In Pittsburgh, Alaina Getzenberg notes the Penguins' Stanley Cup victory parade yesterday was "confirmed as the largest for any parade in Pittsburgh, with some estimates pegging it at 400,000." Penguins co-Owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle "did not speak at the rally." The duo "entered in on one of the last cars, but were the only influential members of the team not to come up to the microphone," perhaps due "to continued reports that the pair plans to sell the team" (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 6/16).
SMOKE & MIRRORS? In DC, Des Bieler notes the Ravens yesterday released OT Eugene Monroe, who had recently "become the NFL's foremost advocate of medical marijuana." Monroe indicated that he "was well aware" the Ravens were "not exactly 100 percent behind him on this issue." But Bieler notes the Ravens were "mainly concerned that he would use the banned substance, fail a test and incur a suspension" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 6/16). In Baltimore, Mike Preston wrote the "major reason" the Ravens released Monroe is because he "missed 17 of 34 games during the past 2 1/2 years, and had become one of the team’s most-disgruntled players" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 6/15).
THAT'S THE TICKET: MLS expansion club Atlanta United FC President Darren Eales said that there are "more than 30,000 tickets pledged to purchase, which has been the total the team has used for the past few months." In Atlanta, Doug Roberson noted the team is 60% of the way "trying to convert the holders of those pledges into season-ticket purchasers." Less than 10% "are declining to purchase the season tickets" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 6/13).
RIOT ACT: Canucks Chair Francesco Aquilini recently spoke publicly for the first time about the team's Game 7 Stanley Cup Final loss to the Bruins in '11 and the riots in the city that followed. Aquilini said that if there was a "silver lining" to the riots, it was "in the lessons learned." Aquilini: "If this ever happens again, we know how to deal with it. We will (be) much better prepared and we will manage it better. The other positive thing is how it was dealt with afterward. ... It was handled expeditiously. If something like this happens again, people will know they won’t get away with it. It sent a message" (VANCOUVER SUN, 6/16).
