Off the wire

BASEBALL

A-Rod wants lid on video

Alex Rodriguez’s lawyers want to keep a lid on potential video of him being questioned in his lawsuit against a New York Yankees team doctor. A Bronx judge suggested Tuesday that both sides agree not to disseminate any such video without court input. There is no pact as yet. Rodriguez said Dr. Christopher Ahmad didn’t tell him of October 2012 MRI results showing a left hip joint tear. Rodriguez said he therefore kept playing and worsened the injury. Depositions, or pretrial questioning under oath, are customary. They often are not made public before trial. Rodriguez’s lawyer Alan Ripka said his client wants to avoid leaks of video of him answering potentially sensitive medical questions. Ahmad lawyer Peter Crean said he doesn’t intend to release it, but Rodriguez’s fame shouldn’t mean special protections.

People familiar with the negotiations tell The Associated Press that baseball players and management hope to reach a new drug agreement this week that would increase initial penalties for muscle-building steroids and decrease suspensions for some positive tests caused by unintentional use. The deal also would eliminate the loophole allowing Alex Rodriguez to earn almost $4 million during his season-long ban.

FOOTBALL Cowboys seek compensation

The Dallas Cowboys have filed a complaint against Jay Ratliff and are seeking compensation from the defensive lineman. Ratliff was sidelined last season while recovering from a sports hernia that required surgery. He was placed on the physically unable to perform list, but when he told the Cowboys he was not physically able to play they released him in October. A week later Ratliff’s surgeon medically cleared him to play and he signed with the Bears, playing five games for them. The collective bargaining agreement does not cover such disputes, so the Cowboys have brought their complaint to the NFL’s management council and the players’ union. “It just stems from him not playing for us under the pretense of injury, and then days later playing for someone else,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said at the NFL owners meetings. “We just have a complaint, and we’ll see where we take it from there.” The Cowboys want to recover a portion of the signing bonus Ratliff received when he agreed to a five year, $40 million contract in 2011, a person familiar with the complaint told The Associated Press. The team also wants to recover some of Ratliff’s salary for 2013, the person added, speaking on condition of anonymity because the specifics of the complaint have not been made public. Ratliff’s recent career with the Cowboys was anything but pleasant. In 2012, he was involved in a shouting match with Jones in the locker room. He missed the off season workouts and preseason before being released and landing in Chicago last year. Ratliff, who now prefers to use the first name Jeremiah, signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Bears this month after starting four games for them in 2013.

BASKETBALL

Hall of Fame class named

Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill and Darrell Griffith headline the 2014 College Basketball Hall of Fame class. O’Neal averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds per game in three years at LSU, and was a first-team All-American his final two seasons. Hill led Duke to two national championships, and Griffith helped Louisville win the title his senior season. They will be joined at the induction ceremony in November by NAIA star Zelmo Beaty from Prairie View A&M; Final Four coaches Dale Brown of LSU and Gary Williams of Maryland; longtime coach and author Glenn Wilkes; and Howard Garfinkle, the founder of the Five-Star Basketball Camp.

Florida Coach Billy Donovan received a raise even before his team’s record-setting run through the SEC. Donovan signed a three year contract extension last month that raised his average salary to $3.7 million over the final six years of the deal, which runs through the 2018-2019 season. The extension, agreed to in June, paid Donovan a $250,000 longevity bonus before March 1 and increased his base salary nearly $100,000 a season. With the bonus, Donovan will earn $3.9 million this season. He will make $3.681 million each of the next five years.

MOTOR SPORTS

Richard Petty’s wife dies

Lynda Petty, the wife of NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Richard Petty, died Tuesday after battling cancer for several years. She was 72. Jeff Dennison of Petty Motorsports said in a statement that Petty was surrounded by her family when she died at her home in Level Cross, N.C. He said she had been fighting cancer for the past several years. Lynda Petty helped start the Racing Wives Auxiliary, a benevolent fund for injured members of the NASCAR community. The group was formed by the wives of drivers, crews and sponsors.

FOOTBALL Longtime Bills owner dead at 95

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson, who helped found the American Football League in 1960, died at his home Tuesday afternoon. He was 95.

Bills President Russ Brandon made the announcement at the NFL winter meetings in Orlando, Fla.

Wilson was the founder and sole owner of the Bills after establishing the team with the upstart AFL in 1960. He played a key role in the league’s merger with the NFL. He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

Wilson died at his home in Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich., around 1:40 p.m., said Mary Mazur, spokesman for the Wayne County medical examiner’s office.

He had been receiving in home hospice care.

“No one loves this game more than Ralph Wilson,” Brandon said in a statement. “It’s very tough. What he’s meant to the entire organization, he’s our leader, our mentor, our friend. How he loves his players and loved our community, special guy. They just don’t make them like Ralph Wilson.”

Wilson had been in failing health for several years after having hip surgery in 2011. Though he spent much of his time at his home in suburban Detroit,he was well enough to attend the Hall of Fame induction weekends over the past few years.

After regularly attending Bills home games since founding the franchise, Wilson had not been to a game since attending one in 2010.

Wilson established a reputation as being the “conscience” of the NFLfor his loyalty to fans and the several stands he took against franchise relocation.

“He didn’t let anyone pull anything off on him. He was very forceful,” New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson said.

“Mr. Wilson was a visionary and pioneer of professional football,” added Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank. “We have lost a founding member of the NFL family, but Ralph’s lasting impact on the NFL will forever be felt.”

Sports, Pages 20 on 03/26/2014

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