In Syracuse, Jeremy Ryan cited a U.S. District Court document which indicated that former Syracuse assistant men's basketball coach Bernie Fine has "dropped his $11 million libel lawsuit against ESPN." Fine's attorneys filed a motion "asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed." A similar libel suit "brought against ESPN by Fine’s wife Laurie is still pending" (CNYCENTRAL.com, 7/2). Also in Syracuse, Nate Mink in a front-page piece reports Fine a week ago "asked a judge to combine his lawsuit with wife Laurie's," but the case was "dropped before the judge made a ruling." ESPN said that Fine "voluntarily dropping the lawsuit is not the result of a settlement" (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 7/3).
BLOG BROUHAHA: In Orlando, Paul Tenorio reported ESPN has "shut down its Big East blog, and thus its home for any American Athletic Conference coverage." The blog's "death comes despite the fact that ESPN and the American have signed a media deal." The decision to "kill the blog has thus ignited a furor in some circles of American Athletic fandom." Fans have "taken to an #OccupyStanford movement -- readers with interests in the American teams are on ESPN's Stanford football blog commenting and discussing the decision to shut down the American Athletic blog" (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 7/2).
