SI.com's Grant Wahl cited sources as saying that when MLS owners meet Dec. 14 in N.Y., they will decide on two expansion teams that will "likely come from a group of three cities that includes Sacramento, Nashville and Cincinnati." David Beckham’s Miami expansion team is "viewed separately by the league," and a formal announcement is "set to happen in the coming months" (SI.com, 11/13).
FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB: YAHOO SPORTS' Kevin Iole wrote UFC President Dana White is a "gambler, and it’s that personality trait that gives his desire to promote boxing a chance to succeed." White last week said that he was in the process of attaining his boxing promoter’s license. Making an impact in boxing will be the "most difficult challenge of White’s career and will make his feat of turning the UFC from a dying business into a multi-billion-dollar empire look like a cakewalk." But if anyone can "make it work, it’s White." He is "not only smart and resourceful, but Zuffa Boxing will be as well-financed, or perhaps better, than any of the existing boxing promoters" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/10).
LONG WAY TO GO: USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell writes the "mockery" that Seahawks QB Russell Wilson made of the NFL concussion protocol during "TNF" last week "illustrates just how much further the NFL needs to go in managing the concussion issue." Wilson's case, along with one involving Colts QB Jacoby Brissett, are "warning signs reflecting the gray area that exists amid the well-intentioned procedure." They are "also setbacks." Bell: "For all the efforts of the NFL and union to encourage and develop tighter guidelines, increased awareness, better treatment and a new culture, we still get these situations that make you wonder whether there’s enough walk with the talk" (USA TODAY, 11/14). In DC, Deron Snyder writes under the header, "NFL Has To Get Serious About Concussion Protocols" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 11/14).
