Not that this should be a shock or anything... but the league called and they want some of their money back...
The National Hockey League ((Commissioner Bettman is pictured, thanks CP)) filed papers in New York on Friday claiming former Phoenix Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes breached a contract violating ideas involving the proposed sale of the team without the consent of the league and, at the same time, not covering team expenses before and during bankruptcy proceedings.
The pricetag- according to the league- a little over $61-million. Moyes is debating a countersuit with his lawyers over the idea that the league didn't give the Balsillie proposal a fair look during the sale process.
The NHL claims that Moyes was "secretly plotting to force a sale to (Jim) Balsillie."
Moyes spokesman Steve Roman said the owner of Swift Transportation lost more than $300 million during his time as owner of the Coyotes.
"Now they want to come after you for another $60-plus million?"
The HQ thinks that's the best quote of the day, by far...
Here's the recap of the Earl Scudder memo-Save The Coyotes Day FOSG James Cybulski is at the anchor desk... ((HT: TSN))
Texas A&M-Commerce head football coach Guy Morriss has apologized for backing his players when they lifted campus newspapers from their racks because of a story about the program.
Remember, Morriss told campus police the actions by his players was "the best team-building exercise we have ever done." He apologized for a "lapse in judgment" and said the comment was made facetiously.
((The HQ seriously doubts it, but we'll proceed anyway...))
A&M-Commerce athletic director Carlton Cooper said the Division II program would pay for the reprint of the missing edition, and that coaches and players would distribute it.
That seems like better team building to the HQ, actually, than anything Morriss has immediately planned.
It's no secret that the ACC has, in the past been North Carolina, Duke...and bunch of other guys in basketball. Not this year. North Carolina is mediocre..at best, Duke is Duke, with a great record and will be overrated in the NCAA Tourney.
However, the better story, this year, is Maryland and in particular Senior Guard Greivis Vasquez who has won the ACC Player of the Year award. Vasquez, who averaged 19.6ppg, 6.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds was very deserving of the award, for without him Maryland wouldn't have gone 23-7 or 13-3 in the conference or tied for 1st in the conference.
More on the story from the Washington Post RIGHT HERE
((Greivis Vasquez//Courtesy: interbasket.net))
There was a lot of speculation that Duke's Jon Scheyer would win the award, mostly because he was the best player for the Dukies, but that didn't happen, Vasquez won handily.
Vasquez' coach, Gary Williams by the way was the coach of the year in the ACC which traditionally has been the best of the Basketball conferences. However this year is a bit different. Aside from Maryland and Duke, nobody has played particularly well and in fact most ACC teams have underachieved (see Georgia Tech). It will be interesting to see how it plays next week...when the Madness officially begins.
Here is Mr. Vasquez on a rather impressive steal and slam earlier this season. Thaks you Tube:
Well, NASCAR stepped up to the plate this afternoon and punished Carl Edwards for his really not-so bright move at the end of the race this past Sunday in Atlanta. Yes, the "Truth" got a penalty for wrecking and subsequently flipping driver Brad Keslowski. One so severe that he may never consider running into anyone ever again. One so scary that he might actually...well...he got probation.
What exactly does one do on NASCAR probation? We don't know. We are guessing that it means he has to be a good boy for the next 3 weeks while serving his penalty.
((Edwards and Crew Chief Bob Osborne//Courtesy: LAT Photographic/Autoweek))
Yes, Mike Helton did say that Edwards behavior was "Not Acceptable" but then didn't really punish him a whole lot either. Most attribute the lack of a serious penalty to the new edict of "Let 'em Race" philosophy that NASCAR is embracing this season in hopes of stopping sliding TV ratings and attendance. We like most think that this really isn't the way to go about it.
In case you haven't seen the wreck, here it is. Thanks You Tube/NASCAR:
For UConn, it's a new record for consecutive wins breaking their old record of 70.
It was a 59-44 win over Notre Dame in the Big East Conference semi-finals...
There really isn't a whole lot that can be said without dropping into cliches- something the HQ detests...
We'll leave it to Rich Coppola and the Fox61 team from Hartford to give you the details... Laurie Perez follows from outside the arena for a standard fan piece...
Maybe we are a little slow, but we just (thanks to our friends at The Big Lead) read about and watched video of a rather impressive buzzer beater from a Division III Basketball Tournament game this past Friday night.
Here is the setup. The Albertus Magnus Falcons of New Haven, Connecticut against William Paterson of New Jersey. Late in a close game and Patterson takes the lead on a Gabriel Paul short jumper with 1.6 seconds left in the game. Magnus, barely has time to get the ball in to Byron Reaves...and then check out what happens.
Officials in Lowndes County ((GA)) say Zach Mettenberger has been released on bond after being arrested in a south Georgia bar.
Remerton, Georgia Police Chief Mike Terrell said Monday the circumstances are still being investigated, but the city police report says Mettenberger was arrested at a bar called "Flip Flops" on Sunday.
A police report says he's charged with underage consumption and possession of alcohol, possessing fake identification and disorderly conduct-obstruction.
The 18-year-old Mettenberger is a redshirt freshman from Oconee County ((the Watkinsville area just outside of Athens)). The University of Georgia is on spring break, and the HQ is fairly certain who the starting QB will be now...
Someone not named Mettenberger... Here's some high school file tape of Zach...
But we figured we'd tell you anyway... the only revelation is the monitoring of surveillance video tapes from inside Capital City by the Milledgeville Police Department and the GBI.
Here's the GBI's Special agent in charge, Tom Davis, discussing the impending return of Roethlisberger and his new attorney, Ed Garland... for about a minute...
Thanks to our friends at 13WMAZ and 13wmaz.com
The HQ is familiar with Garland's work in the Ray Lewis and Dany Heatley cases... Middle Georgia won't know what hit them when they all hit town...
You don't hire "Coach" unless there's something to be worried about or coached on...
MPD hopes to interview Roethlisberger in the next few days and expect Garland to arrange the appropriate time to talk.
Garland told the gathered media-types today in a statement that there was "no criminal activity" and Roethlisberger is "completely innocent of any crime." Garland also says that no sexual assault occurred.
((What else is he going to say...?))
Paul Martino is in Milledgeville for KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh...
The Steelers issued a statement this afternoon... However brief...
"All of us in the Steelers family are concerned about the recent incident involving Ben Roethlisberger in Georgia. We cannot comment on any of the specifics until law enforcement's investigation is concluded. Certainly, we will continue to closely monitor the situation."
With a weekend of a lot of little things going on...ok...there were a couple of interesting stories, but there aren't a lot that we didn't cover over the course of the weekend. But in the interest of trying to stay somewhat consistent (as long I don't have to go to work until 11am), here are a few things that happened overnight.
Your First NCAA Qualifier is...
Yes, it is getting to be that time of year in College Basketball. In fact this week would be considered the 1st of the "Tournament Weeks" with most conferences that have tournaments playing them and teams qualifying for March Madness or as we know it, the NCAA Tournament.
The 1st team in....Northern Iowa. The Panthers are in by virtue of beating Wichita State 67-53 in the Missouri Valley
Enjoy this clip of students at the school trying to pronounce the players names. Thanks Gazetteonline and You Tube:
George Karl Perseveres....
Best wishes to Denver Nuggets Coach George Karl who will will undergo a sur
gical procedure today (monday) to help his treatment for throat and neck cancer. He'll start another round of chemotherapy starting on Tuesday.
He hopes to return to his team on Friday. We hope so. Karl, one of the better coaches in the NBA has to be struggling to get through this. Chemo is tough on people who don't have physical, stressful job...we can only imagine how tough this is for him.
Karl spoke about the whole thing when he was diagnosed in February.
Thanks You Tube:
UConn Women just keep winning:
It's no secret that the University of Connecticut's women's basketball team has been one of the if not the most successful of any team in the NCAA for the past oh...20 or so years. So it should come as no surprise that they have tied their own record yesterday when they won their 70th game in a row. They advanced in the Big East tournament with a 77-41 win over Syracuse
Yes, it is short of UCLA's 88 game win streak from back in the early 70's, but in this day and time it is pretty damn impressive. The Lady Huskies haven't really been challenged this season, they have a 31-0 record and they've won all of their games by at least 10 points. It would take a monumental upset for them not to run the table and win the Women's Final Four.
More on the team, the win and the significance from the Courant.com RIGHT HERE
Since we can't show highlights from the game (Network restrictions), here is a story on the whole thing from AP News with Photos and a voice track. Thanks Associated Press and You Tube:
The Penguins Matt Cooke decided to lead with his elbow and take out the Bruins Marc Savard from behind Sunday afternoon...
The running debate is whether or not this is worse than the Brad Richards-David Booth meeting where Richards destroyed Booth with an elbow of his own...
Expect Cooke to get a hearing with league brass sometime very soon...
And also expect Matt Cooke to be in the cross hairs of every Bruin from this moment forward...
