NBA LABOR PAINS: One NBPA "union insider" tells Peter
Vecsey of the N.Y. POST, "What incentive do owners have not
to lock out players? Players may be better organized for a
long fight and show more unity than ever before, but the
days are gone forever when you can ask them to sit out half
of his guarantee for the good of the next generation. ...
The average salary is close to $3 [million], we're talking
about losing half before the owners start to feel some pain,
too, in lost revenue. There's just too much at risk almost
right away for the player and his family" (N.Y. POST, 3/37).
SENIOR TOUR HITS 21 EVENTS: The worldwide men's senior
tennis tour, sanctioned by the ATP Tour, will begin its
second year in '98-99 with 21 events. New events have been
added in Minneapolis, Boston, Melbourne and Qatar. In the
U.S., the Nuveen Tour will celebrate its fifth anniversary
with nine events. In Detroit, the circuit will join with
Pistons G Joe Dumars to present the Mentadent Joe Dumars
Champions, and for its inaugural event near Boston, the
Nuveen Tour will join the WTA Tour for a two-week "Tennis
Fest" event at Babson College in Wellesly, MA (ATP Tour).