The NHL and NHL Players’ Assn. have not had recent contact and nothing new is planned, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said on Monday.

The league on Friday filed a class-action suit in U.S. District Court in New York alleging the union’s plans to dissolve by filing a disclaimer of interest was "a subversion of the collective bargaining process" and sought confirmation of the legality of the lockout it imposed on Sept. 15. The NHL also filed an unfair labor practices charge against the union with the National Labor Relations Board.

The two sides could still negotiate while the legal maneuvering continues, and a similar disclaimer of interest filed a year ago by the National Basketball Players Assn. in its dispute with the NBA was followed within two weeks by a resolution and a new collective bargaining agreement.

Daly said via email that he did not expect the litigation “will play an immediate role.” He added, “The PA knows where we are and what would get...

This week's Monday edition of our NFL Google+ hangout -- "NFL Slam with Mark and Sam," starring Times NFL columnist Sam Farmer and Mark Thompson of "Mark and Brian" radio fame -- covered many topics, one being Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

Peterson has a chance at breaking Eric Dickerson's record for most rushing yards in a season. Dickerson rushed for 2,105 yards for the L.A. Rams in 1984. Peterson has 1,812 yards with two games remaining, against the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers.

You can watch Thompson and Farmer discuss whether Peterson can break the record in the video above.

"Minnesota's Adrian Peterson came into Sunday with a league-leading 1,600 yards rushing, and with not just 2,000 yards but Eric Dickerson's record of 2,105 in his sights.

"If there were an appropriate franchise to slow his pursuit, it would be the Rams— Dickerson's old club (now in St. Louis and not Los Angeles, of course) — considering...

Jimmy Clausen is best known these days as the Carolina Panthers' third-string quarterback -- in other words, we haven't heard much about him lately.

Until recently, when the former Notre Dame quarterback tweeted a photo of a T-shirt touting the upcoming BCS championship game between the Fighting Irish and Alabama as "Catholics vs. Cousins."

It's a play on the classic Notre Dame vs. Miami matchup in 1988, dubbed "Catholics vs. Convicts." In this case, the "cousins" would be the Crimson Tide because apparently everyone in Alabama is related. Or something like that.

Naturally Clausen received plenty of backlash for the photo, which he has since removed from his Twitter feed -- but not without telling us all to lighten up Monday morning: "Some people have to much time on your hands! It's a shirt people lol."

A few minutes later, the Westlake Village Oaks Christian star added: "The shirt was sent to me! I was saying THANK YOU." (According to Outkick the Coverage, Clausen tweeted out a...

UCLA fans can only hope EA Sports is spot-on with its video games.

The Bruins handled Baylor, 34-26, in an EA Sports simulation of the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl. Quarterback Brett Hundley threw for 453 yards and three touchdowns, two to receiver Jerry Johnson.

How far-fetched is the video game? Well, Baylor is 119th out of 120 teams nationally in total defense.

The two teams are scheduled to play for real on Dec. 27.

ALSO:

UCLA trying to ditch over-the-wall tradition

Linebacker Anthony Barr likely to return next season

Will Adrian Peterson beat Eric Dickerson's rushing record?

President Obama offered words of hope and encouragement to the community of Newtown, Conn., when he spoke at the memorial service Sunday for the 20 children and six adults gunned down in Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

He actually left a few more words -- of the written variety -- on the whiteboard in the football locker room at Newtown High School, where the service was held.

WHO THEY WERE: Connecticut shooting victims

Football Coach Steven George and teacher Bob Pattison left a note for Obama on the whiteboard: "The Newtown community is so thankful that you are coming to help us heal. In times of adversity, it is reassuring to know that we have a strong leader to help us recover."

Obama wrote next to it: "You're in our thoughts and prayers."

Short and to the point but very meaningful, as evidenced by this tweet from George: "Myself an pattison left a note to president Obama on my board and he responded!!"

The Newtown Nighthawks may need to get a new whiteboard for...

This week's Monday edition of our NFL Google+ hangout -- "NFL Slam with Mark and Sam," starring Times NFL columnist Sam Farmer and Mark Thompson of "Mark and Brian" radio fame -- will start at 11:30 a.m. today and cover a host of topics.

One topic could include the amazing season by Adrian Peterson. As Farmer wrote earlier this week,

"Minnesota's Adrian Peterson came into Sunday with a league-leading 1,600 yards rushing, and with not just 2,000 yards but Eric Dickerson's record of 2,105 in his sights.

"If there were an appropriate franchise to slow his pursuit, it would be the Rams — Dickerson's old club (now in St. Louis and not Los Angeles, of course) — considering they hadn't allowed an opposing runner more than 65 yards in their previous four games.

"And the Rams stonewalled Peterson a few times early in Sunday's game too, so it was looking good for them. But soon he broke free, finishing with 212 yards in 24 carries, including his second 82-yard touchdown run in three...

Danny Amendola has had a rough year.

The St. Louis Rams receiver could have died when he dislocated his clavicle while diving for the ball back in October. And just weeks after returning from that injury, he had to miss two more with a hurt foot.

So perhaps there was a lot of pent up frustration by the time Amendola got back to the field Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. And he was able to let it all out by spiking the ball after scoring his first touchdown since September.

Ah, must've felt great just to let it all out like that -- great for Amendola, that is.

Not so much for the poor usher whose glasses were broken when the ball hit him in the face. He can be seen covering his face with his hands as Amendola and his teammates celebrate what was essentially a meaningless touchdown (the Rams still trailed by more than two scores).

To his credit, Amendola apparently tried to make up for it by gently handing the ball to the first person he saw at the back of the end zone after a two-...

Kirk Cousins proved extremely valuable for the Washington Redskins on Sunday when he led the team to a 38-21 victory over the Cleveland Browns and into first place in the NFC East, all in his first NFL start.

The rookie quarterback, taken in the fourth round out of Michigan State, also helped rally the Redskins to a 31-28 overtime victory over the Baltimore Ravens the previous week after starting QB Robert Griffin III left the game with a sprained right knee.

Griffin, who is having one heck of a year himself, is likely to return to the field next week, which means Cousins will return to the bench.

It's important to have a reliable backup at quarterback, but has Cousins become too valuable to be left holding a clipboard on Sunday afternoons?

Who knows what the Redskins might be able to get for him in a trade. Next year's draft class is thought to be a relatively weak one at the quarterback position, so there could be a number of teams interested in a guy who has can put up the kind of...

Adrian Peterson is closing in on Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record, which has stood for nearly 30 years.

Dickerson rushed for 2,105 yards for the L.A. Rams in 1984. Peterson has a career-high 1,812 already this year for the Minnesota Vikings with two games remaining.

Can Peterson pull it off?

To do so, Peterson will need to average 147 yards a game. While his season average of 129.4 yards a game won't cut it, that number is a bit misleading because he spent the first several weeks working his way back after suffering two torn ligaments last Christmas Eve.

Peterson ran for just 83.2 yards a game the first six weeks of the season but has averaged 164.1 yards per outing since. He has surpassed the 147-yard mark in each of the last three games (going for more than 200 in two of those) and five of the last six.

Of course, we have to take into account the Vikings’ opponents in the final two games of the regular season -- the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers.

The Texans...

It seems unlikely that Ron Jaworski will be rooting for Alabama against Notre Dame in the BCS title game on Jan. 7. And it's definitely unlikely that Jaworski wants to ever be in the same room with Alabama Coach Nick Saban.

Saban's name is one that comes up frequently when it comes to college coaches making the jump to the NFL next season. Saban coached the Miami Dolphins for a couple of years, and since leaving that job to take the Alabama reins, he has turned the Crimson Tide into an NCAA powerhouse.

Jaworski, an NFL analyst for ESPN, doesn't care about all that. He's still mad about Saban saying he had no interest in leaving the Dolphins, just before he left the Dolphins.

"I'm not a Saban guy, because I don't like liars, and I think he lied," Jaworski told a Philadelphia radio station  last week. "I think he lied to the Miami Dolphins and he lied to the fans of Miami, and he left.

"And it's pretty simple. I think integrity is very important. If you don't have integrity, I don't know...

Sports news is usually filled with athletes doing stupid things. Maybe it's about time it gets filled with athletes doing wonderful things.

In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz discovered that he was the favorite player of one of the victims, Jack Pinto. For Sunday's game against Atlanta, Cruz wrote Pinto's name on his shoes in tribute to the 6-year-old.

"It's humbling," he said. "I was honored to know I was his favorite player. It's just unreal what happened."

WHO THEY WERE: Connecticut shooting victims

Cruz said he has spoken to Pinto's family on the phone, and that he will visit them later this week and give them the cleats he wore during the game.

"We may do a fundraiser, something like that," Cruz said. "For now, all we want to do is comfort the family. We'll think about other things we can do to help in the long term."

"We see the effect we have on kids, and it's humbling. It's a real honor to be a role model."

ALSO:

Farmer: Eric...

Story line: New York hopes to carry its slim playoff hopes through Monday, continuing a soft close to the season that has included victories over Arizona and Jacksonville, with San Diego and Buffalo after this. Titans receiver Kenny Britt caught eight passes for 143 yards last week.

Jets said: "I'm not going to guarantee a playoff spot. I think part of that is, look, the fact that we're one game under .500, I think you're probably not in the playoff conversation." — Rex Ryan, coach

Titans said: "It's real special to be amongst some elite company. Just give God a lot of thanks being able to stay healthy." — Chris Johnson, on his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season

Bottom line: The Titans are favored by one point, and the over/under is 41. … When Jets' Shonn Greene rushes for 100 yards, New York is 6-0. … Titans' Jake Locker averages 305.3 passing yards in home games. … Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez hasn't secured his spot in the past two wins,...