Gary Davidson Was Man Behind Upstart Leagues

Devils GM takes his own coach's job for second year in a row

(NEWSER) - Despite his team's first-place standing in the NHL's Atlantic Division, New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello has summarily dismissed coach Claude Julien and will coach the team himself for the remainder of the season, which consists of a week and then the playoffs. This is the second time in as many years the perfectionistic Lamoriello has taken his own coach's job. More»

Woeful Cleveland willing to give NBA star a shot

(NEWSER) - If LeBron James really wants to try football, Eric Mangini will find room on his roster. “I think he should come on down,” the Browns coach tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer . “The guy’s a freak athletically.” James may be an NBA star now, but he played wide receiver in high school. He opined on Monday Night Football that, if he dedicated himself to football, “I could be really good.” More»

Even LeBron James makes the list—relatively speaking, of course

(NEWSER) - If you set aside the fact that even the minimum-earning NBA player ($457,558) is still in the top 1% of American earners, you can appreciate that some sports standouts are relatively underpaid. Yahoo! Sports lists some of the biggies:

• Tim Lincecum, MLB, San Francisco Giants: Though he’s set to win a second straight Cy Young Award, he makes nearly 20 times less than another pitcher on his team at $695,000.
• LeBron James, NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers: He’s making the maximum possible—nearly $16 million—and he’s still a steal, considering he saved his franchise.

Three ex-athletes want league to monitor all ex-players

(NEWSER) - Three retired football players are suing the NFL because they say they got banged up so much in their playing days it left them with brain injuries. They want the league to set up a program to monitor the problem among all former players, reports Bloomberg . The three former athletes—Harry Jacobs, Jerome Barkum, and Tommy Mason—each suffer from brain injuries caused by frequent tackles during their careers, according to the federal lawsuit. They're also seeking unspecified personal-injury compensation. More»

He was probably joking though... right?

(NEWSER) - With the lockout officially cutting into the NBA season , would LeBron James consider suiting up for the NFL? Probably not, but the King is definitely stoking speculation. Last week his highness donned his pads and practiced with the Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary high school team, then tweeted that it “felt great being back on the field. Should I?” Last night he took it a step further, asking ESPN NFL guru John Clayton via Twitter when the deadline to sign free agents was. More»