FROM LAST NIGHT'S "REAL SPORTS": John McEnroe,
interviewed by Jim Lampley on HBO's "Real Sports," on the
state of men's tennis: "Well, the ATP, to me, is pretty much
the only surviving communist regime that we still have."
Lampley: "McEnroe is sounding more and more like a
politician every day." McEnroe: "I think one of the things
[the players] need is someone who they respect, to look them
in the eye, and sort of be a liaison perhaps. Commissioner
McEnroe is available." Lampley: "His platform? Radical
changes to the sport and to the ATP." McEnroe: "They're
trying to support too many players by having way too many
events, oversaturating the market and lowering the quality
of what you see. The players need, in my opinion, to stand
up and say, 'This is not the way it should be.'" Jim
Courier, longtime friend of McEnroe: "I think John would be
a terrific dictator in tennis. ... I think Commissioner
would be a bad, bad thing" ("Real Sports," 6/14).
ON THE UMPIRES: HBO's Frank Deford examined the growing
dispute between MLB and its umpires association. MLBPA Exec
Dir Richie Phillips said the current problems are "a matter
of respect. And respect is one thing that this
commissioner's office does not seem to want to give to major
league umpires." MLB Exec VP/Operations Sandy Alderson, who
will negotiate a new contract with the MLBUA after this
year, "wants some changes." Alderson: "What we're looking
for is a perception on the part of people is that when a
umpire makes a mistake, it's viewed as a mistake, and it's
not viewed as incompetency. OK? And I think that's where
we are now" ("Real Sports," HBO, 6/14).
MORE NOTES: In Miami, Dick Evans noted that the U.S.'s
"top bowling officials" rated Strike Ten Entertainment --
formed three years ago partly to help "stop the steady
decline" in league membership -- a 5.5 out of a possible
ten, citing its "inability to land TV sponsors or generate
new business" for partners the American Bowling Congress and
the Women's Int'l Bowling Congress (MIAMI HERALD,
6/13)....The AP's Alan Robinson wrote that "there's no room
in the NHL's world right now" for a women's pro hockey
league, but one "might be created only when a deep-pockets
investor, such as a cable TV sports venture," is "searching
for programming." NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman: "I think
we have enough on our plate right now" (AP, 6/12).
