DS Talk » vitable boos and jeers -- just as at previous Wor

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez dropped a lawsuit accusing a New York Yankees team doctor of botching his treatment for a hip injury, ending what had been a lingering piece of the sluggers legal fight over his baseball career, his lawyer said Friday. Rodriguez withdrew his suit against Dr. Christopher Ahmad "for the sole purpose of having no legal distractions" as the third baseman anticipates returning to play after the season-long suspension hes serving this year, attorney Alan S. Ripka said. "He wants to focus on being the best baseball player he can be, the best Yankee he can be, and wants nothing to distract him from those goals," the attorney said. Ahmads lawyer, Peter T. Crean, said the orthopedic surgeon was very pleased with the development, which he described as "demonstrating that Dr. Ahmads care was complete and appropriate." Ripka insisted that dropping the case wasnt a reflection on its merits. "Its about eliminating more things to think about and deal with instead of whats the most important thing to (Rodriguez), which is playing baseball for the Yankees," the lawyer said. Rodriguez abandoned the medical malpractice case four months after withdrawing two lawsuits against Major League Baseball over its investigation into whether he used banned, performance-enhancing drugs. He has denied it, but he agreed to accept the longest performance-booster-related suspension in baseball history. While he was fighting the suspension last fall, the 38-year-old Rodriguez filed his medical malpractice suit. It said he had kept playing and worsened a left hip injury in October 2012 because Ahmad didnt tell him an MRI had showed a joint tear. Rodriguez ultimately had surgery for the injury in January 2013, and his recuperation kept him from rejoining the Yankees until August. The now-withdrawn suit also named New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where the MRI was done. The hospital "never thought that the case had any merit" and was pleased to see it dropped, said its lawyer, Neil F. Brenes. The case was still in early stages, and arguments hadnt delved into the medical issues. But in a sign of the sensitivity surrounding them, Rodriguezs lawyer had asked a judge to make sure that any potential video of Rodriguez answering pretrial questions wouldnt be publicly disseminated, had the case gotten to that point. The suit didnt name the Yankees, and team representatives didnt immediately respond to email inquiries Friday evening about the development, first reported by the Daily News. Colin Wilson Jersey . Winnipeg trailed by five points in the final minute when quarterback Drew Willy completed a 13-play, 75-yard drive with Feoli-Gudinos 18-yard touchdown catch on third down to lift the Bombers to a 34-33 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night. Nathan MacKinnon Jersey . 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Blatter should arrive at the Itaquerao stadium in Sao Paulo to watch host Brazil play Croatia confident that this tournament -- his fifth as president -- wont be his last leading the worlds favourite sport. One day earlier, the 78-year-old Blatter should ask for, and get, consent from 209 FIFA member federation bosses to seek another four-year presidential term. "Yes, I would like to do it," Blatter said earlier this month about his expected candidacy for the secret ballot scheduled May 29, 2015. "My mandate is almost over but my mission is not finished." The endorsement at the Transamerica Expo Center might be a personal high point of Blatters stay in Brazil, a country which loves football but not the cost levied on taxpayers to stage the month-long show. When Blatter appears on a public stage he faces inevitable boos and jeers -- just as at previous World Cups and the Confederations Cup held in Brazil last June. The fact FIFA pays no tax to Brazils public finances from its $4 billion revenue for broadcasting and commercial deals tied to the 2014 World Cup is an added provocation. Even if it is a standard demand on countries wanting to host a World Cup or Olympic Games. Blatter, who often travels and is feted like a head of state, is a useful target for social activists and for football fans familiar with the corruption cases that have involved some of its senior officials in recent years. A change to usual World Cup protocol means that presidents of FIFA and the host nation will not make speeches in the stadium during the formal opening ceremony. Not after he and state President Dilma Rousseff were booed when addressing the crowd before Brazils match which opened the Confederations Cup last year in the new Brasilia stadium. "Friends of Brazilian football, where is the respect and the fair play, please?" the multilingual Blatter asked spectators in their Portuguese language, as their head of state stood beside him. So, no chance in the 65,000-capacity Sao Paulo stadium for spectators to upstage the presidents. "If you know that these things could happen, that at the end the two persons who are giving a speech will feel bad, why (do) you put them in this position?" FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said. Still, the protocol plan calls for Blatter and Rousseff -- who faces her own re-election contest withinn months -- to jointly present the trophy on July 13 to the winning captain in Rio de Janeiros Maracana stadium.dddddddddddd Four years ago, Blatter and South Africas President Jacob Zuma both had a hand on the gold trophy which they passed to Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas without any public disapproval. That came three hours earlier when the FIFA leaders name was announced as he entered the Soccer City pitch during pre-match introductions to the players. "I was only aware there were less vuvuzelas," Blatter said the next day. "We went on the field of play and it was a great moment." In 2006, Blatter skipped the on-field trophy presentation to the Italy team in Berlin. "History will say that it was an error" he acknowledged to Italian media several months later. "I wanted to avoid creating an ugly scene because the Germans had shown they would whistle at the word FIFA." Blatter should face no such disrespect on June 11 at the FIFA Congress, an event which the skilled Swiss administrator controls with mastery. In the depths of public disdain with FIFA in June 2011, Blatter was re-elected as the only candidate. He got 186 of 203 votes cast despite a turbulent few months of bribery scandals and widespread doubts about the integrity of awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively. "We have been hit and I personally have been slapped. I dont want that ever again," Blatter said from the congress stage in Zurich, committing FIFA to a reform program which critics saw as richly ironic that he would lead. "The FIFA ship is in troubled waters but this ship must be brought back on the right track," he said before the poll. "I am the captain of the ship." When the England delegation broke ranks and tried to postpone the vote, Blatter marshalled a global spread of loyal members to march up and join a brutal verbal attack on the founding football association. Blatter can surely expect similarly support in less tempestuous times in Sao Paulo. Apart from some wealthy member nations, few of FIFAs 209 seem anxious to change a system and leadership which has let millions of World Cup dollars trickle down to them during Blatters 16-year rule. Though UEFA President Michel Platini clearly covets the top job, FIFA history since 1974 shows that a bedrock of European votes is far from enough for victory. Should Blatter continue to enjoy good health, he can look forward to a more agreeable welcome at the 2018 World Cup opening ceremony. Side by side with Vladimir Putin. ' ' '