NHL: The NATIONAL POST's Alan Adams reports that IIHF
President Rene Fasel will meet today with NHL Commissioner
Gary Bettman "to try to prevent a hockey war that could
scuttle the league's plans to participate" in the 2002
Winter Games. Fasel: "There has to be a way out of this"
(NATIONAL POST, 2/18). SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's Kostya Kennedy
writes that in a recent SI poll, 21 of 24 GMs who responded
"favored participation" of NHLers in the Olympics. Swedish
Federation President Rickard Fagerlund: "We'd like very much
to reach an agreement, but we're not going to give in.
We've been playing in the Olympics for 75 years, and NHL
players have been involved only once. I think we could get
by without them" (SI, 2/21 issue).
NOTES: In San Jose, Mark Purdy writes that the WUSA is
a "misguided gamble that might easily backfire. ... Women's
soccer isn't ready yet, and deserves better when it is."
Purdy: "The lack of a Bay area WUSA franchise shows how
clueless the new proposal is. If there's one area where a
female soccer franchise could thrive, it would be here" (SAN
JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/18)....In N.Y., Mike Wise, noting that
the NBA held a technology summit last Friday during the NBA
All-Star Weekend in S.F., writes: "It made you wonder if the
league understood that its sport was ailing. Has anyone
given serious thought to a basketball summit, a weekend
think tank about how to fix this system?" CBA Owner Isiah
Thomas: "I've had conversations with the N.C.A.A. and the
N.B.A., trying to get people to all come together and do
what's best for the sport of basketball. ... No one seems
interested right now" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/18)....In Minneapolis,
Patrick Reusse cites NASCAR's most recent statistics that
show that 84% of its fans have household incomes of less
than $75,000. The percentage of college graduates (22.2)
among its fans is "slightly higher" than the percentage of
non-graduates of high school (17.6). Reusse writes,
"Bubba's still out there, making up a good share of the
NASCAR audience. But there are more people and more money
in the South, and that has put a lot more money in Bubba's
pocket" (STAR TRIBUNE, 2/18)....IHL President Doug Moss, on
potential expansion: "We're going to be prudent when it
comes to expansion. This league had a reputation for a few
years of expanding for expansion sake. That won't happen
again" (GR PRESS, 2/17)....NLL Commissioner John Livsey, on
current regional broadcasting commitments in the U.S.: "It
doesn't make sense right now to pump millions of dollars to
be on ESPN or ESPN2 with the end result still attracting the
same audience and areas that already follow the sport. We
want natural growth in target areas" (TORONTO STAR, 2/18).