THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008
SPORTS
7B
NFL
Giants will allow Pierce to play Eagles
New York Giants' Plaxico Burress, left, leaves Manhattan Supreme Court after his arraignment, accompanied by his lawyer Benjamin Brafman on Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. Burress appeared in court on weapons possession charges stemming from an incident at a Manhattan nightclub Friday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY TOM CANAVAN
AR SPORTS WRITER
Coach Tom Coughlin sats Pierce would practice Wednesday with the Super Bowl champions.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants expect Antonio Pierce to play in Sunday's game against Philadelphia while the team gathers information on the linebacker's involvement in a shooting that led to the season-ending suspension of star receiver Plaxico Burress.
"Each case is different, each is separate," Coughlin said when asked about the decisive action the Giants took against Burress on Tuesday - fineing and suspending him for four games, the rest of the regular season.
The team also placed Burress on the reserve non-football injury list for conduct detrimental to the team, which means he won't be back for the playoffs, either.
Coughlin said there currently is no need to consider potential punishment of Pierce, the Giants' leader of defense.
"There is no doubt we'll do the right thing," Coughlin added, "and that's no threat to the players, they know that."
The Giants punished Burress a day after he was charged with two counts of illegal weapons possession. He shot himself in the right thigh at a Manhattan nightclub early Saturday morning.
Pierce, who was with Burress, has not talked to police about his involvement since the incident. Authorities are trying to determine whether he tried to cover up the shooting; investigators impounded Pierce's Cadillac Escalade and are searching it for any blood or gun residue.
He might face potential charges and a possible suspension if he did.
Coughlin said Wednesday that he used two words in discussing the Burress' situation with the team — disappointment and sadness.
"That sums it all up," Coughnum said. "I had a conversation with Plaxico. He was very humble. He was remorseful. Obviously that doesn't change anything. But you have to understand that he is part of our team and our concern is with he and his family's well being, and the ability of him to get through this circumstance and be healthy again."
The Giants handed down their decision on Burrell after Dr. Scott Rodeo, a team physician, examined Burrell and told them the gunshot wound would sideline the 31-year-old player for 4-to-6 weeks.
The Giants (11-1) are deep at wide receiver, however, with players such as Domenik Hixon and Sinorice Moss who can replace the man who caught the game-winning pass in the 17-14 Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots.
It would be much harder to replace Pierce.
Pierce smiled but declined to speak to The Associated Press on Wednesday morning when he reported to Giants Stadium about 8 a.m.
Running back Ahmad Bradshaw was also in the club, but not near the other two players, his attorney said.
Following the shooting, police say Pierce drove Burress to the hospital and returned to New Jersey with Burress' gun in the glove compartment of his black Cadillac Escalade.
Pierce's lawyer said Tuesday he contacted prosecutors as soon as he was hired by the linebacker on Monday.
"After the events in question, Mr. Pierce did what any other reasonable person would do under the circumstances, he hired counsel," attorney Michael Bachner said. He said he hasn't been notified that Pierce will be charged.
"Mr. Pierce, given the extraordinary circumstances of that evening, acted responsibly in trying to save what could have been the life of a friend," Bachner said.
Bradshaw's attorney, Charles Stacy, said his client wasn't suspected of any wrongdoing.
Both players said they were planning to speak with the district attorney's office soon.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke out again about the case Tuesday, saying he talked to Giants president John Mara and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. He told the law says "you see something, you got to call the cops. That's the thing you should do."
Police also plan to interview the people at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center who treated Burress and did not report the shooting, as required by law.
Dr. Josyann Abisaab was suspended for not reporting Burress injury. She apparently arrived at the hospital at 2 a.m. to treat him, but
Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said the team has no tie-in with Abisaab.
it's not clear why she was called.
"She is not...we have no relationship with her... we do not know her," Hanson said Wednesday.
Abisaab could not be reached for comment. She graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and has no history of state disciplinary action. She is affiliated with the hospital and specializes in internal and emergency medicine.
Giants officials expressed concern for Burress.
"As we have said since on Saturday morning, our concern is for Plaxico's health and well-being," Mara said. "This is an important time for him to take care of his body and heal up and also deal with the very serious legal consequences and other issues in his life. When I spoke with Plaxico he expressed great remorse for letting down his teammates."
Neither Burress nor his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was immediately available for comment.
Receiver Amani Toomer, whose 13 years with the team make his the current longest serving player, called the situation unfortunate.
"There is nothing good that will come out of it and there isn't much to say," he said as players reported for practice Wednesday. "It's just tough, it's just tough for everyone to deal with. I'm just glad he is OK. It could have been worse."
NFL
shooting, which carries a penalty of 3½ to 15 years in prison if he convicted. Burress is due back in court again March 31, unless he reaches a plea agreement.
Fines in the NFL typically mean a player loses a paycheck for each game he misses. In Burress' case, that would roughly $206,000 per regular season game. He also was due to receive $1 million from his signing bonus on Dec. 10. It was not immediately clear whether the team still had to make the payment.
Burress faces illegal weapons possession charges from the
3-D game broadcast in three major cities to be a 'visceral' show
BY RYAN NAKASHIMA ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — In broadcasting the world's first live 3-D football game to theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Boston on Thursday evening, the NFL promises an "up close, personal, visceral" experience that could open a new revenue stream for the league.
The screenings for team owners, producers and journalists will use technology developed by 3ality Digital, a Burbank, Calif., based company whose major investor is the family of Art Modell, owners of the Baltimore Ravens from 1996 to 2004.
"We are merely doing a test for our friends at the NFL to show them definitively that this digital 3-D technology is now," said David Modell, 47, former Ravens president and chairman of 3ality. "This is not something we're hoping will happen. This is now."
Eight 3-D camera crews will sidle up to 2-D counterparts to catch the game between the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers Thursday evening. The 2-D crews will work on behalf of the NFL Network, while the 3-D crews will work for the test broadcast, which will have its own commentators, 3-D viewers must don polarized lenses to see the action.
Attendees at the Boston screening are to include New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who leads the NFL Broadcasting Committee and will help shape how the league uses 3-D.
The New York screening will host Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, New York Giants co-cowner John Mara, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, another broadcasting committee member.
"All this right now is an experiment," said Howard Katz, the National Football League's senior vice president of broadcasting and media operations. "It's a proof of
concept. We just want to get an idea of what our game would look like in 3-D. Anything beyond that is just speculation."
A transition to regular broadcasts of 3-D sports events is not expected soon.
David Hill, the chief executive of Fox Sports Television Group, said at a 3-D entertainment conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday that equipment makers would have to fund a large-scale rollout of 3-D cameras for sports events because broadcasters are still paying for the conversion to high-definition.
"The people who make money off it are going to have to subsidize it," Hill said. "I can't see making a move into 3-D until a good fairy comes flapping into my office with a check."
By the end of 2008, an estimated 2 million U.S. TV sets will be capable of handling 3-D signals, about 2 percent of the nation's estimated 114.5 million TV homes.
Katz said the NFL is not exploring making theater broadcasts regularly available in the way that documentary filmmakers and concert promoters have increasingly been offering their material at digital theaters.
"It's not an alternative we're currently contemplated," Katz said. "We're very committed to the free, over-the-air distribution of our games."
An experiment last year with live 3-D broadcasts involved Pace, a company founded by director James Cameron and his partner Vince Pace. They showed VIP guests a live 3-D transmission of the NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas and followed up with a 3-D transmission of Game 2 of the NBA finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also hosted a 3-D transmission of a game between the Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs at theaters in Dallas in March.
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