Devils Owner John McMullen "appears to have renewed his
pitch" to buy the Nets "as part of a bid to secure a
secondary tenant for his proposed arena in Hoboken," a
"highly placed source" told Steve Hirsch of the Bergen
RECORD. McMullen, who met with members of the Nets
ownership group on Friday: "I'm just not going to discuss my
private affairs anymore." One source, on McMullen: "His
ultimate goal is to buy the team. I think it's a question
of how high the Nets' price is. I've heard it's $150
million. The question is whether they cop out at $125
million because they want the money" (Bergen RECORD, 1/10).
In N.Y., Fred Kerber reported that the Nets' meeting with
McMullen was "not to hear an offer to buy the team, but
rather a proposal to join the Devils in Hoboken" (N.Y. POST,
1/11). The Nets are due to begin talks with the state
within two weeks, and the RECORD's John Rowe wrote that NJ
Gov. Christie Whitman most likely "will extend [NJ Sports &
Exposition Authority Chair] Robert Mulcahy's contract beyond
its Jan. 31 expiration date so that Mulcahy can sit on the
other side of the bargaining table from Nets President
Michael Rowe, his former right-hand man" (RECORD, 1/11).
MULCAHY TO RUTGERS? Whitman has proposed that Mulcahy
take over Rutgers' athletic department, according to Abby
Goodnough of the N.Y. TIMES. While Whitman and others said
Rutgers President Francis Lawrence should "snap up" Mulcahy,
whose NJSEA term ends this month, Lawrence said he would
conduct a nationwide search for a new AD (N.Y. TIMES, 1/10).
