Ravens President Dick Cass said that the team has "asked the NFL not to schedule a bye" following their Week 3 game against the Jaguars in London. ESPN.com's Jamison Hensley noted it would mark the second time since the NFL started playing in London in '07 that a team "wouldn't get a bye week after playing overseas." The Ravens prefer the "challenge of playing a game in the same week it returns in the early hours of Monday morning instead of receiving the earliest bye a team can have in the regular season" (ESPN.com, 4/12).
GLUE OF THE FRANCHISE: ESPN.com's Andrew Marchand noted Yankees Senior VP & Assistant GM Jean Afterman has been the "glue of the franchise" for a decade and a half. She is "so valued by the organization that she recently signed a three-year contract even though her boss," Yankees Senior VP & GM Brian Cashman, "is in the final season of his deal." She is "currently the only female executive with the title, making her the highest-ranking woman in any club's front office." Cashman said that she "could become baseball's first female GM." However, Afterman "doesn't want the job" (ESPN.com, 4/12).
NO PARTICIPATION TROPHIES: In Buffalo, Jerry Sullivan writes there is "something entitled about the Sabres" and it has been that way since Owner Terry Pegula "rolled into town and started rewarding players before they won anything." The Pegulas "seem more interested in their brand than winning titles." It also "must sting to see" the Maple Leafs' rebuild go "shooting past them." Sabres GM Tim Murray has "become the hockey equivalent" of the Bills' Doug Whaley, a first-time GM who "spent a ton of money, made some dazzling trades and has yet to win a thing" (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/12). Also in Buffalo, John Vogl notes Murray yesterday "took the blame for the failed season," but also "made it clear there was enough blame to go around" (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/13).
