FOOTBALL
Attorneys: Dismiss Jones suit
Attorneys for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones argued Friday that a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault should be dismissed because an Oklahoma woman waited too long to file it. State District Judge Dale Tillery did not immediately rule on whether Texas statute of limitations laws prevent Jana Weckerly's lawsuit from proceeding. Weckerly's lawsuit accuses Jones of grabbing her genitals and kissing her without her consent in 2009. She also accuses Jones, the Cowboys and attorney Levi McCathern of conspiring to keep her quiet by paying her hush money for at least four years. Jones, the team and McCathern have denied all of her allegations. The hearing Friday centered only on whether Weckerly had filed her lawsuit too late, not on the validity of her claims. Texas law sets a five-year limit on civil cases alleging sexual assault and a two-year limit on cases involving a civil conspiracy, attorneys for both sides said Friday. Thomas Bowers, Weckerly's attorney, said the alleged ongoing payments were part of a larger plot to intimidate her and keep her from going to the police or the courts before the statute of limitations expired. But McCathern and Gregory Shamoun, another attorney for Jones, denied any payments were made and said that even if they were, Weckerly could not have felt continuing pressure to take money for years afterward. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 16.
• A federal judge in Minneapolis who had been the arbiter of NFL labor matters for more than two decades recused himself Friday from ruling on a dispute between NFL owners and the players' union over an alleged secret salary cap. U.S. District Judge David Doty was to have held proceedings Oct. 1 in the union's $4 billion lawsuit against the NFL's 32 teams for collusion. The NFL Players Association alleges the league enforced a secret $123 million salary cap per club in 2010 when there was supposed to be no cap. The NFL denied it, and Doty sided with the owners in 2012. "The parties deserve a new examination of the issues by a judge that has not already expressed an opinion as to the outcome of the dispute," Doty wrote in his order. The case was reassigned to Michael Davis, the chief U.S. district judge for Minnesota. The Oct. 1 status conference will be rescheduled. Doty had long overseen the 1993 Reggie White class-action settlement, and had a track record of labor-friendly rulings in the case. But he dismissed the union's lawsuit in 2012. He ruled that the players' 2011 collective bargaining agreement with the league barred the union from suing for alleged breaches of the White settlement, which paved the way for unrestricted free agency and served as the backbone of the previous collected bargaining agreement. It was expected at the time that it might be Doty's last NFL-related ruling. But the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis reversed him in June and ordered Doty to hold further proceedings.
HORSE RACING
Gold Cup today
Wicked Strong, V.E. Day and Tonalist, winners of the top 3-year-old stakes in New York, step up to face older runners today in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. At stake is a starting spot in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita. The Jockey Cup Gold Cup is a "Win and You're In" race, ensuring the victor a fees-paid berth in the richest race in North America. The Gold Cup is the main event on a card featuring six stakes worth a combined $3.4 million. Wicked Strong, winner of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in April, is the 3-1 favorite from post No. 3 for trainer Jimmy Jerkens, who also sends out V. E. Day at 5-1. It is a rematch of Travers Stakes at Saratoga, where V.E. Day beat Wicked Strong by a nose. "I realized inside the eighth pole it was going to be between our two horses," Jerkens said. "I thought Wicked Strong was going to hold on, but V.E. Day surged in the last three jumps and nailed him right on the wire." Tonalist, the Belmont Stakes winner, completes the trio of talented 3-year-olds. He was third in the Travers and is 4-1 on the Jockey Club morning line. Moreno, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Eric Guillot, is the top older runner in the field as the 7-2 second choice. The winner of the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, Moreno has post No. 11 in the 12-horse field going 1 1/4 miles. The Jockey Club Gold Cup field, in post position order with odds: Micromanage, 20-1; Last Gunfighter, 20-1; Wicked Strong, 3-1; Zivo, 6-1; Prayer for Relief, 15-1; Long River, 30-1; Speak Logistics, 50-1; Tonalist, 4-1; Stephanoatsee, 20-1; Moreno, 7-2; and Big Cazanova, 20-1.
BASKETBALL
Meeting 'productive'
The Atlanta Hawks and city civil rights leaders say a meeting between the team's CEO and the group was "extremely productive." The civil rights leaders, led by The Rev. Markel Hutchins, requested Friday's meeting with Hawks CEO Steve Koonin following racially charged comments by Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson and General Manager Danny Ferry. Levenson is selling his majority share of the team and Ferry has taken an indefinite leave of absence. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was to meet with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in New York on Friday regarding the sale. Hutchins' group and the Hawks said in a joint statement both "are committed to working together." Hutchins' positive review of the meeting's "great dialogue" was a contrast to his sharp criticism of the team's leaders earlier this month.
• Miami Heat forward Luol Deng said he forgives Atlanta Hawks General Manager Danny Ferry for making racially charged remarks about him. Deng said he has spoken with Ferry about the comments and believes "he's really sorry for what he said." On a conference call with members of the Hawks organization over the summer, Ferry referred to comments in a scouting report when he described Deng as someone who "has a little African in him." Ferry is taking an indefinite leave from the Hawks, who are also now for sale after co-owner Bruce Levenson announced earlier this month that he will sell his controlling share of the team over other racially inflammatory comments. "I don't think Danny's racist," Deng said. "I really don't."
NCAA
Group: Overturn autonomy
A group of reform-minded college professors urged school presidents to overturn recently passed NCAA legislation that gave the five power conferences the freedom to operate with more autonomy. The Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics wants the school leaders to request an override vote by an Oct. 6 deadline. Under the new rules, the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC will have a chance to add stipends on top of scholarships, a change they feel is necessary to help players handle the true cost of attending college. In opposing the reform, COIA chairman Michael Bowen of University of South Florida wrote a letter Friday saying the cost of those stipends will likely lead to cuts in Olympic and other nonrevenue sports that "most clearly reflect the academic mission of the NCAA." COIA also opposes a feature in the legislation that allocates 5 percent of seats on the legislative council to faculty athletics representatives. COIA also said the new governance structure didn't go far enough to ensure the NCAA won't eventually professionalize football and basketball. "We ask for more time and a renewed commitment to find a better solution," Bowen wrote.
MOTOR SPORTS
Harvick wins pole
Kevin Harvick turned a lap at 162.933 mph Friday to win the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. Led by Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers took the top four spots and six of 10. Harvick's seventh pole of the season gives him one more than he had combined in his career entering this season and makes him one of the drivers to beat in the race. whivh will eliminate four of the 16 drivers from title contention. Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola are at risk of getting cut Sunday. Hamlin, though, bolstered his bid to stay alive with a third-place qualifying run.
Sports on 09/27/2014