Rory McIlroy on Thursday said that he "wished he had expounded on his remarks ... when he said it was his goal to win championships, rather than help expand golf’s reach." McIlroy: "Obviously I feel like I do my bit to grow the game. It’s not as if I’m uninterested. I feel like golf is a great vehicle to instill values in kids. I’m an ambassador for the PGA Junior League and I do some stuff for the First Tee in the States. I feel like I’ve used my success in golf in a very positive way in the community" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/15). Meanwhile, Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner brought up McIlroy's comments about golf in the Olympics and said, "We like an honest opinion, but there comes a point when if that honest opinion is going to hurt the efforts of a lot of other people who feel differently, you keep that to yourself and you don’t do the damage that maybe Rory has done with those comments" (“Live from the Open,” Golf Channel, 7/14).
LONG-TERM RISKS: TSN's Rick Westhead reported NHL insurance company Chubb "was ordered Wednesday night to hand over the medical records of former players in an ongoing concussion lawsuit." The former players charge that the NHL "didn't do enough to warn its players about the long-term risks of suffering multiple concussions." The players said that the league "profited from and marketed violence." Lawyers for the former players "want the medical documents from Chubb because they believe the records may shed more light on the prevalence among former players of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other brain-crippling disorders" (TSN.ca, 7/14).
LOOKING AT THE POSITIVES: NHRA President Peter Clifford, discussing positive changes over the past 20 years, said what is "happening now is the awareness we’re getting from television is driving attendance." Clifford: "Increased attendance and viewership is going to lead to increased sponsorship, which is going to help us, the teams, the tracks, it’s going to help everybody. The more sponsors we have is going to help further with the awareness, where more people are going to be exposed to our great sport. The sport is just too good and has so much access and so many things other sports don’t have, we just needed to increase awareness because we know the potential is huge" (NBCSPORTS.com, 7/13).
