League Notes
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Daytona Int'l Speedway's Backstretch
Grandstands Closed Completely Saturday |
In Orlando, Mike Bianchi wrote NASCAR is "undergoing enormous shrinking pains and is in jeopardy of losing its prominent place in the American sporting hierarchy." The backstretch grandstands at Daytona Int'l Speedway were "closed completely" for Saturday's Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400, while "other ticket prices were slashed." The track "never seemed deader than it did Saturday night." Meanwhile, "as great a driver" as current points leader Tony Stewart is, he "simply doesn't have the personality or charisma to elevate this struggling sport." NASCAR "now more than ever ... desperately needs" Richard Petty "front and center every week." Bianchi: "NASCAR will never again be like it was in 1984 when it was literally hotter than a Firecracker" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/5).
RETIREE BENEFITS: In a special to SI.com, Ravens C Matt Birk writes, "It's disturbing to me how the players of previous generations are being treated." Birk notes under the current system, about 2% of revenues "being paid to players goes toward retired players." Birk: "Why can't we give a bigger piece of the pie to the players of yesteryear? ... We need to make the former players a priority" (SI.com, 7/6). Meanwhile, in Hamilton, Scott Radley reports the CFLPA is looking for about 900 former players "so it can give them millions of dollars in pension payments owed them for their time playing in the league." The CFLPA has more than C$7M "sitting there to be handed out" (HAMILTON SPECTATOR, 7/6).
SMART MARKETING: USL Timbers and Triple-A PCL Portland Beavers Owner Merritt Paulson said MLS "can certainly give the NHL a run for its money right now, when you look at the true trajectories of the leagues." Paulson: "It's going to be a very tribal, localized league, and the league recognizes that. It's key that it gets in the right markets and doesn't make the mistakes the NHL made in putting teams in markets that it has no business being in." Paulson added the NHL "has no business being in Nashville or Tampa" (Portland OREGONIAN, 7/5).
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