ESPN.com reported MLB and the MLBPA “were scheduled to meet Friday to begin negotiations to establish new policies and punishments for domestic violence.” The recent spate of high-profile cases involving NFLers prompted MLB and MLBPA to “open talks about the way the sport should deal with such episodes” even though the current CBA lasts through ‘16. The CBA “includes a voluntary treatment program for certain alcohol-related and off-field violent conduct.” It also “allows the commissioner or a team to impose discipline, but doesn't say of what sort, if a player is charged with a crime ‘involving the use of physical force or violence, including but not limited to, sexual assault, domestic violence, resisting arrest, battery, and assault’” (ESPN.com, 9/19).
KEEP IT ON THE FIELD: Flames President Brian Burke on Friday said of domestic violence issues in pro sports, “The notion that ‘I get paid to fight on a hockey rink so that same level of violence is acceptable on the street or in my home,’ I think that’s just pure bulls–t. And if a player can’t separate them, then the player doesn’t deserve to earn professional athlete wages.” He added, “What would we do if one of our players did this? How would we react? Every time we have an issue in another sport, we dry run it internally. We’ve done it a lot the past week” (CP, 9/19).
IDENTITY CRISIS? COURTHOUSE NEWS' Dionne Cordell-Whitney noted 40 retired NFLers last week "filed trademark infringement lawsuits" against the league, claiming they “were not paid for the use of their identities in films and products that promoted the league's ‘glorification’ of its past.” Also included in the suit were NFL Films and NFL Productions, and the players seek “damages for unjust enrichment and Lanham Act violations” and to “prohibit the NFL from broadcasting, distributing or disseminating any product using their identities” (COURTHOUSENEWS.com, 9/19).
