The Newark STAR-LEDGER's Dan Wasserman writes on the
NBA refs situation which has seen three be indicted by the
IRS for tax evasion. The league turned to CBA refs during a
nine-week lockout of the referees union in '95 and league
officials today "won't deny that crucial games could end up
in the hands of replacement referees." But Wasserman notes
however that "it takes a minimum of 70 days for a case to
come to trial for tax fraud but in most cases defendants are
granted continuances. That will push the trials well past
the postseason and possibly into the '97-98 season" (Newark
STAR-LEDGER, 2/25)....The CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR's Mark
Sappenfield examines MLS' decision, as of now, not to shut
down the league during the '98 World Cup, noting, "This time
ignorance of the great event may come from an unsuspected
source: Major League Soccer" (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR,
2/26)....The HOCKEY NEWS' Bob McKenzie writes on NHL
expansion, adding one "myth" that Houston is a "dead-set
certainty" to receive an NHL expansion franchise. McKenzie:
"Until there is a guarantee of a new arena in Houston, there
is no guarantee of an expansion team there." McKenzie adds
if the NHL were to expand by three teams, "it would leave a
vacant berth for what the league really needs -- a presence
in the Pacific Northwest" (THE HOCKEY NEWS, 3/7 issue).
