In Pittsburgh, Shelly Anderson notes Penguins D and NHLPA Player Rep Brooks Orpik is "optimistic things won't be as difficult this time" when the league and players' union negotiate a new CBA after the current deal expires in September. Orpik yesterday said, "We've had quite a few meetings the last two or three months, which almost the whole team attended. I know a lot of that hasn't been publicized. I think there's been more communication between the two sides than people are aware of. I think both sides are pretty optimistic something will get done. I think there's too much to lose after the last one we had to have another work stoppage." Penguins LW Steve Sullivan said, "We made a lot of concessions in (2005). I think they got everything they wanted -- a 24 percent roll-back (in salaries), a hard cap. I don't know what else they're going to ask for this time" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4/25).
TESTING COMING SOON? On Long Island, Bob Glauber noted NFL Exec VP/Labor & General Counsel Jeff Pash "expressed cautious optimism ... that the league will begin HGH testing in time" for the '12 season. The league and the NFLPA have an agreement to "conduct a population study that could clear the way to start testing." Pash said that the study will be "conducted by an independent laboratory." The two sides "agreed to HGH testing last year as part of the collective-bargaining agreement, but the union resisted implementation of the program until the study" (NEWSDAY, 4/21).
GROWING SCHEDULE: The European PGA Tour, the China Golf Association and BMW yesterday unveiled a new tournament that will be held later this year. The BMW Masters at the Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai will be played Oct. 25-28. The event will bring the total number of tournaments on The ‘12 Race to Dubai now to 47 and represents the third on mainland China this year. BMW’s partnership with The European Tour also includes the Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club in England and the BMW Int'l Open in Germany (European Tour).
NO LONGER THE FIFTH WHEEL: MLS Commissioner Don Garber said that the league’s “recent successes -- large attendance figures for newer teams in the Northwest, expansion into Canada, a near-complete set of soccer-specific stadiums -- is due to the growth of soccer-first fans.” Garber: "(The MLS) is no longer the fifth U.S. sport. It's something different." He added, "That culture is really changing our league" (DENVER POST, 4/25).
