A'S OUTDRAWN BY MINOR LEAGUE AFFIL: A "season-low
crowd" of 6,836 attended yesterday's Royals-A's game at
Network Associates Coliseum and in S.F., Susan Slusser notes
that the home debut of the A's Triple A affil, the
Sacramento River Cats, located 90 miles northeast of
Oakland, "outdrew" the first-place A's by 7,275 last night.
A's DH Matt Stairs, on the team's attendance: "It's
pathetic, terrible" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/16). In Sacramento,
Jim Van Vliet notes the 14,111 fans who attended last
night's River Cats opener, which featured the debut of the
new Raley Field. Cats C A.J. Hinch: "I can't imagine
there's a better park in the country at the Triple-A level"
(SACRAMENTO BEE, 5/16). Also in Sacramento, Mark Kreidler:
"Triple-A baseball will work here, probably in a way that
the big, expensive, corporate-soaked major league never
could" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 5/16). Meanwhile, Slusser profiles
the A's offering various fantasy experiences on
UltimateBid.com. A's Senior Dir of Sales & Marketing David
Alioto: "It's a great way to raise money for the A's. And
we're having some fun with it" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/16).
NOTES: Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Governor Larry
Tanenbaum, on the company's commitment to the Raptors and
Maple Leafs: "The hockey commitment and basketball
commitment are just as strong." Tanenbaum, noting the
progress basketball has made in Canada: "People my age [55]
grew up with hockey, and I've got hockey in my heart. But
when you see what's coming -- the kids [at Air Canada
Centre] are 12, 15, 18 years old. Hopefully, these young
people will be season-ticket holders in 10 years time. I
see basketball being right up there with hockey" (NATIONAL
POST, 5/16).....One anonymous NFL official, on reports of
the Cardinals possibly moving to San Antonio if the team's
stadium referendum fails: "I haven't heard anything, but my
gut feeling is that when an owner gives himself to the
highest bidder, you could have three teams in Texas" (SAN
ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 5/15)....An OTTAWA CITIZEN editorial
commented on the Ontario Superior Court's decision to
dismiss Senators season-ticket holder Len Potechin's C$27.5M
suit against holdout C Alexei Yashin for breach of contract
and called it the "correct one. If there was a legal case
to be made ... it had to be made between the true
contracting parties -- season ticket holders and the
Senators organization -- not a component part of the team"
(OTTAWA CITIZEN, 5/15)....In N.Y., Mark Everson writes that
Devils President & GM Lou Lamoriello, who "is free to leave"
the team when the sale to YankeeNets is complete, "is
believed to own" 3-6% of the team. YankeeNets CEO Harvey
Schiller wants to keep Lamoriello but "refused to say
whether Lamoriello will receive any stock in YankeeNets in
return for his ownership share of the Devils." Schiller
added that outgoing Devils Owner John McMullen "has made no
overture to quash" the sale of the team (N.Y. POST, 5/16).
