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Sports Briefs: Baseball lawyers aim for agreement
By The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 | No comments posted.
NEW YORK — Lawyers for baseball players and owners hope to reach an agreement on changes in their drug agreement before most teams start the regular season, culminating talks that began following recommendations in December’s Mitchell Report.
The sides planned to talk this week in Arizona, during the final week of spring training. This would be the third time players and owners toughened drug rules since their initial agreement in August 2002. The sides also made changes in January 2005, when sanctions for first offenders were instituted, and in November 2005, when the penalty for an initial positive test was increased from 10 days to 50 games.
If they strike a deal, the 15-day suspensions imposed on Kansas City’s Jose Guillen and Baltimore’s Jay Gibbons in December after being linked to performance-enhancing drugs most likely would be rescinded as part of an overall amnesty for players mentioned in the report, two people familiar with the talks said.
Mitchell, a Boston Red Sox director, recommended commissioner Bud Selig not punish players implicated in his report “except in those cases where he determines that the conduct is so serious that discipline is necessary to maintain the integrity of the game.”
BASKETBALL
Nowitzki out indefinitely
DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks is out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain and a mildly sprained knee.
It’s a blow to the Mavericks’ title hopes — and perhaps their chances of making the playoffs. The team announced the diagnosis Monday, the day after the reigning MVP was injured during a game against San Antonio.
He is getting around in a protective boot without crutches.
Nowitzki is seventh in the league at 23.6 points per game this season. He’s also the team leader in rebounds (8.8) and averaging a career-best 3.6 assists.
The Mavs have lost three straight, continuing a spiral since adding Jason Kidd. They are only 9-8 with the All-Star point guard and hold a one-game lead over Golden State for the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference
Walsh to leave Pacers, may be headed for Knicks
INDIANAPOLIS — Donnie Walsh’s career with the Indiana Pacers will end after this season, giving operation of the troubled franchise a single voice under Hall of Famer Larry Bird.
Walsh, the team’s CEO and president since 1988, said he would step aside after this season, his 24th year with the Pacers. He would not comment on his future, including media reports that he already has been talking with the New York Knicks about taking over as their president.
In New York, Isiah Thomas wouldn’t comment on speculation that Walsh could replace him, but praised his former boss with the Pacers.
PRO FOOTBALL
Goodell rules 49ers guilty of tampering in Briggs case
NEW YORK — The San Francisco 49ers forfeited their fifth-round pick in next month’s NFL draft after commissioner Roger Goodell deemed them guilty of tampering with Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs.
Goodell also determined the teams will switch picks in the third round of the April 26-27 draft. Chicago, which had the 12th pick, will get San Francisco’s seventh pick and the 49ers will get Chicago’s choice.
Goodell determined the 49ers violated the NFL’s anti-tampering policy by contacting Briggs’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, about his client during the 2007 season.
Briggs, an all-Pro in 2007, had been designated as Chicago’s franchise player, signing a one-year tender that meant he could not leave the Bears.
WRESTLING
Former pro Tatum dies of apparent accidental overdose
ATLANTA — A former wrestler was found dead in his home after suffering an apparent accidental drug overdose, his father said.
Chase Tatum, 34, was found dead Sunday in his home in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, his father, Roy Tatum, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Chase Tatum used to wrestle for the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling organization. More recently, he appeared in the comedy “Who’s Your Caddy?”
Chase Tatum had been recovering from back surgery to repair a degenerative disc. His father said the former wrestler had been fighting a dependence to painkillers for years but had been planning to enter a rehabilitation center.
“He was in the process of getting his life back together,” Roy Tatum said Monday. “He was confident he was going to turn things around, to live a normal life again without those painkillers.”
A toxicology report has been ordered by the Fulton County Medical Examiner, which will take about six to eight weeks, said Laura Salm, an investigator with the coroner’s office.
Chase Tatum was 19 when he won the Mr. Georgia bodybuilding competition. He began a career as a personal trainer, which he continued until his death.
Chase Tatum retired from wrestling after about two-and-a-half years. However, his brief wrestling career left him with severe back problems but without health insurance to pay for the surgery. Painkillers kept him going, his father said.
The sides planned to talk this week in Arizona, during the final week of spring training. This would be the third time players and owners toughened drug rules since their initial agreement in August 2002. The sides also made changes in January 2005, when sanctions for first offenders were instituted, and in November 2005, when the penalty for an initial positive test was increased from 10 days to 50 games.
If they strike a deal, the 15-day suspensions imposed on Kansas City’s Jose Guillen and Baltimore’s Jay Gibbons in December after being linked to performance-enhancing drugs most likely would be rescinded as part of an overall amnesty for players mentioned in the report, two people familiar with the talks said.
Mitchell, a Boston Red Sox director, recommended commissioner Bud Selig not punish players implicated in his report “except in those cases where he determines that the conduct is so serious that discipline is necessary to maintain the integrity of the game.”
BASKETBALL
Nowitzki out indefinitely
DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks is out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain and a mildly sprained knee.
It’s a blow to the Mavericks’ title hopes — and perhaps their chances of making the playoffs. The team announced the diagnosis Monday, the day after the reigning MVP was injured during a game against San Antonio.
He is getting around in a protective boot without crutches.
Nowitzki is seventh in the league at 23.6 points per game this season. He’s also the team leader in rebounds (8.8) and averaging a career-best 3.6 assists.
The Mavs have lost three straight, continuing a spiral since adding Jason Kidd. They are only 9-8 with the All-Star point guard and hold a one-game lead over Golden State for the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference
Walsh to leave Pacers, may be headed for Knicks
INDIANAPOLIS — Donnie Walsh’s career with the Indiana Pacers will end after this season, giving operation of the troubled franchise a single voice under Hall of Famer Larry Bird.
Walsh, the team’s CEO and president since 1988, said he would step aside after this season, his 24th year with the Pacers. He would not comment on his future, including media reports that he already has been talking with the New York Knicks about taking over as their president.
In New York, Isiah Thomas wouldn’t comment on speculation that Walsh could replace him, but praised his former boss with the Pacers.
PRO FOOTBALL
Goodell rules 49ers guilty of tampering in Briggs case
NEW YORK — The San Francisco 49ers forfeited their fifth-round pick in next month’s NFL draft after commissioner Roger Goodell deemed them guilty of tampering with Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs.
Goodell also determined the teams will switch picks in the third round of the April 26-27 draft. Chicago, which had the 12th pick, will get San Francisco’s seventh pick and the 49ers will get Chicago’s choice.
Goodell determined the 49ers violated the NFL’s anti-tampering policy by contacting Briggs’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, about his client during the 2007 season.
Briggs, an all-Pro in 2007, had been designated as Chicago’s franchise player, signing a one-year tender that meant he could not leave the Bears.
WRESTLING
Former pro Tatum dies of apparent accidental overdose
ATLANTA — A former wrestler was found dead in his home after suffering an apparent accidental drug overdose, his father said.
Chase Tatum, 34, was found dead Sunday in his home in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, his father, Roy Tatum, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Chase Tatum used to wrestle for the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling organization. More recently, he appeared in the comedy “Who’s Your Caddy?”
Chase Tatum had been recovering from back surgery to repair a degenerative disc. His father said the former wrestler had been fighting a dependence to painkillers for years but had been planning to enter a rehabilitation center.
“He was in the process of getting his life back together,” Roy Tatum said Monday. “He was confident he was going to turn things around, to live a normal life again without those painkillers.”
A toxicology report has been ordered by the Fulton County Medical Examiner, which will take about six to eight weeks, said Laura Salm, an investigator with the coroner’s office.
Chase Tatum was 19 when he won the Mr. Georgia bodybuilding competition. He began a career as a personal trainer, which he continued until his death.
Chase Tatum retired from wrestling after about two-and-a-half years. However, his brief wrestling career left him with severe back problems but without health insurance to pay for the surgery. Painkillers kept him going, his father said.
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