WALLY'S TAKE ON RACE: Former Miami (OH) Univ. G Wally
Szczerbiak, asked whether his skin color will be a
disadvantage come draft day: "What I want teams and general
managers to do is kind of look at each player individually
and look at them not with any type of stereotypes. ... It's
not just a thing where I want fairness just because I'm a
white guy. Black people want it the same way with the
quarterback myth" ("The Last Word," FSN, 6/28).
IMG SELLS TWO TENNIS EVENTS: The SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL'S Daniel Kaplan reports that IMG "plans to sell" two
tennis tournaments "as part of its deal" to acquire the
Ericsson Open. IMG will sell naming rights to a men's
tournament in Marseilles, France and is "in discussions" to
sell the WTA Tour's Advanta Championships in Philadelphia
for more than $2M. IMG "will control" the Ericsson "in
return" for selling the two events. Meanwhile, IMG is
"planning" to move its Chicago women's event to Scottsdale,
AZ (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/28 issue).
NOTES: In Indianapolis, Phil Richards writes on ABA
2000 and notes that the number of ownership groups have been
"narrowed down" to 16 in 12 possible ABA 2000 cities, with
an announcement on the N.Y. franchise "likely in the next
couple of weeks." Richards: "Count on ABA 2000 to establish
itself as superior [to other minor basketball leagues] ...
but who will care? Who outside of Tampa Bay, Tidewater and
Nashville will watch?" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 6/29).
