ively bargained arbitration instead of court.Bettman angered many former playe

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Sporting Kansas City has signed defenders Kevin Ellis and Jimmy Medranda and goalkeeper Alec Kann, keeping all three with the MLS club after solid performances this past season.Ellis, who signed a two-year deal, was Sporting KCs second home-grown player and led all MLS defenders with five goals last season. He also played a career high 27 games in MLS with 26 starts, and appeared in 33 games for the club across all competitions.The 22-year-old Medranda, a native of Colombia, signed a three-year deal that includes an option for 2020 after appearing in 29 games with 22 starts last season.Kann signed a one-year deal that includes a pair of option years after making 21 saves and going 4-3-3 in 10 matches across all competitions.Cheap NBA Jerseys . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Charles Barkley Jersey . Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee — the third operation on the knee in nine months. http://www.cheap76ersjerseys.com/ . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Robert Covington Jersey . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. Clarence Weatherspoon Jersey . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has once again maintained that there is not enough data yet to draw conclusions about the link between sports-related concussions and long-term brain degeneration.This came in a 24-page letter Bettman wrote to U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal that was posted on The New York Times website Tuesday night, answering a series of questions put to him by the Connecticut Democrat on the NHLs stance on concussions and the brain disease chronic traumatic encephelopathy (CTE).[T]he science regarding CTE, including on the asserted link to concussions ... remains nascent, particularly with respect to what causes CTE and whether it can be diagnosed by specific clinical symptoms, Bettman wrote in the letter to Blumenthal.Bettman said the NHL and the players associations medical advisory consultants will continue to closely monitor the ongoing research into brain damage, but he emphatically argued that the research to this point has established no causal link between CTE and concussions in team sports generally, much less in NHL hockey.If that [medical] consensus changes, so, too, will my answers, he added.The NHL is currently facing a class-action lawsuit filed by 105 former NHL players who allege it had the resources to better prevent head trauma, failed too properly warn players of such risks and promoted violent play that led to their injuries.ddddddddddddThe plaintiffs primary request is medical monitoring for the roughly 4,800 living former players, plus additional unspecified relief. There is no dollar figure on the lawsuit, but the NFLs pending $1 billion concussion settlement with retired players could provide a benchmark.Bettman, who was deposed for testimony last year, has said the lawsuit is without merit. The leagues first attempt to dismiss the claims was denied last year by U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson. There is another pending motion for dismissal, based on an argument that the issues should be addressed through collectively bargained arbitration instead of court.Bettman angered many former players last May with comments following the death of former NHL defenseman Steve Montador at age 35. Montador suffered from CTE. His family filed a lawsuit against the league that was recently consolidated with this case.From a medical and scientific standpoint, Bettman said then of the purported link between concussions and CTE, there is no evidence yet that one leads to the other. ' ' '