The stalemate continues: And now for the weekly no-update update on the contract talks between quarterback Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. Citing a league source, The Times-Picayune reports the two sides still have not resumed negotiations. Talks have been practically nonexistent for more than a month, both sides apparently choosing to defer action in hopes the other will budge first. The first real so-called deadline that could spur some action is the start of organized team activities on May 22. However, it’s unclear which side will feel more pressure as that date nears. The Saints will want Brees on the field when they begin their first real on-field activities, especially since they’ll be installing their offense without oach Sean Payton present. At the same time, Brees will want to be there with his teammates, especially since he highly values his role as a leader. Last year, Brees valued the OTAs so much that he organized his own version of them during the NFL lockout.
Earning their stripes: The NFL is looking for potential replacement officials while it negotiates with the officials association on a new contract. The previous contract expired after last season, and another negotiating session is expected later this month, NFL Referees Association executive director Tim Millis says. Millis says he is “surprised by the timing” of a league memo to its officiating scouting department to begin identifying possible replacements. He says the NFL “did something like this” during contract talks in 2001 but did not do it during negotiations in 2006. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says, “We expect to reach an agreement, but must have contingency plans in place.”
Off the dribble: The video, nearly 20 years old now, shows the Dream Team doing something they never did at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona: losing. Prior to the start of Olympic play, the ultimate U.S.A. team faced a group of top college players including Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley, Penny Hardaway and Chris Webber, who vowed: “I’m not going to be intimidated.” The never-before-seen coaches’ tape is part of a new documentary, NBA TV’s The Dream Team, presented by Right Guard, that will be shown on the league’s network on June 13. In part, the video shows Webber gleefully jamming and Hurley easily slicing through the Dream Team defense. “These young kids were killing us,” Scottie Pippen says in the documentary. “We didn’t know how to play with each other.” The final score of the scrimmage in La Jolla, Calif.—Collegians 62, Dream Team 54—looked nothing like the results of the Olympic games that the Dream Team won by an average of 43.8 points. The New York Times has the full story here.
