MLS VP/Game Operations Joe Machnik said that MLS has
"volunteered" to be one of FIFA's "guinea pigs" in an
experiment testing the use of two referees instead of one.
The MLS Competition Committee will make a recommendation to
the MLS Board of Governors, which is "expected" to meet in
late September. If approved, two referees would be used at
selected teams' home games, totaling "about" 50 two-referee
games in the 2000 season (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 8/25).
THE LAST WORD? The AP's Doug Ferguson writes that PGA
Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem "tried to put to rest the flap
about Ryder Cup revenues by saying it was not inappropriate
for a player to want to know the financial structure of the
Ryder Cup or wanting some of the money directed to the
charities of his choice." Finchem: "This matter is
conceptually at this point, resolved. It is only a matter
of the details to be worked out" (AP/USA TODAY, 8/26).
SEAMINGLY A CONTROVERSY: FSN's Keith Olbermann reported
that an MLB spokesperson said that "there's no validity" to
the report on CNN/SI's report claiming that the baseballs
used during the All-Star Home Run Derby were harder and
smaller than regulation, and that the balls "used in the
Derby were supplied by Rawlings and were part of the same
batch used in the All-Star Game." Olbermann: "Regardless,
the SI story necessarily adds weight to the now 12-year old
contention that the ball has been physically changed to
increase the frequency of home runs" (FSN, 8/25).
