|
LOS ANGELES -- Only final arguments and a ruling remain in the trial to determine whether Donald Sterlings estranged wife can sell the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. Kyle Wilber Jersey Dallas Cowboys . Lawyers for Sterling plan to argue Monday that Shelly Sterling had no right to make the deal with Ballmer, even though Donald Sterling had given her written authority to pursue a sale. The attorneys also say she tricked Donald Sterling into taking mental exams that found he had signs of the onset of Alzheimers disease. That finding was sufficient for Sterling to be removed as a trustee of the Sterling Family Trust and to allow Shelly Sterling to move forward with the sale of the team. Later in the process, however, Donald Sterling tried to stop the sale by dissolving the trust. Lawyers for Shelley Sterling urged the judge to allow the sale to go forward so a contract can be in place before NBA owners meet on Aug. 15. Lawyers spent the better part of a month questioning witnesses at the trial, and on Monday will try to persuade a judge to agree with their respective positions. Shelly Sterlings lawyers along with an attorney for Ballmer filed a voluminous legal brief citing case law that they say proves that Donald Sterling did not have the right to dissolve the trust that owned the Clippers. They urged the judge to allow the sale to occur and reject any delay if appeals are filed. "The trust has a golden bird in the hand," the brief said. "A sale of the Clippers for $2 billion is indisputably a bonanza for the Sterling family. Donalds strident opposition is motivated by only selfish considerations. This court has the power to make this precedent-setting sale happen." The 49-page document notes that if the sale is ordered, it also could be delayed by numerous legal provisions in the probate code allowing review of the ruling. The lawyers urged Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas to streamline the procedure. They cited 80-year-old Sterlings vow on the witness stand to continue suing the NBA for the rest of his life and noted his threat to seek an injunction to stop the sale if the judge rules against him. Donald Sterling was removed as a trustee after his wife had him examined by two doctors who found he lacked the mental capacity to handle his own business affairs. His lawyers filed a 70-page brief that focused heavily on that point. They said the doctors were hand-picked by lawyers for Shelly Sterling and did not do adequate exams. Donald Sterling maintained he didnt know his competency as a trustee was being evaluated. His lawyers said in their brief that he appeared alert and able to express himself during his testimony and showed no signs of being incompetent. Still, Sterling spent much of his time on the witness stand shouting at attorneys for both sides, expressing his outrage at the NBA and its commissioner for trying to oust him from the league over racist recordings. At one point he called Shelly Sterling a "pig" as she left the witness stand. Donald Sterling has filed another lawsuit in state court against Shelly Sterling, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league. Shelly Sterlings potentially record-breaking deal with Ballmer was struck after Donald Sterlings racist remarks to a girlfriend were recorded and publicized. The NBA moved to oust him as team owner, fined him $2.5 million and banned him for life. Shelly Sterling went to probate court to ensure that the sale she negotiated with Ballmer would go through. Chris Jones Jerseys .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Dez Bryant . Not exactly bursting with sentimental feelings, Matthew Lombardi makes an odd return to the state of Tennessee on Thursday night.The 2013 World Series hasnt even started and many are already dubbing this MLB post-season to be the "Year of the Pitcher." No team has managed to score better than three runs more than once in the League Championship round, with each club pitching a shutout in the opening three games. So, whats behind this years pitching dominance? The first and most obvious factor is sheer talent. Each of the four remaining playoff teams boast a blend of ace talent and veteran presence that has led to individual pitchers stepping up and tossing gem after gem to will their teams toward a pennant. Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Jake Peavy and Zack Greinke all have Cy Young Awards on their resumes. Max Scherzer is very likely to join that group once the 2013 hardware gets handed out, while Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright led the NL in wins and logged more innings than any other pitcher during the regular season. But its not just those pitchers – lest we forget David Prices Wild Card game heroics, Anibal Sanchez near-no-hitter or the efforts of Red Sox vets John Lackey and Jon Lester – that are forming the narrative. Rookies like Michael Wacha, Hyun-Jun Ryu and Sonny Gray have all tossed gems that have pushed the "Year of the Pitcher" to the forefront. While Verlander would eventually get the better of Gray in the decisive NLDS game and Ryu essentially is a rookie in name only (being 26 and a veteran of seven dominant seasons in Korea), Wacha has certainly emerged as one of Octobers biggest stars. Drafted just over a year ago – 19th overall by the Cards in 2012 – Wacha has taken a huge leap forward this fall, flirting with a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLDS and following that up with a six-plus-inning shutout performance to power a 1-0 NLCS Game 2 Cardinals win over Kershaw. It would be an easy fix to just flat-out state that the pitching has been that good, but its not like these starters have been facing inferior lineups. Ernie Sims. . All four of these teams have the potential to be offensive juggernauts, with the Red Sox, Tigers and Cardinals having finished top-three in runs scored in 2013. All four teams can boast of game-breaking bats in their line-up, from Miguel "Triple Crown" Cabrera to the playoff pedigree of David Ortiz, clutch performers like Carlos Beltran and David Freese to break-out stars like Yasiel Puig. But still, the Red Sox 1-0 win on Tuesday marked the fourth of this years post-season, tying a record for most 1-0 games in a single post-season since the dawn of the LCS era, previously set in 1991 with all four involving the Atlanta Braves three-headed monster of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery. History might tell us that its just a recurring trend swinging back the pitchers way. Since the inception of the League Championship Series MVP Awards in 1977 (NL) and 1980 (AL), starting pitchers seem to claim the award in clusters. Of the 10 pitchers that have won ALCS MVP there have been three separate occasions of three pitchers winning the award in a five-year span or less. More pitchers have claimed the NLCS MVP Award (12), but those wins, too have come largely thanks to three- and four-year spans of pitching dominance. Whats even more curious is that those spans basically overlap. Between 1990 and 1995 a starting pitcher won the LCS MVP six out of 10 times. Between 1997 and 2001 starters again took six of 10. The trend would repeat itself once more between 2005 and 2009. Since 2009, however, no starting pitcher has won either the LCS or World Series MVP Award. Is this season just the start of another cycle? Regardless of why its happening, the starting pitchers appear to be on a collective roll this October and were only just past the half-way point of the month. What do you think is behind this post-seasons pitching dominance? As always, its Your! Call. cheap jerseyscheap jerseys from china ' ' ' |
