NFL: U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) "has
requested the videotapes" of a '95 NFLPA meeting in Maui in
which 16 players reportedly "failed drug tests." In a
letter to Richard Brown, the attorney for FL-based
Sportsolution, which shot the tapes, Grassley wrote, "No
group -- especially one with such high visibility as the
players of the National Football League -- should be allowed
to hide drug use behind negotiations or posturing" (N.Y.
TIMES, 9/19)....ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that the
league "is ready to discipline" referee Chad Brown, who has
a book due out this month "in which he identifies the NFL's
biggest whiners." Mortensen cited league sources as saying
that Brown's job "may be in jeopardy after he also suggested
in the book that he's prone to make calls just to make a
point with whiners" (ESPN, 9/18). CNNSI.com's Peter King,
on Brown's book: "It's not exactly `Ball Four.' But so much
about a referee's life is as cloistered as a monk's life.
This put at least a 40-watt bulb on it" (CNNSI.com, 9/20).
NOTES: SI's L. Jon Wertheim, on the historic HR seasons
of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa: "Surprisingly, the economic
impact of the home run derby is something short of
miraculous." Wertheim noted that national TV ratings are
down 3% on Fox and "McGwire and Sosa's effect on attendance
is also questionable." Burns Sports Celebrity President Bob
Williams: "If a captivating home run chase doesn't
significantly improve the economics of baseball, what will?"
(SI, 9/20 issue)....The WNBA "plans to start" the 2000
season "about two weeks early so it can finish in time" for
the Olympics in Sydney, Australia (N.Y. TIMES, 9/21).
