ROYAL A-PRENTICE: The sale of the Royals to Miles
Prentice's group includes a provision that allows him to
sell the team locally if Kauffman Stadium does not undergo
renovations. Sources said that if the team isn't bought
locally, it could relocate. Prentice: "I don't think they
recognized how serious we were. The thing that has to be
done is, those improvements have to be made" (K.C. STAR,
11/18). Royals VP/Baseball Operations George Brett said he
isn't interested in being GM, but he "would like to have
some input" under the new ownership. Brett: "We've talked
about various roles for me and hopefully somewhere down the
line we can get a more defined role" (K.C. STAR, 11/18).
HURRICANE WATCH: The Hurricanes radio network does not
include a station in Guilford County, NC, where Greensboro
is located. The Canes "appeared" to close a deal with
Greensboro station WPET-AM before the season, but the deal
"fell through." Currently, the team can be heard in NC in
Raleigh, Greenville, Kinston, Jacksonville, Rocky Mount,
Wilson, Fayetteville, as well as in LaGrange, GA (Greensboro
NEWS & RECORD, 11/18). The Canes are 3,000 short of a
sellout for Friday's game against the Flyers and "about"
1,500 seats remain for a December 12 game against the Red
Wings (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 11/18).
OTHER NOTES: Five banks in Tennessee -- First American,
NationsBank, SunTrust, First Union and The Bank of Nashville
-- now offer 100% financing for fans purchasing Oilers PSLs,
with payment plans ranging from 36-42 months at interest
rates between 8-10% (TENNESSEAN, 11/18)....John Henry's
$150M purchase of the Marlins may not be ready for approval
at the January 12-14 MLB owners meetings in CA due to MLB's
"comprehensive background checks" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/19).
...In Pittsburgh, the Penguins asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
Bernard Markovitz to change his order barring the team from
talking with other cities. Penguins attorney Michael
Kaminsky: "Nobody wants to leave. We just want to gather
information to be able to compare (the Civic Arena) lease
with other leases" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 11/19).
