Supreme Court takes NFL marketing case

In taking a case involving the National Football League's exclusive licensing deal for sports merchandise, the Supreme Court could go beyond caps and give leagues more leeway in areas such as team relocation, legal scholars said Monday.

"A broad ruling in favor of the NFL could rewrite almost all of sports antitrust law," said Gabe Feldman, associate law professor and director of the Sports Law Program at Tulane.

The court will hear an appeal from American Needle Inc., which had been one of many firms that manufactured NFL headwear until the league granted an exclusive contract to Reebok in 2001.

The central question is whether the league is a single entity or 32 distinct businesses. If the court broadly views the league as a single entity, the government would be unable to impose antitrust law on the teams and would lose much of the control it has over the NFL and other sports leagues. Major League Baseball already has an antitrust exemption; the NBA and NHL have said they support the NFL in the case.

HIGH SCHOOLS

Thousands of mourners gathered Monday to remember a slain high school football coach as a man of faith who believed in leading by example.

Family, friends and former players packed into a church, community center and parking lot for the funeral for Ed Thomas, the 34-year coach at Aplington-Parkersburg High School in Iowa who was gunned down Wednesday in the school weight room. Pastor Brad Zinnecker of First Congregational Church said the huge turnout was a testament to Thomas.

"They recognized a man after God's own heart," Zinnecker said. "His personal life and public life were one and the same."

OLYMPICS

The U.S. hockey coaching staff is complete. Ron Wilson has chosen John Tortorella and Scott Gordon for assistants. Tortorella coaches the New York Rangers, and Gordon coaches the New York Islanders.

Wilson, the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, was appointed Olympic coach in April.

Tortorella took over the Rangers late last season, which was Gordon's first year as an NHL coach. Gordon was an assistant under Wilson on the U.S. staff at this year's world championship in Switzerland. He was a member of the 1992 Olympic team in Albertville, France.

College FOOTBALL

Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle was treated for a concussion after crashing his car into an Austin apartment building last week while he was either sending or receiving a text message, his attorney said.

Kindle's attorney, Brian Roark, said Kindle lost control of the car on June 24 while looking at the message. "It was probably something he should not have been doing," Roark said.

After the crash, Kindle pushed the car back into the street and went home. Kindle told his coaches about the accident the next morning. He was checked by team doctors and told he had a concussion.

Kindle, a senior from Dallas, had 10 sacks last season.

AROUND THE HORN

NHL: The Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed forward Bill Guerin for one year. The 38-year-old forward who helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup this month would have become an unrestricted free agent Wednesday. A 17-year NHL veteran, Guerin scored seven goals and 15 points in the postseason after being acquired from the Islanders at the trading deadline in March.

Tennis: James Blake is joining Andy Roddick and the Bryan brothers on the U.S. Davis Cup team that will play Croatia in next month's quarterfinals. U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe picked Blake over Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish.

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