Press Box: NHL players give board authority to file disclaimer of interest
The NHL Players' Association has voted to give its executive board the option to file a disclaimer of interest as part of the process to disband the union if it chooses to do so.
The players' vote was conducted during a five-day period and passed overwhelmingly, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday. The executive board has to decide by Jan. 2 whether to file the disclaimer of interest as a quicker means of decertifying the union.
The move would allow the players' union to file an antitrust suit against the NHL, but it removes the option of collective bargaining in the dispute with the league.
The NHL has countered by filing a class-action complaint in New York Federal Court and also an Unfair Labor Practice Charge against the NHLPA with the National Labor Relations Board.
The two sides have not met since mediation failed last week and no talks are scheduled.
The NHL has been locked out the players since Sept. 16 and cancelled games through Jan. 14. Among the issues are length of the collective bargaining agreement, pensions, player contract rights and salary cap.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
--The lead investigator in the eligibility case of UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad is no longer with the NCAA.
Abigail Grantstein apparently has been fired, CBSSports.com reported, after her boyfriend was overheard talking about the case on a airplane flight.
MISCELLANEOUS
--Three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton issued a series of tweets late Thursday after the shocking reports that she worked as a $600 an hour call girl for a Las Vegas escort service, saying she turned to prostitution because of marital challenges and a battle with depression.
Favor Hamilton, one of the top middle-distance runners in NCAA history, called the life exciting and said her husband, Mark Hamilton, knew what she was doing and did not support her.
"He tried, he tried to get me to stop," she wrote on her Twitter account. She went on to say on Twitter that she made "highly irrational choices and I take full responsibility." Favor Hamilton closed on Twitter by saying she's seeking psychological help.
---Gabby Douglas, who won the all-around gold medal in women's gymnastics in the Summer Olympics in London, was named the Associated Press female athlete of the year, it was announced Friday.
Douglas barely beat out swimmer Missy Franklin for the honor. Douglas received 48 votes from the panel of 157 U.S. editors and news directors. Franklin, who won four gold medals at the Olympics, received 41 votes. Serena Williams, who won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, was third with 24 votes.
