MLB: Last night's attendance at Olympic Stadium for the
Phillies-Expos game was 4,660, the smallest crowd in
Montreal since 4,262 attended a game on October 3, 1990
(OTTAWA CITIZEN, 5/19). On "Baseball Tonight," Karl Ravech
called the Phillies-Expos attendance at Olympic Stadium "an
embarrassment" (ESPN, 5/18). FSN's Keith Olbermann: "We can
now individually name every fan in attendance. ... Can you
say 'Northern Virginia Expos?" (FSN, 5/18)....ESPN's Peter
Gammons, on the "small-market, large-market" split: "You
know, when they talk about that 'big-market, small-market,'
in my mind: O.K., its hard to develop a team, but on the
other hand, some of these teams that are small-market teams
are bad because they have bad management" (ESPN, 5/18).
APB ON HAWKS FANS: In N.Y., Mike Wise writes that
advance ticket sales for last night's Knicks-Hawks playoff
game "did not approach 17,000." Wise notes that
"privately," team officials were "banking on a large walk-up
crowd," but "only" 18,513 attended. Wise: "Gauging by the
pre-series hype, this Eastern Conference semifinal is
clearly not great box office in Atlanta" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/19).
In Atlanta, Tim Tucker writes, "no mistaking from the
atmosphere throughout the game ... that a lot of Knicks fans
contributed to the late rally at the ticket window" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 5/19). TNT's Scott Hastings, on the large
Knick contingent last night: "They [the Hawks] are upset, I
talked to some of the management, they can't believe that
the Knicks dominate here in the stands with the fans.
Unbelievable." TNT's Bob Neal: "There are so many Knicks
fans here tonight [who] flew down here. ... They can buy a
ticket and eat some grits and it's still cheaper than a
courtside seat at Madison Square Garden" (TNT, 5/18).
NOTES: In Toronto, Rosie DiManno writes on the
accessibility of Maple Leafs players during the playoffs and
adds, an "infuriating thing has happened. Hockey players
have turned into baseball players." DiManno says that "PR
flacks now run interference for the players" and "if a
player doesn't feel like talking, then this message is
conveyed via the PR intermediary." DiManno: "Well, hell. I
don't need a kid with a degree in public relations
orchestrating an interview with a damn hockey player, on
deadline" (TORONTO STAR, 5/19)....In Orlando, Shannon Rose
wrote that the WNBA Miracle "hope to have 5,500 season-
ticket holders this year. That means if the new WNBA
franchise hopes to keep in step with the average league
attendance of 10,869 fans a game, single-game sales will
have to pick up the slack" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/15)....
Flyers & 76ers Chair Ed Snider, who was fined $50,000 for
criticizing the referees after the Flyers lost to the Maple
Leafs, on NBA referees: "I like that the referees talk to
the players. In hockey, they skate away from guys. It's
one of the problems I want us to address" (DELAWARE COUNTY
DAILY TIMES, 5/18)....In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg writes
that the Hornets had a 27% drop in per-game attendance this
season, and while the team lost $1.3M last season, sources
estimate it lost "at least" $3M this year. The Bonham Group
President Dean Bonham: "The Hornets are in need of a new
owner. [George Shinn] is the root of all of their problems"
(THE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/14 issue)....The AHL Board of
Governors will consider a request from the Red Wings to
suspend operation of the Adirondack franchise in N.Y. for
'99-2000 and relocate the team to Rossford, OH, to begin
play in the 2000-2001 AHL season (AHL).
