ESPN's David Aldridge noted the Magic "are thinking about"
filing tampering charges against the Lakers on the Shaquille
O'Neal signing. Aldridge: "After three weeks of investigating,
they aren't sure about the motives of many who have volunteered
information, and they haven't been able to get others to come
forward to corroborate their story." Aldridge adds the Magic
should decide what to do by the end of [this] week. He adds:
"What they do know (the Magic) is that because of the league
moratorium and lockout, nobody, including the Lakers, had much
time to negotiate with O'Neal" ("SportsCenter," 8/9)....The
Oilers preseason game on Saturday night drew 12,851 fans, with
over 17,000 tickets sold. It was the smallest crowd to see an
Oilers game at the Astrodome (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/11)...As of
last week, the Diamondbacks have financial commitments for 21,000
seats, as about 9% of those holding seat reservations have turned
down their option to purchase. Bank One Ballpark will hold
48,000 and the team hopes to complete its entire reservation list
by December (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 8/10)....Top expansion sites for
MLS appear to be Chicago, Seattle and Miami. In Phoenix, Mark
Armijo notes an MLS team "likely will come later rather than
sooner." MLS Senior VP/Ops Bill Sage, on Phoenix: "We have
questions about the weather and a stadium" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC,
8/12).
