NFL News:

• Consider it bullshit until you hear actual numbers and/or draft picks mentioned, but someone is spreading rumours that the Seahawks are listening to offers for Richard Sherman.
  • which is ridiculous, because their GM is too busy working on improving the O- & D-lines.

• Sean Payton denies the Saints have offered Johnny Manziel anything. That’s just how he likes it.
  • also, because the Patriots want their #1 pick, the Saints have refused to offer anything to Malcolm Butler.

• JERRAL vows to have Romo’s situation sorted out “before training camp”.

• Believing that clothes make the man, and those clothes made their men losers, the Browns are once again discussing a uniform change.
  • which they can’t do until 2019, because NFL rules state you can only change jerseys every 5 years.

• Teddy Bridgewater may not be back until 2018. That’s genuinely sad.

• Hotted-up Raiders relocation rumours: (in order of authenticity)
  1. Santa Clara
  2. San Antonio
  3. Cal
  4. AT&T Park
  5. San Diego

• Adrian Peterson has been working out with Jameis Winston.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSNFf3rhJvq/

Finally, today’s long-form read is from ESPN, and is about how lawyers are eating into the proposed concussion settlement between the League and retired players.

Expect the NFL Network desk to look a little different, as Michael Irvin has been accused of sexual assault against a woman on March 21st.

• PFT reports that TMZ reports she met him at a bar & then went back to his hotel.
  • “She says she began to feel sick in his room, remembers fighting him off, and woke up as he was checking out.”
  • “She took an Uber home and called 911 at 7:30 AM. She told cops she feared she was drugged and raped. She was advised to go to a medical lab for a swab and a blood test, which she did.”

• His version is, naturally, very different:
  • He was out at a bar with a group of people, until 4:30AM, when he went back to his hotel.
  • “Michael says he had an early flight, was in the room for only 15 minutes and had no sexual contact with the woman. He also says another male was present.”
    • in a statement with a clear double entendre, “he says the woman — a cosmetologist — texted him a day later saying, ‘Come for a facial when you get back to Ft. Lauderdale’.”
  • His lawyer also gets into some victim shaming, talking about “red flags in her background”

This is his third such allegation.

• in 1997, he was accused by a woman who later admitted to lying about the incident, and she ended up serving 90 days for perjury.
  • he & co-accused Erik Williams also received a $2.0 million defamation settlement from KXAS-TV in Dallas.

• in 2007, he was accused of sexual assault in Broward County & worked out a confidential settlement with the accuser.

He is likely to face suspension from NFL Network until the matter is decided, although the Network has refused comment at this time.

Canada 150: March 29, 1867

The British Parliament passes the British North America Act, creating the Dominion of Canada.

At the conclusion of the US Civil War (1861-65), there was great fear in British North America that the victorious Union army would seek to enact US government revenge against Britain for economically supporting the South via trade. In addition, the Trent Affair (1861) “proved” there were diplomatic ties between the South & the British, and the Alabama Affair showed that the British were surreptitiously providing the South with warships. The St. Albans Raid (1864) showed that Confederate agents were operating (with or without British knowledge) along the northern border.

The Alabama Affair was one of the primary causes of the fear of US invasion, because the US made economic claims against Britain for the damages causes by the CSS Alabama. and some politicians demanded the annexation of the British Canadian provinces (the “Province of Canada” [now Ontario & Quebec], New Brunswick & Nova Scotia), as compensation.

The London Conference, which ran from December 1866 to March 1867, was called to follow up on the Charlottetown & Quebec conferences of 1864, which laid the groundwork for the union of British North America into the Confederation of Canada. “Confederation” proved to be a sticking point at the conference –  the Canadian delegates wished it to be a kingdom; the British feared that such a title would anger the United States, and denied the request. An alternative, “Dominion,” was suggested by Samuel Leonard Tilley, from a line in Psalm 72 of the Bible: “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” _(source)

The bill proposing the British North America Act was submitted to the British Parliament on February 11, 1867. It was signed into law by Queen Victoria on March 29, 1867, with July 1 being the date the Act officially took effect – Dominion Day. (The holiday became “Canada Day” after 1982.)

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL:
  • Blackhawks at Penguins – 8:00PM | NBCSN
  • Kings at Flames – 9:00PM | Sportsnet
  • Blues at Coyotes – 10:30PM | Sportsnet360
• NBA:
  • Hornets at Raptors – 7:30PM | Sportsnet1
  • Warriors at Spurs – 9:30PM | ESPN / TSN
  • Wizards at Clippers – 10:30PM | Sportsnet1

If the Flames win tonight, that means up to 5 Canadian teams in the playoffs. Still – ANYBODY BUT THE LEAFS!