Times wires
Thursday, April 7, 2011
nfl
players, owners posture over resuming mediation on labor deal
WASHINGTON — A day after the judge handling the lockout lawsuit urged the sides to go "back to the table," the players and owners expressed a willingness to do so. But each offered to meet for talks in a setting the other finds unpalatable.
A lawyer representing MVP quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and other players suing the league wrote to U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson on Thursday to say they're willing to engage in mediation overseen by her federal court in St. Paul, Minn.
The NFL sent a letter to Nelson and lawyers for the players proposing to resume talks at the Washington office of federal mediator George Cohen, who mediated 16 days of negotiations in February and March that failed to result in a new collective bargaining agreement. Neither side was interested in the other's conditions, the Washington Post reported.
mike pouncey predicts his draft: Former Florida center/guard Mike Pouncey posted on Twitter he "would be shocked" if the Cowboys didn't take him in the draft this month. The projected first-round pick made the comment Wednesday after leaving meetings with the team in Dallas. But, he also posted, "To all the steelers fans i would love to be playing for the steelers and if i had a choice i would." Pouncey's twin brother, former Gator Maurkice, started at center for Pittsburgh as a rookie last year and made the Pro Bowl. Dallas picks ninth in the first round, the Steelers 31st.
horses
Premier Pegasus out of Triple Crown series
Premier Pegasus was knocked out of Saturday's Santa Anita Derby because of a leg injury that will sideline him through the Triple Crown series. He was the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the $1 million prep for the Kentucky Derby.
Premier Pegasus sustained a hairline fracture in his left front leg and will be out three to four months, assistant trainer Maria Ayala said. He was galloping on the infield training track in Arcadia, Calif., when Ayala thought she saw him stumble. "Ten minutes later… he was walking bad," she said.
Santa Anita oddsmaker Jon White redid the Santa Anita Derby morning line, installing Jaycito as the 2-1 favorite.
soccer
Man U's Rooney has cursing ban upheld
The English Football Association upheld a two-match ban handed to Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney for insulting and abusive language.
Rooney cursed at a TV camera after completing a hat trick in a Premier League match Saturday. He appealed the punishment, calling it "clearly excessive."
Rooney will miss a league match vs. Fulham on Saturday and the FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City on April 16. "I have to accept that what's happened has happened and move on from here," he said.
match-fixing trial: The chief defendant in a trial in Bochum, Germany, admitted paying bribes to players in what has been called Europe's biggest match-fixing scandal. Ante Sapina, 35, of Croatia, and his five co-defendants are accused of fixing 47 matches.
et cetera
tennis: Tampa resident Mardy Fish beat Albert Ramos 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Clay Court Championships at Houston, and Pablo Cuevas beat Tampa resident James Blake 7-5, 6-1. … Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki defeated Zahlavova Strycova, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (11-9) in at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C. Second seed Samantha Stosur, the defending champion, fell to Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-1.
Times wires