USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke notes the 6.6 rating, or four
million viewers, for HBO's "The Life and Times of the
American Basketball Association" was the cable network's
highest-rated documentary in two years (USA TODAY, 6/13).
...In Miami, Barry Jackson writes under the header, "It's
Sad, But HBO Does Right Thing," on HBO's "justified and
sensible" decision not to use Larry Merchant on Saturday's
Oscar De La Hoya-David Kamau fight following Merchant's
comments regarding a Mariachi band being a "marketing ploy"
at De La Hoya's last fight (MIAMI HERALD, 6/13). In L.A.,
Tom Hoffarth calls it "one of those issues that stinks of
censorship, reeks of political correctness and is downright
unfair. ... And in a strange way, the cable channel is
probably doing the right thing by separating Merchant from a
situation that could get more ridiculous" (L.A. DAILY NEWS,
6/13)....Sports Afield Editor-in-Chief & Publisher Terry
McDonell was named Editor of Wenner Media's Men's Journal
(AD AGE, 6/12)....ESPN SportsZone launches a one-week series
on Monday titled "Everybody's Game: Women's Sports Comes of
Age." The series includes a variety of columns, chats and
analysis by industry experts and athletes (ESPN).
