LEWIS FINED QUARTER MIL: The NFL yesterday fined Ravens
LB Ray Lewis $250,000 for conduct detrimental to the league.
Lewis will be fined another $250,000 and be subject to
suspension if he violates the terms of his 12-month
probation in Fulton County, GA (NFL). In DC, Orton &
Denlinger write that Lewis' fine was for "obstructing the
investigation of a double murder" after Super Bowl XXXIV in
Atlanta. In a statement, Lewis said of the fine, "I'm
disappointed and I will appeal." But in a letter to Lewis'
attorneys and the NFLPA, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue
wrote: "This misconduct no doubt fueled a public perception
that he had something to hide. In doing so, he put his own
livelihood and reputation at risk, and he caused great harm
to other NFL players and to the league" (WASH. POST, 8/18).
NOTES: BLOOMBERG NEWS' Scott Soshnick cited sources as
saying that the NBA "probably will stage" all future NBA
drafts in N.Y., "scrapping the practice of holding" the
event in different NBA cities. The plan would begin with
the 2001 draft, scheduled for June 27. Soshnick added that
"among the reasons for the change is the difficulty" for the
NBA "to stage an event far from its offices only several
days" after the NBA Finals (BLOOMBERG, 8/17)....In Orlando,
Jerry Greene writes that the XFL "is no longer taking"
applications from prospective players on its Web site. It
"stopped" when more than 12,000 were registered (ORLANDO
SENTINEL, 8/18)....In Orlando, Ed Hinton writes on the
"feud" between NASCAR drivers Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart
last week in NY (see THE DAILY, 8/17) under the header,
"Spat brings back memories of good 'ol days": "Nothing came
of it, of course, other than a bit more bickering. But it
amounted to a glimmer of hope that somewhere deep in NASCAR,
there is still a human heartbeat" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 8/18).
