After U.S. District Court Judge John Bissell denied the
request of former Jets coach Bill Belichick for a temporary
restraining order against the NFL that would have allowed
him to negotiate with other teams, Bissell indicated that he
would also "probably reject" a request for a preliminary
injunction to determine whether another hearing is needed,
according to Judy Battista of the N.Y. TIMES, who writes
that the injunction "would allow Belichick to negotiate with
other teams until the antitrust case gets underway, which
could take months." If the injunction is denied during a
conference call scheduled for this morning, Belichick could
appeal to a federal appeals court (N.Y. TIMES, 1/26). In
N.Y., Richard Wilner writes that Bissell ruled that
Belichick "caused the mess and thus he should not be free to
entertain new job offers without the Jets' approval."
Bissell: "Who does he have to blame for this?" Wilner adds
that "a desperate" Belichick "crawled back" to the Jets
"practically begging" for his job back, but new Jets Owner
Robert Wood Johnson IV "decided to pass." Though the court
decision went against Belichick, "it did not erase the
chance of him returning to the sideline next season -- most
likely" with the Patriots (N.Y. POST, 1/26). Belichick's
attorney Jeffrey Kessler, on the ruling: "We are very
disappointed with the decision. We are going to make a
decision and decide what's next" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/26).
