ABL player contracts, along with league and coaching
hires, have "delayed" the league's expansion announcement,
according to Bruce Berlet of the HARTFORD COURANT. But "it
appears Nashville will be the ABL's 10th franchise," as ABL
CEO Gary Cavalli visited the city twice "the past two
weeks," and it "apparently" beat Tampa and St. Louis in the
"expansion sweepstakes." Cavalli: "We've done a lot of
careful analysis and it looks like we're going to
Nashville." In other news, Cavalli said the league's third
season "could begin" two weeks later (around November 1) to
avoid the World Series and have "less time opposite" the
NFL. Talks are also "continuing" with national TV networks
about coverage next season (HARTFORD COURANT, 3/10).
LEAGUE FINALS: The Long Beach StingRays and Columbus
Quest are currently playing in the league finals, and Game
One of the best-of-five drew a sellout crowd of 4,005 in
Long Beach (DISPATCH, 3/9). After watching the game,
columnist Bill Dwyre called the ABL "the best ticket bargain
in pro sports at the moment" with pro athletes "actually
playing hard all the time" (L.A. TIMES, 3/9). In S.F.,
Glenn Dickey wrote the ABL "is doing fine" in year two and
said of the two leagues, the ABL is "the better alternative.
It's run in the best interests of women's basketball, while
the WNBA has a condescending, paternalistic approach. And
the ABL has a better game" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/6).
