In L.A., Vincent Bonsignore wonders after the Lakers fired coach Byron Scott on Sunday night how long it will be before Lakers Exec VP/Business Operations Jeanie Buss realizes the team's "biggest problem isn't a coaching issue but an organizational one." It begins with the "wobbly relationship between her and her brother," VP/Basketball Operations Jim Buss. At what point will they "take a serious look at their self-inflicted issues and fix them, once and for all?" It is "time to stop pretending the blueprint the late, great Jerry Buss laid out -- for daughter Jeanie to run the business side of the Lakers and son Jim the basketball side -- is working" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 4/26).
CLOSE TO HOME: On Long Island, Mark Herrmann notes keeping the Islanders in the "general vicinity of Long Island" and preserving the team's colors and crest is the "greatest win of all in Charles Wang’s run as head of the team." While not everyone has "agreed with every move Wang has made in his 16 years," he deserves his "due credit." Wang "can be proud of the fact that he kept them afloat and kept them close enough for their fans to enjoy them" (NEWSDAY, 4/26).
SOMETHING YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN? In Toronto, Morgan Campbell noted while Drake's ambassadorship with the Raptors "didn't lead directly" to the White Sox' new partnership with Chance the Rapper, it "did awaken teams to the marketing power of partnerships with hip-hop artists." U.S. Cellular Field is in an area of Chicago "in which 899 of 907 residents identified as black" in the '10 Census. However, the team's roster includes "just two African-American players" -- SS Jimmy Rollins and CF Austin Jackson. The White Sox hope Chance the Rapper "can help the club tap into a latent interest in baseball among black sports fans, especially on the South Side" (TORONTO STAR, 4/25).
CROWDED FAREWELL: In Boston, Nick Cafardo wondered why the NFL would schedule Bills-Patriots at 1:00pm ET at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 2, the same day of Red Sox DH David Ortiz' "farewell game at Fenway Park." It is possible the start time might change "when the Kraft family realizes that it takes away from Ortiz's last day with the Red Sox" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/24).
