The Grizzlies' minority owners exercised a buy-sell provision last week, and in Memphis, Ted Evanoff wondered who actually "owns" the team. Grizzlies Controlling Owner Robert Pera is "not quite what he seemed to be." Evanoff: "Jetting in from the Silicon Valley, Pera looked like a risk-taker, a young guy with ample money to build the Grizzlies into a league leader. But over the last five years, Memphis seems to have seen little of Pera or his cash" (COMMERCIALAPPEAL.com, 12/2).
STAYING ON THE PATH: In Miami, Barry Jackson reported Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross is "expected to retain" coach Adam Gase, GM Chris Grier and Exec VP/Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum. The Dolphins are 5-7 and though "mistakes have been made," the trio deserves another year because they have been "working together for just 22 months." The "blame for mistakes on this roster can be shared among them" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 12/2).
CLEAR FOR TAKEOFF: ESPN.com's Mike Reiss asked a handful of Patriots players if the team’s new plane has "helped them in any way (e.g. from a rest and recovery standpoint)." But that idea "didn’t gain much traction." While the first-class seats were "noted as a positive, most said travel wasn’t much different for them this year" (ESPN.com, 12/3).
SOCCER ROYALTY: In Salt Lake City, Maddie Lee noted the new Utah-based NWSL team will be called Utah Royals FC, which "extends the tradition of royalty-themed team names within the organization (Real Salt Lake, the Real Monarchs) to the women’s side." The release of the name and logo come just two weeks after RSL Owner Del Loy Hansen announced that he was "launching an NWSL team" (SLTRIB.com, 12/1).
