaneously pursuing the off-season’s biggest prize, LeBron James, the Nets and Knicks don’t want to bill this as a border war.

Even if they aren’t willingly engaging each other, however, the Nuggets are more than happy to do it for them. Denver needs more than one suitor to get the most bang for its Carmelo buck, needs a contest of rivals to offer the best package for an All-Star player destined for the free agent skyline unless a trade-and-sign extension is arranged before the Feb. 24 deadline.

Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni continued to try and convince us the constant posturing isn’t good for anyone, lamenting the public nature of trade negotiations and blaming nebulous “blogs” and “rumors” for fueling the public’s ravenous appetite for information.

Yet for the team that crosses the Carmelo finish line first, the reward is enormous. “We’re still building our team, so until we get it set, you’re always in this period with rumors, going to hear things that come out, true or not true, and you just deal with it,” D’Antoni said. “You’ll always have this problem until you’re an established, veteran team.”

For the Knicks, the acquisition of Anthony would put them right on the brink of that established, veteran greatness. Depending on who they give up – be it Raymond Felton or Danilo Gallinari – and who else they get back – maybe an aging Chauncey Billups – the Knicks could be one major off-season free agent move – maybe Chris Paul or Deron Williams – from a championship-contending roster.

Amar’e Stoudemire’s game-high 23 points was just another entry on his franchise-player résumé, but in the NBA, one All-Star isn’t enough to crash the penthouse party. Stoudemire deserves another luminary, and his bosses know it.

So as much as Walsh insisted, “I like the team that we have right now,” he also admitted, “I do think there are some things we can use on this team that would help us.”

For the Nets, the acquisition of Anthony would put them on the brink of relevancy, and for a team playing in a half-empty rented home in Newark with one foot out the door to Brooklyn, that would be enough, changing the dynamic of a desultory American debut for the billionaire Russian owner. Prokhorov promised us a shock-and-awe arrival in the NBA, hinting at surprise signings and bold moves that would lead to a championship within five years.

So far, he has delivered nothing. When Miami introduced its Three Kings, announcing their impending authority by adding free agent gems James and Chris Bosh to All-Star Dwyane Wade, the Nets were left to sell their four pawns, a yawn-inducing off-season roll call of Travis Outlaw, Johan Petro, Jordan Farmar and Anthony Morrow.

But now Prokhorov pursues Anthony again, perhaps putting an end to the long-running saga that has tired even its principal beneficiary. “Something is going to happen, so I try not to stress myself out about it,” Anthony told The Associated Press before a game against the Bucks punched his own ticket to this weekend’s All-Star Game. “I know they’re going to be looking to talk to me. And I’m going to be in L.A. for the All-Star weekend and every media outlet is going to be there, so it’s going to be a ’Melo Watch, I guess.”

Three thousand miles East, we’ll feel the impact.

E-mail: [email protected]

15+Inches Of Snow Causes Partial Collapse Of Metrodome's Inflated Roof Stadium Might Not Be Ready For Kick-Off Monday Night

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/2010/12/12/2010-12-12_roof_of_minneapolis_mall_of_america_field_metrodome_collapses_fate_of_giantsviki.html

Roof of Minneapolis Metrodome collapses at Mall of America Field; Giants/Vikings game in limbo

RALPH VACCHIANO

NBC

The roof at the Minneapolis Metrodome collapsed early Sunday morning after nearly 20-inches of snow reportedly fell on the Mall of America Field.

The roof of the Metrodome in Minneapolis has collapsed under the weight of nearly two feet of snow, and now the Giants and Vikings, who were rescheduled to play under it on Monday night, likely won't be able to play there at all.

The team woke up to the news this morning in Kansas City, where they've been stranded since Saturday by the historic blizzard that's wreaking havoc in Minnesota. They were originally scheduled to play the Vikings in Minneapolis on Sunday, but late Saturday night the game was pushed back to Monday at 8 p.m.

However, according to reports out of Minneapolis, the Teflon-coated fiberglass roof on what is now known as Mall of America Field, collapsed overnight under the weight of 17-plus inches of snow. The damage has left "several tears" in the roof and snow on the field.

Officials were enroute to assess the damage, but it almost certainly makes the stadium unusable for Monday.

An NFL spokesman said, via Twitter, that the league "will update all ASAP."

The Giants, meanwhile, had tentative plans to fly from Kansas City this morning at 11 a.m. CT. Asked if those plans are still on, a Giants spokesman said, "Stay tuned."

It's not clear what the NFL's options are, especially with the two teams in different cities. There is a precedent for moving a game. In 2005, the Giants' game against the Saints in New Orleans was eventually moved to Giants Stadium in New Jersey because of damage to the Louisiana Superdome caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The game has already caused logistical nightmares for everyone involved, from the moment the Giants' charter flight Saturday morning was diverted to Kansas City because of the blizzard slamming the Midwest. What they thought was only a temporary delay eventually forced them to stay overnight in Missouri.

It became chaotic when the NFL initially refused to change the original kickoff time of the game, which was scheduled for noon Central Time in Minneapolis. That forced the Giants to make plans to fly out early Sunday morning - plans which would have gotten them to the Metrodome about two hours before kickoff.

Later on Saturday, though, Metrodome officials expressed their concerns to the NFL about the potentially unsafe amount of snow on their roof. The NFL then relented and rescheduled the game for Monday night.

That allowed the Giants to change their plans again and get a little extra sleep in Kansas City on Sunday morning. They didn't get much, though, because around 7 a.m. CT, Hanlon said, there was a false fire alarm going off at their team hotel.

 

Viewing Venues For Gang Greens Monday Night Match-Up Against The Pats

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/05/2010-12-05_jets_fans_looking_for_the_perfect_bar_to_watch_mondays_game_against_the_patriots.html

Jets fans, looking for the perfect bar to watch Monday's game against the Patriots? Look no further

JENNIFER H. CUNNINGHAM AND JOHN LAUINGER

Simmons/News, Howard

Jets fans, look no further for the best places to watch Gang Green battle the Patriots Monday

Rabid football fans will storm sports bars across the city Monday night as the hometown Jets and the hated New England Patriots battle for divisional supremacy - and an inside track to the Super Bowl.

"It's going to be insane!" said Jo McDonald, 28, a bartender at the Hairy Monk, a hangout popular with Pats fans in the Kip's Bay section of Manhattan.

The bitter rivals sit atop the American Football Conference with 9-2 records, making tonight's contest one of the most highly anticipated Monday night matchups in recent memory.

While the gridiron at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., will host the season-making slugfest, bars and pubs throughout the five boroughs are gearing up for a heavy dose of Gang Green, or the Pats' red, white and blue - or both.

Foley's Pub in Midtown will be serving Jets-themed grub, like the Mark Sanchez burger - a "So-Cal-style" sizzler topped with ham and pineapple named for the Jets quarterback
Bartender Ben Schmitt, 25, said he'll serve the artery-clogger - and sport his true colors.
"I will be rocking a nice Tom Brady jersey," the Pats fan said, his smile brimming with bravado.

"It may not be good for tips," quipped bar owner Shaun Clancy.

The Jets are led by rising-star Sanchez and coach Rex Ryan, whose ample belly is matched in size only by his headline-making mouth.

Ryan's squad edged the Pats 28-14 in the second game of the season. Tonight's game, therefore, could go a long way toward deciding which AFC power has home field in the playoffs.

Jets fans believe Gang Green - winners of four straight games - is headed for the team's first Super Bowl win since Broadway Joe Namath was taking the snaps.

"With the momentum that we have, there's no doubt in my mind the Jets are going to make it [to the Super Bowl]," Michael Hennessy, 33, a teacher from Orlando, Fla., said from the 40/40 Club in Manhattan's Flatiron neighborhood.

But the Pats are led by the veteran Brady - a future Hall of Famer - and headset wizard Bill Bellicheck, who is certainly no fan of the Jets following the SpyGate controversy of a few years back.

Pats fans point to their three Super Bowl wins under Bellicheck - but some are worried about tonight's game.

"I'm very nervous as a Patriots fan," Boston transplant Asher Boucher, 29, said while prepping for the game at the Hairy Monk yesterday. "But Brady versus a second year quarterback [Sanchez] will make the difference."

Yet as bar owners and cocktail-makers see it, the more competition and controversy, the better the business.

The 40/40 Club is bringing in extra wait staff to handle the expected rush of some 200 fans, said manager William Pillajo.

Outer-borough bars are also hoping to cash in on the football fever. CJ Sullivan's American Grill in Bayside, Queens, is expecting a massive turnout. "It's the biggest Monday night game!" crowed manager Chris McManus.

Even baseball bars, like Billy's Sports Bar in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium, are jumping on the big-game bandwagon. They'll be selling $2 beers and half-price wings, said manager George Manefis.

And there's also the prime-time appeal of the team's star quarterbacks, both of whom have movie-star looks.

Ladies who root for the Pats say that's true even if Brady - as the Daily News reported on a recent front page - is worried about losing his long locks.

Kelly Conlin, 21, a student from Long Island, said from Foley's yesterday that she couldn't care less about Brady's famous hair follicles. She'll tune in for one reason: Mark Sanchez.

"He's hot!" she said. "That's what I think is important!"

JETS BARS IN MANHATTAN

Bar 515 
515 3rd Ave. (between 34th and 35th Sts.)
www.bar515.com

40/40 Club
6. W. 25th St. (between 5th Ave. and Broadway)
www.the4040club.com

Foley's Bar 
18 W. 33rd St. (between 5th and 6th Aves.)
www.foleysny.com/

Patriots Bars in Manhattan
The Hairy Monk 
337 3rd Ave. (at 25th Street) 
www.thehairymonknyc.com

Professor Thom's 
219 2nd Ave. (between 13th and 14th Sts.)
www.professorthoms.com

Pat O'Brien's Bar 
1701 2nd Ave. (at 88th St.)
www.patobriensnyc.com

[email protected]

 

Former Jet Danny WoodHead Likely To Be Factor Monday Night

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2010/12/patriots_rb_danny_woodhead_fin.html

Patriots RB Danny Woodhead finding new home in New England, newfound attention facing former team

Conor Orr/The Star-Ledger 

Getty ImagesPatriots RB Danny Woodhead has become a contributor in New England.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A black winter hat on top of Danny Woodhead’s shaggy head served as the only indicator there was someone inside the media circle that enveloped his locker at Gillette Stadium yesterday.

The growing horde of cameras, microphones and tape recorders had come to hear his story — the one about the rival team that cut him three months ago, and will visit New England Monday to see how he has become a versatile weapon with the Patriots.

After nine games in New England, the running back has gained nearly five times as many total yards (574) as he had in the year and a half spent with the Jets between their practice squad, injury reserve and a stint on the active roster.

The media wanted to know how that journey made him feel, and whether or not he hated the Jets because of it. They wanted to know why his former teammates in New York still liken him to a superhero.

“Really, I just don’t look at that too much, I’m not too worried about the media or what’s going on in the media,” Woodhead said yesterday. “Really, I’m just trying to do my job every day. If they say good things, great; it’s not something I’m looking into.”

And though Woodhead’s story may become exhausting to repeat between now and Monday night’s highly anticipated showdown, it’s one that’s still surprising to Woodhead and those close enough to him to see the body of work that got him to this point.

How he catapulted his North Platte Bulldogs from Nebraska high school football irrelevance to within a game of the state championship, and took that momentum to Chadron State, where he gained the second-most all purpose yards in NCAA history.

And how he’s still turning heads, one undrafted spring and two trying NFL seasons later.

“I just mentioned something to his dad the other day, and I think his dad used the word ‘surreal,’” Rich Reinert, a friend of the Woodhead family and the athletic director at his former high school, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

“To me it’s interesting to be able to sit in the recliner of my family room and watch a young man in the NFL play that played for our high school, someone I’ve known since he was born.”

It’s the story that Reinert — whose daughters Amanda and Andrea used to babysit Woodhead — said has turned the 25,000-person railroad town into a pack of avid Patriots fans once New England claimed him just four days after he was waived by the Jets.

One that (almost) turned them against their beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers, too, when they only offered Woodhead a walk-on slot and a chance to return kicks and punts.

“That was kind of a bone of contention in this community,” Reinert said.

But it’s also a story that doesn’t surprise anyone, either.

Bob Zohner, Woodhead’s high school coach, remembers vividly the way Woodhead would tear through defenses in his Wing-T offense. The “buck sweep” allowed him to wind up and toss his sub-200 pound body down the field.

He finished high school as Nebraska’s Class-A all-time rushing leader with 4,891 yards.

“Every game he just did some remarkable things,” said Zohner, who taught both Woodhead and his future wife, Stacia, in high school phys ed. “Unbelievable.”

It’s the same kind of disregard for his body that allows Woodhead to lay out every week, hauling in passes in traffic, hurling his body at blitzing linebackers twice his size.

“He’s come in here and he’s worked hard since Day One,” said Patriots chief of player personnel, Nick Caserio.

“He’s a smart player. There’s a lot of things he’s been asked to do and to this point he’s had the success at doing those things. We’re happy to have him.”

And it’s the story that’s fun for Zohner to listen to, because it’s the same one Woodhead told him before it all started. Back before anyone was there to listen.

Said Zohner: “He kept saying all along he was going to go to the next level.”

Conor Orr: [email protected]

 

 

Jets Coach Rex Puts Gang Greens Curse Far In The Past

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/11/30/2010-11-30_patriot_act_a_real_rex_riot.html

Rex Ryan is a character in mold of Casey Stengel and Bill Parcells, but wants Bill Belichick's rings

MIKE LUPICA

Antonelli/News

Jets coach Rex Ryan says he doesn't want to be like Bill Belichick (below) - "I want to be like myself" - but he says on Monday that he does want to mirror the New England coach's success.

The clock on the wall behind Rex Ryan in the Jets' interview room says 2:11, and it is the time of the afternoon to talk about one of the very best things in sports, and that is the big game. But it is always more than that when Ryan steps to the microphone, whether he is here to talk about a Monday night game between his Jets and the Patriots or not. It is showtime. It is the fun of being this coach of this team at this time. You know what other coach or manager in sports brings this kind of fun with him into the room? None of them. Nobody.

Before Ryan is even asked a question, he looks out at the crowd in front of him and says, "Few more people in the room today, the way I like it."

And smiles.

Before long, and without much prompting, he is talking about Tom Brady, using the material he has clearly brought with him, observing how similar he and Brady are, starting with the "obvious physical similarities." Then, talking about how Brady is married to a supermodel, Ryan opens up "In Style" magazine to show a picture of his wife. Sometimes Ryan doesn't just show up with material, he brings props, too.

"Page 329," showing off the photograph of Brady's wife. Nods and grins and says, "So we're very similar in that way."

We have had other characters in big jobs here, all the way back to Casey Stengel. Bill Parcells was big and could be funny himself, when he was in the mood, anyway. But there has never been anybody quite like Ryan, either on the New York City side of the Hudson or the Jersey side. He gets his message out the way the other coaches do and gets his shots in - "The way you guys have been reporting, I thought we had the worst defense," he said Monday - and somehow he does it all without acting like all the others, the ones who act as if the next answer they give might lose them their jobs.

Or at least their next game.

It was last December when the Jets, his Jets, suffered a bad loss to the Falcons at home. They were 7-7 and Ryan thought they were out of the playoffs, thought the Jets had lost their chance to make the kind of playoff run he was sure they had in them. You know what happened after that. You see what has happened this season. Now it is the 9-2 Jets against the 9-2 Patriots next Monday night in Foxborough, as big a regular-season game as the Jets have ever had, the game of the NFL season so far.

From 7-7 to here, Ryan's Jets have lost three football games. One was to Peyton Manning in the AFC Championship Game. You want to know how fast he has changed everything around the Jets? The Jets playing a big game like this against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and the Patriots feels as normal as the Yankees against the Red Sox in September. The Jets haven't won a Super Bowl since Joe Namath and the Patriots have won three in this decade. Still: The AFC East feels like the AL East when it is the Jets against the Patriots, for now, anyway.

First Lady Of Football Olivia Manning Runs Option For Febreze & NFL Marketing

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/business/media/03adco.html?_r=1

N.F.L.’s Official Air Freshener Aims at Female Fans, and the Cleanup

ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN

SOME brands that are official sponsors of the National Football League could be construed to reinforce stereotypes about male fans, whether it’s that they swill beer (Coors), laze on the couch eating pizza and snacks (Papa John’s, Frito-Lay), or overindulge (Prilosec heartburn medication).

But Febreze has become the “Official Air Freshener of the N.F.L.,” raising questions that may reflect well on men.

Is it the prevailing view on Madison Avenue, for example, that men today are contributing more to 

housework and should be sold household products?

Is the consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, which makes Febreze, shifting away from its strategy of marketing home care products almost exclusively to women?

Were the willow blossom and pomegranate mango Febreze scents formulated specifically to appeal to male N.F.L. fans?

The answers: No, no and no.

It turns out that the Febreze N.F.L. marketing is directed at women, and if there is one gender stereotype being debunked, it’s that women are not football fans.

A new television commercial for Febreze by Grey New York, part of the Grey Group unit ofWPP, features a woman in a football jersey spraying her living room with Febreze.

“Earlier today your living room was game day central — a place for friends, family and your husband’s trademark victory dance,” says a voiceover, as attendees are seen celebrating. “Now the crowd is gone and all that remains is the stink. But you’re ready, because Febreze Air Effects cleans away tough game-day odors in the air — sweat socks, chicken wings, garlic dip — and leaves a light, fresh scent.”

For the 2009 season, female television viewers constituted 33 percent of the average N.F.L. game audience, according to Nielsen. Super Bowl XLIV in February attracted 41.9 million female viewers, more than the entire adult audience for the Academy Awards the following month. And 35 percent of the adults who attended N.F.L. games in the last 12 months were women, according to Scarborough Research, a market research firm.

The Febreze sponsorship began last year, as part of a deal between the N.F.L. and several Procter & Gamble brands, including Head & Shoulders, Gillette, Old Spice and Vicks.

Scott Beal, brand manager for Febreze, said the line of air and fabric fresheners was directed at women, especially mothers, and that the brand “reaches our core consumer in a contextually relevant way” through the N.F.L.

“Our female target audience is watching the N.F.L. and gathering her family and friends for that football-watching experience,” Mr. Beal said. “Often when that happens, there’s food and there’s a crowded room and odors can be there, and that’s not the experience you want to have.”

Febreze spent $81.5 million on advertising in 2009, according Kantar Media, a subsidiary of WPP.

Introduced in 1999 as a fabric spray for items that could not be laundered, Febreze expanded into air fresheners in 2004. It had an 86 percent share of the fabric freshener market in the United States in 2009, and its share of the air freshener market grew to 12.1 percent in 2009 from 1.6 percent in 2004, according to Euromonitor International, a market research firm.

Mr. Beal said men were a “subtarget” for marketing of Febreze Sport, which was introduced last year and claims to “neutralize sweat odors” from shoes and sports equipment.

The spray, ads for which began appearing last year in Men’s Health magazine, is being stocked in the lockers of N.F.L. players, and last season it was often glimpsed in locker room interviews on ESPN, Mr. Beal added.

Women tend to use air fresheners more for ambiance, and men more for odor elimination, according to a report by Mintel, a market research company.

“Men are more likely than women to use unscented air fresheners, indicating that they prefer to get rid of unpleasant smells rather than adding a new smell to the home,” Mintel wrote.

Peter O’Reilly, vice president for brand strategy and marketing for the N.F.L., said “Our fan base has been pretty darn significant on the female side for a while, and it’s continuing to grow.”

Mr. O’Reilly said the league has worked to “debunk the stereotype” that women are not fans and to pique their interest by, for instance, selecting the singer Taylor Swift to perform during a pregame show for the season opener on Sept. 9.

The league has worked with apparel makers to promote better-fitting N.F.L. team shirts for women. An ad campaign for a product line called Touch by Alyssa Milano features slogans like “Finally. Love Your Team Without Looking Like You’re On It.”

Reebok, in collaboration with the league, last year introduced a line of N.F.L. team maternity shirts — and matching infant onesies — printed with sayings like “Mom’s Tiny Kicker.”

A customized Febreze bus will visit football stadiums throughout the season in what the brand is calling the Febreze Game Day Freshness tour.

Olivia Manning is a spokeswoman for the tour, including the first stop in her hometown of New Orleans on Sept. 9.

Two of her sons are N.F.L. quarterbacks, Peyton for the Indianapolis Colts and Eli for the New York Giants, and her husband, Archie, is a former N.F.L. quarterback as well.

Ms. Manning said in an interview by phone that when it came to football, the smell of success was often anything but sweet.

“I wish I had Febreze when my boys were coming home with their smelly gear,” she said.

On the bus tour and in videos on the Febreze Web site and Facebook page, Ms. Manning will share game-day hosting tips and recipes rather than dwelling solely on olfactory matters.

“I’m not an actor,” she said. “I’m really just an N.F.L. mom and wife talking about game day.”

With Lockout Looming NBA Players Are Urged To Learn A New Skill $aving

                    

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/saving-is-the-new-cool-in-n-b-a/

Saving Is the New Cool in N.B.A.

 JOANNE C. GERSTNER

N.B.A. players live in interesting times.

The concept of budgeting, downsizing and maybe, gasp, coupon-clipping, could be spreading, as players prepare for next season’s feared lockout by management.

The Coach luggage, Cartier watches, Bentleys and Maybachs may be replaced by more blue collar items or by keeping the money in the bank.

Billy Hunter, the executive director of the N.B.A. Players Association, is issuing daily warnings about a labor impasse being “99 percent” unavoidable. The collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players association expires at the end of this season.

“I think it’s highly probable that there will be a lockout and that’s what I’m preparing for because I don’t see anything else right now,” Hunter said Monday.

Some players are taking the urgency to save money seriously.

Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, who earned $2.2 million last season, decided to forgo the cliche blinged-out S.U.V. that fills most player parking lots. Hewent for a Ford Edge, sticker price $26,000, and seems happy according to the Wall Street Journal.

Knicks guard Roger Mason Jr. now drives a used Escalade, after trading in his Bentley.

Warriors forward Brandon Wright admits saving as much of the per diem money by eating sandwiches instead of filet mignon and creme brulee on the road.

“Cheap is the best way to be,” Wright told the Wall Street Journal.

Lakers guard Derek Fisher, president of the players association, wants his members to be as prepared as possible for financial hard times. The association developed a manual to address money management, covering such topics as buying vs. renting property, how to economize, and developing financial discipline around big-ticket items.

Hunter has been sending letters to players for the past two years, warning of possible labor actions.

Fisher has been holding his own discussions, through podcasts to players.

Despite the warnings and dire messages, it appears some players are still wandering in the financial wilderness, including Cavaliers rookie J.J. Hickson.

“I don’t know anything about that saving stuff,” Hickson said.

 

Army Black Knights Take On The Fighting Irish Of Notre Dame @ The New Yankee Stadium Saturday November 20th 2010 Join NY WaterWay & Make A Party Of It

NY Waterway 'YANKEE GIPPER' Ferry Takes Army and Notre Dame Fans to Historic Game at Yankee Stadium on 11/20/10!

The NY Waterway Yankee Clipper will be dubbed the ‘Yankee Gipper’ in honor of the first ever college football matchup in the new Yankee Stadium to be held November 20^th at 7 p.m. when longtime college rivals Notre Dame and Army take the field. 

Fighting Irish and Black Nights fans can enjoy world-famous views on this sightseeing cruise which offers hot dogs, soft drinks, beer and mixed drinks as it glides past the New York skyline – and the traffic – arriving at the stadium 30 minutes before game time, and leaving 30 minutes after the last whistle.    

Yankee Gipper cruises depart several points in New Jersey and Manhattan on a schedule linked to game time. 

The original Yankee stadium played host its last college football game 23 years ago.  It also was home to the famed “Win one for the Gipper” game between Notre Dame and Army in 1928. 

The Notre Dame and Army Game At Yankee Stadium is a two day event with many activities scheduled over a two day period.  In addition to taking the Yankee Clipper to see the game you can take the ferry to Midtown NY to participate in the other activites offered.  Below please find the schedule of events.

  Friday November 19th - Friday Football Luncheon at the Marriott Marquis in Time Square (11:30 - 1:30).

 

To kick-off the weekend, the Notre Dame Club of New York will host a luncheon for Notre Dame Football Coach Brian Kelly at the Marriott Marquis on Friday, November 19 from 11:30 – 1:30 pm. Regis Philbin, ’57, actor, singer and host of Live! With Regis and Kelly, will reign as master of ceremonies. Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., ’76, Athletic DirectorJack Swarbrick, ’76, and Heisman Trophy Winner John Lujack, ’48, will preside over the luncheon, including an auction of iconic Notre Dame artwork by popular sports artist Bill Lopa.

To purchase Luncheon tickets, please visit the NDNY website.

  Friday November 19th - Pep Rally at Lincoln Center Plaza (5:30pm - 6:30pm)

The historic Lincoln Center will host the Notre Dame Marching Band, Cheerleaders and Leprechaun, Jack Swarbrick, Coach Brian Kelly and special guests.

The rally is free and open to the public.

 Saturday Nov 20th - Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral (10:30am - 11:30am)
The University of Notre Dame will celebrate mass inside New York City’s most storied cathedral. Mass is available to all those interested but the capacity of the church is limited.

 Saturday Nov 20th - Notre Dame Band Concert - Times Square - Duffy Square (12:00pm - 12:45pm).

Come out to iconic Times Square to see the Notre Dame Marching Band perform a version of their traditional “Saturday Band Concert at Bond Hall”. The band will trade the steps of the University’s architecture building for the neon of Times Square as they fill Midtown Manhattan with all the Notre Dame Band staples.

 Saturday Nov 20th -  Game Day in New York Tailgate - Sheraton Hotel and Towers, 53rd & 7th, New York,

What: Indoor version of the Traditional Home Football Tailgate. All Irish fans welcome!

Cost: $25 per person (children five and under free), $40 at the door. Cash Bar for fans 21 and over. Since the admission price is low, we’re asking that fans also consider a $25 donation to the University which will support the New York area Notre Dame Club Scholarship Fund.

Reservations Strongly Recommended. Register now.

Questions? Contact Mark Seiler at [email protected], or by phone: (574) 631-7241