The AP’s Doug Ferguson noted with Wimbledon moving "back one week starting in 2015 to allow a three-week break after the French Open,” it will be "even more difficult fo golf to devise a busy summer schedule" in '16. The British Open had “considered moving back one week in 2016 in a summer that will be filled with two major championships, the Ryder Cup and the golf's return to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.” But to do that now would mean the Open “would clash with Wimbledon, which wouldn't go over well in Britain.” R&A CEO and International Golf Federation President Peter Dawson said, "The Wimbledon date change does impact on this with regard to when it's most sensible to play the Open that particular year, so we are going to have to go slightly back to the drawing board on this." He added that the IGF "made a commitment to the International Olympic Committee that no major event would clash with the Olympics” (AP, 7/24).
FAR EAST MOVEMENT: In N.Y., Nate Taylor notes NBA China last week announced a partnership with former NBAer Yao Ming “to help raise basketball participation among youths in China while also holding an annual camp intended to develop elite Chinese players.” Yao said that passion for basketball in China “has never been stronger.” NBA China CEO David Shoemaker said, “Yao absolutely triggered the interest in basketball, and a lot of the credit should go to him. The interest in basketball has matured to where it goes beyond any player or one team.” Ratings for NBA games last season on Chinese sports channel CCTV5 were up 21% "from the previous year, and page and video views on the league’s Chinese-language site reached new highs.” Shoemaker said that Rockets G Jeremy Lin's rise in popularity “certainly didn’t hurt” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/25).
GROUND RULES: In London, Rory Smith reports after Arsenal MF Emmanuel Frimprong’s recent tweet to a Tottenham supporter drew criticism from the FA, the EPL yesterday “issued its clubs with guidance on the use of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.” The league’s determination to “stamp out this most modern of offences has resulted in it sending all 20 top-flight clubs guidelines on how players should engage ‘responsibly’ with supporters” (LONDON TIMES, 7/25).
