Randy Shannon suing the U. over money owed to him

Former University of Miami football coach Randy Shannon is suing the school for money he says is owed to him that was guaranteed for the final year of his contract.

Translation: Shannon was cut short when he was fired and wants his money.

If "The U" didn't pay Shannon what he was owed they should pay the man what was coming to him. They already fired him, so just pay him his money.

Shannon was fired in November 2010 after going 28-22 in four seasons. On Feb. 1, 2010, two deals - an employment agreement and a guarantee agreement - both went into effect. The lawsuit states that because those were less than a year old when Shannon was fired, the university decided to prorate the amount of what he was owed in the event of a firing by about one-sixth.


Exact amounts of what Shannon was owed were not detailed in the lawsuit, because terms of the employment agreement requires him to keep the amounts confidential. The lawsuit said Miami has been making monthly payments to Shannon, but at a rate lower than what was stipulated in the coach's contract.


''They are taking a credit for what they contend is an overpayment,'' said Shannon's attorney, Jack Scarola. 


''It's our position in the lawsuit that they are not entitled to do that.''


Shannon was under contract through Jan. 31, 2014, and was to receive a guaranteed amount per year if he was fired.  


Shannon is requesting a jury trial in this case. The number of dollars involved aren't named but I know that Shannon wouldn't be taking this to court over a few nickels and dimes.

It's official: Butler moving to Atlantic 10

For the last month it has been speculated that Butler would be leaving the Horizon League for the Atlantic 10. Speculation has now turned into reality as Butler held a news conference to announce their intention to join the Atlantic 10 to enhance their basketball program.

Butler will be joining the Atlantic 10 a year after Temple leaves for the Big East. The Bulldogs won't begin competing in the Atlantic 10 until the 2013-2014 season. The move will give Butler more exposure and it'll help that the program that it won't be in a one bid league any longer. It also gives the league more of a midwest presence along with Dayton, Saint Louis, and Xavier.

There have been rumblings about VCU and George Mason joining the Atlantic 10 but there has been no significant movement on that front.

Mayweather says fighting Pacquiao is a 'health risk'

Being the showman that he is, Floyd Mayweather was out promoting his upcoming fight this Saturday against Miguel Cotto. But he wasn't talking about how great he is or how he'll outclass Cotto on Saturday. This was about why he's not taking the fight against Manny Pacquiao and how Bob Arum and Don King don't care about the health of the fighters.

Mayweather said that fighting Pacquiao would be a "health risk". He also stated that it was "basic common sense" that Pacquiao had used performance enhancing drugs.


Mayweather once again said it is "basic common sense" that Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs and getting in the ring with him would be a risk to his future health.


"Health is more important than anything," Mayweather said. "Because guess what? When my career is over, if I'm hurt because of something that has happened in a fight, I can't come to you and say, 'I need (money).' "


Mayweather discussed that fans or promoters don't care of someone in the sport of boxing gets hurt and how the boxing world doesn't care if Pacquiao is using. He went on to say that King and Arum are all about the money and said the reason why he won't fight Pacquiao is that he won't forfeit his health for money.

"People say, 'We don't give a f--- if he's taking or not; we just want to see the fight. We don't give a f--- about your health and we don't give a f--- about your family.' " Mayweather said.


"I care about my family. I love my family. They're going to be there when no one else is there. When my career is over, you're all going to move on to the next one."

"Don King and Bob Arum don't see out the eyes of a fighter because they're not a fighter," Mayweather said. "All they care about is some f------ money. I care about a fighter's well being because I am a fighter.

"I know how it is to have a broken rib the rest of your life. I know how it is to piss blood. You all don't know nothing about this."

Mayweather believes that Pacquiao is using PED's and won't back down from that stance. When he breaks it down it makes some sense. I know it's a point that I've mentioned before in conversations about boxing, so I can see why Mayweather called for the Olympic style drug testing before taking the fight.

 "It took me years to get to here -- years," Mayweather said. "I'm going up in weight but I'm not walking through no damn fighters. (Pacquiao) is 106; now he decides to walk through (Miguel) Cotto? Cotto can't knock down (Shane) Mosley, but can he?"


When it comes to that point it makes sense as damning of an accusation it might be. Throughout the years in the sport of boxing when someone moved up in weight classes they sacrificed some of their power. Only a select few were able to maintain their power but not many. I don't think Mayweather is scared. In fact I think he's playing a game of human chess.  


 

Victor Martinez could be back by the end of this season

It’s been a tough couple weeks for the Tigers who’ve had to deal with losing streaks, inconsistent pitching and Delmon Young’s drunken racist New York City tirade last week.

However some potential good news for the team revolves around injured DH Victor Martinez.

According to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press, doctors have given Martinez better than a 20% chance to return to the team later this season which is something V-Mart is running with.

“Doctors say there is a lot of chance to play at the end of the year,” Martinez said, sitting in front of his locker during his first trip to Comerica Park this regular season. “So like I say, keep your fingers crossed, keep working hard and see what happens. He gave me 20% before, now he’s giving me a good chance to come back at the end of the year.”


“Big hopes for the end of the year,” he said. “So we’ll see how it goes. Just keep working slow, just got to make sure you put the hard work in everyday. “


Martinez underwent microfracture surgery in late January to repair his injured knee and at this point it doesn’t seem like he will need follow-up surgery. If he would’ve needed the addition surgery on his knee Martinez would’ve had no shot at returning this season.

Last season in his first year with the Tigers Martinez hit .330 with 12 home runs and 103 RBI.