Jackson Free Press

A big man is suing NBC’s hit reality weight-loss show, "Biggest Loser." Former New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Brown player LeCharles Bentley is taking the show to court over alleged trademark infringement.

TMZ was the first to report on the lawsuit. Bentley alleges that the new logo for the Biggest Loser, which was adopted earlier this year, closely resembles the logo for his O-Line Performance Facility.

Bentley sent NBC and the show’s producers a cease-and-desist letter, which allegedly the show has ignored. Now, the former NFL offensive guard and center wants the show's logo to be changed and to get a slice of the revenue it made while using the new logo.

A spokesperson for NBC Universal told Pro Football Talk in an email that the company had no comment on the lawsuit.

The Saints drafted Bentley in the second round with the 44th overall pick of the 2002 NFL Draft out of Ohio State University. He played in New Orleans for four seasons and earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2002 and 2005.

While at Ohio State, Bentley earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors in 2000 and 2001. He also was named winner of the Rimington Trophy, which the nation’s best interior offensive lineman receives.

After his rookie season of 2002, Bentley was named Sports Illustrated’s Offensive Rookie of the Year and to Pro Football Weekly’s All-Rookie Team. He started 14 games as a rookie at guard and 13 at guard his second season. Bentley was moved to center for his final two seasons in New Orleans after starting a total of 30 games.

He signed with the Cleveland Browns during the 2006 offseason. Bentley injured his knee in training camp and ended up with a staph infection. His knee required four surgeries, with two needed to remove the staph infection.

Bentley spent the 2007 season on the Physically Unable to Perform list. He requested and received his release from the Browns in June 2008.

The injury ended Bentley’s career in the NFL. He spent the entire 2008 season out of football, and after that year, he retired. He later reached a settlement agreement with the Browns.

Bentley did some work in the media after his career ended. He started his O-Line Performance Facility in 2008 in a Cleveland, Ohio suburb and moved it Scottsdale, Ariz. in late 2013, after his work in media was over. His performance center has been recognized for its work in various sports media, including ESPN, Sports Illustrated and others.

Can you believe that college football is less than three months away?

While there are still some great sporting events this summer, such as the Rio Olympics, it is never too early to begin your plan to consume the opening five days of college football.

Some great games will open the season, and all six major programs in our state could end up with some type of viewing availability. Opening weekend begins on Thursday, Sept. 1, and ends on Monday, Sept. 5, with a huge Labor Day showdown.

Jackson State University will kickoff the season on Thursday on the road against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The kickoff for that game hasn’t been set and neither has any type of TV channel. There is a good chance this game will be streamed by some source, like on the UNLV site.

The only other game to get really excited about on Thursday is the matchup between the University of South Carolina and Vanderbilt University at 6 p.m. on ESPN. If you want other options, other games, such as Indiana University Bloomington at Florida International University and Appalachian State University at the University of Tennessee, will be on TV.

SWACtion meets MACtion on Friday as Mississippi Valley State University travels to Eastern Michigan University. This game was moved from Saturday to Friday, and the kickoff has yet to be announced. It could end up streaming on ESPN3 or another source.

Other Friday games to sink your teeth into are Colorado State University at the University of Colorado Boulder on ESPN, Kansas State University at Stanford University on FS1 and the University of California at the University of Hawaii. Another game of note is Baylor University opening the season at home against Northwestern State University.

Mississippi State University opens the post-Dak Prescott era at home against the University of South Alabama at 11 a.m. on the SEC Network. The Jay Hopson era begins at the University of Southern Mississippi as the team faces the University of Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

Saturday will be a marathon of college football. The day starts at 6:30 a.m. with Georgia Institute of Technology battling Boston College in Dublin, Ireland on ESPN2. The day ends with Brigham Young University and the University of Arizona kicking off at 9:30 p.m. on FS1.

Games of interest throughout the day include the University of Oklahoma against the University of Houston at 11 a.m. on ABC, Texas A&M University hosting the University California Los Angeles at 2:30 p.m. on CBS, and University of Georgia against the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Saturday night features the University of Alabama against the University of Southern California at 7 p.m. on ABC and Auburn University against Clemson University at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Alabama and Clemson met for the college football title last season with the Crimson Tide coming out on top.

Alcorn State University begins …

If you didn’t know, the Copa América Centenario started last week. Here is a brief history of the tournament and some background on why this Copa América is so special.

This is the first time in the history of the Copa América that it has taken place outside of South America. Normally, the tournament takes place on that continent and crowns a champion in CONMEBOL, which is the governing body of South American soccer.

The first Copa América was held in 1916, making this the oldest international continental soccer tournament. CONMEBOL has 10 members and has invited only two teams outside of it to take part in the competition since 1993.

The 10 CONMEBOL members are: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Most of the time, CONMEBOL invites teams from CONCACAF, the governing body of which the United States is a member, but has invited Japan to play in the tournament. The US has played in the 1993, 1997 and 2007 Copa América.

Eight of the 10 CONMEBOL countries have won the tournament, with Ecuador and Venezuela being the only countries yet to win. Uruguay has the most titles with 15, but Chile is the reigning champion.

Since this is the 100th year of the tournament, this installment is a mega event with 16 teams instead of the normal 12 teams. The US is hosting the event for the first time, and five other CONCACAF teams—Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Haiti and Panama—have joined in.

The USA is in Group A with Colombia, Costa Rica and Paraguay. This might be the toughest group of the tournament with all four teams having strong squads.

Colombia, already the favorite to win the group, confirmed that thought after the team’s 2-0 win over USA. That leaves the US, Costa Rica and Paraguay fighting for the second spot to advance. Costa Rica and Paraguay played to a 0-0 draw in their first group game.

In the first game of the tournament, Colombia made a spectacular goal off a corner kick. The US keeper had no chance of making the save. The second Colombian goal was off a penalty kick for a USA player’s handball in the box. The call was iffy at best and didn’t look like the American athlete made the action deliberately, but it is a subjective call.

Even before the opening loss, many didn't expect much from USA after the team struggled in matches at the Gold Cup and in World Cup qualifying.

The best player in Group A is Colombia's James Rodriguez, who was the breakout star of the last World Cup. Rodriguez made the penalty but left the game with a shoulder injury, which could affect the group if he is going to be out of action.

Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones and 12 other 2014 World Cup players on this squad will need to show leadership after the loss. It seems almost …

Three teams from our state made regionals in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Two of those teams, Mississippi State University and University of Mississippi, hosted regionals, and the University of Southern Mississippi traveled to the Tallahassee Regional.

By early Sunday afternoon, just one team was left standing. MSU lives to play this weekend while USM and UM saw their seasons end. In case you missed it, here is a quick recap of Mississippi’s regional action.

The Rebels might have had the two toughest losses in regional play last weekend. In its first game against the University of Utah, UM held a 5-2 lead after five innings.

At the top of the sixth inning, Utah scored three runs to tie the game at 5-5 after six full innings played. The score stayed tied as the game headed into extra innings.

Utah added a run at the top of the 10th inning to take a 6-5 lead. The Rebels got a base runner in their half of the 10th but failed to bring the runner home, giving Utah the 6-5 win.

That defeat sent UM to the losers’ bracket of the Oxford Regional. The Rebels would have needed a win against Tulane University to stay alive.

Things looked good for the Rebels against the Green Wave as they were up 5-4 heading into the top of ninth inning. All UM had to do was get three outs to keep its season going.

The Rebels got the first batter in the ninth to grounded out for the first out of the inning. Tulane earned a walk with its next batter to put the tying run on base.

The next Green Wave batter hit a two-run home run to left field, giving Tulane a 6-5 lead after the Rebels got two more outs. UM came to bat in the bottom of the ninth but could only manage one base runner before a fielder’s choice ended the game.

The loss ended the season for the Rebels. Boston College ended up winning the regional and will meet the University of Miami from Florida in the Super Regional.

Things started off well for Southern Miss in the Tallahassee Regional. The Golden Eagles began play against the University of South Alabama.

USM jumped to a 3-0 lead before exploding for 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 14-0 lead over the Jaguars. South Alabama scored two runs in the top of ninth, but the Golden Eagles won 14-2.

That set up a match against Florida State University in the winner's bracket. USM scored a 2-0 lead in the top of first inning, but FSU struck back with three runs in the bottom of the second inning.

The Seminoles tacked on four more runs to beat the Golden Eagles 7-2 and sent them to the loser’s bracket. USM would have needed to defeat South Alabama again to earn the right …