Cavaliers F LeBron James last week said that he would "voice his concerns" this offseason "about how close photographers and videographers are to the basketball court." James last Thursday suffered a cut on his head after colliding with a camera on the baseline during NBA Finals Game 4 against the Warriors. NBPA Exec Dir Michele Roberts in a statement said, “While I appreciate and enjoy up-close action shots of game play, do they really need to be that close to the action? I am no techno geek, but haven't we evolved such that we can capture that action without being within inches of the game? Frankly for both the safety of the players and the camera men and women, we need to find a better solution" (CLEVELAND.com, 6/14). CBSSPORTS.com’s Ken Berger wrote, “One of these days, someone is going to be seriously injured in such a fashion, and if it's during a Finals game and it happens to a player whose absence alters the outcome, all hell is going to break loose” (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/12).
FUNKY COLD MEDINAH: In Chicago, Teddy Greenstein reported Medinah Country Club members on Saturday “overwhelmingly approved a vote to host” the ‘19 PGA Tour BMW Championship, a FedExCup playoff event. Conway Farms, in Lake Forest, Ill., “will be the host” for the BMW this fall and in ‘17. The event “moves to Crooked Stick,” near Indianapolis, in ‘16 and to Aronimink, outside Philadelphia, in ‘18. Medinah’s commitment “ensures that greater Chicago will remain in the mix.” Western Golf Association Dir and Medinah member Jason Kinander said that if the event is a “‘smash success,’ the club and PGA Tour likely will keep Medinah in a BMW rotation” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/14).
LESS IS MORE: AHL Commissioner Dave Andrews said that the league’s California-based teams "will play a 68-game schedule” while the rest of the league will play 76. LAKINGSINSDER.com’s Jon Rosen noted the reduced schedule is “due to travel costs and the desire to avoid stretches of three-games-in-three-nights, which some see as an impediment to development and attractive play.” Kings Assistant GM Rob Blake in February said, “The feeling in development is if you play three-in-three, it’s a tough game. The third game is not a real development game" (LAKINGSINSDER.com, 6/13).
