rizona before deciding to undergo surgery.Bennett said on Wednesday that he didnt think he would have been able to play through the injury and surgery was the best option.Surgery never feels good, when somebodys taking a knife and slicing your body, but I think overall it will be better in the l

He made it official - hes going to fight. After Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez for 211 games on Monday, he declared he would appeal his punishment. That said, heres your breakdown on the performance-enhanced road ahead. On what basis did Major League Baseball suspend A-Rod? Heres MLBs statement on the suspension: "Rodriguezs discipline under the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program is based on his use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years. Rodriguezs discipline under the Basic Agreement is for attempting to cover up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioners investigation." So this means that baseball relied on two different agreements when suspending A-Rod. The first is the Drug Policy, which provides that a player can be suspended if he tests positive for PEDs (didnt happen here) or if there is evidence he used PEDs (happened here). Beyond the Drug Policy, MLB suspended A-Rod under its Basic Agreement, which provides that a player may be disciplined for conduct that is detrimental or prejudicial to the best interests of baseball. So the basis for the suspension has a couple of prongs to it. When will the appeal be heard? According to the Drug Policy, the whole appeal process, including the decision, should take about a month. Thats how it generally goes down. But not here. In situations where you have a positive drug test being appealed, the appeal can be disposed of in 30 days or so. Those types of cases can be more or less straightforward. However, with A-Rod, there was no positive drug test. Rather, MLB based its suspension on volumes and volumes of documentary evidence, like text messages, emails, and testimony in the form of affidavits (or sworn statements). Before A-Rods lawyers are ready to appear before the arbitrator, they will carefully review all the evidence and consider its reliability and truth. They will do this evidentiary piece by evidentiary piece. That takes a lot of time. So expect the appeal to be heard after the season – maybe in October or November. So later rather than sooner. Since A-Rod can play pending his appeal, he will play the rest of the season and into the playoffs if the Yankees make it that far. This assumes he doesnt get hurt or test positive. Who is the arbitrator? His name is Fredric Horowitz, hes 64 years old and specializes in labour and employment arbitration. After MLB fired arbitrator Shyam Das when he overturned Ryan Brauns suspension, Horowitz was hired to replace him and handle these types of grievances. Hes been a full time arbitrator since 1988. If you want to learn more about him (and have nothing better to do), click here to read his CV. So let me get this straight: MLB or the Union can fire Horowitz if either dont like his ruling? Yep. That seems like a lot of pressure? Theyre used to it. How does the arbitration hearing work? Its a bit like a mini trial. Both sides present their evidence and call witnesses. It is, however, less formal than a trial. What type of power does the arbitrator have? The arbitrators ruling will be binding on the parties. So whatever he decides, the parties have no choice but to follow it. Horowitz has the discretion to change the suspension. He may, for example, lower the suspension to 150 games. He also has the power to completely vacate or overturn the suspension. Hes powerful. What will A-Rod argue at the appeal? Ultimately, A-Rod will focus more on the length of the suspension and less on the merit and substance of the suspension. He will say that the collectively bargained Drug Policy provides for a 50 game suspension for a first time offender like him, and as a result his 211 game suspension is not only excessive and heavy-handed, but also not in keeping with the Drug Policy. The Drug Policy calls for a specific punishment for a first timer, and that punishment was ignored in favour of a far longer suspension. Also expect A-Rod to go after Boschs credibility. The founder of Biogenesis has allegedly engaged in criminal activity. As well, Bosch only cooperated with the league after it sued him. So A-Rod may question Boschs motives, and by extension the reliability of his evidence. So from A-Rods standpoint, Bosch is flawed and vulnerable to attack. Same thing for Porter Fisher, the Biogenesis investor who blew this case wide open. What will MLB argue? The league will declare that A-Rods suspension, while harsh, is completely warranted. MLB will argue that A-Rod has engaged in an extensive and continuous pattern of PED use since at least 2010. He also has a long standing relationship with Bosch that may date back to 2009. MLB may also allege that A-Rod obstructed its investigation, tampered with witnesses and generally interfered with its attempt to get to the truth. He may have also recruited players to Biogenesis. Ultimately, his pervasive and wide ranging pattern of wrongdoings is not only contrary to the Drug Policy, but also the MLBs Basic Agreement, which allows baseball to discipline a player for conduct detrimental to the game. So given these various factors, A-Rods suspension is reasonable. Who will win on appeal? Dont know. The evidence will rule the day, and without having the benefit of reviewing it, we cant know how this will unfold. The past may suggest we will see a reduction in the length of the suspension (maybe to 150 games), but thats just a guess. If the evidence is strong, Horowitz will leave the suspension as is. What if A-Rod doesnt like the arbitrators ruling? If A-Rod is dissatisfied with the arbitrators decision, he could take his case to court. Generally, courts dont like interfering with the decision of arbitrators since arbitrators are specialized and know their area pretty well. So unless the decision is really bad, a court may just tell A-Rod to live with it. However, merit of an appeal aside, if A-Rod heads to court, this case could drag on for years. He has threatened to fight this and dig in, so court is possible. Well, thats not fun. No its not. None of this is. Eric Macramalla is TSNs Legal Analyst and can be seen on TSN SportsCentre and heard on TSN Radio 1050. You can follow him on Twitter @EricOnSportslaw.Authentic Custom Bulls Jersey Cheap Bulls Jerseys . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. http://www.custombullsjersey.com/ . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Cheap Custom Bulls Jersey . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Custom Bulls Jersey China . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors.RENTON, Wash. -- The Seattle Seahawks are hopeful starters Earl Thomas and DeShawn Shead will return for Sundays game against Carolina.Coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday that Thomas and Shead were expected to practice. Both players suffered hamstring injuries two weeks ago in a win over Philadelphia and missed last Sundays loss to Tampa Bay.Shead is considered to be ahead of Thomas in the recovery process and Carroll said the status of both likely wont be determined until Saturday. Thomas missed the first game of his career when he was unable to go against the Buccaneers.Hes going to work today, well see how he does, Carroll said of Thomas. Its going to be a day to day thing and see how he works through the week.Seattle could have a number of injured players back against the Panthers, including defensive end Michael Bennett following minor knee surgery and starting center Justin Britt, who missed last weeks game with an ankle injury. Britts absence left the Seahawks with three rookies starting on the offensive line and Seattle struggled, managing just three offensive points in the 14-5 loss.The Seahawks will be making a change on the offensive line with Bradley Sowell steepping in at right tackle as the starter in place of Garry Gilliam.dddddddddddd. Gilliam had started every game this season at right tackle but the emergence of rookie George Fant stepping in at left tackle when Sowell suffered a knee injury allowed the opportunity for Seattle to make a change.The opportunity for somebody else to take (Gilliams) spot is there. I think were going to see how Brad looks and see how he does, Carroll said.Bennetts return will be a boost for Seattles defensive front thats gotten a strong performance from Frank Clark with Bennett out. Bennett injured his right knee in Week 6 against Atlanta and played the next week against Arizona before deciding to undergo surgery.Bennett said on Wednesday that he didnt think he would have been able to play through the injury and surgery was the best option.Surgery never feels good, when somebodys taking a knife and slicing your body, but I think overall it will be better in the long run, Bennett said---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '