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Saturday, 15 September 2012

Money Talks: The hidden costs of Joe Haden?s suspension

On Monday, it was confirmed that Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden has been suspended for four games for violating the National Football League's policy on performance enhancing drugs. Specifically, Haden tested positive for Adderall, a stimulant used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder whose use is accepted by the NFL provided that it's prescribed by a doctor.

Haden's four-game suspension and failed appeal is a sign that Haden did not have a prescription to explain the Adderall usage, or if he had obtained a prescription, he failed to disclose that to the league prior to his failed test. Either way, Haden will miss the next four games and pay a very steep financial penalty for doing so.

As member of the 2010 NFL draft class, the last group before the new collective bargaining agreement significantly scaled back rookie compensation, Haden is earning a base salary of $5,765,505 in his third NFL season. Originally scheduled to earn $503,050, Haden reached minimum playing-time thresholds as a rookie, which escalated his 2012 salary to its current level. Losing four game checks, valued at $339,147 apiece, means Haden will forfeit $1,356,589 in salary during his suspension.

Additionally, Haden's suspension also means he is ineligible for the Pro Bowl and any postseason awards. Haden had a $100,000 incentive in his rookie contract tied to the Pro Bowl which he will no longer be eligible to receive. Haden could also forfeit a portion of the $12 million signing bonus he received as the No. 7 overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft.

According to Article 4, Section 9(e) of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, a player suspended by the NFL for violations of the drug or steroid policy could forfeit any "Forfeitable Salary Allocations on a proportionate weekly basis." Included in the CBA's descriptions of forfeitable salary allocations is the "Salary Cap allocation for the player's signing bonus for that League Year," which means that Haden could be asked by the Browns to forfeit nearly $500,000 of the $2 million that his $12 million signing bonus from 2010 counts against this year's cap.

Haden's suspension also jeopardizes how much of his $50,256,742 (maximum value) rookie contract he can earn.

According to a source with knowledge of Haden's contract, up to $7.85 million in additional base salary escalators were available over the last two years of the deal. In 2013, Haden could add up to $3.65 million to his $6,936,429 base salary and up to $4.2 million to a $6,678,193 base salary in 2014. Smaller escalators were tied to both Haden's playing time (85 percent) and interception totals (five or more in a season) plus the number of Browns wins (10). Larger increases were available if Haden has multiple seasons with playing time above 85 percent and the team's defense ranks in the Top 5 in NFL or Top 3 in AFC in certain categories in those same seasons.

Haden is on track to earn very little, if any, of that $7.85 million in available escalation.

Though Haden had six interceptions as a rookie, he started just seven of 16 games and played in 73.86 percent of the Browns' defensive snaps, falling well short of that season's playing-time threshold to trigger any escalation for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Last season, Haden played in 90.68 percent of the defensive snaps, but the Browns won only four games, again denying the shutdown corner any future escalation in 2013 or 2014. A four-game suspension will make it very difficult for Haden to reach the 85 percent playing-time requirement to trigger any escalation from this season, as well.

Haden is still on target to earn nearly $7 million next season, but the $3.65 million in potential escalation in 2013 will completely vanish along with most of the $4.2 million in escalators for 2014.

Breaking Down the Daryl Washington and James Laurinaitis contract extensions

Last week, Arizona Cardinals inside linebacker Daryl Washington and St. Louis Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis signed contracts worth over $8 million per season that locked each player up through the 2017 season.

Washington had two years remaining on his rookie contract and signed a four-year extension (2014-17) that included $32 million in "new money," bringing his compensation over the next six seasons to just under $33.2 million. Laurinaitis had one year left on his rookie deal and his five-year extension is worth $41.5 million in "new money." Over the next seasons, Laurinaitis can earn just over $42.2 million with another $2.5 million available in base salary escalators from 2013-17 ($500,000 per season).

Laurinaitis had been scheduled to earn $620,000 in base salary this season and could have been an unrestricted free agent in 2013, though the Rams could have kept him off the market by use of the franchise tag (estimated to be worth $9.049 million if the salary cap remains flat). Because Laurinaitis was a season closer to hitting the free-agent market, his contract beat Washington's by a significant margin in the two areas of greatest importance: Cash payout over the first three years of the contract and guaranteed money.

According to sources with knowledge of both contracts, over the next three seasons (2012-14), Washington will earn $20.5 million, including $19.33 million in "new" money. Laurinaitis is scheduled to earn $24.62 million over that same period of time, $24 million of which is comprised of "new" money.

Laurinaitis received $23 million in "new" guaranteed money. This amount is comprised of a $2 million signing bonus in 2012, a $1 million base salary and $11 million roster bonus in 2013 and a $9 million base salary guarantee in 2014.

Currently Laurinaitis' $2 million signing bonus and $620,000 base salary this season are "fully" guaranteed. The rest is only partially guaranteed, but that will change soon. If Laurinaitis is on the roster when the Rams travel to the Chicago Bears on Sept. 23, which he will be, his $11 million roster bonus in 2013 will go from being guaranteed for skill and injury only to fully guaranteed (skill, injury and cap). If Laurinaitis is on the roster five days after Super Bowl XLVII, his $1 million base salary in 2013 and $9 million of his $10 million base salary in 2014 will go from being guaranteed for injury only to fully guaranteed.

Put another way, the $23 million in Laurinaitis' contract will be fully guaranteed by Feb. 8, 2013.

Washington's guarantee is limited to his $2.5 million signing bonus and $2.5 million base salary for the 2012 season, $540,000 of which is from his base salary on his rookie contract. Not even Washington's $2.4 million base salary in 2013 is guaranteed. However, Washington is due a $10 million option bonus at some point during the 2013 season. While that option bonus is likely to be paid, it's not guaranteed and there is no non-exercise fee attached to it, which gives the Cardinals a rather significant "out" if Washington fails to continue to his development into a Pro Bowl-caliber player or is injured this season.

More NFL news from Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/money-talks-hidden-costs-joe-haden-suspension-002701313--nfl.html

Olivia Wilde Megan Fox Bar Rafaeli Mila Kunis

Friday, 14 September 2012

'Little steps matter' for prison moms

For 25 years, Sister Teresa Fitzgerald has been reaching out to mothers behind bars.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/Fg8c97zAbWo/index.html

Jennifer Lopez Davis Beyonce Knowles Kate Middleton

Assassination attempt in Yemen?

Yemen's defense minister survived an apparent assassination attempt Tuesday when a car bomb exploded near a building he was leaving, the state-run Saba news agency said.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/RBsTGj0f29w/index.html

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McCourty twins prepare for their first football face-off

Jason McCourty, 25, starting cornerback for the Tennessee Titans, was born 27 minutes before his identical twin brother Devin, starting cornerback for the New England Patriots. And when the Titans and Patriots face off today, it will be the first time the brothers -- who each grew up in New Jersey and went to Rutgers -- can remember hitting a football field on different teams.

"It's going to be a unique opportunity," Jason recently told lohud.com. "We were always playing on the same team, so at this level to be able to face off will be something special that we�won't realize after the game, but probably years from now."

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Jason and Devin do remember competing on the basketball court, but there's still a lot of debate about who got the upper hand there. Jason recently told the media that he was the better basketball player, but Devin disagreed.

"I think he's had a concussion," Devin said. "He probably forgets that I won most of those battles."

[Also: NFL 2012 predictions from Michael Silver]

In an NFL sense, Devin has the statistical upper hand. Jason has four interceptions in three seasons, while Devin has nine in just two.

"There are definitely some similarities, as you would expect," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said of the twins this week. "They're both fast [and] they're both aggressive, good tacklers, good solid players. We'll never get a better look at a guy than we will this week from Devin. It's about as close as it gets."

The brothers agreed to avoid speaking during the week of preparation for this contest, which will take place at LP Field, home of the Titans. To avoid any "Mom always liked you best" stuff, the McCourtys' mother, Phyllis Harrell, who was responsible for distributing game tickets to family members and friends, will be wearing the jersey displayed here by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

Mrs. Harrell had the jersey made when both of her sons were drafted into the NFL -- Jason in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans, and Devin in the first round by the New England Patriots the next year. Devin redshirted as a freshman at Rutgers, which is why he came out a year later.

This week, Rapoport delivered some of the best lines from each of the twins on each other in an NFL.com article:

Jason, on the many, many ticket requests from family members: "Since I'm the one with the home game, the ticket requests fell on me, so I'll be looking for a check for about half from Dev."

Devin, on Jason's claims that he beat him in basketball: "I think he's had a concussion. He probably forgets that I won most of those battles. We don't remember many of the scores, but we just know he usually left angry."

Jason, on their mom staying with him: "I told her that if she's staying with me and planning to come back to the house after the game that she'll be rooting for the Titans."

Devin, on their mom rooting: "She'll tell Jason she's rooting for him since she's staying at his house."

Jason, on their battles on the basketball court: "Basketball games and video games always ended in a fight. We'd play basketball, not keep score and just go at it."

Devin, on who is the fastest: "Jason is going to say him because his pro day time is faster. If we go back to the last 40 he ran at Rutgers and the last 40 I ran at Rutgers, I ran a 4.31, he ran a 4.32."

Jason, on the best-case scenario: "Titans with a win. He'll get over it."

Devin, on if there is trash-talking: "No, I actually told him to lose my number this week. No side bets, no anything else. I'll see and talk to him on Sunday when we get out on the field."

Jason, on if there is trash-talking: "We cut off all communication. I only have one brother this week."

In truth, the twins are as close as you may expect. At the end of first season, Jason, who hasn't yet seen the postseason with the Titans, was thrilled to see Devin make it all the way to the Super Bowl.

"To watch him win the AFC Championship game, that night, just to see him celebrating and knowing he's going to the Super Bowl and then me being out there in [Indianapolis, site of Super Bowl XLVI] with him, it's something special," Jason told the Nashville City Paper. "It gave me a little bit of extra motivation of working and trying to get there myself with these guys."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/mccourty-twins-prepare-first-football-face-off-133701335--nfl.html

Olivia Wilde Megan Fox Bar Rafaeli Mila Kunis

The 10 biggest errors in baseball history

The 500,000th error in baseball regular season history will likely happen sometime this weekend, an unofficial meathanded milestone that our own Jeff Passan writes about here.

Here's the thing, though: An overwhelming majority of the players who authored those half-million miscues had the luxury of �quickly shaking off the embarrassment. The sheer length of a major league baseball season means that the only real consequence of committing an error is that maybe you'll end up as the subject of a Big League Stew post after a particularly unique flub or maybe hit Keith Olbermann's mom with a wayward throw. Most of the time, though, you just shake it off and move onto the next at-bat, the next inning, the next game. That's the built-in luxury of a baseball schedule that is 162 games long.

The errors that stick with everyone are the ones that come in the postseason, a fall stage that provides absolutely nowhere to hide (as Brooks Conrad learned a couple of years ago). Screw up on a key play, turn the momentum of a series against your team and you run a real chance of that moment in time being mentioned before any of your career's accomplishments. A big error in the World Series can ? and will ? lead your obituary 60 years down the road. The only upside? Perhaps your snafu will become a cultural touchstone big enough to land you on�a classic episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

With that in mind, here's a look at the top 10 errors in baseball history. They're all from postseason play and there's a good reason for that: They're the only ones that really mean anything and therefore they're the only ones that anyone really remembers.

10. Matt Holliday in Game 2 of the 2009 NLDS

We start our list with one from the Stew era. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the St. Louis Cardinals were about to tie the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2009 NLDS at a game apiece. But Holliday lost James Loney's liner to left in the Dodger Stadium lights and the ball bounced off his midsection in comical fashion, starting a two-run rally that gave Los Angeles a surprise victory en route to a series sweep.

"I had it," Holliday told reporters. "I was coming in to get it, then all of a sudden it hits the lights. You can't see. Obviously, I can catch a ball hit right at me. It wasn't a lack of effort. I just couldn't see it."

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9. Leon Durham in Game 5 of the 1984 NLCS

Leon Durham's error on Tim Flannery's grounder in the seventh inning of the decisive Game 5 wasn't the main reason the Cubs' World Series dreams ended in 1984, but it was quickly adopted as the main metaphor for a NLCS that featured Chicago blowing a 2-0 series lead. The Padres were able to score the tying run off the play and San Diego won the game and the series two innings later.

An interesting footnote to this play is that Ryne Sandberg had accidentally soaked Durham's glove with Gatorade when he attempted to get a drink earlier in the game. Durham has said that his glove was dry by the time he made the error, but still remembers coach Don Zimmer telling him to keep playing with the glove because it'd bring him good luck.

"All I can remember is the Gatorade flowing all over everywhere and Bull trying to dry his glove off with towels," Zimmer later said. "But we didn't get beat by that error. People make too big a deal about that error. He could have had three gloves on and he wasn't going to catch it. Sometimes, things just aren't meant to be."

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8. Willie Davis in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series

Willie Davis put together a great career for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the '60s and '70s and, as you can tell from the song above, had one heck of a singing voice. He recorded "That's The Way The Ball Bounces" in 1963, which is strange given what happened to the three-time Gold Glove winner three years later. Davis committed a record three errors in one inning during Game 2 of the 1966 World Series, losing one ball in the sun, dropping another and then overthrowing third base. The trio of snafus made up for half of the Dodgers' six errors behind Sandy Koufax that day and the Dodgers went on to be swept by the Baltimore Orioles. (It would turn out to be the last game that Koufax ever pitched.) Davis died in 2010 and his error-filled day 44 years earlier received prominent play in the stories of his death.

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7. Mariano Rivera in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series

Mariano Rivera's moments of vulnerability in the postseason have been rare, but the New York Yankees closer's best-known failure came in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series when he surrendered the series to Arizona on a walkoff single from Luis Gonzalez. The Diamondbacks' comeback might not have happened, though, if Rivera had not committed a throwing error after fielding Damian Miller's sacrifice bunt attempt with no outs. The errant throw allowed pinch runner David Dellucci to take second and it set the stage for one of the most famous endings in World Series history.

Rivera's spot on this list is proof that not even the game's greatest players are immune to screwing up in the spotlight. At the time of this error, Rivera had �made only one error in 403 regular season appearances. His career total now stands at six regular-season errors through 1,051 appearances.

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6. Hank Gowdy in Game 7 of the 1924 World Series

If one were to write up a wishlist of old plays to see on film, the error that Hank Gowdy made in the 12th inning of the final game of the 1924 World Series between the Washington Senators and New York Giants would be near the top. With the score tied at three, Washington's Muddy Ruel lifted a high popup in foul territory that looked like it would go for the second out of the inning.

But Gowdy, the Giants catcher, somehow got his foot caught in his own mask ? "It held me like a bear trap," he famously later said ? and fell to the ground without making the catch. Ruel used his new life to hit a double and would later score the winning run to give Washington its only World Series championship.

Gowdy's legacy, however, does not lead with that error, but with his remarkable military service. He is said to be the first baseball player to sign up for service in World War I and later left his coaching job to serve as a captain in World War II at the age of 53. He's believed to be the only big league baseball player to serve in both wars.

From Baseball in Wartime:

His regimental commanding officer, Colonel B W Hough, is quoted as saying that Gowdy was one of his top men in a regiment of many great soldiers. �"Every outfit ought to have somebody like Hank. The boys idolize him and he gets them all stirred up with his baseball stories. He helps 'em forget about the terror of war. He carried the flag and . . . he was one of them who heaved gas bombs at the enemy . . . he was fantastic!"

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5. �Tony Fernandez in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series

Fernandez's error in the 11th inning isn't often mentioned among Cleveland's biggest sport disappointments, partly because closer Jose Mesa earned himself the permanent title of goat by blowing the save ? and a chance at the Indians' first title since 1948 ? in the ninth. Still, had Fernandez been able to field Craig Counsell's grounder, there's a good chance it would've went for an inning-ending double play (Bobby Bonilla had been on first) and another opportunity for Cleveland's fearsome lineup to score in the 12th.

Instead, Bonilla went to third and Counsell ended up safe at first on the error. Though Bonilla would be thrown out at home after a similar grounder to Fernandez, it was Counsell who raced around third with the winning run on Edgar Renteria's bases-loaded single.

"It didn't bounce any way," Fernandez told reporters of the play. "I don't want to use an excuse. I didn't make the play. I started thinking of going to second with it, and that was probably a mistake. I knew Bobby was not running�well."

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4. Alex Gonzalez in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS

Steve Bartman's name somehow proves bigger than Alex Gonzalez's in the annals of Cubs history. But without the Chicago shortstop's eighth-inning error we might not know the unlucky fan's name at all. Gonzalez had a chance to make Bartman's interference with left fielder Moises Alou a curious footnote in a run to the World Series when a young Miguel Cabrera bounded a inning-ending double-play ball his way. He instead flubbed it, opening the door to an eight-run Marlins inning, an epic series flub by the Cubs and a world where a headphones-wearing fan from the suburbs receives more blame for a team meltdown than one of the players who was in position to make a direct impact on the game.

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3. Mickey Owen in Game 4 of the 1941 World Series

The Brooklyn Dodgers were one out away from tying the New York Yankees in the 1941 World Series at two games apiece when fate turned against Mickey Owen. The Dodgers catcher couldn't hang on to what would've been a game-ending strike three to Yankees star Tommy Henrich and the error extended the inning when Henrich ran safely to first. The Yankees used the opportunity to score four runs in the ninth inning for a 7-4 win and would make Brooklyn "Wait 'Til Next Year" (again) after a victory Game 5.

Though there was some speculation that Hugh Casey's pitch was a hard-to-handle spitball, Owen was only evidently fooled by a big curve ball just as much as Henrich was. But while the blunder topped Owen's New York Times obituary in 2005, Brooklyn fans reportedly didn't hold the passed ball against the All-Star catcher for very long.

"I got about 4,000 wires and letters," he told W. C. Heinz in The Saturday Evening Post on the 25th anniversary of the passed ball. "I had offers of jobs and proposals of marriage. Some girls sent their pictures in bathing suits, and my wife tore them up."

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2. Bill Buckner in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series

What is there to be said that hasn't been said about Bill Buckner's famous error at Shea Stadium in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series? Boston's tendency to self-flagellate before the end of the World Series curse in 2004 undoubtedly had a big impact in the first baseman's misplay becoming as big as it did, but it has been the biggest error in baseball for over 25 years and it could keep that title for another 25 more. A lot of the entries on this list might only ring big in a few geographical locations or among a certain generation. But Buckner's is the one guaranteed to be played over and over whenever there's a list of big errors. It has become a universal blooper.

Though Buckner and Boston fans have some sort of weird peace after his opening day "homecoming" in 2008, there's no question how his obituary will read whenever that day comes. �Not that Buckner is accepting of that fact. And he probably shouldn't be for reasons ranging from Boston bullpen's contributions to the Game 6 loss to the entire Red Sox team failing to bounce back in a Game 7 that could have erased the whole nightmare.

"I'm not just saying this," he told Jeff Passan. "In reality, it was really blown out of proportion. Hey, errors are errors. Some of 'em are more important. I mean, the reality of it is, people in baseball know that error did not specifically cost us the Series. It wasn't the seventh game."

1. Fred Snodgrass in Game 8 of the 1912 World Series

Like Holliday's appearance at the beginning of this list, Snodgrass had a chance to end the game by tightly squeezing a ball hit to him in the outfield. Unlike Holliday, a successful catch by the New York Giants center fielder would have clinched the World Series in the tiebreaking and decisive eighth game of the 1912 World Series. (Game 2 had been ruled a tied after being called on account of darkness.)

Snodgrass, though, dropped the ball, giving the Boston Red Sox another opportunity to win the second World Series title in franchise history. They didn't squander the chance and Snodgrass' error became known as "The $30,000 Muff" because the losing team's share of the playoff pot was that much less.

Snodgrass would go onto live a long life, but his obituary in 1974 still carried the following headline: "Fred Snodgrass, 86, Dead; Ball Player Muffed 1912 Fly"

"Hardly a day in my life, hardly an hour, that in some manner or other the dropping of that fly doesn't come up," Snodgrass said. "On the street, in my store, at my home ... it's all the same. They might choke up before they ask me and they hesitate -- but they always ask."

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/10-biggest-errors-baseball-history-193932768--mlb.html

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