ESPN’s Zach Lowe said he is not “super concerned” about a new NBA CBA not being reached by Thursday, the opt-out date for the current deal. He said, “That's sort [of] a fake deadline. It's not a real deadline. They can still negotiate after that. I just have a hard time believing that a year of optimism and almost to the finish line progress is going to be undone.” But ESPN’s Rachel Nichols said, “If they don't beat this Thursday deadline, it's not that it's just, ‘Oh, they've got more time to negotiate.’ It changes what the negotiation is” (“The Jump,” ESPN2, 12/12).
NO CATERING: Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles said that the IndyCar Series is "not currently considering a return" of the Indianapolis 500 to the traditional 11:00am ET start time to "facilitate drivers competing 'The Double,' in conjunction with the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600." Miles: "We are always open to see what can be done to help make it easier for somebody who could do it now with a 12 o’clock start, to do as it’s scheduled now, helicopters out, expediting, if they win, that sort of thing. But we’re not thinking about revisiting the time for the 500" (USATODAY.com, 12/9).
FOREIGN PHENOMS: SPORTS ON EARTH's Cy Brown noted a "promising factor for American soccer is the foreign talent MLS is beginning to attract." For years, the "only stars in MLS were established USMNT players and past-their-prime legends," who come "across the pond for one final paycheck." MLS has become a "viable option for foreign players in their prime looking to get a little more starpower and a nice paycheck in the process" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 12/11).
