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SPORTS Tuesday 20 November 2018

Easy to declare a winner in NHL concussion lawsuit

By TIM DAHLBERG up to $75,000 in medical salaries of one first line over
AP Sports Columnist treatment. a year to get rid of a prob-
At the Stanley Cup Finals That's not much for players lem that could have vexed
earlier this year, Com- who got their brains scram- the league for many years.
missioner Gary Bettman bled playing the hard- It did so without having to
couldn't talk enough about nosed sport of hockey. acknowledge that high-
the feel-good story of the More importantly, perhaps, speed collisions and ubiqui-
Vegas Golden Knights and is that it's not an admission tous fighting could lead to
the NHL's role in bringing that the league did any- brain problems later in life.
major league sports to Las thing wrong, with the NHL Bettman's hard-line ap-
Vegas. not acknowledging any li- proach paid off, and that's
When it came to a question ability. no surprise.
about concussions and the It's simply a way to move This is a commissioner, you
degenerative brain disease on, with a token payment might recall, who can-
chronic traumatic enceph- to the 318 retired players celed an entire season
alopathy, Bettman wasn't settling the legal score. rather than let players get
nearly as chatty. The total cost to the NHL is paid what they're worth.
"There's nothing new on $18.9 million, a far cry from The lawsuit had already
the subject," Bettman said the NFL concussion settle- dragged on for four years,
before turning to Deputy ment that covers 20,000 and with the NHL fighting
Commissioner Bill Daly and former players with payouts In this Oct. 29, 2018, file photo, National Hockey League it every step of the way,
asking, "Do you want to an- expected to top $1.5 bil- commissioner Gary Bettman speaks during a news conference there wasn't much appe-
swer that?" lion over 65 years. As of last in New York. tite among attorneys and
Daly didn't, though he did month, the NFL concussion Associated Press most former players to take
note that the NHL believes lawsuit claims panel had al- Press. "I think it's important and that's going to have to it further.
there's not enough scien- ready approved more than for players who have an be paid for before they see In the end, the players will
tific information to draw a $500 million in awards and opportunity to settle their a penny from any recov- get some medical testing
definite link between con- paid out $330 million. case with the NHL now to ery, assuming they win." and a few dollars. The NHL,
cussions and CTE. One reason the numbers understand that before In other words, a token meanwhile, will get protec-
"This is not the commission- are so different is that they get anything through settlement is better than no tion from further suits at a
er's view, it's the science the NFL is a much bigger a trial against the NHL, it's settlement at all. small cost.
view," Daly said. league than the NHL, gen- going to cost millions of dol- The NHL will end up spend- Pretty easy to figure out the
No big surprise there, since erating about three times lars in experts to get there, ing the equivalent of the winner in this one.q
Bettman and Daly run a the revenue that major
league that has tolerated league hockey does. An-
— and tacitly condoned — other is that a federal judge Rivera, Halladay top newcomers on
players hitting each other denied class-action status Hall of Fame ballot
in the head ever since the in July for the lawsuit, pre-
era of the league's Original venting another potential
Six began in 1942. 5,000 retired players from NEW YORK (AP) — Career time. Clemens rose to 57.3 in 2010 and was 203-105
And it is true that while being involved. saves leader Mariano Ri- percent in the 2018 ballot with a 3.38 ERA in 16 sea-
there is increasing research The main reason, though, vera and late pitcher Roy but fell 75 votes short of sons. He pitched a perfect
that indicates concussions is that while the NFL atti- Halladay are among 20 the 75 percent needed, game against Florida in
can cause CTE, there is a tude toward concussions new candidates on the and Bonds was 79 votes 2010 and a no-hitter that
lot more researchers need softened over the years, Hall of Fame ballot for shy at 56.4 percent. Mar- fall versus Cincinnati in the
to learn about head injuries the NHL wasn't about to the Baseball Writers' Asso- tinez was 20 votes short at NL Championship Series
before establishing it as a change its stance that ciation of America, joined 70.4 percent, Mike Mus- opener — only the sec-
scientific fact. there isn't enough evi- by 15 holdovers headed sina at 63.5 percent and ond postseason no-hitter
Still, the NHL moved this dence to show that blows by Edgar Martinez. Left- Curt Schilling at 51.2 per- after Dan Larsen's perfect
week to settle a lawsuit taken to the head led to hander Andy Pettitte and cent. Rivera had 652 reg- game in the 1956 World
from former players who brain damage. infielders Todd Helton, Mi- ular-season saves and 42 Series. Halladay died pilot-
accused the league of fail- "When you have a defen- chael Young and Miguel in the postseason during ing a plane in November
ing to warn them about dant who has spent millions Tejada also are among 19 seasons with the New 2017.
the dangers of concussions of dollars litigating a case the newcomers on the York Yankees that includ- Pettitte was 256-153 with
and about the risks of play- for four years to prove that ballot announced Mon- ed five World Series titles. a 3.85 ERA in 15 seasons
ing hockey. The league nothing is wrong with get- day. He was 8-1 with a 0.70 ERA with the Yankees and
agreed to settle with re- ting your brain bashed in, Steroids-tainted stars in 32 postseason series. three with Houston and
tired players in a deal that you can only get so far," Roger Clemens and Barry Halladay won Cy Young went 19-11 record with a
could net each $22,000 players' attorney Stuart Da- Bonds each appear on Awards with Toronto in 3.81 ERA in 44 postseason
and make them eligible for vidson told The Associated the ballot for the seventh 2003 and Philadelphia starts.q