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MINNEAPOLIS - Ricky Rubio is one game away from returning to the Minnesota Timberwolves.Rubio has been cleared to play Monday night against the Dallas Mavericks, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Saturday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement has not been made.Rubio has been out since severely injuring his left ankle Nov. 7. He will have missed 43 games because of the injury, and the Wolves sunk to the bottom of the league without him.They were 8-38 entering Saturday nights game against Cleveland. When he returns, the team plans to restrict his minutes until after the All-Star break while he sees how his ankle responds.Coach Flip Saunders said before the Cavaliers game that nothing is set in stone.Hes seen three specialists and all of them have cleared him if things are OK come Monday, Saunders said. They have OKd him to be able to play on a limited time basis. We will have to wait until Monday pretty much comes.Rubio signed a four-year, $54 million contract extension before the season and helped the Wolves get off to a promising start before going down with the first ankle injury of his career.The slick-passing point guards return is the latest in a series of important developments on the injury front for the Timberwolves, following Nikola Pekovics return from a 31-game absence due to foot and ankle issues on Jan. 21 and Kevin Martins return on Wednesday from 34 games away with a fractured right wrist.The trio was expected to lead the way for the Wolves early in the first season without Kevin Love, whose trade to Cleveland ushered in yet another rebuilding plan for a team that hasnt made the playoffs since 2004. President of basketball operations and coach Flip Saunders envisioned a blended team as he called it, one in which the veterans like Rubio, Martin, Pekovic and Thaddeus Young did the bulk of the work while rookies Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine and sophomores Anthony Bennett, Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng could ease into things.That all faded in the fifth game of the season when Rubio stepped on the foot of an Orlando defender on a drive to the hoop. He suffered a severe sprain and damage to muscles and ligaments from his ankle to his toes.The Timberwolves were 2-2 at the time with tight losses to Memphis and Chicago. But Rubios absence forced LaVine to play out of position at point guard and veteran Mo Williams to shoulder more of the playmaking responsibility after signing a one-year deal last summer.They lost the first five games without Rubio, Pekovics chronic foot problems returned later in that same road trip and Martin broke his wrist on Nov. 19. The Wolves won just three times in 32 games, effectively burying themselves before the new year even started.Rubios return is the key, with his pass-first mentality and ability to defend at the point expected to bolster the Wolves lacklustredefence and hasten the development of Wiggins and the rest of the younger players.Rubio has been pressing hard to return to action, but the Timberwolves are taking no chances with their franchise point guard. Saunders said last week that doctors cautioned a premature return could bring on a stress fracture, which would result in another long absence.Wolves doctors and athletic trainer Gregg Farnam have closely monitored his progress. He started practicing about two weeks ago and has been going through strenuous workouts prior to each game this week to work his way back.Saunders said the extended absence may be a blessing in disguise because it gave him time to remake his jumpshot, which has always been the weakest part of his game. Rubio has spent hours with shooting coach Mike Penberthy to get more arc on his jumper.We might look back in a year and say maybe the best thing that ever happened was having those three months off where he was able to really break down his shot and work on his shot and become a consistent shooter, Saunders said. NFL Jerseys Clearance . Fans can also watch the game on the newly launched TSN GO (currently available to Bell TV and Rogers customers), which gives TSN subscribers the freedom to live stream the networks programming from their smartphones, tablets, and computers at no additional charge – just as they would watch Canadas Sports Leader on TV at home. The following week, MLS ON TSN is at BMO Field in Toronto to deliver live coverage of TFCs home opener vs. D.C. United on Saturday, March 22 at 4:30 p. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . The team said they will announce a corresponding roster move prior to their series opener on Tuesday night in Kansas City. http://www.wholesalenflchinacheapjerseys.com/.Y. - Major League Soccers independent review panel has taken back the fine and one-game suspension it placed on Toronto FC forward Luke Moore earlier this week. Wholesale Jerseys China . Scolari says that although Brazilians have the right to complain about the government and demand improvements, perhaps the protests wont be coming at the "right time. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins.Its a big week for NCAA college players. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that a group of Northwestern college football players, led by quarterback Kain Colter, are employees and have the right to form a union and bargain collectively. The NLRB is a U.S. government agency that deals with labor law. This matters because as a bargaining unit, players as a group can now start to ask for more - a lot more. Think about how baseball was changed when the players unionized and fought for their rights. So this decision will potentially have a major impact on college sports and force the NCAA to change how it does business. For decades, the NCAA has offered scholarships in exchange for athletic services. However, the NLRB says that falls short, and with this ruling, threatens to tear down the very foundation of the NCAA and its billion dollar business model. Control Control Control In concluding that players were entitled to employee status, NLRB director Peter Ohr focused on the level of control that Northwestern exercised over its student athletes. That level of control, he said, moved players from being primarily students to being athletes that have earned the right to unionize. If they were primarily students, they couldnt unionize. In ruling that Northwestern players were athletes first (and students second), he relied on a bunch of factors to demonstrate control over the players that no longer made them primarily students (like others on campus) and effectively turned them into employees. Here are a few of these factors: (a) The NCAA limits athletic activities to 20 hours per week during the season and 8 hours during the offseason. Despite that, Northwestern players dedicated 50 to 60 hours a week on football during training camp, and another 40 to 50 hours a week during the football season. While the workouts that would take players beyond the 20 hour cap were deemed "voluntary", players knew if they didnt show up there would be serious consequences. Some days players had to engage in football related activities from 5:45am to 10:30pm. Devoting so many hours a week to football was a massive consideration for the NLRB. The players basically had a second job: football. (b) Players allege they were steered away from certain courses because they conflicted with football. Colter wanted to go to medical school but was discouraged from taking a pre-med course because it conflicted with his football schedule. He ultimately ended up transferring to psychology. (c) Players have to abide by restrictive social media policies, and cant refuse a friend request on Facebook from a coach. They have to let the coach know the type of car they drive. As well, players are subject to alcohol and drug policies, as well as anti-gambling and anti-hazing policies. A violation of these policies can result in serious sanctions, including suspensions and revocation of scholarships. (d) If a player wants to get a job off campus, he needs permmission.dddddddddddd Hes required to live on campus while a freshman and sophomore. He also cant do interviews without the coachs approval. (e) The player cant profit off his own likeness and image; thats reserved for the university and the NCAA. (f) A player is prohibited from swearing in public, and if a player "embarrasses" the team, he can be suspended for one game. A second offense can result in a 1 year suspension. Players who transfer to another school to play football must sit out a year before they can compete for the new school. (g) During the regular season, the players must wear a suit to home games. (h) Players are required to remain within a six-hour radius of campus prior to football games. These are just some of the factors that Ohr relied on when he concluded that the university was exercising a level of control that converted the students into employees. Also important was that Northwestern was providing compensation in the form of scholarships in return for services that had nothing to do with academics. All The Benchmarks of an Employment Relationship So when it all shakes out, Ohr believed that this case had all the standard benchmarks of an employer/employee relationship, including controlling the employees schedule, the discretion to hire, fire or suspend the employee and evidence of compensation. What Do the Players Want They want to negotiate limits on practice time and medical benefits. Thats their starting point. They will probably also ask for a stipend to reflect cost of attendance. Remember that scholarships cover a lot – living expenses, tuition, room and board and book fees – but not everything. At some point, players may ask to be paid. The NCAA is big business. The media deal for NCAA football is a $7.3 billion/10 year deal, while the March Madness deal is valued at $10.8 billion over 14 years. Northwestern generated $235 million in revenue between 2003 and 2012 off things like ticket sales, television contracts, merchandise sales and licensing agreements. In 2012-2013 alone, the program generated $30.1 million in revenue, while spending about $5 million on scholarships. The university also says that its expenses add up to about $22 million all in for the football program. In theory, the players as employees could also be entitled to disability insurance, workers compensation and maybe even a pension. They could also be taxed on non-scholarship income they receive. Next Steps: Appeal Central As for next steps, the players will hold a vote to form a union, while Northwestern appeals the decision to the next level at the NLRB. If Northwestern is unsuccessful on appeal, they will probably refuse to bargain with the students and take the matter to federal court. So we could still be years away from a final decision. That being said, this was a potentially historic win for the players and a step closer toward sharing in the billion dollar pie that is the NCAA. ' ' '