May 2011 Archives

Amid increasing allegations that he lied to university and NCAA officials about his knowledge of widespread rules violations, there has been a lot of talk about whether Ohio State University can rescind Jim Tressel's contract.

Having resigned over the weekend, the inquiry can be settled once and for all.

Do the Buckeyes owe the shamed coach any of his contract's designated payouts? The remaining $14 million? The perks?

In short, probably not--and for a few reasons.

The NFL and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones were in court on Thursday, requesting that a judge dismiss the Super Bowl seating lawsuit that seeks damages for ticket-holding football fans left seatless on game day.

While the NFL and Cowboys have technically offered to reimburse displaced fans, their argument that these measures go "beyond [their] contractual obligations" falls short.

They're called reliance damages.

Giovanni Ramirez's alibi is out, and it involves his 10-year-old daughter and a group of 8 family members and friends.

If these people are to be believed, Ramirez, arrested over the weekend for his suspected involvement in the March 31st Dodger beating that left Giants fan Bryan Stow in a coma, was actually in an East Hollywood apartment on game day, babysitting the little girl.

The news of Giovanni Ramirez's alibi comes from Chip Matthews, who the Los Angeles Times reports is an attorney representing Ramirez's daughter.

Another Tuesday, another Kyle Busch speeding ticket.

Or shall we say another ticket for reckless driving?

Kyle Busch was cited on Tuesday afternoon after an officer near Mooresville, North Carolina clocked him going 128 in a 45 mph zone.

That's nearly three times over the legal limit.

Officers found Kyle Busch speeding in a 2012 yellow Lexus LFA, which Fox News reports is a concept car and production model that just begs for speed.

The Bryan Stow lawsuit seemed inevitable. After it was revealed that the Los Angeles Dodgers had reduced security for the home opener that Bryan Stow was beaten after, a lawsuit against the team was almost a foregone conclusion.

On Tuesday, the Bryan Stow lawsuit became a reality. The Giants fan's family sued the Dodgers, naming owner Frank McCourt's "lavish lifestyle" and his messy divorce as reasons for why Dodgers Stadium was unable to provide adequate security detail on the night of Stow's beating.

Bryan Stow, 42, was brutally beaten in the Dodger Stadium parking lot on opening day. The Stow family alleges that the Dodgers' actions and inactions exposed "Stow to criminal acts of third parties."

​The Stow lawsuit comes two days after Los Angeles police arrested Giovanni Ramirez, 31, on suspicion of beating Stow.

Oscar De La Hoya has entered the ring against a new opponent.

Retired world and 1992 Olympic champion boxer Oscar De La Hoya has announced he entered drug rehab last month, to address substance abuse and infidelity issues, reports NBC Sports.

De La Hoya, 38, reportedly had battled alcohol, cocaine and marital infidelity issues before entering an undisclosed California rehab facility. De La Hoya married Millie Corretjer in 2001, and the couple has two children, reports Fox Chicago News.

"After doing an honest evaluation of myself, I recognize that there are certain issues that I need to work on... I ask for respect and privacy as my family and I go through this process," De La Hoya said in a statement, reports Fox.

Working off a tip provided by a parole officer, an arrest was made over the weekend in the case of Bryan Stow - the Giants fan beating. The arrest brings to light questions about parolee rights and the Fourth Amendment.

According to a statement made by the Los Angeles Police Department, SWAT officers served warrants on two locations in East Hollywood, arresting Giovanni Ramirez, who has now been arraigned on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

It's well-known that parolees have very little privacy, so why didn't the parole officer just search Ramirez' home?

Former champ Sugar Ray Leonard is boxing royalty, but sex abuse by a former coach marred his childhood. News of the coach's abuse was brought to light in Leonard's new autobiography, "The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring."

According to his own account, the champion boxing star, 55, said that he was abused twice by an unnamed coach. The first time was when he was only 15, when he went to a boxing event in Utica, New York. The second time was several years later, when the same coach took advantage of him after filling talking up what winning an Olympic gold medal would do for his career.

Most of Leonard's close friends and colleagues were shocked by the news. They had heard about Leonard's problems with drug and alcohol, but this is the first time that Leonard spoke about the abuse, reports The New York Times.

As of this week, the NFL lockout is back on.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, extended the lockout until it can rule on the merits of the underlying appeal challenging the injunction issued last month by Judge Susan Nelson.

That date is set for June 3, but if the court's order is any indication, the NFL lockout isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

It seems that more legal troubles are heading the way of former ESPN personality and Chicago Sun-Times writer Jay Mariotti. Stalking, corporal injury on a spouse or domestic partner, and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury - all felonies - round up the list of charges against him.

Mariotti has pled not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he would face up to 5 years in state prison, reports the Times.

Mariotti is already on probation from an August 2010 incident involving the same ex-girlfriend. In that misdemeanor domestic violence case, he pled no contest, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Racing cyclists must wear hard helmets to protect their heads in falls. But accidents still happen. Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt died recently after a high-speed downhill crash at the Giro d'Italia, a road race in Northern Italy, reports the Associated Press.

Weylandt died after he fell during a fast descent down a mountain road.

According to race officials, the Belgian's left pedal got stuck in a wall at the side of the road, forcing Weylandt to tumble about 66 feet to the ground below. He suffered a skull fracture. Medical efforts to revive him on the roadway failed, reports the Associated Press.

When the Indianapolis Colts hired cheerleader Malori Wampler they said they had "no problem" with her former work for Playboy, Wampler said. Then the pictures surfaced.

Wampler, 27, claims in a lawsuit recently filed in Indianapolis federal court that she got fired mid-season from her position as a Colts cheerleader. The firing, she says, resulted after a fan sent the Colts photographs of Wampler posing in a painted-on bikini. Her private parts were covered, reports the Indianapolis Star.

Wampler claims the painted-on bikini photographs were taken when she worked for Playboy Entertainment. She claims that since the photographs predated her work for the Colts, the firing resulted from discrimination against her, on the basis of gender and her Indonesian ethnicity, reports the Star.

A federal bankruptcy fraud case against former New York Mets star Lenny Dykstra has the player formerly known as "Nails" in serious hot water.

Last Friday, a grand jury indicted Dykstra on charges of fraud and obstruction of justice. Dykstra was originally arrested by police on suspicion of grand theft, but has not been indicted on those charges, reports Reuters.

Sports video games a serious business. Millions of dollars go into the development and marketing of football, basketball and baseball games featuring realistic likenesses of sports heroes.

After EA Sports put former UCLA and NBA veteran Ed O'Bannon's image in hoops video games without his permission, O'Bannon sued, reports CBS Sports.

So does EA Sports own Ed O'Bannon's face in a UCLA uniform? Can the NCAA sell the right to O'Bannon's face in that uniform?

Though it's been a few years since Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) forced Congress to consider the plight of college football and the Bowl Championship Series, his crusade is finally getting some real legal backing.

The Department of Justice announced Wednesday afternoon that it has opened an official inquiry into whether the BCS violates federal antitrust laws.

You may have thought that the NFL lockout was over when Judge Susan Nelson issued an injunction ordering the league to permit players to access team facilities.

But now that the 8th Circuit is involved and has issued an administrative stay reinstating the lockout, things are about to get a little bit more complicated.