League Notes
On Long Island, Ken Davidoff noted MLB steroid investigator George Mitchell, a BOD member of the Red Sox, appeared in both the Yankees and Red Sox dugouts this past Saturday wearing a Red Sox shirt, joined by his son and a friend. Mitchell “seemed eminently comfortable in this setting,” which “exemplifies precisely why he was the wrong choice to head baseball’s steroids investigation.” Mitchell, on suggestions he should not attend games during the investigation: “I think that would be phony and untrue. ... And I don’t think being a fan of a game in any way impacts my ability to make appropriate judgments and to do a thorough and fair report” (NEWSDAY, 6/3).
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Observers Continue Watching Debris
Cautions Following Stewart's Comments |
TRASH HOLLER: In N.Y., Dave Caldwell wrote in the four races since Tony Stewart suggested NASCAR throws unecessary caution flags to shape races, there have been 11 debris cautions, compared to 20 in the first eight races. Debris cautions in the final 100 laps were up from 1.1 to 1.5. Kyle Busch said NASCAR wants "to close the field back up and get everybody back to racing if the race is getting too boring or something like that.” But he later added, “That was in the past. I have not seen that for a while. I think TV didn’t help that situation earlier when they wouldn’t show the debris on the racetrack” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/2).
PA ANNOUNCEMENT: In N.Y., Larry Brooks reported the NHLPA is “planning to exercise its right under the CBA to request that a full [5%] bump be built into next season’s cap.” If ’06-07 league revenues are $2.36B, a 5% bump would bring next season’s cap ceiling to around $52M. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman last week said the number would be around $2.4B. The NHLPA “was urged to push the cap as high as possible by, among others, [MLBPA Exec Dir] Don Fehr and former [NBPA Exec Dir] Charles Grantham during a meeting in Toronto last Monday with members of the NHLPA’s current leadership group” (N.Y. POST, 6/3).
WRIST SHOT: Michelle Wie said she withdrew from the LPGA Ginn Tribute Thursday because of her injured wrist, but some have speculated that she did so because of an LPGA rule that says a non-LPGA member who shoots 88 or higher is ineligible to compete for the rest of the year. In Chicago, Carol Slezak cited an ESPN report that said as Wie's score rose on Thursday, "her parents began consulting with each other and with [Wie's agent] Greg Nared." LPGA COO Christopher Higgs had been talking about the rule in the media tent but said he spoke to Nared "for no particular reason." Slezak wrote while this “sounds pretty suspicious,” she wondered, "If you were Wie, what would you have done?” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/3).
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