Times wires
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
NFL
Report: sides agree on rookie pay
The owners and players have reached a compromise on a rookie wage scale, Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday. Neither side commented. The plan would limit guaranteed money and signing bonuses, the report said. Specifics were not reported.
Under the agreement, first-round draft picks would sign four-year deals, everyone else three-year deals. Currently, the first 16 players taken can sign for up to six years, the next 16 for up to five and everyone else three.
Players taken in the first round could be unrestricted free agents after the fourth year. Players taken afterward could be designated by teams as restricted free agents for the fourth year before becoming unrestricted.
Meanwhile, union leader DeMaurice Smith indicated the owners have lowered from $1 billion to $800 million the amount of additional revenues they want to take off the top of their $9 billion business. The NFL got $1 billion for operating expenses under the agreement being replaced. But he said he considers the new figure still too high because the league is not offering to turn over enough financial information. Smith said the union has asked for "fully audited financial statements" for all 32 teams since May 2009 but what the league has proposed to provide is "utterly meaningless."
"Has (the union) gotten everything it wants? Evidently not. Have we offered to provide more? Absolutely," the owners' lead negotiator, Jeff Pash, said. "And is it a subject that we're prepared to discuss? Absolutely."
Autos
Biffle has plane scare
No one was hurt when a plane carrying NASCAR driver Greg Biffle had mechanical issues while landing at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. The right landing gear collapsed as the plane was taxiing, causing a wing to hit the runway. Biffle credited his pilots.
Et cetera
Iditarod: Kelley Griffin took the lead by being the first to leave Ophir, 444 miles into the 1,150-mile race in Alaska. Many mushers, including four-time defending champion Lance Mackey, rested for 24 hours at Takotna, 25 miles from Ophir. Rules require one 24-hour rest, which Griffin hasn't taken.
Skiing: Bode Miller will not race in the final four World Cup events in order to spend time with his daughter. The American, 33, has already missed two events.
Soccer: Host Tottenham, in the UEFA Champions League competition for the first time since 1961-62, tied AC Milan 0-0 to win the two-game aggregate 1-0 and reach the quarterfinals. Milan, a seven-time champion, has failed to reach the quarterfinals for four consecutive seasons since winning the title in 2007.
Surfing: Cocoa Beach's Kelly Slater won the opening event of the men's world tour in Gold Coast, Australia, beating defending champion Taj Burrow in the Quiksilver Pro final.
Times wires