NFL Commissioner Supports CTE Link

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has supported the assertion of a senior league official who last week acknowledged the connection between football and the degenerative brain disease CTE, describing the statements as “consistent with our position over the years”.

Goodell’s comments on Wednesday at the annual owners meetings directly referenced NFL senior vice president Jeff Miller, whose remarks to a congressional roundtable last week represented the first time a league official has acknowledged a link between football and CTE by a league official.

“The most important thing for us is to support the medicine and scientists who determine what those connections are,” Goodell said. “We think that the statements that have been made by Jeff Miller and others have consistent with our position over the years. We’ve actually funded those studies. So we’re not only aware of those and recognize them but we support those studies. A lot of the research is still in its infancy, but we’re trying to find ways to accelerate that.”

The remarks came one day after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones characterized the connection between football and CTE as “absurd”.

The commissioner addressed a broad range of topics at the news conference on Wednesday, including the potential relocation of a team to Las Vegas and the reports suggesting the league is near a deal to host a regular-season game in China in 2018.

Goodell wouldn’t dismiss America’s gambling capital as a potential home for an NFL team when asked about Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis’ interest in moving his club there.

“Mark Davis is appropriately looking at all his alternatives,” Goodell said, adding the city’s association with legalized betting “are things we’d have to deal with. We would have to understand the impact on us. Each owner would have a vote; it would be a factor many owners would have to balance, the league would have to balance.”

The commissioner stopped short of confirming the Los Angeles Rams’ would play a regular-season game in China – news first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday and by NFL.com on Wednesday – but acknowledged the league’s well-documented global ambitions.

“I think the size of China in the global marketplace, that’s something you can’t ignore. We know we have lots of fans over there, and more important, potential fans over there,” Goodell said. “We have multiple teams that are interested in playing. We have more than we can handle at this point in time.”

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A-Rod Plans 2017 Retirement

Alex Rodriguez will call time on a hugely successful and often controversial baseball career in 2017 when his contract with the Yankees expires.

“I won’t play after next year,” Rodriguez told ESPN on Wednesday. “I’ve really enjoyed my time. It’s time for me to go home and be dad.”

Rodriguez’s plan was confirmed by his spokesman Ron Berkowitz, who said: “At the end of the contract he’s going to be 42 years old, but we still have (324) games to go until we get to this point.”

Rodriguez, who turns 41 on 27 July, is into the final two years of his 10-year, $275m contract with New York. The 20-year veteran made his MLB debut for the Seattle Mariners in 1994, and has 3,070 career hits at .297. 

He enters 2016 with 687 home runs, and should become just the fourth player to cross the 700 threshold, joining Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth as members of an exclusive club.

Rodriguez starred for the Yankees in several offensive categories last season after serving a year-long suspension for admitting he used performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez was initially banned for 213 games in August 2013, but his suspension was reduced on appeal to 162 games, keeping him off the field for the entire 2014 season.

His 33 home runs last season were the sixth-most in MLB history for a player 39 years of age or older.

A-Rod will earn $40m over the final two years of the contract he signed before the 2008 season.

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NFL Commissoner Goodell Bags $34.1M

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s endured a stormy 2014, as the league he oversees received criticism over the handling of the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson domestic violence cases. But Goodell was rewarded well for any stress he was placed under, with ESPN reporting he earned $34.1m in 2014. 

In the same period the league spent $10m on concussion research, an issue that has plagued the league’s image and has been linked to the death of a number of former players. 

Goodell earned a base salary of $3.5m, as well as a bonus of $26.5m, $3.7m in pension payments and just over $250,000 in “other reportable compensation”.

The NFL has non-profit status, which means its tax filings – including Goodell’s pay packet – are a matter of public record. However, the league is giving up its non-profit status after Goodell said it would “make no material difference to our business”, meaning his salary will not be made public in future.

The $34.1m Goodell made in 2014 is above the average of $20m a year he has made in his nine years as commissioner. While Goodell’s salary is huge, it is comparable with other people in similar trades. The NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, made far less than Goodell with earnings of $9.6m in the 2013-14 season but the league’s revenues were much lower at $3.7bn. However, another figure in the world of sports, Nike CEO Mark Parker, made $14.7m off company revenue of $27.7bn.

Other expenses listed on the NFL’s tax filings were more $13m for office rental and $16m in legal fees.

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Pittsburgh Steel Begal Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading to Denver. The Cincinnati Bengals are heading to another long offseason after a meltdown as ugly and ill-timed as it was complete.

Chris Boswell kicked a 35-yard field goal with 14 seconds remaining as the Steelers somehow pulled out an 18-16 victory in the AFC wildcard game on Saturday night.

Pittsburgh moved into field goal position after a pair of 15-yard penalties on the Bengals, one on linebacker Vontaze Burfict and another on Adam Jones after Burfict hit defenseless Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. Boswell drilled his fourth field goal of the game to give the Steelers their first playoff win since the 2010 AFC championship game. The Bengals appeared to be in position for their first postseason win in 25 years before Jeremy Hill’s fumble gave Pittsburgh one last shot.

Roethlisberger left with a right shoulder injury on the final play of the third quarter but returned for Pittsburgh’s last-gasp drive. Unable to throw with any real authority, he still managed to get the Steelers near midfield with 22 seconds to go when he threw high to Brown in Cincinnati territory. Burfict, whose sack of Roethlisberger sent the quarterback to the locker room, lowered his shoulder as Brown landed. The volatile linebacker earned a personal foul. Jones compounded the problem when he lost his cool, easily putting Boswell within field goal range after Cincinnati’s eighth — and final — flag of an unsightly night.

Roethlisberger finished 18 of 31 for 229 yards and a touchdown in rainy conditions. Jordan Todman and Fitzgerald Toussaint combined for 123 yards rushing filling in for DeAngelo Williams.

Still, it hardly seemed like it would be enough. AJ McCarron put together a late rally after Martavis Bryant’s somersaulting touchdown grab gave the Steelers a 15-0 lead heading into the final quarter.

Cincinnati ripped off 16 straight points, the last six on a 25-yard strike from McCarron to AJ Green that put the Bengals in front. They missed the two-point conversion.

When Burfict intercepted Landry Jones on Pittsburgh’s ensuing possession, Cincinnati and coach Marvin Lewis appeared ready to end the sixth-longest postseason drought in NFL history.

Then, the team that said it would keep it together fell completely apart. Hill saw the ball pop out as Cincinnati tried to run out the clock and the Steelers recovered at the Pittsburgh 9 with 1:23 left. Just enough time for Roethlisberger — with plenty of help from Cincinnati — to send the Steelers to Denver and a rematch with the Broncos, whom Pittsburgh beat 34-27 last month.

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Cavaliers Kyrie Irving Returns

Cavaliers All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving will make his season debut on Sunday against Philadelphia, his first game since breaking his left kneecap in the NBA Finals.

Irving posted “I’m back” on his Twitter account Saturday and later said following the team’s practice that he’s excited to play. Irving hasn’t been on the floor since getting hurt in Game 1 of the Finals against Golden State.

“I’m pretty F’ing excited,” Irving said Saturday. “There were a few things I had to clear, but there was no rush on it. ... I’ve been ready to play, but biomechanically we just wanted to make sure everything was good so I wouldn’t put myself at risk.”

The 23-year-old has gone through extensive rehab over the past six months. He said he wouldn’t wish his injury on anyone.

The Cavs and Irving have exercised patience during his long recovery. He had been expected to make his return earlier this week, but Irving said there were still some medical hurdles to overcome.

Irving said his minutes will be restricted and he’ll ease his way back before his playing time increases in the coming weeks.

“The emotions and thoughts, that’s hardest thing,” Irving said. “A lot has changed on the basketball court and in my life.”

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Timbers Win MLS Title

Portland Timbers became Major League Soccer champions for the first time as they beat Columbus Crew in the final, with ex-Premier League defender Liam Ridgewell lifting the trophy.

Diego Valeri put Portland ahead after just 27 seconds when he charged down a clearance from keeper Steve Clark.

Rodney Wallace then headed in to make it 2-0 in the seventh minute.

Kei Kamara pulled one back before half-time but the Timbers won their first major trophy since joining MLS in 2011.

Portland captain Ridgewell, 31, who played in the Premier League for Aston Villa, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion, is in his second season with the club.

The final, at the Crew's Mapre Stadium, got off to a dramatic start when Clark's error gifted Valeri the opening goal.

The keeper's attempted clearance bounced off the Argentine and into the net, to set a new record for the fastest goal in the history of the MLS Cup - the name given to the final.

Portland were then gifted another goal when they were allowed to play on after the ball had clearly gone out for what should have been a throw-in, and Lucas Melano crossed for Costa Rica international Wallace to head in.

Columbus hit back as their top scorer, Sierra Leone forward Kamara, fired in his 26th goal of the season on the turn after goalkeeper Larsen Kwarasey had spilled a cross.

But the hosts barely made another chance as Ridgewell's defence stood firm and Portland were unfortunate not to add to their lead in the second half as they created a number of chances.

Melano saw a shot blocked, Kamara was spared an own-goal by Michael Parkhurst's goalline clearance, Fanendo Adi headed against a post and Clark saved superbly from Natt Borchers' close-range header.

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Miles to Remain LSU Coach - ESPN

Les Miles will remain as coach at LSU, athletic director Joe Alleva said Saturday night, ending a week of intense speculation that he would not return.

A source involved in the talks told ESPN's Joe Schad that the decision to retain Miles was not made until the third quarter of Saturday night's 19-7 victory over Texas A&M.

The silence from LSU's administration this week about Miles' job status spoke volumes, but not as loudly as the support Tigers fans showed on Saturday. It's been a strange week in Baton Rouge.

"Obviously there's been quite a bit of speculation in the past few days about the future of our football coach and our football program," Alleva said. "I made it very clear that my policy is to wait till the end of the season, and obviously it's the end of the regular season.

"The season's complete, and I want to make it very clear and positive that Les Miles is our football coach and he will continue to be our football coach. I'm looking forward to working with Coach Miles as he leads this team to a bowl game and another great recruiting class."

After the victory over the Aggies, Tigers players lifted Miles on their shoulders and carried him down the field toward the student section as the crowd chanted "Keep Les Miles! Keep Les Miles!''

The coach said he was initially told he would remain at LSU following the game, first by school president F. King Alexander, and then by Alleva.

Decision-makers at the school, the source told Schad, felt that the media had swayed the public and that a decision to remove Miles would have been perceived as mean-spirited because he had become a sympathetic figure.

In addition, the source said the university felt it would have been difficult to ask for funds from the state in the future since a buyout of Miles' contract would have been paid by private donations.

"I am proud to be associated with a great institution, my colleagues, my coaches, my players and the president and athletic director," Miles said. "It's a joy. It's nice for them to come say to me, 'Hey, the job you've been doing, you can still do it.' I like that."

Miles' job status had been in question for more than a week, and speculation had intensified after the program's first three-game losing streak since 1999.

A source told Schad on Friday that LSU leadership was "heavily in favor" of a change but that a final decision had not been made and that Miles had not been formally informed he would not return. Another source said Miles was "very likely" to be let go soon.

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Phelps Second to Lochte in Comeback

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Michael Phelps finished second in the 100m butterfly final at the Arena Grand Prix in Arizona - his first event since coming out of retirement.

The 18-time Olympic champion, who retired after the London 2012 Games, was beaten by rival Ryan Lochte.

helps, 28, came out of retirement following concerns about weight gain.

"It's one meet; it's one race," said Phelps, who will also contest Friday's 50m freestyle. "It's a long way from whether I decide to continue or not."

American Lochte finished in 51.93 seconds - the second-fastest time in the world this year - with Phelps close behind in 52.13 and Kenya's Jason Dunford third in 53.08.

Phelps' time was more than two seconds outside his world record of 49.82, set in 2009, but comfortably under the qualifying standard required for the United States national championships in August - which will act as a selection event for next year's World Championships in Russia.

"I'm really excited about how things went," added Phelps, when speaking to ESPN. "I do know what I need to do if I want to continue and swim faster."

Lochte, a five-time Olympic champion who beat Phelps to win the 400m individual medley at London 2012, said his fast time was a result of his rival's return to the pool.

"I probably wouldn't have gone that time if Phelps wasn't in that pool with me," said Lochte, 29. "We push each other all the time.

"With what he's done for the sport of swimming and him leaving kind of broke my heart a little because I love getting on those blocks and racing him.

"Now that he's back I've got a big old smile on my face."

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