MLS released its '97 schedule and Commissioner Doug
Logan said 93% of the 160-game schedule will be played on
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Attendance last year
averaged 20,086 on weekends and 12,424 on weekdays. The
season starts March 22 (USA TODAY, 12/18)....The NHL is
working to open its '97-98 season with two games in Toyko,
Japan next October. Sources tell KYODO NEWS that the Mighty
Ducks and Canucks are likely to play October 4-5 in Toyko
(KYODO NEWS, 12/18)....ESPN's John Clayton reported that
teams playing in domes have accounted for 60% of the NFL's
non-sellouts this season ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 12/17).
...The ABL is looking to reduce the physical style of play
that has occurred during the first half of their inaugural
season. Ernie Yarbrough, ABL Chair of Officiating: "It's
far too physical. We don't want to have the bad boy
reputation that some of the players in the NBA have"
(HARTFORD COURANT, 12/18)....The AVP's '97 schedule includes
the renewal of 15 host sites on the 24 tournament schedule.
Total prize money will exceed $4M (AVP)....In S.F., the
NBA's scoring woes are profiled by the CHRONICLE's David
Steele under the header, "The League That Can't Shoot
Straight" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 12/18)....Braves President Stan
Kasten, on the new CBA: "The problems of the industry will
be severe and heightened over the next five years. I hope
this tiny [payroll] tax impacts the game, but you know it
isn't going to. It's ridiculous" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION,
12/18). In St. Louis, Jeff Gordon on recent MLB signings:
"Don't ever blame the players for baseball's economic woes
again. These guys are sitting back, generally unarmed,
while the owners outbid each other with ludicrous contract
offers" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 12/18).
