ESPN.com’s sports business reporter since 2012; previously at ESPN from 2000-06
Appears on SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and with ABC News
Formerly worked as analyst at CNBC
The New York Giants have shaken up their equipment room less than two weeks after settling with three sports memorabilia collectors who accused quarterback Eli Manning and several members of the organization of providing bogus “game-worn” equipment that was sold to unsuspecting fans.
Longtime team employees Edward and Joseph Skiba and Ed Wagner Jr. were let go, multiple sources told ESPN. Joseph Skiba was the team’s equipment director. Edward Skiba, his brother, was the assistant equipment manager. Wagner was the equipment/locker room manager. He had worked for the Giants his entire adult life, according to a 1999 story by The New York Times. His father also was an equipment manager for the team.
The Giants declined to comment on the shakeup.
Joseph Skiba, who was a defendant in the original lawsuit, was asked by Manning in an email to get “2 helmets that can pass as game used.” Skiba later testified that he gave Manning two non-game-used helmets in that instance. The point of contention became whether helmets that were bought by collectors in other years were game used or not.
Skiba was not liable in the civil suit that was settled May 14, according to the judge’s summary judgment.
Skiba, who was accused of making the fake Manning helmets that were sold to collectors by Steiner Sports (the company with which Manning is under contract to provide game-worn jerseys and helmets for sale), had almost all the claims against him dismissed. The judge agreed with his counsel’s arguments that he never profited from the exchange of helmets, nor did he ever directly represent the items as game-used to consumers.
However, owner John Mara said in a deposition that he considered what Skiba did stealing from the team. The Giants did not represent the Skibas in the case, which stretched five years.
In one of the court filings, Manning’s lawyer accused memorabilia collector Eric Inselberg of being “engaged in a decades-long memorabilia scheme” in which he obtained, without permission, game-used Giants equipment, including Manning’s, from the Skibas as well as a local dry cleaner.
Wagner also was listed in the original plaintiff’s complaint, although he was eventually cleared of any liability in the civil case against Manning, the Giants and Steiner Sports.
The Giants are generally considered one of the more stable franchises, and turnover in the equipment room is rare. The Skibas had been with the organization since they were college students.
Kiev – “We’ve won it five times,” Liverpool supporters sing to celebrate their five European Cup final victories, but Jurgen Klopp, manager of the English giants, is attempting to end a very different run of results in Saturday’s Champions League final.
Klopp has lost his last five finals, three with Borussia Dortmund before moving to Anfield in 2015, and two in his debut season with the Reds.
“They don’t hang silver medals at Melwood (Liverpool’s training ground),” Klopp warned amidst the euphoria of making it to Kiev this weekend after an enthralling 7-6 aggregate semi-final win over Roma.
“There’s still a job to do but that’s how it is. Going to a final is really nice but winning is even nicer.”
Those are words of a man who has been there and suffered before. Each of his five final defeats had their own context, but hurt all the same.
“If something is really important for you, you have to be ready for suffering. That is how life is,” Klopp said this week.
“If you want guarantees then don’t qualify for a final, stay at home or go on holiday.”
Klopp’s unfortunate run began in another Champions League final, five years ago at Wembley, as Dortmund lost out to bitter German rivals Bayern Munich 2-1 courtesy of Arjen Robben’s last-minute winner.
That run to the final proved to be the beginning of the end for Klopp’s great Dortmund side that had won two Bundesliga titles and thrashed Bayern 5-2 in the 2012 German Cup final – the only final success of his career.
A year on from Wembley, they lost to Bayern once more in the German Cup final 2-0 after extra-time in a highly contentious game as Mats Hummels – just one of many of Klopp’s Dortmund stars who would move to Bayern – had a goal wrongly not given before the 90 minutes were up when the ball had crossed the line in the days before goal line technology.
‘The legs will be fine’
Klopp’s final season at the German giants was a difficult one. A seventh-placed finish was far more respectable than seemed likely for most of the campaign as they even sat bottom of the Bundesliga in February, and a season to forget was capped with a 3-1 German Cup final defeat to a Kevin de Bruyne-inspired Wolfsburg.
Since joining Liverpool in October 2015, progress in the Premier League has been steady if unspectacular with two fourth-placed finishes after ending his first season in eighth. But it is in cup competitions that Klopp has made his mark on Liverpool.
Defeat on penalties to Manchester City in the 2016 League Cup final was followed by his first truly great Anfield night by coming from 3-1 down to beat Dortmund 4-3 in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Villarreal were then swept aside, but despite taking a deserved first-half lead against Sevilla in the final in Basel, Liverpool wilted after the break to lose 3-1.
Klopp’s demands on his players to play a high-energy pressing game has previously been blamed for his side’s form failing off towards the end of the season.
But with two weeks to prepare between Liverpool’s final Premier League game of the season and Saturday’s final, Klopp insists that won’t be the case this time round.
“We were unlucky in the (Europa League) final,” he added. “Second-half, it was legs. This time the legs will be fine.”
Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008
ATLANTA — NFL owners have approved a policy that could end player protests during the national anthem. Will it work? Are owners truly united in the effort? And is it more complicated than it needed to be?
Let’s take a closer look at all the lingering questions.
Give it to me in a nutshell. What’s the new policy?
Any team personnel, including players, must “stand and show respect for the flag and the anthem” if they’re on the field at that time, according to the policy statement. It replaces a previous policy that said players “should” stand but did not make it required.
Players are required to stand if they are on the field during the national anthem. Full story »
• Answering the biggest questions » • Players, coaches and owners react » • Jets won’t prohibit kneeling » • 49ers owner abstains from vote »
What does “on the field at that time” mean?
Players who don’t want to stand have the option to go to the locker room during the anthem performance. There will be no discipline for doing so.
“We’re not forcing anyone to stand that doesn’t feel that’s within the way they feel about the particular subjects,” Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II said. “But those that are on the field are going to be asked to stand.”
Does that mean any player in the locker room during the anthem will be assumed to be in silent protest?
That’s where things start to get complicated. Players sometimes go in for last-second treatment or (emergency) bathroom breaks. They now might have to clarify why they were not on the field.
How exactly will the NFL define “showing respect” for players who are on the field for the anthem?
It’s a fair question given the frequency of disputes between players and the league on policy interpretations. What’s clear is that the anthem policy extends beyond kneeling or sitting. Linking arms and raising fists, for example, are also expected to be prohibited.
Owners queried on this issue Wednesday said, in essence, that they’ll know it when they see it.
“We didn’t define exactly what they have to be doing to be out there,” Rooney said, “but I think everyone understands what it means to be respectful toward the anthem.”
This is actually a quite reasonable point. If the point of protest is to draw attention, the protest itself can’t be subtle. It’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which a player is perceived to have protested when in fact he intended no such thing.
Raised fists and linked arms are expected to be prohibited under the league’s new policy. Rich Schultz/Getty Images
What’s to stop a player from protesting on the field?
Again, it’s complicated. Some owners wanted to avoid a direct threat of discipline for protesting. In the end, the league can only fine the team — not the player himself — for a protest. In turn, it is up to the individual team to develop its own policy for disciplining players who protest during the anthem.
Any team punishment of a player must be in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. Most likely, discipline for protesting would fall under “conduct detrimental to the team.” According to the CBA, the maximum punishment for that violation is one week’s salary and/or a four-week unpaid suspension.
How much could the league fine the teams?
The league hasn’t said, and it’s an important detail. If the fine is relatively small, a sympathetic owner could pay the league and then decline to discipline the player.
So, in that scenario, a player could protest and not face discipline?
Correct.
Will that happen? Is there really an owner who would endorse a protest during the anthem, despite these efforts?
“Our focus is not on imposing any club rules, fines or restrictions,” Johnson said in a statement.
Johnson’s comments help illustrate the division among owners. So does the decision of San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York, who abstained entirely from the vote. York didn’t provide many details to explain his decision, other than to say he wanted to focus on pursuing progress.
Why were owners so divided?
Much like the country at large, they come from various backgrounds and political tilts. Some, including the Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, were genuinely aghast at players protesting during the anthem. Some feared for the business. Others, such as Johnson, did not want to drive further divisions with players.
The final policy was a tortured threading of the needle that reflected multiple viewpoints. Here’s one example of the knots the owners tied themselves into: Some rejected a proposal to clear the field of all team personnel before the anthem, long considered the cleanest and easiest fix, because they thought it would be interpreted as a mass protest and/or disrespectful to the flag.
Are owners really concerned about patriotism? Or just the appearance of it?
Can the answer be both? All owners prefer that players stand during the anthem, but their efforts to address it didn’t start until President Donald Trump began criticizing the protests last fall. To complete the circle, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted a screenshot of a news story on the policy Wednesday and included the hashtag “#winning.”
You’ve come all this way and barely addressed the players’ viewpoint!
Sorry, but that mirrors the NFL’s approach throughout the process. Owners worked closely with a group of players to create an $89 million social justice platform, one designed to address some of the issues players were protesting. But the league did not consult with the NFL Players Association during the development of the anthem policy.
Why not?
Because they didn’t have to and didn’t want to. The policy is a part of the game operations manual, not the CBA, and isn’t subject to collective bargaining. Owners wanted to work with players on the core issues at the root of the protests. But one way to view the policy is an attempt to wrest control of an issue owners felt was threatening their bottom line.
What is the NFLPA saying?
The union will do what it should: review the rule and then protect players by challenging any attempts — intentional or otherwise — to skirt the CBA.
Executive director DeMaurice Smith leaned in hard in a statement posted to Twitter, saying that “management has chosen to squash the same freedom of speech that protects someone who wants to salute the flag in an effort to prevent someone who does not wish to do so.” That claim seems to ignore the players’ option to go into the locker room, but it reflects the frustrated opposition of a group excluded from the process.
pic.twitter.com/3FvuGyy4tA
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) May 23, 2018
What else could go wrong?
The league must be prepared to deal with owners who apply implicit or overt pressure on players to take the field, stand for the anthem and forgo a trip to the locker room. It would be a violation of the rule but difficult to adjudicate outside of the CBA. This could be especially relevant if enough players remain in the locker room to make it a weekly issue.
What’s next?
The policy allows each club to “develop its own work rules, consistent with the above principles, regarding its personnel who do not stand and show respect for the flag and the anthem.” In other words, each team can decide how (or if) it wants to discipline players or other employees who protest during the anthem. The presumed deadline is the first week of the preseason.
Kiev – Real Madrid can become the first side in 42 years to win three consecutive European Cups when the Spanish giants take on Liverpool in Saturday’s Champions League final.
Moreover, victory in Kiev would secure Madrid’s fourth European crown in five seasons.
Here, AFP Sports looks at other great sides that dominated Europe to see how Zinedine Zidane’s men compare:
Real Madrid (1955-1960)
Madrid call themselves the “Kings of Europe” and the feeling this competition is their own was born out of winning the first five European Cups.
Spearheaded by legendary Argentine striker Alfredo di Stefano, Madrid came from 2-0 down to beat Stade de Reims 4-3 in the first final.
Italian opposition in AC Milan and Fiorentina were then dispatched in the next two finals before Reims again were conquered in 1959.
The peak of Real’s reign came in the 1960 final when Eintracht Frankfurt were thrashed 7-3 at Glasgow’s Hampden Park with Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas scoring hat-tricks in what is widely regarded as on the best performances in the competition’s history.
Ajax (1970-1973)
Ajax became the next side to win three consecutive European Cups in the early ’70s, inspired by coach Rinus Michels’s conception of “Total Football,” where players interchanged positions in pioneering style, and the brilliance of Johann Cruyff.
Although Michels was only in charge for Ajax’s first title in 1971 against Panathinaikos, his philosophy was carried on by Cruyff with the high point his two goals that beat Inter Milan in the 1972 final.
Another title followed as Juventus were edged out before Cruyff left to forge another legacy as player and coach at Barcelona.
Bayern Munich (1973-1976)
The last side to do three in a row were Franz Beckenbauer’s Bayern as Dutch dominance gave way to a spell of German success.
Unlike Ajax, Bayern didn’t enthral the continent, though, and had significant chunks of good fortune along the way.
Atletico Madrid led their 1974 final until the final minute of extra-time when Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck levelled to send the final to a replay that Bayern romped 4-0.
Bayern beat Leeds United 2-0 in the final the following year before breaking St. Etienne’s hearts at Hampden Park 1-0 to complete the hat-trick.
The French side twice hit the woodwork in a match that became known as “the square posts” as St. Etienne believed the oddly shaped crossbar contributed to their defeat.
Liverpool (1976-1984)
In contrast to Saturday’s clash, when Liverpool met Real Madrid in the 1981 final, it was the English side who were in the midst of a dominant run.
Under Bob Paisley, Liverpool won the European Cup three times in five seasons, culminating in victory over Madrid after beating Borussia Monchengladbach and Club Brugge in 1977 and 1978.
“We weren’t afraid of them, the opposite in fact. We’d been in the final a few times, knew what it was about. They were the inexperienced ones,” Liverpool great Terry McDermott, who won all three finals, told AFP this week.
A final flourish for many of that squad came three years later by beating Roma on home soil on penalties for a fourth European crown.
Barcelona (2008-2015)
In contrast to their eternal rivals, Barcelona’s success in Europe’s premier club competition was limited to one victory until the turn of the century.
A second title inspired by Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o came in 2006 against 10-man Arsenal, but it was Pep Guardiola’s four-year spell in charge between 2008-2012 that is remembered as one of the greatest sides ever.
Sidelined by injury and team selection two years earlier, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez combined to dazzle a highly-fancied Manchester United 2-0 to complete a treble in Guardiola’s first season.
United were the victims once more for arguably the best display of Guardiola’s reign in a 3-1 win to lift the trophy again two years later at Wembley.
The core of that side remained even after Guardiola’s departure and with the firepower of Luis Suarez and Neymar added to compliment Messi, Barca did the treble again in 2015 for a fifth European crown.
ESPN Senior Writer
