League Notes

Red Wings GM Proposing Teams Not Release Injury Information During Playoffs

In Detroit, Helene St. James reports Red Wings GM Ken Holland "wants the NHL to discuss how much to reveal about injuries" at the league's next GMs meeting. Holland "wants to hear what his 29 colleagues have to say to his pitch that absolutely nothing be revealed about a player's injury during the playoffs, because revealing a player has just had a concussion, or a knee injury, obviously exposes to opponents a potential area of vulnerability." Holland: "Players in our sport are playing hurt. When you're talking about so much money, I don't know that either team wants every team to know about every little owie that we've got on our team" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/20).

ENOUGH ALREADY: In Greensboro, Rob Daniels writes U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's (R-PA) "pursuit of Spygate is becoming annoying to virtually everybody." Daniels: "Specter's posturing isn't simply frivolous; it arms and emboldens those who think the feds should never get involved in sports" (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 5/20). A SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS editorial states, "Let the league police its own house. If [Specter] wants to provide a good example for America, he should start with Congress" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 5/20). CBSSPORTS.com's Ray Ratto: "Because it's the Patriots, and more to the point, the NFL, this thing took on legs that it didn't really deserve, even when it was at its height. The breathless reportage was one part 'we're on to something here' and three parts, 'it's the NFL, and there's an audience segment that will watch it no matter how stupid it is'" (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/19).

DOWNHILL SLOPE: U.S. skier Bryon Friedman, on his blog, wrote the U.S. Ski Team "cannot afford to fund their athletes, including me." The team "does not have the financial backing to fully fund their team." Friedman: "If the organization is not going the direction of the individual (keep in mind skiing is an individual sport, not a team sport) then where is it going? I'll tell you where. It's going to the pockets of the upper management, specifically CEO Bill Marolt, who egregiously recorded a $300,000 bonus this season on top of his already high $700,000/year salary" (YARDBARKER.com, 5/17).