CITY » not hear the NCAAs appeal of an antitrust ruling against it in

Twenty-four hours before facing former club Melbourne Victory, Danny Vukovic was laid up at home popping vitamins.The Sydney FC goalkeeper sat out Fridays final training session with a virus thats already worked its way through teammates Michael Zullo, David Carney and Milos Ninkovic, his recovery the priority before Saturdays blockbuster Big Blue at Allianz Stadium.Coach Graham Arnold will need Vukovics safe hands when the undefeated, table-topping Sky Blues host a staunch rival they havent beaten in nine meetings.The match shapes as Vukovics sternest test yet, against the team he played for last season before being released on compassionate grounds due to his sons health issues.And the gloveman is adamant nothing will stop him taking his place between the posts.Ill play with a broken leg if I have to, Vukovic told AAP.We just thought better to rest until Saturday night rather than exerting myself a little bit and slowing the healing process down.Ill be a lot better in 24 hours and the adrenaline will get me through.Hed want to hope so because he could be busy.Vukovic is bracing himself for the menace that is Besart Berisha, the former teammate who netted a hat-trick in Mondays 6-1 shellacking of Wellington.On a larger scale, he knows from experience how formidable Kevin Muscats Victory can be, particularly when pumped up on a big win and looking to burst Sydneys bubble.They showed (against the Phoenix) just how dangerous they can be when they get it right, Vukovic said.They were showing signs of a game like that and maybe been a little bit unlucky at the start of the season.But theyre always capable of a result like that with the attacking players theyve got.If we keep a clean sheet theres a very good chance well win because weve got some very good players in our front third who are putting the ball in the back of the net regularly.Its a good thing clean sheets are Vukovics specialty.The 31-year-old is in a rich vein of form and the only custodian in the league yet to concede a goal.He also ranks second for saves with 12, just one less than Lawrence Thomas, the man who displaced him as Victorys No.1 late last season.Though Sydneys impenetrable defence has ensured hes only had to deal with the fewest shots on target.Vukovic insists therell be no strange emotions during the game.Ive played for quite a few clubs in the league and had to do it before, he said.I played with them last season, thats in the past now and Im focusing on what I need to do for Sydney FC. Wholesale Jerseys USA . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Wholesale Jerseys .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. http://www.wholesalechinajerseysfreeshipping.com/ . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Wholesale Jerseys China . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. In another step toward redefining the amateur status of college athletes, Northwestern has agreed to drop social media restrictions placed on football players after a complaint about the team handbook was filed with the National Labor Relations Board.ESPN first reported Tuesday the complaint was withdrawn in September after Northwestern agreed to modify its rules. The NLRBs advisory memo states the scholarship football players are assumed to be statutory employees and that certain team rules were unlawful. That could affect players at the other 16 private schools that compete in FBS.A group of former Northwestern players, led by an advocacy group for college athletes, failed last year in its attempt to gain the right to unionize the team from the NLRB, although the door was left open for other changes when the board said the players should be treated as employees. The board has no jurisdiction over public institutions, which include the vast majority of colleges and universities in Division I.A complaint to the NLRB from a California lawyer with no connection to Northwestern was filed in August 2015, challenging the teams rules prohibiting activities such as speaking to the media without athletic department permission and posting information on Twitter and other social media without limits or monitoring by coaches. The school also agreed to change its grievance policy, which said players must go to the university, conference or NCAA with complaints.The school does not have similar policies for the rest of the student body.Northwestern considers its students who participate in NCAA Division I sports, including those who receive athletic scholarships, to be students, first and foremost, Northwestern Vice President for University Relations Al Cubbage said in a statement.As noted in the NLRB General Counsels Advice Memorandum dated September 22, 2016, although Northwestern disputes the General Counsels assumption that Northwesterns scholarship football players are employees, the rules off the former Football Handbook that were the subject of this charge have been modified.ddddddddddddRobert Boland, an antitrust attorney, said the initial 2014 ruling by an NLRB regional administrator in Chicago that scholarship players at private colleges and universities are employees creates opportunities to push for more benefits and rights for student-athletes -- possibly even payments.With this one body they are employees statutorily, said Boland, who is director of the masters of sports administration program at Ohio University. You could conceivably widen the niche and say if they are employees they would have the right to have contracts. They would have the right to have certain things that we can guarantee under the labor law for employees.Earlier this month, the Supreme Court said it would not hear the NCAAs appeal of an antitrust ruling against it in the so-called OBannon case. The lower courts ruled that NCAA rules violated antitrust laws, but also shot down a plan to pay college athletes for the use of their names, images and likenesses.The ruling left the NCAA open to further legal challenges and several are working their way through the courts.Boland said because the NLRBs decision affects only private schools its influence in the larger debate over how college athletes should be compensated is limited.It is nothing more than a piece to a large puzzle about the redefinition of the model of college athletics moving from some version of amateurism to some version of greater athlete autonomy and it doesnt say anything about money it just says more autonomy, Boland said.---This story has been corrected to show the NLRB did not make a ruling on the complaint but rather sent an advisory memo and the case was withdrawn after Northwestern agreed to modify its rules. Also, the case does not directly affect the other private schools in FBS but could. ' ' '