No games means cash for Browns ticket holders
Cleveland Browns fans finally might get their money's worth and more if any NFL games are not played this season.
The team will make full refunds with interest on any tickets sold for games not played in the 2011 season. Browns president Mike Holmgren said the policy applies to "any ticket that is sold in the stadium, from regular seats through suites and so on."
NFL owners locked out the players Saturday, hours after the players' union dissolved and 10 players filed a request for an injunction in U.S. District Court that would stop the lockout.
"It is weird," Holmgren said of the current labor situation.
He said there won't be any pay cuts for the coaching staff or any layoffs for team personnel during the work stoppage.
Longtime Browns fans would note that their players have staged a work stoppage on the field for the past several years.
■ NOT ALL WOE FOR NFL FANS -- The debacle of NFL contract negotiations between millionaires and billionaires threatens the country's favorite pastime, but in at least one circle the game will go on.
Some good news for football addicts was found on a social networking website this week.
Popular video football game Madden 12 will be released in August, according to what EA Sports spokesman Rob Semsey posted on his Twitter account.
The NFL Players Association still provides the game maker with the right to use its members' images.
■ SOCCER PITCHES IN -- The tragedy in Japan has led the country to call off its soccer games this month because of devastation from the earthquake and tsunami.
At least one team in Major League Soccer is helping to raise funds for the ravaged country.
The San Jose Earthquakes will donate $1 for every fan who attends the team's home opener against Real Salt Lake on Saturday. It also will donate $50 for every save by an Earthquakes goalkeeper this season. Last year, the team recorded 119 saves.
The team's benevolent gestures are heartwarming.
The team, however, might want to change its nickname.
■ AFLAC DUCK SILENCED -- Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Bristol, Tenn., will be more enjoyable thanks to occasional comedian Gilbert Gottfried's ill-timed quips.
He was fired Monday as the voice for the Aflac duck after posting jokes related to the Japan disaster on his Twitter account, according to the Huffington Post.
"Gilbert's recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac," the company, which does 75 percent of its business in Japan, said in a statement. "There is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times."
Aflac, which sponsors Cup driver Carl Edwards, runs commercials throughout NASCAR races, and Gottfried's voice is as annoying as the duck wobbling across the stage.
COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
