NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Friday said that the league will "start to collect blood samples" for HGH testing in the coming days. Following a meeting with the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform committee on Capitol Hill that included the NFLPA and USADA, Goodell said, "Testing should begin within two weeks. That was the chairman's instructions. Everybody around the table agreed." While the collecting of samples could begin soon, there is still not an agreement between the league and union "on what to do with the results."

Reform Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said, "We are not guaranteeing any outcome other then there was an agreement to begin testing immediately. The other aspects on what to do with the tests will be resolved over the next many weeks" (FOXSPORTS.com, 10/14).

The Univ. of North Carolina today formally announced that Bubba Cunningham is the school's next AD. Chancellor Holden Thorp introduced Cunningham, who had been Tulsa AD since '05 after three years as Ball State AD from '02-05. Cunningham signed a six-year contract for an annual salary of $525,000, with an expense account of $40,000 per year. He will officially begin his duties on Nov. 14, replacing Dick Baddour (UNC).

In a court filing in the Dodgers bankruptcy case this week on behalf of MLB, L.A. sports media consultant Ed Desser said the Angels "are expected to close a new transaction" on a TV rights deal. Sources said that Fox and the Angels "have had dialogue about a new deal for an extended period of time," but that "no deal is imminent." The Angels "would be likely to get an ownership share" in FS West if an agreement is reached (LATIMES.com, 10/14).

The Chiefs have cut ties with Tammy Fruits, the team’s former VP/Sales & Marketing, according to a blog post written by Bob Gretz, a former Chiefs beat writer. Chiefs Exec VP & COO Mark Donovan confirmed the report via e-mail. Fruits’ name and title are not listed on the staff directory on the Chiefs’ website. She oversaw a department responsible for selling suites and club seats at Arrowhead Stadium, including new premium seat inventory tied to the facility’s $375M renovation completed in '10. Fruits joined the Chiefs in September '05.

In the same blog post, Gretz reported the Chiefs had signed a naming-rights deal for Arrowhead Stadium. Donovan in a separate e-mail said that piece of information was inaccurate.

The PGA Tour McGladrey Classic "will blend gridiron and golf during the tournament's third round" on Saturday. Tournament Manager Courtney Stiles said, "We're going to have a Game Day booth in our village Saturday." Big-screen TVs will be set up in the village at the Sea Island, Ga., course "featuring the top games of the day." Stiles: "We want people to come dressed in the clothes of their favorite teams and have their photo taken at the Game Day booth" (JACKSONVILLE.com, 10/14).

NEMCO Motorsports' No. 87 Toyota during Friday night's NASCAR Nationwide Series Dollar General 300 "will feature photos of the victims of an unsolved double homicide." The car, driven by Kevin Conway and sponsored by ExtenZe, will carry images of Donna Barnhardt and Darrell Noles, "along with Concord police contact information," during the event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Rewards for information of up to $85,000 remain unclaimed to date (THATSRACIN.com, 10/11).

PBR has hired JHE Production Group, which manages Sprint's activation at-track during the NASCAR season, to manage the '11 World Finals series Oct. 26-30. JHE will manage PBR's Legends Reunion, an autograph session with more than 100 participants, and the World Finals Awards Reception that marks the end of the PBR season (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal).

U.K.-based sports video news agency SNTV announced that it will offer HD services starting Jan. 16, in time for the Australian Open. The announcement coincided with SNTV celebrating its 15th anniversary (SNTV).

Southern Tide on Friday announced that it has agreed to be the official clothing sponsor for tournament staff for the '11 Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island, S.C. The event will be held Oct. 24-30 (Southern Tide).

"They left Wall Street. They stopped picketing Wall Street and they stormed the Atlantic Coast Conference for more corporate greed" – Univ. of Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino, on Pitt and Syracuse leaving the Big East for the ACC (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 10/14).

"FIFA derives no benefit from gambling on football. Match fixing has grown because of the explosion of gambling” – FIFA Head of Security Chris Eaton, who previously worked at Interpol, on several recent match-fixing scandals throughout Europe and Asia (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 10/14). 

“I think Christmas is the first time that the somewhat casual basketball fan will really notice the NBA is not there” – ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, on the NBA lockout (“Mike and Mike in the Morning,” ESPN Radio, 10/14).

“When baseball had their lull after the strike in the mid-‘90s, they had the long ball to bring it back. They had steroids and a tightly-wound baseball. What does the NBA have to bring new excitement back to the fans?” – SportsNet N.Y.’s Chris Carlin (“Loud Mouths,” SNY, 10/13).

ESPN VP/Editorial, Digital & Print Media Rob King: "I'm grateful not only for the time Pat Forde has spent as a colleague, but for the 20 years (and still counting) we've enjoyed as friends."

Golf.com's David Dusek: "Before the PGA Tour decided the FedEx Cup should mean something, the Money Title did. Still does to @LukeDonald. He's playing Disney. #golf"

The Hockey News’ Jason Kay: “Hockey’s top revenue-generating business isn’t Leafs or Rangers, but Bauer: $308 million in sales in the past year. That's a lot of skates.”

NBCSports.com's Gregg Rosenthal: "Rare to see NFL struggle at anything. NFLN in fewer homes than MLBN, Golf Channel, Speed."

NBC News' Chuck Todd: "Good news, Occupy Herbstreit, has releases demands. My fav: Conferences w/numbers shd equal number of teams in conf."

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com. 

What's a little ribbing between pro golfers? While in China, Lee Westwood takes this photo of Rory McIlroy visiting a plane cockpit with the tweet, "Captain mcilroy at the controls! Hope we don't miss the runway left!" GolfChannel.com's Jason Sobel commented, "At end of the week, suspect Westwood, McIlroy and Poulter will look back at tweets like The Hangover characters checking incriminating pics."

Fox Filmed Entertainment co-Chair Tom Rothman Wednesday exclusively announced the fifth installment of the “Die Hard” franchise, “A Good Day to Die Hard,” on “The Jim Rome Show” and revealed a new character in the movie, John McClane Jr. He said to host Jim Rome, “We’ve got to get just the right guy. …What do you think about Tim Tebow?” Rome replied, “He definitely can’t be the bad guy. I don’t know that he’s hard enough or nasty enough to be McClane Jr. He’s not going to utter any profanities, you know that” (“The Jim Rome Show,” 10/12).

ESPN’s “PTI” picked up the conversation Thursday, with Michael Wilbon saying Tebow would make a “vanilla sidekick.” Wilbon: “He is not a hellraiser.” But Tony Kornheiser said Tebow “would make a dazzling sidekick.” Kornheiser: “The only thing I would worry about is when it came time to throw his weapons, he would wind up for so long that it would be hard to get the weapon out” (“PTI,” ESPN, 10/13). 

FRIDAY

FAU President Mary Jane Saunders, AD Craig Angelos, football coach Howard Schnellenberger and several players will take part in a ceremonial ribbon cutting of the school's new football stadium.

SATURDAY

Memphis Int'l Raceway will host the '11 Fun Ford Weekend, the largest public event since its reopening on Aug. 23. The event will feature drag races, car shows and swap meets.

SUNDAY

The Ravens will have a decal with the initials "PBM" on the back of their helmets for Sunday's game against the Texans. The initials stand for Patricia Breslin Modell, the wife of former Ravens Owner Art Modell, who died on Wednesday.

Steve Young's wife, Barb, arranges for a flash mob performance to help the Pro Football HOFer and ESPN personality celebrate his 50th birthday. 

Watch The Clip

FRIDAY

Fox' Terry Bradshaw will appear on NBC's "The Tonight Show" at 11:35pm ET.

1.6 million – Number of viewers for the Air Force-Notre Dame game last Saturday (1.1 rating) on NBC, marking the lowest-rated and least-viewed Notre Dame game ever on the network. Notre Dame won the game 59-33 (THE DAILY).