NHL: Huizenga Holdings Senior VP Ron Castell said that
NHL Panthers Owner Wayne Huizenga is "willing to entertain
offers" to buy the team. Castell: "Wayne has said and we
have said publicly for several years that we're a public
company and if someone is interested in anything we have,
then we must listen." Panthers President Bill Torrey, on
Huizenga: "He has never said to me that 'I want to get out
of hockey.' There are a lot of things about it that don't
make sense to him, that disturb him" (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-
SENTINEL, 11/11). A MIAMI HERALD editorial writes on
Huizenga's move to possibly sell the team under the header,
"Huizenga Bails Out": "There he goes again, Win, lose or
draw the bottom line always is the bottom line with
[Huizenga]" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/11)....Lamar Hunt dropped a
lawsuit he filed in Federal Court in N.Y. in January '98
that "sought control" of the NHL Blue Jackets and "damages
for being excluded" from ownership. Hunt filed a dismissal
last week (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 11/10)....Wayne Gretzky's name
was misspelled as "Gretzkey" on the MSG scoreboard "as part
of an answer to a trivia question" during last night's
Senators-Rangers game (N.Y. TIMES, 11/11).
WHO NEEDS TICKETS? In Toronto, Grant Kerr notes the
"malaise" of the Grizzlies "early in their fifth" NBA
season, as the smallest crowd in team history, announced at
11,453, saw the Grizzlies improve to 2-2 by beating the
Hawks 102-97 last night at GM Place (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL,
11/11)....In Minneapolis, La Velle Neal III reports that
only the Spurs, Knicks and Jazz have sold out their NBA home
openers and the T'Wolves "might not become the fourth" for
tonight's game against the Knicks. The team has sold about
9,500 season tickets, "including partial plans" (STAR
TRIBUNE, 11/11)....CBS SportsLine's Mark Soltau noted that
only 11,601 "showed up" for the Spurs-Warriors game Monday
at The Arena and "most were long-gone early" in the fourth
quarter. Soltau, on the third straight 0-4 start for the
Warriors: "Once again, they stink" (CBS SportsLine, 11/10).
BOWDEN NOT SEEING RED WITH GRIFFEY: Reds GM Jim Bowden
is "intrigued" about acquiring Mariners CF Ken Griffey and
isn't "concerned about taking the risk of having Griffey for
only a year." Bowden: "We'll see what he does to our
season-ticket base, our fans, our merchandising, our
revenue. We'll see how our team does" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/11).
