MLB: Cardinals 1B Mark McGwire held his first official
press conference at the team's spring training site in
Jupiter, FL. More than 100 journalists were on hand for the
event. McGwire: "I've accepted the responsibility, I guess
the label, of being a hero. I'll live up to it the best I
can" (Rick Hummel, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/25). McGwire,
on a possible MLB work stoppage in 2001: "I'm scared to
death to see what happens after 2001. ... I'd be so
disgusted, I'd walk away from the game. I don't see how
ballplayers and owners can ever let that happen again after
what we did this year to get the game back on top" (ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/25). McGwire, on whether his use of
andro is setting a good message to kids: "I don't endorse
the product and I never did endorse the product. Somebody
just stuck their nose in my locker" (GLOBE & MAIL, 2/25).
NBA: USA TODAY's Greg Boeck writes on the proliferation
of foreign players in the NBA in a Sports "Cover Story."
Currently, there are 35 players from 24 countries on NBA
rosters (USA TODAY, 2/25). In Chicago, Fred Mitchell wrote
that Budapest-based MTM-SBS TV has sportscaster Zsuzsanna
Csisztu in Chicago following the progress of native
Hungarian and Bulls F Kornell David (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/24).
...Agent Steve Woods' arbitration hearing on the NBPA
revoking his license has been rescheduled for next week. In
Dallas, Kevin Blackistone writes that NBPA Exec Dir Billy
Hunter "shouldn't be able to kick out an agent for merely
disagreeing with him." Blackistone: "Woods wasn't the only
agent who thought the union's leadership was doing a
terrible job. ... He was just the one who spoke up loudest"
(DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/25)....In S.F., C.W. Nevius writes
that "it is impossible not to notice the empty banks of
seats" on TV at NBA games this season. Nevius: "The
league's spin is that everyone is back, but where are they?
Are the concession stands jammed?" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/25).
MORE BASKETBALL NOTES: The CPBL has established the
Basketball Education Statistical Tracking (BEST) Index, a
poll that combines an NCAA men's basketball team's "on-court
performance with its effort in the classroom." The league
will offer players free tuition to the univ. of their choice
in their region (L.V. SUN, 2/23)....In DC, Thom Loverro
wrote on the "minor-league boom" in basketball and calls the
IBL "the most ambitious league in the works." IBL
VP/Basketball Operations George Blaney said that there will
"be a shakeout of all these minor leagues in the next few
years," but added that, "We will have a leg up, because we
have plans to expand internationally, with perhaps an IBL
division in Europe and South America" (WASH. TIMES, 2/24).
