Franchise Notes

Writer Lauds Ilitch For Role In Tigers’ Postseason Success

Two tickets to Game One of the World Series are “selling for more than $2,000 on eBay,” while the average ticket last week at StubHub.com was $743. StubHub PR Dir Sean Pate said that prices “are expected to come close to the $1,314 average ticket price” for the ’05 White Sox-Astros World Series. Pate added that should the Mets beat the Cardinals in the NLCS, the prices “will increase because of the glamour of a New York matchup” (DETROIT NEWS, 10/16)....In Detroit, Terry Foster wrote Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch, who “some called the worst owner in sports and begged him to sell the team,” is the one person “always missing when the credits roll after a Tigers victory.” Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski: “When you have ownership support, that is the main thing. ... He has been aggressive and made things happen.” Foster added Ilitch “made the decision to open the pocketbooks. He would not go hog wild like the Yankees or Red Sox, but he felt a middle ground could make the Tigers competitive” (DETROIT NEWS, 10/15).

PACERS: Pacers F Stephen Jackson, who was arrested last week for his part in an incident outside a strip club October 6, “replaced his traditional braids with a shaved head as he attempts to clean up his image.” Jackson said, “People thought I acted recklessly, when I know I didn’t. Over due time the courts will know that.” During the Pacers’ preseason game Saturday against the Jazz, fans “weren’t able to boo” Jackson as he entered the game because he checked in with F Jeff Foster and G Darrell Armstrong. But the crowd “greeted him with obvious boos” when he checked back in the game in the second quarter (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/15). Meanwhile, a car registered to Pacers F Jermaine O’Neal “was impounded after marijuana shavings were found inside.” O’Neal said that he bought the car five years ago for a friend, Michael McDonald, and one of McDonald’s friends, who O’Neal says he does not know, was driving (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/14).

RAMS: In St. Louis, Jim Thomas reported several Rams players have “talked about an incentive program in which ‘cash prizes’ would be given to the first player down on kicks.” Several veteran players donated money anonymously for the kickoff squad, but the NFL’s new CBA forbids such a performance pool. Rams President of Football Operations Jay Zygmunt wrote a letter to players and assistant coaches about the league policy that “prohibits clubs and club employees from providing bonuses, incentives, gifts, or anything of value to players other than the consideration stated in the NFL player contracts” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/15).