MLB: In Cincinnati, Cliff Peale cites team sources as
saying that "several owners" of the Reds have bought the
shares of deceased team partner Carl Kroch. Kroch's stake
"had been held by his estate" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER,
9/13)....In Milwaukee, Tom Kertscher reported that a judge
dismissed a lawsuit Monday by a suburban Chicago man who
said that the Brewers "should have let him exchange his
tickets to last season's final home game for tickets to this
year's finale." Mitch Kapnick had bought tickets to the
Brewers' '99 finale "because he thought it would be the
last" Brewers game played in County Stadium. But due to a
construction accident, the team's move from County Stadium
was delayed for another year. Kapnick had sought an
exchange for the four tickets he bought last season for
tickets to this season's last game. The judge ruled that
"buying a ticket is a contract, and the ticket clearly says
no refunds" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/12).
NHL: On Faceoff.com, Bill Potrecz examined the Sabres
efforts to market in Canada. Sabres Dir of Canadian
Marketing Steve Katzman said that about 15-18% of this
season's Sabres season ticket base -- about 2,000 in total -
- originates from Canada, a number that is "down
substantially" from 30 years ago. However, group sales from
Ontario are "very high" (Faceoff.com, 9/11)....The Penguins
will feature the tagline, "Penguins Hockey, World Class
Players with a Pittsburgh accent," in this year's ad
campaign. Penguins VP Tom McMillan said that the slogan
"seeks to capitalize on the fact that the roster is filled
with a large number of Europeans, especially from the Czech
Republic." Players will be featured in ad spots talking
about hockey in their native countries. McMillan: "We ...
decided not to go with an ad agency. We believe we know the
team better than they would" (PITT. BUSINESS TIMES, 9/11).
SQUAT THRUSTED: The NFL ruled that Rams players could
not perform the "Duck-Down," a dance that featured players
at "various spots on the field" squatting "in a Spiderman-
style pose after a score." Rams coach Mike Martz, on the
NFL's guidelines on celebrating: "You can do any celebration
you want, as long as it's not any kind of sexually explicit
behavior or any of those (obscene) gestures. But nobody can
join in, whether they're away or together. So we're banned
from celebrating" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 9/13).
