GOAL.com's Seth Vertelney noted MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Saturday confirmed “suspicions” that the Earthquakes’ “usual home of Buck Shaw Stadium might not be a facility worthy of hosting MLS Cup." Garber said, “We have made the decision that we would like to move the game out of the stadium that they play in in Santa Clara today. We have not yet resolved where that game is going to be played.” He added, “We think if San Jose was able to make it into the final, more than 10,000 people would want to come to that game. So we’d want to find another site. We just don’t know where that is yet” (GOAL.com, 11/5).
SKATING AWAY: In Pittsburgh, Mark Belko reports the Penguins are working with the USL Pittsburgh Riverhounds "on plans to erect an outdoor ice rink inside the soccer team's new stadium at Station Square.” Penguins COO & General Counsel Travis Williams said that the team “hopes to open the rink for public skating and amateur and high school hockey games Dec. 14 and operate it until early or mid-January.” Belko reports the timetable is “contingent on the Riverhounds having most of Highmark Stadium completed by the end of November” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 11/6).
UNLEASH A JAGUAR: In Jacksonville, Dolly Penland writes the Jaguars have the NFL’s “most luxurious locker room,” thanks to Owner Shahid Khan, who “spent more than $3 million to redesign and renovate the space at EverBank Field.” The lockers are “made of wenge, a dark tropical timber that’s often used for musical instruments.” All of the wood veneer on the lockers is "Forest Stewardship Council-certified.” Each locker is “equipped with a ventilation system to quickly dry the players’ pads and shoes.” The system “turns on automatically when items are placed inside.” Fans “move 105 cubic feet of air per minute through each locker and exhaust it to the outdoors, achieving the remarkable: a locker room that doesn't smell like a locker room” (JACKSONVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/2 issue).
UPON FURTHER REVIEW: In Toronto, Tony Van Alphen noted two Markham, Ontario, councilors "want the city to take a much harder look at the promoter of the city’s plan for a NHL-size arena despite the mayor’s strong support of him.” Councilors Jim Jones and Don Hamilton have “confirmed they will ask council within the next two weeks to probe the background” of GTA Sports & Entertainment Chair & CEO, whose company is the proposed builder and operator of the arena. But Mayor Frank Scarpitti said that he has told councilors the city "hasn't found any concerns about Roustan after checking his personal credit history" (TORONTO STAR, 11/4).
