In Ft. Worth, Drew Davison notes MLBPA Exec Dir Michael Weiner made his "annual stop at Rangers spring training and told the players the drug testing system remains strong" even though Brewers LF Ryan Braun's case "showed there could be significant holes in it." Weiner said, "They should have confidence in the system. Any adjustments called for have been made and will be made. Any strong program has to deter use, has to have appropriate penalties and also has to have a fair appeals process. This doesn't take away from our process. Anybody that wants both a tough and fair program should be satisfied with this result" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 2/29).
ANYONE WATCHING? GOLF WORLD MONDAY's Tim Rosaforte noted the LPGA tour is "off to a terrific start with only one problem -- few people are watching." The problem for the tour is that the first three events this season "were shown by Golf Channel a day late on delayed tape." In this era of "instant communication, that's a tough sell to a sporting audience -- especially when a good chunk of the players in the field are tweeting about the outcome." Now the tour has "two weeks off, but when it returns the LPGA should get back on the radar screen of fans and the media" (GOLFWORLDMONDAY.com, 2/28).
GOING STRONG: In Dubai, Alaric Gomes notes new ATP Exec Chair & President Brad Drewett "believes there is no need for him to revolutionise the sport following his appointment January 1." Drewett said, "Would I change anything? Men's tennis at the moment is as strong as it has ever been, both on and off the court." He added, "We have such great players on court and commercially, television and sponsorships are very strong. My role is to keep this momentum and maintain this growth going in the same direction. ... The major challenge for me is to maximise the true potential that we have and obviously we are doing very well now, but we need to take things a bit higher." Drewett will meet the ATP Board "for the first time in Monte Carlo in April and that is when he proposes to present his plans to push men's tennis to another level" (GULF NEWS, 2/29).
