BASEBALL NOTES: Devil Rays Minority Owner William
Griffin is "in negotiations" with FL liquor authorities to
"divest his financial interest" in the team by August 1.
Griffin must sell his "reported" $10M share in the team or
the Devil Rays "risk losing their liquor license at
Tropicana Field" because "it is unlawful for a convicted
felon to share in profits." Griffin pleaded guilty in
August to "a felony charge of illegal campaign
contributions" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 6/25)....Red Sox CEO John
Harrington will meet with "several hundred members of the
building trades" tonight at Fenway Park in an effort "the
Red Sox hope will galvanize support ... among union members"
for the new ballpark project. Harrington will travel to
Beacon Hill Wednesday to brief the MA State House and Senate
(GLOBE, 6/28)....In Boston, Meg Vaillancourt cited Boston
Mayor Thomas Menino as saying that PricewatershouseCoopers
Inc. "will provide the city with a free cost estimate of a
plan to renovate Fenway Park" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/26).
MORE NOTES: A two-hour-long parade for the Spurs along
the city's River Walk honoring their NBA championship drew
230,000 people (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 6/28)....The
Vikings "cut off their season-ticket sales at 60,000" and
have a waiting list of 50 which "increases every day"
(Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 6/27)....The Heat will hold a
luncheon at the Hotel Intercontinental, near the 20,000-seat
AmericanAirlines Arena, to "kick off its ticket campaign"
for its WNBA team (SUN-SENTINEL, 6/27)....The IBL Bayrunners
unveiled their nickname and logo, which features a blue
crab, with one eye patch, atop a rotating basketball
(Bayrunners)....The Nashville Metro Public Works plan for
Titans game-day traffic includes "pre-printed directions for
fans, specified lanes for parking-pass holders and 110
shuttles for park-and-ride fans" (TENNESSEAN, 6/25).
