Roger Goodell: Draft shifts to May

Roger Goodell confirmed Tuesday at the NFL’s spring meetings in Boston that the draft will be moved to May in 2014, sometime between the 8th and 17th of the month.

Goodell said the change was needed next year because the venue, Radio City Music Hall, will host an Easter show in April.

”At this late stage, for us to do it the right way, we don’t see having any choice but to move the date,” he said.

However, Goodell said he expects the draft to remain in May, with other adjustments to the NFL’s calendar, including the dates for the combine and the opening of free agency, to be discussed with the players’ union.

He said trying to stage the draft in April would mean the NFL would have to find a different venue or city. He emphasized, however, that the league is pleased with its experiences at Radio City Music Hall.

”We think we have found a location in New York that meets our requirements and where we think we can continue to grow the event,” he said.

Under the current collective bargaining agreement, Goodell can set the date of the draft without the NFLPA’s approval, although he would prefer to have the union’s blessing to maintain league harmony.

Goodell said owners ”didn’t reach any conclusion” in their discussion about changing the dates of the combine and free agency.

”We are negotiating that with the union,” he said. ”We have a discussion with them sometime in the next couple of weeks, and I am sure that will come up. We think that is a good change for fans and for football.”

A source has told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that in changes to the calendar being discussed, the league year would start before the combine beginning in 2015. The NFLPA wanted to give free agents a chance to find new teams sooner.

The commissioner said it was important to him that the union signs off on any changes to the league’s calendar.

”This is not secretive. We share what the overall strategy is and what we are trying to accomplish with the players,” Goodell said. ”We went to them initially to do that, to get their feedback. We want to make sure we do it right, and that includes getting player input.”

Eric Spoto benches 722 pounds

You lift, bro? Yeah? You don’t lift as much as Eric Spoto, who claims to have set a world record by raw-benching 722 pounds.

This video, taken on Sunday, actually shows the third of Spoto’s three lifts, two of which broke the record of 715 pounds. In the initial lift, Spoto benched 661 pounds, following that with 716 pounds and, finally, 722 pounds.

The ”raw” in the record comes from the fact that Spoto doesn’t wear a bench shirt or any other kind of supportive clothing; he’s there in a singlet and leather belt, plus gloves. Bench shirts are insanely taut, made of denim or polyester, and both cushion the lifter as the weight depresses and help the lifter get the weight back in the air. As a result, the current shirted world record stands at 1076.9 pounds, more than half again as much as the raw record.

There’s a bit of controversy around Spoto’s lift, because no one can have any kind of success on the Internet without somebody else coming along to dump on it. For a raw bench press to count, the bar has to be motionless at the bottom of the lift, and Spoto gets it off his chest in a hurry. You would too, if you could. Could be trolling, could be legitimate questions. We’re going with trolling, mainly because we don’t want Spoto mad at us.

Spoto’s ultimate goal? 730 pounds. No sweat, right? Your lift, bro.

By Jay Busbee

Tuesday’s Top 5

NBA Nightly Highlights: May 21st

2013 NBA Lottery

1. Cavaliers
2. Magic
3. Wizards
4. Bobcats
5. Suns
6. Pelicans
7. Kings
8. Pistons
9.Timberwolves
10. Trail Blazers
11. 76ers
12. Thunder
13. Mavericks
14. Jazz

GM’s comments lead to $100K fine

The NHL fined the San Jose Sharks $100,000 on Saturday for general manager Doug Wilson’s comments criticizing the league for forward Raffi Torres’ suspension for the rest of the second round of the playoffs.

The NHL said the fine was issued for violating a rule put in place earlier this year prohibiting formal team statements to the media during the 48-hour period following a disciplinary decision. The rule calls for an automatic $25,000 fine, and the Sharks were docked an additional $75,000 under an article in the league’s constitution because of the ”inappropriate nature of the comments.”

Torres was suspended for the rest of San Jose’s playoff series against Los Angeles on Thursday for an illegal check to the head of Kings forward Jarret Stoll during Game 1. The Kings took a 2-0 lead into Game 3 on Saturday night in San Jose.

Wilson said Friday that the organization strongly disagreed with the NHL’s decision to suspend Torres.

”It is abundantly clear that this was a clean hockey hit,” Wilson said in a statement. ”As noted by the NHL, Raffi’s initial point of contact was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit on an opponent who was playing the puck. He did not leave his feet or elevate, he kept his shoulder tucked and elbow down at his side, and he was gliding — not skating or charging.”

The team had no comment Saturday about the fine.

It is the fourth career suspension for Torres, who is considered a repeat offender in dangerous hits under the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

Stoll was bent forward while trying to play a bouncing puck when Torres approached him from the side for a violent hit in Game 1 on Tuesday night. Stoll’s head snapped back violently before he fell forward onto the ice. Stoll missed Game 2 and did not make the trip to San Jose for Saturday’s game. There is no timetable for his return.

In an explanatory video released by Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s senior vice president of player safety, he said Stoll’s head was ”the principal point of contact” in the hit, creating grounds for suspension. Although Torres initially made contact with Stoll’s right shoulder, Shanahan ruled that the shoulder hit was only a glancing blow, as evidenced by the direction both players traveled after the contact.

Wilson said the head must be targeted to violate Rule 48.1 and there is no evidence that Torres targeted Stoll’s head. Wilson also said Stoll put himself in a vulnerable position just before the hit to play a bouncing puck.

”It appears that the NHL has not only made an inappropriate application of this rule but is trying to make an example out of a player who is being judged on past events, one who has changed his game dramatically this season and taken only six minor penalties in 39 games,” Wilson said.

While playing for Phoenix last season, Torres received a 21-game suspension — initially 25 games — for a high hit on Chicago star Marian Hossa in the first round of the playoffs. Torres was suspended for two games in January 2012 for charging Minnesota defenseman Nate Prosser, and he sat out four games in April 2011 for a hit to the head of Edmonton’s Jordan Eberle while playing for Vancouver.

The Sharks acquired Torres from Phoenix just before the trading deadline and he provided an immediate spark in helping the team make the playoffs and sweep Vancouver in the first round. Torres scored in overtime in Game 2 against the Canucks.

San Jose was expected to get a boost to the lineup Saturday with the return of injured forward Martin Havlat, who has been sidelined since leaving Game 1 in the first round because of a lower-body injury. Havlat told the coaching staff after the morning skate he was ready to play and coach Todd McLellan said he would get Havlat back in the lineup. Havlat has 21 goals and 31 assists in 73 career playoff games.