People Versus NFL and Jerry Jones Goes To Court

Super Bowl XLV ticket holders affected by the temporary-seating fiasco at Cowboys Stadium in 2011 notified a federal court last week of plans to proceed with a class-action lawsuit against the Dallas Cowboys, owner Jerry Jones and the National Football League after mediation failed.  The attorneys for the ticket holders also filed a motion with the court Tuesday seeking a status conference to begin the case and seeking attorney fees from the NFL and other costs associated with the months-long attempt to reach a settlement outside court. The action arises when 2011 Super Bowl XLV ticket holders were denied their seats, delayed from getting to them or assigned seats with obstructed views. The lawsuit says that the NFL breached its contract with ticket holders and that the settlement offers made by the league after the game failed to fully compensate them.  The plaintiffs seek more than $5 million, not counting costs and interest, according to court documents.

Discussions with the NFL this year fell flat on its face, the ticket holders' lawyers say they believed at first that the league was "truly interested in resolving the case and engaging in good faith negotiations." According to documents filed last week. The attorneys said, however, that they later came to believe that the league delayed discovery and taking depositions for months so as to settle out of court.

The NFL has denied alleged  bad-conduct saying that the subject motion was frivolous. "The overwhelming majority of the claims were resolved more than a year ago. At the plaintiffs' counsel's request, we agreed to participate in a mediation to determine whether there was a reasonable basis to resolve what remains of the suit following our successful voluntary reimbursement program with fans. The mediation regrettably was not successful, but we acted with good faith in the process. We are disappointed the plaintiffs' attorneys would resort to filing a baseless motion."

Hours before kickoff, Arlington fire officials and building inspectors declared 1,250 of the 13,000 temporary bleacher-style seats unsafe because of numerous code violations, including missing handrails and guardrails.  The city had told the Cowboys for weeks that the seat construction contractor, Seating Solutions, was behind schedule and had not provided adequate documentation in areas such as structural engineering. The league, which the Cowboys had notified about the situation days before the game, did not inform ticket holders until they had cleared security and their tickets were scanned at the stadium.

About 3,200 fans were affected. Most were accommodated, but at least 400 didn't get seats at all.  The NFL has said it satisfied its obligations to the displaced fans by offering them the prices they paid for their tickets plus all documented travel, lodging and meal expenses. About 2,800 people who were delayed getting to their seats or were relocated could receive the face value of their tickets or a ticket to a future Super Bowl.  About 475 people who did not have a seat had more options: $2,400 plus a ticket to the 2012 Super Bowl, a trip to a future Super Bowl with airfare and a four-night hotel stay, a check for $5,000 or a check for more than $5,000 with documented expenses.

ESPN The Magazine Reveals List Of Athlete For Body Issue

It's that time of year, when the powers-that-be at ESPN The Magazine reveal the "body beautiful" athletes who will grace the July "Body Issue" in their birthday suit.  The final cut of sports figures will include Rob Gronkowski, Maurice Jones-Drew, Tyson Chandler and Abby Wambach are among others .  Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, New York Rangers forward Brad Richards and WNBA star Candace Parker will also appear in the July 13 edition.   With the London Games this summer, the list announced Wednesday is loaded with Olympians, including gymnast Danell Leyva, sprinter Carmelita Jeter, decathlete Ashton Eaton and members of the U.S. women's volleyball team. The magazine's editor in chief, Chad Millman, says they try to pick athletes who "just recently popped." Gronkowski is a classic example of that, the New England Patriots tight end emerged as one of the NFL's biggest offensive stars this past season - and it doesn't hurt that he has a penchant for appearing shirtless in photos and the magazine had a commitment from him way back last fall. 

Athletes featured in previous years have included Blake Griffin, Hope Solo and Jose Reyes.

NFL Network Debuts New Morning Show On July 30

Fans can now start their day with the NFL like never before - with a new, live weekday morning show on NFL Network. “NFL AM” will makes its debut on Monday, July 30  just as training camps open, the format for the show takes  is a four -hour segment, the time slot for the kick off is 6 a.m. ET every Monday through Friday. NFL AM will blanket the world of the NFL with seasoned and opinionated talent who will report and debate news and examine the personalities that play the game. The show's discussion will cover a wide-range of NFL-related topics including the cultural convergence of sports, entertainment and music. Each morning, "NFL AM" will collaborate with NFL.com to take a look at the latest in fantasy football news and information.

The show's talent roster features Mark Kriegel from FOXSports.com, former San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl-winning cornerback Eric Davis, Brian Webber from FOX Sports Digital, Nicole Zaloumis from Comcast Sports Net-New England and Steve Wyche from NFL Media. The show will be based at NFL Network's Culver City, Calif., studios. No other sport is the sole focus of a show of this length each and every weekday morning.

"'NFL AM' will give fans a great reason to look forward to the morning," Mark Quenzel said, NFL Network senior vice president of programming and production. "We know that our fans are looking for more football and we are excited to provide a personality-driven show which focuses on football and everything around it. There will be no better way to start their day."

Mark Kriegel (@MarkKriegel ), the author of two New York Times best-sellers (Namath: A Biography and Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich), joins NFL Network from FOXSports.com where he spent five years as a national columnist and host of the bi-weekly "Bar Fly on FOX" chat with athletes, celebrities and media. Previously, he was a distinguished media voice on the New York sports scene for 10 years as a columnist for the New York Daily News and the New York Post. He also served as a contributing editor for Esquire magazine. Kriegel's upcoming book on boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, titled The Good Son, will be released in September. Eric Davis (@_ericdavis_), who played 13 NFL seasons at cornerback, comes to NFL Network after spending last year as co-host of "Tierney and Davis" weekdays on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco. In addition, Davis will begin his second season as the radio analyst for 49ers games this fall. Previously, he served as an NFL analyst for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and for KPIX-TV telecasts of 49ers preseason games. A three-time All-Pro, Davis played six seasons (1990-95) in San Francisco, helping the team to a victory in Super Bowl XXIX. A second-round draft choice from Jacksonville State, Davis also played for Carolina (1996-2000), Denver (2001) and Detroit (2002).

Brian Webber (@bwwebber), a former anchor and reporter for Fox Sports Net and a sideline reporter for NFL games on FOX, joins NFL Network after six years as lead host of Fox Sports' digital media programming. With Fox Sports Digital, he anchored studio coverage of the NFL, MLB and NASCAR, as well as on-location coverage of the Super Bowl, Final Four and Stanley Cup Final. For the past nine years, Webber has also served as studio host and play-by-play announcer for the Tennis Channel. A graduate of Stanford University, Webber began his broadcasting career began at Fox Sports Net-Bay Area 19 years ago and later included stints as a play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports Net, ESPNU, CBS Sports Network and NCAA Productions.

Nicole Zaloumis (@nicolezaloumis) comes to NFL Network with more than a decade of sports broadcasting experience, most recently as an anchor and reporter for Comcast SportsNet New England since January 2011. Previously, Zaloumis worked for the Big Ten Network, where she co-hosted "The Friday Night Football Report" and "The Women's Show," and was a sideline reporter for football games. Earlier in her career, Zaloumis worked for Fox Sports Northwest, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, the ABC affiliate in Phoenix and the NBC affiliate in Washington.

Steve Wyche (@wyche89) begins his fifth season with NFL Network and NFL.com, providing reports from team facilities and games on a variety of programs including "NFL GameDay Morning" and "NFL Total Access". Additionally, Wyche is a regular columnist on NFL.com and is the co-host of the site's 'Cover Two' podcast. Previously, he covered the Falcons for four seasons for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Wyche has more than two decades of sports journalism experience including posts with The Washington Post covering the Wizards and the NBA, and the Miami Herald on the Dolphins, Heat and University of Florida beats. "NFL AM" will be streamed live on NFL Mobile only from Verizon and will feature companion programming including fantasy info and lifestyle content on NFL.com and NFL digital platforms.  Fans continue to tune to NFL Network in growing numbers. NFLN has posted increases in year-over-year viewership in 12 of the 13 quarters since January 2009 (all quarters other than second quarter of 2011 during the work stoppage).  NFL Network airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the only television network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football. For more information, log on to. NFL.com is the exclusive internet home of NFL Network.

Miami Dolphins Joins Forces The Melanoma Exposed Campaign

The Miami Dolphins and the Melanoma Exposed™ Screen. Protect. Know. Tell. campaign will host two free skin screening events at Sun Life Stadium this year, with the first one taking place on Saturday, June 16, 2012 , and a second event on September 16, when the Dolphins will face Oakland Raiders. Melanoma Exposed is a new educational campaign – led by leading melanoma advocacy groups, former pro football Coach Bill Cowher and Bristol-Myers Squibb – to raise awareness of melanoma and its risk factors and to encourage people to get screened.

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and claims the life of one American every hour. Furthermore, men are nearly twice as likely as women to die from the disease. Since the sun's UV rays are a risk factor for melanoma, Florida residents must be especially careful. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 76,000 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma this year. Nearly 5,500 of these cases will be in Florida—more than any other state but California.


Melanoma Exposed is a public awareness campaign designed to educate Americans about melanoma and its risk factors and encourage them to take a more active role in their skin health, which may include receiving routine skin cancer screenings by a dermatologist and performing regular skin self-exams. The Melanoma Exposed campaign is a partnership with the Melanoma International Foundation, Melanoma Research Alliance, Melanoma Research Foundation, and The Skin Cancer Foundation, and is sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

"Melanoma should be on every Floridian's mind. Most Americans are unaware of the seriousness of melanoma, the most deadly of all skin cancers," said Miami Dolphins CFO Mark Brockelman, whose wife Jan passed away from the disease in 2010. Mark and Jan's daughter, Taylor, had several precancerous melanoma moles surgically removed from her scalp. "My family is now vigilant in taking steps to protect their skin health."

Brockelman added, "We are excited to welcome Melanoma Exposed to Sun Life Stadium and eager to help our fans learn more about melanoma risk factors and practicing early detection strategies to prevent this dangerous form of skin cancer."

A special team of licensed dermatologists will be conducting free skin screening exams on June 16 and teaching participants simple melanoma protection tips. The event will accommodate approximately 500 free screenings throughout the day. Fans that get screened will be eligible to win a pair of free tickets to the upcoming Miami Dolphins Melanoma Awareness game on September 16.

Visitors can share what they've learned with family and friends by using the interactive tools on the website, such as "Throwing a Forward Pass" to their Facebook friends in high prevalence areas, and test their melanoma knowledge (and football skills) by playing Goalpost Avenue, an online educational game coached by Coach Cowher, also available as a free app for tablets.