League Notes
UFL VP & GM Rick Mueller acknowledged the league is not competing with the NFL. Mueller: "It would be crazy to say we're going against the NFL. We don't have those resources. But there are enough talented players who don't make NFL rosters who will give fans an entertaining product." UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue said ticket prices will be "tremendously reasonable and we think they will support the teams very well." Meanwhile, Huyghue said that the UFL "toyed with the idea of a four-point field goal for long kicks, but rejected it in the end." In Jacksonville, Garry Smits notes there is "one high-tech addition" to the league, as each football "will have a computer chip to more clearly define first downs, touchdowns and whether the ball is in or out of bounds" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 7/8).
OFF THE BLOCK: In N.Y., Jack Curry reports Hunt Auctions, which was hired by MLB to coordinate sales at next week's MLB All-Star Game auction, has removed "some 19th-century baseball letters that were supposed to be sold," as the FBI is "still investigating" whether they were stolen from the N.Y. Public Library. Evidence has emerged that "at least one letter was from the library collection," and now that Hunt "has acknowledged that these letters might have been taken, Major League Baseball is in an awkward position of having to explain why it coordinated an auction in which it was selling potentially stolen letters" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/8).
SOUTH AFRICA STRIKERS: REUTERS’ Macanda & Raymond report South African construction workers “began an indefinite strike on Wednesday, halting work at stadiums for the 2010 World Cup.” The National Union of Mineworkers said that the “action by about 70,000 workers would continue until employers gave in to their demand for a 13[%] pay rise.” Officials have said that the 10 World Cup stadiums, half of them new, “will be delivered by December, although there have been reports of possible delays at the venue in Cape Town” (REUTERS, 7/8). The strike represents the "first serious blow to hopes to the completion of preparations for next year's event ahead of schedule ... particularly if protracted" (TIMESONLINE.co.uk, 7/8).
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