TBS is "close to a deal" to broadcast the May 18 Grand Prix
track meet at Atlanta's Olympic Stadium -- the first event to be
held at the facility (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 3/17)....The NHL may
be asked by the CBC to schedule Vancouver's playoff games on the
same night as Eastern Conference clubs if the Canadiens and Maple
Leafs miss the playoffs. Otherwise, "Hockey Night in Canada"
would be left without a Canadian club on half of its playoff
broadcasts (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/17)....The Astros have added former
catcher Alex Trevino as an analyst on their Spanish-language
radio broadcasts on KXYZ (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/17)....After being
named baseball's "Number one jerk" by Sports Illustrated, Indians
slugger Albert Belle reportedly told an SI writer at the club's
camp to interview him, "Tell Sports Illustrated to kiss my ass."
The BEACON JOURNAL's Bart Hubbuch notes, in light of all the
negative press Belle has received, he still kept ESPN's Peter
Gammons waiting two hours for a recent interview and refused to
meet with ESPN's Roy Firestone (Akron BEACON JOURNAL,
3/18)....The Sharks will celebrate the first anniversary of their
Web site by awarding prizes to participating fans (Sharks)....New
York-area cable provider Liberty Cable is in the process of being
sold. Sources said a deal with MCI, Nynex or GE could be worth
an estimated $60M (N.Y. POST, 3/16).
