NFL: In DC, Dan Daly notes Redskins Owner Daniel
Snyder's decision to "start charging" TV stations to use the
team's name and logo on NFL highlight shows: "Telling TV
stations they have to change the names of their Redskins
programs -- unless they ante up -- is silly, arrogant and
greedy. What's next, Dan? Parking meters at Redskin Park?
Toll booths on the access roads to Redskins Stadium?"
(WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/21)....In Houston, John McClain
reports that 10,190 nickname "suggestions" have been posted
on www.nfl2002.com, the Web site for Houston's expansion NFL
franchise. But he adds that team Owner Bob McNair's
favorite is "Texans." McClain adds that there have been
more than 63,000 "requests" for non-binding season tickets.
McNair: "The next order of business is to sell suites. We
have to sell 75 by Jan. 15. We expect to start selling them
by Nov. 15" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/21).
NOTES: Senators holdout C Alexei Yashin, on the C$27.5M
lawsuit filed against him and his agent Mark Gandler by fan
Leonard Potechin: "I have nothing against the fans [of]
Ottawa and I never have. I have no problem with them. They
can do what they want to do" (OTTAWA SUN, 10/21).
...Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice, who said that the team's
marketing department "found" that 90% of the fans at the
Greensboro Coliseum last year were "commuting" from Raleigh:
"It's always amazed me that that many people would make the
trip. It's a long ride, through lousy traffic and it's a
terrible time of day when you've got to put your kids back
in the car to get them home at 1:30 on a weeknight" (GLOBE &
MAIL, 10/21)....FORBES' Mary Summers profiles D'Backs
Managing General Partner Jerry Colangelo and notes the
team's drop in attendance in its second season and Colangelo
asking for an additional $24M "cash call" this season.
Colangelo: "It's too early in the fight for me to do
anything but tell you where we are. I don't know the end of
the story." More Colangelo: "I'm not in this for the money,
personally." FORBES' Summers: "That will be interesting
news to his investors" (FORBES, 11/1)....Mavericks GM/coach
Don Nelson, on almost inviting Percy "Master P" Miller to
the team's training camp: "We thought about it ... and even
had him in for a workout. But we decided it would be
impossible for him to make our team, so we didn't want to
waste his time" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 10/21).