The Suns have "fired" long-time dance instructor
Kimberly Lewis and "plan to change the squad into something
`more athletic' this season" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/10)....In
Denver, Stephen Keating wrote that the auction for Ascent
Entertainment's sports properties is scheduled to take place
"as early as" July 26, with the second and final round
coming two days later. Alan Snyder, whose Snyder Capital
Management is Ascent's largest shareholder, said that "with
enough time, [Ascent] could get to $550 million. The
problem with this process is that there's not a hell of a
lot of time" (DENVER POST, 7/11). Potential bidders for the
sports assets include Blazers/Seahawks Owner Paul Allen,
Kings co-Owner Philip Anschutz and News Corp. Chair Rupert
Murdoch (DENVER POST, 7/11)....Bank of America has loaned
"at least" $120M to three of the limited partners in Daniel
Snyder's group buying the Redskins. The members include
Mort Zuckerman, Fred Drasner and Snyder's sister Michele
Snyder, and that means that more than three-fourths of the
$800M sale price is funded through borrowed money
(SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/12)....The WNBA Sting "fired"
coach/GM Marynell Meadors yesterday. The team is 5-7 and
has the WNBA's smallest home attendance average at 6,139
(CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/12)....The Falcons have sold almost
10,000 new season tickets since January after renewing 98%
of last year's season-ticket base. The team could hit
42,000 sales by next season (ATL. CONSTITUTION, 7/10).
ELWAY TO HAND OFF THE BALL? John Elway said that he's
"not optimistic" about becoming a part-owner of the L.A. NFL
franchise: "I haven't talked to [Eli Broad or Michael Ovitz]
in two months. ... There hasn't been any progress" (AP,
7/9). An L.A. TIMES editorial called for progress among bid
leaders to land an NFL team before the league's deadline:
"It's time to focus on the benefits that will accrue to all
and get the work done" (L.A. TIMES, 7/11).
MLB: Three-day attendance at Shea Stadium for the
Yankees-Mets series this weekend was 160,740, the largest
weekend box-office series in Mets history (N.Y. TIMES,
7/12). The Mets wore a different uniform (pinstripes, white
and then black) in every game (N.Y. POST, 7/12)...The White
Sox' attendance of 131,276 over the weekend for their three-
game series with the Cubs was the team's largest ever for a
three-game series (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 7/12).
