In N.Y., Ken Belson notes college football players, who "risk injury for no pay, are rushing to be drafted at near-record rates as they try to grab a piece of the NFL's ever-expanding revenue." Belson: "And who can blame them?" This year 96 underclassmen "entered the draft before exhausting their college eligibility, the second-highest total after the 98 players who left early" in '14, while another 11 players "finished their degrees but still had eligibility remaining and are entering the draft." Last year, 19% of the 74 underclassmen who "entered the draft were not selected." In most years since '90, 60-80% of underclassmen "were drafted" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/28).
FACING THE MUSIC: ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto noted UFC President Dana White "has admitted" removing fighter Conor McGregor from UFC 200 "is an 'unpopular' decision, but a necessary one." White said that it "ultimately was McGregor's decision to not fight at UFC 200, as he was aware of the demands." White: "I didn't prevent him from fighting at UFC 200. He knew what the deal was. I told him what the deal was. He opted to do that" (ESPN.com, 4/27).
BETTER CALL SAUL: In N.Y., Tal Pinchevsky notes the NHL's coach's challenge during the Stanley Cup Playoffs has seen a "marked increase from the regular season, in which there were 266 challenges in 1,230 games, or slightly more than one every fifth game." NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said, "The coach's challenge ... is working well. It's doing exactly what we expected. This was to give our officials an opportunity to see, on what was a judgment call, could they make a better call? And that's what we've called it: the better call" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/28).
