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~