SPORTING NEWS' Greg Couch wrote Heat F LeBron James "constructed one of the best moments in NBA history" with last summer's "The Decision," and the ESPN special "might go down as the single best thing to happen to the league since Michael Jordan." The NBA "has been rebuilt and revitalized by one superstar listening to the advice of some hangers-on he empowered who just thought it would be a blast to hang out in South Beach all year." Couch: "As a result, this is the best NBA season I can remember. The most interesting. The most exciting. The most watchable, as smashing TV ratings prove" (SPORTING NEWS TODAY, 5/10).
USE YOUR WORDS: YAHOO SPORTS' Kevin Iole reported Zuffa LLC kicked off its third annual UFC Fighter Summit yesterday in Las Vegas, where UFC President Dana White stressed that fighters "must be aware of what is happening to their money." There also are sessions on "concussions, steroids, taxes, gambling, merchandising and rules." White said that UFC "spent $975,000 to put on this year’s summit," which also included a "session on conducting interviews, dealing with the media, the significance of social media, rules, merchandising, event production and insurance" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/10).
IMMORTALIZING SEVE: YAHOO SPORTS' Jay Busbee reported a "movement is building to change the logo of the European Tour to honor" Seve Ballesteros, who passed away last weekend. The logo is "only a few years old" and features the silhouette of six-time British Open champion Harry Vardon. But Ballesteros, "more than any other golfer, built the European Tour into what it is now." Busbee noted the "knock against the idea, of course, is that the Vardon logo is only two years old, and a change right now would be more of an emotional decision than a well-considered one" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/10). THE GOLF CHANNEL's Jason Sobel wrote, "I wish the European Tour would change its logo to a silhouette of Seve Ballesteros." Sobel: "As with anything, there will be red tape and bureaucracy in making such a change. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen" (THEGOLFCHANNEL.com, 5/9).
EVERYBODY'S DOING IT: Following reports that NFL teams are contacting both current players and undrafted free agents despite the lockout, the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION's Hays Carlyon wrote any team "that isn’t using some inventive method of trying to get its recruiting pitch out to its top free-agent targets probably is falling behind and incredibly naive." Most players selected in last month's draft "weren’t able to meet with their new teams and be handed a playbook." But Carlyon added, "Something tells me at least a few of them have received some anonymous package on their doorstep or some email that’s untraceable back to the team containing the vital information" (JACKSONVILLE.com, 5/10).
