Mourning Our Counselor

Percy Sutton, attorney for Malcolm X and pioneering media mogul, dead at 89

By Cristian Salazar (CP) – 4 hours ago

NEW YORK — Percy Sutton, the pioneering U.S. civil rights attorney who represented Malcolm X before launching successful careers as a political power broker and media mogul, died Saturday at age 89.

Marissa Shorenstein, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson, confirmed Sutton's death. She did not know the cause. His daughter, Cheryl Sutton, declined to comment when reached by phone at her New York City home on Saturday before midnight.

The son of a slave, Percy Sutton became a fixture on 125th Street in Harlem after moving to New York City following his service with the famed Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. His Harlem law office, founded in 1953, represented Malcolm X and the slain activist's family for decades.

The consummate politician, Sutton served in the New York State Assembly before taking over as Manhattan borough president in 1966, becoming the highest-ranking black elected official in the state.

Sutton also mounted unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and mayor of New York, and served as political mentor for the Rev. Jesse Jackson's two presidential races.

"The godfather," Jackson once called him.

In a statement released Saturday night, Gov. David Paterson called Sutton a mentor and "one of New York's and this nation's most influential African-American leaders."

"Percy was fiercely loyal, compassionate and a truly kind soul," Paterson continued. "He will be missed but his legacy lives on through the next generations of African-Americans he inspired to pursue and fulfil their own dreams and ambitions."

In 1971, with his brother Oliver, Sutton purchased WLIB-AM, making it the first black-owned radio station in New York City. His Inner City Broadcasting Corp. eventually picked up WBLS-FM, which reigned for years as New York's top-rated radio station, before buying stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit and San Antonio between 1978-85.

The Texas purchase marked a homecoming for the suave and sophisticated Sutton, born in San Antonio on Nov. 24, 1920, the youngest of 15 children.

Among Sutton's other endeavours was his purchase and renovation of the famed Apollo Theater when the Harlem landmark's demise appeared imminent.

Sutton's father, Samuel, was born into slavery just before the Civil War. The elder Sutton became principal at a segregated San Antonio high school, and he made education a family priority: All 12 of his surviving children attended college.

When he was 13, Percy Sutton endured a traumatic experience that drove him inexorably into the fight for racial equality. A police officer approached Sutton as the teen handed out NAACP pamphlets. "N-, what are you doing out of your neighbourhood?" he asked before beating the youth.

When World War II arrived, Sutton's enlistment attempts were rebuffed by Southern white recruiters. The young man went to New York, where he was accepted and joined the Tuskegee Airmen.

After the war, Sutton earned a law degree in New York while working as a post office clerk and a subway conductor. He served again as an Air Force intelligence officer during the Korean War before returning to Harlem in 1953 and establishing his law office with brother Oliver and a third partner, George Covington.

In addition to representing Malcolm X for a decade until his 1965 assassination, the Sutton firm handled the cases of more than 200 defendants arrested in the South during the 1963-64 civil rights marches. Sutton was also elected to two terms as president of the New York office of the NAACP.

After Malcolm's assassination, Sutton worked as lawyer for Malcolm's widow, Betty Shabazz. He represented her grandson, 12-year-old Malcolm Shabazz, when the youth was accused of setting a 1997 fire that caused her death.

Sutton was elected to the state Legislature in 1965, and quickly emerged as spokesman for its 13 black members. His charisma and eloquence led to his selection as Manhattan borough president in 1966, completing the term of Constance Baker Motley, who was appointed federal judge.

Two years later, Sutton announced a run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Jacob Javits, although he pulled out of the Democratic primary to back Paul O'Dwyer.

Sutton remained in his Manhattan job through 1977, the same year he launched a doomed campaign for mayor that ended with Edward I. Koch defeating six competitors for the Democratic nomination.

Sutton was among the first voices raised against the Vietnam War, surrendering his delegate's seat at the 1968 Democratic convention in protest and supporting anti-war candidate George McGovern four years later against incumbent President Richard Nixon.

In addition to his radio holdings, Sutton also headed a group that owned The Amsterdam News, the second largest black weekly newspaper in the country. The paper was later sold.

Sutton's devotion to Harlem and its people was rarely more evident than when he spent $250,000 to purchase the shuttered Apollo Theater in 1981. The Apollo turned 70 in 2004, a milestone that was unthinkable until Sutton stepped in to save the landmark.

Sutton "retired" in 1991, but his work as an adviser, mentor and confidante to politicians and businessmen never abated. He was among a group of American businessmen selected during the Clinton administration to attend meetings with the Group of Seven (G-7) Nations in 1995-96.

"He was a great man," said Charles Warfield Jr., the president and chief operating officer of ICBC Broadcast Holdings Inc., reached early Sunday morning. He declined to comment further out of respect, he indicated, for the wishes of Sutton's family. The Rev. Al Sharpton planned a news conference Sunday to talk about Sutton's life and legacy.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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A Tragedy from today's Sun

www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/bal-md.riverhill30nov30,0,630398.story

baltimoresun.com

Ex-River Hill player charged in fatal DUI

Current football team member dies, another injured in crash

By Meredith Cohn and Katherine Dunn

Baltimore Sun reporters

November 30, 2009

A former River Hill High School football player is facing drunken-driving and vehicular-manslaughter charges after a crash early Sunday that killed a current player for the defending state champions and injured the team's captain. The accident came just two days after a loss that knocked the team out of the playoffs.

David Dixon Erdman II, 22, lost control of his truck on Folly Quarter Road near Buckskin Lake Drive, struck three stone ornamental pillars and overturned, police said.

Seventeen-year-old senior Steven Joseph Dankos, of the 13000 block of Brighton Dam Road in Clarksville, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

Erdman, of the 4300 block of Heritage Hill Lane in Ellicott City, was transported to Howard County General Hospital for minor injuries, police said. His brother, 17-year-old Thomas Erdman, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center but was discharged, according to the hospital.

Dankos and the younger Erdman were linemen for the River Hill team that had won two straight state championships and extended its winning streak to 40 straight games before losing in Friday night's state semifinal at Huntingtown.

Thomas Erdman, the team captain, has been the team's top defensive lineman, with a knack for forcing fumbles and recovering them. David Erdman, a 2005 River Hill graduate, was an All-Howard County lineman for the Hawks and went on to play at Wesley College in Delaware, where he was named a D3football.com All-American.

Patti Caplan, the Howard County school system spokeswoman, said the principal and a crisis intervention team met Sunday at the school in preparation for the next school day and the grief-stricken staff and students.

As players on the football team, the boys were well known, said Caplan.

"The team just had that game at state playoffs Friday night, and I know they were really a tight-knit team," said Caplan, "This is just so tragic. It's tragic any time we lose a young person, but even more devastating at this time of the year and given the season this team just had."

River Hill coach Brian van Deusen, who coached all three players, could not be reached for comment. Their families also could not be reached for comment.

Mike Harrison, head coach at Wilde Lake, remembered all three young men, especially the Erdman brothers.

"There was a lot of football talent involved in that accident," Harrison said. "The one who sticks the most in my mind is the one who just finished playing [Thomas Erdman]. He was a factor. When you played them you had to scheme to play around him a little bit. ... The whole thing about River Hill being able to run the ball was the upsurge of the play of that line and his brother was a part of that as well."

The Hawks had been bitterly disappointed after losing Friday night in Calvert County, but Dankos' death puts football games in a different light, said Harrison.

"That was a football game. This is life," he said. "It does put things into perspective. I think Brian would say the same thing. There is something bigger than what we're doing with the kids on the field."

"It's one of the hardest things that you deal with when you deal with young kids, to be in that situation where you try to coach them and mentor them and have them grow up and make great decisions and then something happens," said Harrison, who has been coaching in Howard County since 1986. "It's going to be a hard thing for the River Hill program to have to deal with."

Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun

Rededication of Joseph R Fugett Middle School

Rededication & Open House
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
West Chester
Joseph R. Fugett
Middle School
Welcome to J. R. Fugett Middle School
and the
West Chester Area School District
The metamorphosis of J. R. Fugett Middle School is the final phase in the district’s comprehensive
secondary schools’ construction plan. This plan, which began in 2003, included additions and renovations
to East and B. Reed Henderson High Schools, and the construction of Bayard Rustin High
School. The high school portion was completed in 2006.
Some of the required renovations at Fugett were accomplished as part of the work on the adjoining
East building. Thus, the roof at Fugett was replaced as an extension of the roof replacement at East.
New doors and windows were installed, and the building exterior received a much needed scrubbing
with a hydro spray. In addition, the parking lot was expanded and repaved, and some asbestos was
removed from the interior.
Major construction, which included tearing down existing interior walls and reconfiguring
instructional spaces, did not begin until the summer of 2007. To provide the best possible learning
environment for the students, the project was completed over a three-year period with the bulk of
construction occurring during the summer months.
The first phase, completed in the summer of 2007, centered around the academic wing which was
renovated with brand new science classrooms; other classroom spaces were better equipped to meet
specific instructional needs. Two additional classrooms now occupy an area once filled by locker bays
on each floor. A work room for teachers and an office for a guidance counselor were added on each
floor. New bathrooms and HVAC system were installed.
Phase two, accomplished during the summer of 2008, involved the unified arts area and included
new updated rooms for art, music, technical education, and family and consumer sciences. During
this phase, the family and consumer sciences classrooms were moved to the lower level to provide
additional spaces for art and music rooms. The cafeteria was renovated as part of this phase as well.
The final phase, completed this past summer and fall, involved the library, administration area,
gymnasium, and auditorium. The administration area was enlarged and reconfigured to better serve
the school community. A two-story addition, added in front of the auditorium and gymnasium,
provides room for a television studio, student council room, bathrooms and storage space.
J. R. Fugett Middle School students are part of a total population of almost 12,000 students
who attend 16 district schools. The district covers a 75-square-mile area that includes West Chester
Borough (the Chester County seat) and the Chester County townships of East Goshen, West Goshen,
East Bradford, West Whiteland, Westtown and Thornbury. Thornbury Township in neighboring
Delaware County is also a part of the district.
Students in the district are supported with a $198.7 million budget for 2009-10 and a professional
staff of approximately 900 headed by Superintendent Dr. James R. Scanlon. The educational program
is comprehensive and designed to meet varying student needs, interests, and talents. In all areas, from
academics to music to sports, students bring home honors on the regional, state, and national levels
every year. Students at Fugett are part of this record of achievement.
The rededication of the
new and renovated facilities
at J. R. Fugett Middle School
is an exciting milestone in the
school’s history and brings
to a close the very ambitious
upgrading of the district’s
secondary school facilities
whch began six years ago.
This day brings a great deal
of satisfaction to the members
of the Board of Education.
To fully appreciate the significance of this rededication,
it is necessary to understand how the completion of
these renovations fit into the broader view the district’s
administration and Board of Education have had since
2000 regarding its secondary facilities.
Between 2000 and 2003, the Board of Education
made some important decisions regarding the organization
of the district’s secondary schools. The most significant
was to build a third high school and develop a feeder
system for kindergarten through grade twelve. Parents of
our elementary school students now know, in advance,
the educational path their children will follow through
middle school and high school.
From the School Board President:
Rededication of J. R. Fugett Middle School is an exciting milestone
James T. Smith
2009-10 Board
(Board at completion of project)
James T. Smith, President
Susan J. Carty, Vice President
Martha Carson-Gentry
Terri Clark
James B. Davison
Jeffrey T. Seagraves
Dr. Ricky Swalm
Gail Tomassini
Rogers W. Vaughn
2001 Board
(Voted for secondary school project)
Dr. Debra Arvanites, President
Terri Clark, Vice President
Marion R. Bartram
Dr. Cynthia Benzing
Joseph P. Green, Jr., Esq.
John Rutland
Jeffrey T. Seagraves
Thomas G. Wolpert, Esq.
Bonnie R. Yost
West Chester
Area
School Board
James T. Smith, President
West Chester Area School Board
That decision put in motion the need to build Rustin
High School, renovate Henderson and East High Schools,
and finish improvements to all our secondary schools by
upgrading Fugett Middle School to meet current state
standards. With the completion of these renovations, the
students and faculty of Fugett now have a first class facility
to carry on the district’s tradition of quality education
through the 21st century.
I would like to thank Kevin Campbell and his staff
for their tireless efforts that made this final project a reality.
I would also like to thank Principal Joe Morris and
his building staff for their patience over the last three
years as construction, at times, disrupted their routine.
In addition, the Board of Education would like to recognize
the taxpayers of this community for their continued
support for quality education.
Thanks for being part
of the celebration to rededicate
J. R. Fugett Middle
School. Today we celebrate
three years of renovations
to a building that has
served more than 30,000
students since it opened
in 1969. Originally known
as East Junior High, the
building was renamed as J.
R. Fugett Middle School in
1977. With this rededication, we expect the building to
serve another 30,000 students for many years to come.
When the building opened in the late 1960’s, it was
considered to be state of the art. Little did we know how
fast technology would develop. Today, the new J. R. Fugett
Middle School stands ready to meet new technological
challenges of the 21st century. Its library is equipped
with wireless Internet access, houses 60 computers available
for student use, and lists a library collection of more
than 18,000 titles. Science labs, art rooms, writing labs
and math labs with computer access will help prepare
our students for today’s world.
Dr. James R. Scanlon
From the Superintendent of Schools:
Today we celebrate three years of renovations
James R. Scanlon, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
A building is only as good as the people who occupy
it. The Fugett staff, along with a supportive parent
and local community, is ready to assist students as they
pursue educational challenges and academic rigor.
I challenge our current students and the generations
that follow to take advantage of the opportunities provided
by this community and staff. In addition to academics,
there are many extra-curricular opportunities that help
our students achieve their personal best.
Our community has supported the renovation of
its schools because it understands the value of a quality
education for students and for all residents in the West
Chester Area School District. Research has proven a
positive correlation to a positive learning environment
and student achievement. The new Fugett is an example
of such a facility.
On behalf of the students, faculty, staff and the
administration of the West Chester Area School District,
I want to thank the community for supporting our
schools and our students. Our tradition of educational
excellence will continue. I welcome you to the “new” J. R.
Fugett Middle School.
I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the
parents, students, teachers, and support staff of Joseph
R. Fugett Middle School to
thank our community, the
administration, and the
West Chester Area School
Board for turning our
building into a state-ofthe-
art educational facility.
As I reflect back over
the past several years, the
transformational journey
which I was a part
of, was both exciting and
challenging and will not
soon be forgotten. I was
able to witness the excitement
and increased energy
level of our teachers,
staff, and students as each
phase of the renovations
was completed. Today, J.
R. Fugett Middle School
is a cutting edge educational
facility. It offers a more welcoming environment,
a brighter and livelier space, a platform where our teachers
will not be limited in their ability to educate, and a
school where our students will have improved opportunities
to learn.
The Fugett community now has a greater opportunity
to meet the challenges of the future through these
advanced educational resources which include: a new
infrastructure that will enhance communications, the
expansion of our ability to access learning, and the
ability to better provide for the individual needs of all
students. The building was designed to increase the capa-
The J. R. Fugett Middle School administrative staff (l-r): Principal
Joseph Morris, Assistant Principal Dr. Judy Kay Maxwell,
and Assistant Principal James Attanasio.
From the Building Principal:
Meeting the challenges of the future
Mission Statement
The mission of the West Chester Area School District is to
educate and inspire our students to achieve their personal best.
Joseph F. Morris, Principal
J. R. Fugett Middle School
“Home of the Cougars”
bility to support the delivery of the district’s comprehensive
middle school programs and to equip our students
with the skills and knowledge
that will allow them to
stand tall in their place in
this, the 21st century.
As the principal, I am
extremely proud of being
a part of an educational
community that understands
the value of providing
the very best facilities
and educational environment
for our students. With
the modifications that have
been made to the J. R.
Fugett Middle School, the
goals stated in the district’s
mission statement and
vision will be more easily
attained. It has been inspiring
and a privilege to have
been a part of the entire
renovation process and I
look forward, with excitement, as our teachers and staff
guide and educate our students in this new and modern
facility.
Special Thanks
Renovating a school is a cooperative effort involving staff, parents,
and members of the outside community. The West Chester Area School
District gratefully acknowledges the efforts of the many individuals and
organizations that contributed to our J. R. Fugett Middle School project
including:
The West Chester Area School Board
The West Goshen Township Board of Supervisors
The following district personnel and their staff members:
Marc Bertrando, Assistant Superintendent, Secondary Education
Kevin Campbell, Director of Facilities and Operations
Dr. Suzanne K. Moore, Director of Business Affairs
Joseph F. Morris, Principal, J. R. Fugett Middle School
Construction crews and workers
Rededication Planning Committee
Parents and students
Library
classroom
Orchestra
rehearsal
Rededication Ceremony
December 1, 2009
6:30 p.m.
Pledge of Allegiance........................................................................................................................Olivia Rogers
Student Council Representative
Star Spangled Banner...................................................................................................Fugett Chorale and Band
Welcome ................................................................................................................................ Dr. James R. Scanlon
Superintendent of Schools
Remarks...........................................................................................................................James T. Smith, President
WCASD School Board
Comments...................................................................................................................... Joseph F. Morris, Principal
J. R. Fugett Middle School
Reflections......................................................................................................................................... Jean Fugett, Jr.
Grandnephew of J. R. Fugett
Presentation of Key to School.........................................................................................................Thomas Gilbert
Gilbert Architects
Presentation of Student Council Gift............................................................................................Karalyn Berman
Student Council Representative
Presentation of Time Capsule .......................................................................................................Kevin Campbell
Director of Facilities & Operations
Ribbon Cutting ....................................................................................... James T. Smith, School Board President
Dr. James R. Scanlon, Superintendent of Schools
Joseph F. Morris, Principal, J. R. Fugett Middle School
Alma Mater..................................................................................................................Fugett Chorale and Band
Music and Lyrics by John Wylie and Frank Nefos
Reception Music (7:30 - 8:00 p.m. in cafeteria)................................................................ Fugett Select Strings
All guests are invited to tour the school at the conclusion of the Rededication Ceremony.
Refreshments are available in the cafeteria.
Joseph R. Fugett recognized the value
of a good education. As principal of the allblack
Gay Street School, he helped shape
the school into a fine institution that won
admiration and respect from black as well
as white citizens. In the process, Fugett
and his staff developed a sense of black
pride in their young students. Although he
was not directly involved in the desegregation
efforts of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s,
Fugett helped pave the way by giving the
black population the education and selfpride
needed to stand up for their rights.
Joseph R. Fugett grew up on the family farm. He was
educated in Baldwinsville, New York, grammar schools
and graduated from high school in Waterloo, New York.
He received a B.S. degree in science and agriculture
from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Although he studied agriculture, Fugett never
returned to the farm. Rather, he went from Cornell to
Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, where he as an animal
husbandry instructor and also came under the influence
of George Washington Carver. Later, he taught at
Bordentown High School in New Jersey and Delaware
State College. After coming to West Chester in 1920, he
studied at the University of Pennsylvania, which granted
him a master’s degree in education in 1926.
During his career in West Chester, Fugett was active
in the National Education Association and the Elementary
School Principals Association. He was a charter
member and president of the Suburban Philadelphia
Elementary School Principals Association. He was invited
by the (then) state Department of Public Instruction
to serve on a state-wide committee to prepare teaching
Joseph Russell Fugett
guides and related materials dealing with
intercultural understanding.
A number of other honors were
bestowed on Fugett. In 1945, he was
chosen secretary to Maj. R. R. Wright of
Philadelphia at the international organization
conference of the United Nations
in San Francisco; some 1,400 representatives
from forty-six nations attended
the conference. In 1957, he was cited at
Cheyney University’s commencement for
advancing education, serving the community,
and enlightening human relations.
In October 1965, Fugett was honored at ceremonies
formally renaming the Gay Street School after
him. Teachers, borough school board members, school
administrators, community leaders, and the parents
of children attending the school were present at the
ceremonies as well as the school principal at the time,
Donald S. Pitt. A proclamation was read designating
October 13, 1965, as “Joseph R. Fugett Day” in honor of
his service to the schools.
The school board resolution renaming the school
had been passed several months earlier, in June 1965. At
that time, school board president Dr. Elwood M. Spellman
said Fugett “was speaking out for better race relations
long before the others we hear today were standing
up and talking on the subject.”
Fugett died on July 7, 1975. In 1977, when the Fugett
Elementary School closed, the name was transferred to
what had been East Junior High School.
Excerpt taken from A Legacy of Learning
by Florence Sechler Miller
Joseph Russell Fugett
Gay Street School Principal, 1920-1955
The Gay Street School, reconstructed after
the 1908 fire, was sold to the West Chester
Borough in 1977 and razed in 1990.
Pictured from top to
bottom: front lobby
looking into the main
office; reading pit in
library; auditorium.
Renovations
Completely renovated:
All classroom areas
Administrative suite
Auditorium
Gymnasium
Library/media center
Cafeteria
Music suite
Relocated and upgraded:
Art suite
Technology Education
Family & Consumer Science
Construction of new
addition in July 2009
Construction of music
rooms on second floor
as of July 2008
Renovation
of Library
as of July
2009
Front Addition
Total square feet: 2,113
Student Council
School store
Television studio
Storage
Restroom facilities
Rear Addition
Total square feet: 1,104
Elevator
Prior to the West Chester Area School District
becoming official in 1966, the area Joint School Board
(comprised of members from surrounding townships
and the borough), faced a shortage of space for the everexpanding
numbers of students enrolled. In December
1964, the joint high school board approved the purchase
of a 50-acre site at the corner of Paoli Pike and Ellis Lane
in West Goshen Township. The price of the acquisition
was approximately $125,000. Settlement was scheduled
for April 1965.
Herman Cabassa, chairman of the board’s Building
and Property Committee, noted that the site met a
number of criteria: location, isolation from industrial
developments, road access, and availability of electric
power, sewers, and water. In addition, the site was large
enough for two schools - a new junior high and, possibly,
a new senior high. On April 26, 1965, the board
appointed Tobiessen-Wenger and Associates, Paoli,
architects for a new junior high, which opened as East
Junior High. Later, East High School was built on the
property.
In July 1966, the West Chester Area School District
assumed responsibility for completing construction
of East Junior High School. The design plan for East -
which would house 1,250 students - was approved by
the area board on August 22, 1966. The T-shaped building
included a three-story academic wing. An adjoining
two-story wing housed the kitchen and cafeteria on
one floor with the home economics and industrial arts
departments above. The two wings were bisected by the
long part of the T, which housed the gym, library, offices
and auditorium. Somers Construction Company was
named general contractor at a bid of $2,415,600.
The new junior high opened in the autumn 1969
and was dedicated on December 7. When it opened,
East Junior High housed all the district’s ninth graders
and some 275 tenth graders. The assignment of the
ninth and tenth graders to East and the transfer of sixth
grade students to North and Stetson were intended to
relieve overcrowding on the high school and elementary
school levels.
In September 1977, a complete reorganization to
a K-5, 6-9, 9-12 structure occurred. The closure of the
borough schools and the grade reorganization left the
district with eleven elementary schools, three middle
schools, and two high schools. East Junior High was
renamed Fugett Middle School by school board action
on March 28, 1977.
Excerpt taken from A Legacy of Learning
by Florence Sechler Miller
The Beginning of J. R. Fugett Middle School
Construction Summary
District Construction Team
Kevin Campbell, Director, Facilities & Operations
Mark Groves, Capital Program Manager
James Whitesel, Capital Projects Supervisor
Tim Burns, Capital Projects Coordinator
Architect
Gilbert Architects, Lancaster, PA
Construction Manager
General: ER Steubner, Inc.
Phase I Contractors
General: ER Steubner, Inc.
Plumbing: Guy Cooper Corp.
Heating/Ventilating/Air Conditioning:
Myco Mechanical, Inc.
Electrical: Wm. H. Clinger Corporation
Environmental: Crest Environmental Services
Phase II Contractors
General: ER Steubner, Inc.
Plumbing: J. R. Reynolds, Inc.
Heating/Ventilating/Air Conditioning: NB Rogers, Inc.
Electrical: Pagoda Electrical
Environmental: Crest Environmental Services
Phase III Contractors
General: ER Steubner, Inc.
Plumbing: TMI Commercial, Inc.
Heating/Ventilating/Air Conditioning: Worth & Co.
Electrical: Wm. H. Clinger Corporation
Environmental: Crest Environmental Services
WC
West Chester Area School District
829 Paoli Pike, West Chester, PA 19380
484-266-1000 ~ www.wcasd.net
The West Chester Area School District is an equal opportunity employer
and educational agency and affirms that it does not discriminate on the basis of race,
color, national origin, age, sex or handicapping condition.
This booklet was produced by the Communications Office of the West Chester Area School District
Editor & Graphics Designer: Ginny Zahn

Black Students Protesting @ U of MD

Black Students Mount Protest at the University of Maryland

In what was one of the largest protests since the Vietnam War, hundreds of students on the campus of the University of Maryland College Park demonstrated against the elimination of the position of associate provost for equity and diversity. The position was eliminated in a budget cutting move. A part-time administrator will now take over the duties of the office.

While blacks are 13 percent of the total enrollments at the College Park campus, student protesters noted that the number of black freshmen has declined in recent years. This year there was a 28 percent decline in black freshman enrollments.

The associate provost for equity and diversity post has been held since 1999 by Cordell Black. Dr. Black will remain at the university as a tenured professor of seventeenth-century French literature

How the NFLPA Helps Former Players

The following story appeared on NBC KARE 11’s (Minneapolis/St. Paul) website today. Former Viking Earsell Mackbee's final wish to go home grantedBy John Croman
Minneapolis, MN -- The 68-year-old man on the gurney rolling down the corridors at Hennepin County Medical Center Thursday afternoon could've been anyone, but once upon at time he wore number 46 for the Minnesota Vikings.Earsell Mackbee played cornerback for the Vikings from 1965 to 1971, leading the team in interceptions in 1967 and appearing in Superbowl IV. It was an NFL career delayed by four years he spent in the Air Force before finishing his college career at Utah State.In 2005 Mackbee suffered a stroke, and recently his condition worsened. "It's been a long, hard fight these last four years," Mackbee's daughter Marcee Harris said Thursday at HCMC, "A lot of ups and downs, a lot of hospitalizations and a lot of complications."On Thursday he was struggling with complications of pneumonia and an intestinal infection, as his children explained to the media why they were hoping to put him on an airplane to the west coast.When Mackbee still had voice he'd told his children that, when his time came, he'd rather die in his home town of Vallejo, California. Recently he continued to reinforce that last wish with nonverbal cues."He raises his eyebrows and he tries to smile or say something, or lift his hand a little bit," Harris said, "So we know we're doing the right thing for him."Mackbee grew up poor in a large family in that San Francisco Bay area city, an experience that later led him to work with at-risk youth at The City, Inc. after his pro football days ended. And yet the good memories of his youth tugged at his heart."He had a tough childhood," Harris said, "But he had so many funny and interesting, crazy stories from the neighborhood where he grew up, things with his brothers and sisters."His large extended family in California joined forces with his Minnesota children to try to make the voyage home a reality. Daughter Melanie Mackbee, who lives in northern California, said she had been working to get her father home for years."If he could make it that would be great," Melanie Mackbee told reporters, "I know his siblings want to say goodbye before he passes."With their father nearing death, Mackbee's children turned to the Internet and other resources to raise the money needed for a specialized medical flight to California. Mackbee's son Mateo said he was heartened by the outpouring of emotional support from old friends, but the cash wasn't coming in very quickly."We needed $26,000 to make the flight happen," son Mateo Mackbee said, "But because of the recent economic conditions we haven't been able to raise enough."Earlier in the week it appeared the clock was running down on Mackbee's final wish. And even if a money miracle came, his family worried he'd be too sick to fly. But Thursday morning they got their prayers were answered.They learned that the NFL Players Association would pick up most of the cost of the flight, through the Gene Upshaw Players Assistance Trust Fund. With time running short, a medical air taxi was booked immediately.Late Thursday afternoon HCMC staff rolled Mackbee out the front doors to a waiting ambulance, for his ride to Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport. The sight of the old Viking's final victory evoked a mixture of tears and joy for his kids."We're happy to be able to grant him his final wish," Marcee Harris said, "But we're also a little sad to know this may be the last time we see him."Mackbee's youngest son Jeremy Stewart rode in the plane with his dad to make sure he'd have a familiar face on hand, as well as someone who could understand his father's gestures and expressions.Thursday night Jeremy reported the plane had arrived safely in California. Mackbee was headed first to a skilled nursing facility. Doctors and nurses there planned to assess his condition and decide the best medical setting for him."We would like to thank the NFL Players Association for their financial support, kind words of comfort and encouragement in such a difficult time," the family said later in a statement, "Thank you for giving hope to so many families of former NFL players that have no voice or a place to go for help"The family also gave special thanks to the Professional Athletes Foundation and its manager Tyrone Allen.

MHF

Yahoo Settles Suit with NFL Players Association Over Fantasy Game Rights

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo said that it has settled its lawsuit against the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) over a requirement that the company pay licensing fees to use players' names and statistics in online fantasy football games. "We did reach a settlement and we are going to explore other opportunities with the NFL players union to work together," Yahoo Sports spokeswoman Nicol Addison told Reuters. Yahoo sued the NFLPA in federal court in June, following a decision to not renew a previous license agreement that had expired. Last September, CBS and the NFLPA also sued one another over the issue of players' statistics in fantasy sports games. In April, the court ruled in favor of CBS, but that ruling is under appeal.
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090707/tc_nm/us_yahoo_sports_3

Mr. Smith Gets Down to Business

The new union leader’s quiz of some of the best-educated professional athletes in the country proceeds like this:

“How many people here know the National Football League is a non-profit?” DeMaurice Smith, the longtime Washington, D.C., lawyer asks 75 members of the Seattle Seahawks. No hands rise.

“How many people here know that the NFL has a special antitrust exemption granted to them by Congress?” Again, no hands. “We all understand the difference between a strike and a lockout?” Silence and blank stares.

A look at new NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith’s trip to introduce himself to the Seattle Seahawks.

Mr. Smith, elected in March to replace the late Gene Upshaw and lead the NFL Players Association, then asks how many players saw the news about the league’s new deal with DirecTV, which guarantees teams an additional $4 billion through 2014. They didn’t. He asks how many of the league’s new and renovated stadiums were paid for with tax dollars. They shake their heads in disbelief when he gives them the answer–virtually all of them.

These men, like many National Football League players, are essentially in the dark on the basic underpinnings of their league’s $8-billion juggernaut, even in an era when teenage phenoms speak of themselves as brands and approach their careers as sophisticated businessmen.

That’s about to change. After two months of visits with nearly every NFL team, Mr. Smith met Tuesday with the league’s player representatives to plot strategy for the upcoming negotiations in what may become the NFL’s most intense labor standoff in two decades. Team owners last year set the stage for this showdown when they voted to terminate the current collective-bargaining agreement after the 2010 season, two years ahead of schedule. Owners say the players’ share of the pie—about 60% of total revenues—is too large and needs to be scaled back.

‘Potential for Battle’

“There is an urgency,” says New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. “We’ve been in a period of labor peace for a long time, and this is the first time you really feel the potential for a battle.”

The NFL Players Association’s approach is to educate players about how the league operates. That’s why Mr. Smith was in Seattle with the Seahawks last month.

“I’d say the learning curve for both the players and for me is pretty steep right now,” said Mr. Smith who has no previous experience in sports or labor.

His rank-and-file doesn’t disagree.

“I didn’t know any of this stuff until I met De a month ago,” said T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who signed with the Seahawks as a free agent during the offseason. “I don’t ever remember hearing stuff in depth like that.”

Mr. Houshmandzadeh was a player representative for the Cincinnati Bengals before signing with the Seahawks earlier this year.

The NFLPA was founded in 1956 but exerted little power during the next three decades. Players abandoned a strike in the middle of the 1987 season, and two years later the union decertified so it could take the league on in court on antitrust grounds. Only after it won a series of legal rulings did the NFLPA become a union again in 1993, reaching a collective-bargaining agreement with management that year. It now represents nearly 2,000 current players and thousands of retirees.

Mr. Upshaw, who led the Players Association for 25 years, took a top-down approach to his organization, sharing information only when he felt it necessary. The short length of the average player’s career—just over three seasons —and the league’s annual turnover rate of about 30% also make it difficult for the NFLPA to develop consistent leadership among players.

“The re-education process is a constant battle,” said Jeff Kessler, who was a close friend of Mr. Upshaw’s and is the chief labor counsel for both the NFL and NBA players unions. “You have to start over every year, and you hope some of the veterans bring the newcomers along.”

Most NFL players have spent at least four years on a college campus, unlike athletes in the other major professional sports leagues in the U.S. But NFL players say Mr. Upshaw told them that he would take care of their business—and in large part they let him—with decent results. Mr. Upshaw took over the Players Association in 1983, when the average player earned about $90,000 a year and players didn’t have the right to free agency.

After years of litigation, players won the right to free agency in 1992. By the time of his death in 2008, the average salary had grown to $1.75 million, though unlike in other sports, contracts are not guaranteed. Meanwhile the value of an NFL franchise has grown to more than $1 billion, and the owners own a cable channel, the NFL Network, valued at roughly $1.5 billion.

“For so long, I didn’t really want to get involved in that side of football,” said LaDainian Tomlinson, the San Diego Chargers’ running back and league’s most valuable player in 2006. “You listen to De, it’s very enlightening.”

Seahawks lineman Patrick Kerney said Mr. Upshaw’s visits to the team camps would occasionally descend into mudslinging, as players would challenge everything from his $6 million annual compensation package, to whether he flew first class or on a private jet to meet them.

“He’d get defensive when we would start asking questions,” Mr. Kerney said.

Jason Belser, a top lieutenant to both Mr. Upshaw and Mr. Smith, acknowledged that his former boss could be curt when players challenged him on the trappings of the position. “How do I say this diplomatically?” Mr. Belser asks. “That’s what comes along with the space you occupy and the time you occupy it.”

Mr. Smith is a former assistant U.S. Attorney and litigation partner at Patton Boggs who grew up in a family of ministers and attended Cedarville University, a Christian college in Ohio. He earns less than half of what Mr. Upshaw used to earn and flies economy class on his visits to NFL camps, which come at a crucial time for the players.

Just three months into his new job, Mr. Smith is mobilizing roughly 1,900 players for a fight against some of the most powerful businessmen in America.

Owners are seeking to slow the growth of the cap on players’ salaries, which has been going up from $5 million to $12 million per team each year. If the league doesn’t get a new deal before March there will be no ceiling or floor on player salaries for the 2010 season. Also, in the final year of the agreement, the league does not have to provide most player benefits.

As part of his effort to make the players conversant in the issues, Mr. Smith is stressing their value to their industry. Considering no one in the world can do their jobs as well as they can, that value is fairly high.

So, each time his questions meet blank stares—as they did at team meetings this spring—he follows up with basic lessons in the business of football.

Wearing his inside-the-Beltway pin-striped suit, he explains the basics of antitrust law, describing how The Home Depot and Lowe’s can’t get together and decide the price of a hammer, but NFL teams can jointly decide how much to sell the television rights for. He mentions that the NFL spent millions lobbying Washington legislators last year.

He explains how NFL teams secured billions in public subsidies for their stadiums because they promised the projects would produce jobs and their games would produce tax revenues. Then he argues that if the owners ultimately lock the players out and prevent the 100,000 people who work in those stadiums from doing their jobs, then they’ve gone back on their deal, and people need to know about it.

“This is how we need to start talking about our business,” he tells the players during the meeting with the Seahawks.

NFL officials say the league is not going back on any promises. Owners are simply focused on fixing a financial system they claim has been broken since 2006, when they agreed to boost the players’ share of total revenues from 57% to 60%.

Seeking Fairness

“Our goal is an agreement that is fair to the clubs, the players and the fans,” said Brian McCarthy, a league spokesman.

About 75 minutes into Mr. Smith’s seminar, the lessons begin to sink in.

Mr. Houshmandzadeh raises his hand and asks if it’s OK to start talking about the public funding for the stadiums and the anti-trust exemptions when sportswriters interview him in the locker room. Mr. Smith tells him he should, and if writers don’t publish his sentiments he shouldn’t talk to them anymore.

Then another player, veteran free safety Brian Russell, raises a question about the so-called voluntary spring workouts, known as Organized Team Activities, which are voluntary in name only. Mr. Russell says the coaches have been putting the players in one-on-one drills, which, as Mr. Russell recalls, aren’t supposed to take place during the pads-free spring workouts.

“Maybe you guys could stay around for practice?” Mr. Russell suggests. Mr. Smith and the four other NFLPA executives he has come here with do just that. No one-on-one drills take place, which doesn’t surprise Mr. Smith.

“The attitude from management to the players in the past has always been ‘Hey, you guys like this game, right?’ It’s pretty good, isn’t it,” he says, watching the Seahawks practice through his dark sunglasses. “I’m just trying to get these guys to think about more than fourth and one, or third and long.”

Kobe’s Next Conquest: China

One of the great curiosities in modern sports is the Chinese people’s lavish affection for Kobe Bryant. During last year’s Beijing Olympics, he was greeted with a rapturous reception and mobbed everywhere he went. He appears in commercials and on billboards, has a popular Web site and had a reality show on Chinese television. He sells more NBA jerseys there than Yao Ming.

On Tuesday in Los Angeles, the love affair will reach a new level. Not only is Mr. Bryant accepting an award from the Asia Society for his work as a “cultural ambassador,” the ceremony will be attended by Liu Peng, China’s “Minister of Sport” and a member of China’s Communist Party Central Committee.

China’s embrace is largely an appreciation of Mr. Bryant’s basketball talent—he won his fourth NBA title earlier this month with the Los Angeles Lakers. “He reminds everyone of Michael Jordan,” says Shen Zhiyu, a senior basketball writer for Titan Sports, China’s largest sports daily.

But it is also a reflection of a deliberate campaign by Mr. Bryant to make inroads in the world’s most-populous country. In addition to his frequent visits to China (a planned trip in late July will be his fourth in as many years) and his considerable work on behalf of sponsor Nike, he’s assuming another identity: philanthropist.

In an attempt to tap into the Chinese government’s growing interest in promoting charity, Mr. Bryant is establishing the Kobe Bryant China Fund. The organization will partner with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, a charity backed by the Chinese government, to raise money within China earmarked for education and health programs. Mr. Bryant’s existing fund, the Kobe Bryant Family Foundation, will also work to strengthen ties between the two countries by teaching middle-school students in the U.S. about Chinese language and culture. Mr. Bryant declined to say how much he is donating to the fund.

“At the elite level, China and the U.S. have already connected, but there is no grass-roots connection,” says Donald Tang, who is the founder and CEO of financial advisory firm CITIC Securities International Partners. Mr. Tang, who will help guide Mr. Bryant’s China fund, says the athlete’s popularity can help forge that connection. “I think he can be a one-man State Department, reaching directly to the people.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Bryant will accept an award from the Asia Society for his work in building cultural bridges to the country.

Mr. Bryant is the rare American star athlete with international credentials. He spent much of his childhood in Italy where his father, Joe Bryant, played professional basketball. He speaks Italian and Spanish. “I have a curiosity about other cultures and an openness to them, as a result of growing up overseas,” he says.

Mr. Bryant’s public image is not spotless. He has squabbled publicly with former teammate Shaquille O’Neal and drawn fire for his tactics in contract talks. In 2003, authorities in Colorado charged him with sexual assault. Mr. Bryant admitted having sex with his accuser but insisted it was consensual. The case was dismissed after his accuser declined to testify against him. A civil suit was settled out of court.

In China, none of that seems to matter. Terry Rhoads, the American managing director of Zou Marketing, a Shanghai sports consultancy who steered Nike’s entry into China, says Mr. Bryant seems to have a solid sense of how to navigate in the country. “Chinese fans adore Kobe on the court, but they also want to see affection for Chinese culture and people,” Mr. Rhoads says. “The more time he spends in China, the more he will endear himself to millions of basketball-loving Chinese.”

Mr. Rhoads says Mr. Bryant’s charitable initiative could have a profound impact on a nation that is just developing a culture of individual charitable efforts. After last year’s devastating earthquake in Sichuan, Mr. Yao personally donated about $293,000 and took donations from other NBA players. When Sichuan native Zhen Jie, a tennis player, made it to the semifinals of last year’s Wimbledon women’s singles draw, she donated her prize money to earthquake relief. These efforts were well received in China. The government seems to hope that philanthropy by athletes and other celebrities will encourage newly prosperous entrepreneurs to give money as well.

Mr. Bryant’s U.S.-focused Kobe Bryant Family Foundation, which has sponsored after-school programs in Los Angeles for several years. It will pay the salaries of four teachers who, beginning this fall, will teach Mandarin and Chinese culture to middle-school students.

“I want to help these kids see the possibilities of China and just understand that the world is much, much bigger than what they see around them,” Mr. Bryant says. “It helps show them that anything is possible and they should not be afraid to dream big. You’re not just locked in to one city.”

Mr. Bryant’s growing profile in China is good news for his sponsors and also for basketball, which has emerged as one of the country’s favorite sports. Nike has made significant investments in the country. With sales exceeding $1 billion, Nike says China is its second-largest market outside the U.S.

Sports have always played a large role in bridging between China and the outside world. Most famously, the “ping-pong diplomacy” of the early ’70s saw Chinese and American table-tennis teams compete against one another as a precursor to a thaw between the nations. The spectacle of the Beijing Olympics last year was China’s greatest-ever turn on the world stage. “China began promoting sports in this era because it was one of the few diplomatic channels open to it,” says Susan Brownell, an American professor who recently completed two years at Beijing Sport University’s Olympic Studies Centre.

Also, she says, a large part of Chinese public life consists of ceremonies and symbols rather than public debate. “Sports serve this function now because of their largely non-verbal character,” she says.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's Letter To Retired Players And A Response From Atlanta

By now many of you have received Commissioner Roger Goodell's letter on behalf of the Team Owners and his office endorsing the NFL Alumni and Fourth & Goal.I have attached it for those of you that did not get it for one reason or another...

He did not come to Atlanta, went to Dallas,Chicago and Baltimore, do not think he attended any other NFL cities due to his schedule,but he stated in his letter " met with retired players across our nation and listen to the issues that concern you most" ... for Atlanta was on his schedule at one point an time. I promised all of you that when his office let me know when he was coming , I would let you know... do not think it is going to happen, for the reports that I received from the cities he visited were just about what he wrote in the letter, lack of communication and representation. As the Commissioner of the NFL, do think he should have been a little bit more prepared when he visited those cities and former players.Instead of giving answers,recommendations and solutions to the many questions/issues that were asked of him;the report I got was " we will get back to you on that , let me do some research or you got a good point" Well that is
just sad ...if the letter that many of you received was in response to the many questions that were asked... Now he has coached or played football...for he stated in the letter "we can implement a game plan to tackle these issues head on" never once did he mention any issues or answered any-ones question that was asked of him from the meetings he had with the former players in those cities he visited...

Many of you were outraged (about 95%) by the letter and I heard you,got your e mails and phone calls, that is why I wanted you all to know my take on it...and do hope the 5% understands...

Do think the NFL Alumni is a good organization,when it comes to Caring for Kids,but when it come to Retired Players issues/benefits ie,education, insurance,pension increases,disability, widows & family benefits, there is only one organization that has been there.... The NFL Players Association...

The Commissioner was correct when he stated"for many years the NFL Owners have provided financial assistance to the NFL Alumni and we will continue to build upon that support".Then you were encouraged to join to support their efforts...Many of us that have been involved with the Alumni organization...know that organization has a history of no communication and no representation.For many years I paid my dues to the alumni,this year I did not re-join for those reasons, no communication or representation...have no idea when or where they meet...or even if they do, for we the NFLPA have monthly meetings and a convention, which are informative.

Do hope the NFL Alumni joins us in the NFLPA requesting a financial audit of the teams, since the NFL owners opted out of the Collective Barganing Agreement (CBA) 2 years early,for reasons the Commissioner nor the owners will say why,but if it is financial and they are losing money,where is the proof or evidence that they are, the new TV contract was increased tremendously,ticket prices are going up yearly and 40 plus million viewers watched the NFL draft...

DeMaurice Smith,NFLPA Executive Director since March of 2009 has sent 2 letters to the Commissioner and to my knowledge neither has gotten a response...

The first one dealt with the question of why did he and the NFL owners opted out of the CBA early,at least we the retired players as well as the active players would know the reason,plus it could help DeMaurice catch up as well, we should not have to assume, for you know what you get when you assume.Do think that was a fair question,since they were the ones that did not like the CBA and opted out 2 years early...

The second one was requesting a financial audit of each of the teams, that way if they are losing money,we retired and active players would know not assume...also think that was a fair question,unless it is none of our business, but do not think a true agreement can be reached with out financial transparency ...as I said.. too my knowledge, for that was my question to DeMaurice at the Presidents meeting with him at the convention,in Palm Springs , he only said "no comment." Which I took it as ...no you have not gotten a response.

We have communication and representation in the NFLPA and that is where we belong,do hope all the other organizations that have popped up in the past few years ( Quarterback Club,HOF Club,Dignity after Football,Fourth and Goal,Retired Players and others) support this effort on financial transparency... Have no idea if those other groups have an agenda or issues ...and if any of you know , please share... for I am soliciting their support on financial transparency of the NFL Teams...You are welcome to share or forward this e mail to all former/active players regardless of what group they support...

ESPN, just reported that Roger Goodell makes 10.7 million a year...sorry , but had to share..did not know that...

Do wish you and your family a safe and fun Independence Day...


Dewey McClain, President
Metro Atlanta Chapter NFLPA


We will have a breif meeting at the Family Day Outting on ,Saturday , July 11,2009 at the Belmont Village ...3pm

Live From Radio Show

Tommey Polley as guest reporting on the new movie about the Dumbar Poets

Check out http://www.bigvisionfilms.com/-

Tickets still on sale @ 410-371-8743

"The Poet Pride" Movie debut This thursday June 25th from 6-10pm at the sports museum at Camden Yards.

'In Case You MIssed'

Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins was among the political figures supporting the Reginald F. Lewis Foundation at a gala luncheon Saturday in East Hampton.

Lewis was a self-made man made and noted philanthropist whose desire to support a museum of African-American history and culture was made real by a posthumous donation of $5 million to create the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

What does Dinkins think about the Republican New York State Senate coup? “I’m saddened by the whole thing," says the Democrat. "There’s important legislation that needs to be passed. It’s so unfortunate we have this situation.”

Dinkins called Lewis a dear friend. “When you think that he died at 50, and my bride and I have a 55-year-old son now, that seems so young to me. I said on the occasion of his death he accomplished more in his 50 years than most people do in a lifetime. I have this expression, ‘Service to others is the rent we pay for space on this Earth.’ Reginald Lewis died paid in full. Hopefully he will not look down and see any of us in arrears.“

-LEE FRYD

I’ve been on both sides of that deal. Watching the Detroit RedWings with their heads down last night after losing to the Penguins of Pittsburgh in the seventh and final playoff game reminded me how I felt for about a month after Super Bowl X. Did I, a member of the Dallas Cowboys, lose or was I a loser?

I won some big games too but never the biggest games. Heck, I lost to Williams my senior year. What kind of leader was I?

That’s why I admire Sydney Crosby. His accomplishment is awesome; the youngest captain to ever lift the Stanley Cup. Wow! I almost know what that feels like. I continue to claim that I was and am the youngest player in NFL history with a college degree. I know I am the youngest to graduate as an independent scholar with honors. I was 20, a year younger than Sydney.

I won too many games to be a loser. Check my career record from Cardinal Gibbons to Amherst, to the Cowboys and to the Redskins. I will add up the victories for you later, the point is we did not lose that Super Bowl game; the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl X. Last night the Pittsburgh Penguins the Stanley Cup.

Great season Red Wings. I am there with you.

How we worked with kids @ our recent convention photo courtesy The Desert Sun

Mazio Royster, who retired in 1994 from Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is a member of the NFL Players Association, stays close to one of the kids from the Boys & Girls Club of Palm Springs at a fitness clinic Saturday at Palm Springs high school. Children ages 6 to 12 participated

Yahoo sues NFL Players Association over data

MINNEAPOLIS -- Yahoo Inc. has sued the NFL Players Association, claiming it shouldn't have to pay royalties to use players' statistics, photos and other data in its popular online fantasy football game because the information is already publicly available.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Yahoo filed its lawsuit Monday in federal court in Minneapolis.

According to the complaint, a licensing arm of the players union has threatened to sue Yahoo if it doesn't pay for the information. The last of Yahoo's licensing agreements with NFL Players Inc. expired March 1. But Yahoo claims it doesn't need authorization, due to a court decision in April in a similar dispute between NFL Players Inc. and CBS Interactive Inc.

Fantasy sports league participants create teams comprised of real players. As the season progresses, participants' track their players' statistics to judge how well their team is performing. According to the judge's decision in the CBS Interactive case, an estimated 13 million to 15 million people participate in fantasy football games that gross more than $1 billion a year.

Yahoo's lawsuit wants the court to declare that its game does not violate any rights of publicity owned or controlled by NFL Players Inc., and that any such rights would be trumped by the First Amendment and federal copyright law anyway. It also seeks to bar NFL Players Inc. from interfering with Yahoo's fantasy sports businesses, from threatening litigation, or making any statements that Yahoo or its customers are infringing the rights of NFL Players Inc.

NFL Players Association spokesman Carl Francis said the union had no comment at this time. It's appealing the decision in the CBS Interactive case.

The Major League Baseball Players Association and Major League Baseball Advanced Media lost a similar case in 2007 when the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that fantasy baseball company CBC Distribution and Marketing Inc. didn't have to pay the players, even though it profited by using their names and statistics. The judge in the CBS Interactive case relied heavily on the 8th Circuit's ruling.

Via: Washington Post

Retired Players Being Cautious

Retired players angry with the N.F.L. Players Association over disability and pension benefits said that the executive director of the union might be ahead of himself in seeking their support during contract talks with the league. The informal group of former football players lashed out at comments made by DeMaurice Smith, the union’s executive director, who said Saturday that if there was a lockout by owners in 2011, retired player benefits would be reduced by 80 percent while it lasted. Several players meeting in Las Vegas about their problems with the union said their benefits were protected by law — lockout or not.

FIRST NYTIMES NEEDS TO GET THERE FACTS RIGHT!

This really upsets me that the media is too lazy to check their sources. I understand that it is tough to survey all retired players about their feeling and beliefs because there is so many of us but I do not like when we are in the media with a slanted story. In the mean time, I hope that the media will do its job and make it clear that only some of the retired players feel this way.

Some of our retired benefits are protected and that is the way it is. I really would love to know why the NYtimes only used information from a representative of some unhappy retired Players. The public deserves to get both sides of the story.

Fire Damage NFLPA office

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A small fire has damaged the office of NFL players' union head DeMaurice Smith.

The union says the fire started in a bathroom off the office at about 5 a.m. Tuesday. No one was in the building and the fire was doused by a sprinkler system.

Union spokesman George Atallah says there was more water damage than fire damage. There was some concern of damage to items belonging to the late Gene Upshaw, Smith's predecessor as executive director.

Atallah says the union and Washington fire department are investigating.
Thanks to NYtimes-
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/06/02/sports/AP-FBN-NFLPA-Fire.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

OPEN LETTER TO ALL NFL PLAYERS CURRENTLY INACTIVE OR RETIRED

June 2, 2009

At the recently concluded 25^th Anniversary NFLPA Retired Players Convention in Palm Springs, California, the retired players passed a unanimous resolution joining the active NFL Players in their demand calling on the NFL owners to provide independently audited financial statements for their member teams.

In a second unanimous resolution, it was resolved to reach out to all our retired brothers to unify for this single demand for independent financial statements from the NFL teams because it was the NFL that cancelled our Collective Bargaining Agreement.

We will continue to work for the improvement of the pension and disability system and other benefits for all retired NFL Players.

We believe that there is only one locker room and there is only one team. Active, inactive or retired, we are all NFL Players.

~ONE LOCKER ROOM ONE TEAM~