NBA: In Oakland, Monte Poole wrote that the NBA "rolls
on without the slightest sign of backlash or even
indifference. TV ratings actually are up. Arenas are
buzzing." Though play is "rarely ... aesthetically
pleasing," fans are "gobbling it up" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE,
3/24)....In UT, Zack Van Eyck wrote that "as traumatic as
the NBA lockout was for ... Jazz fans, most seem to have
recovered nicely." Halfway through the 50-game schedule,
fans "are back in the fold," with the team's worst turnout
this year on March 9, when the Jazz fell 800 tickets short
of a sellout against the Cavs (DESERET NEWS, 3/24).
PGA TOUR DOWN UNDER: Sources report that the
Australia's Metropolitan golf course will host the 2001
Match Play Championships. However, players such as David
Duval have "already expressed doubts" about making the trip,
when it's possible to "receive only $25,000 as a first-round
loser." Duval: "You're talking about the possibility of
going to Australia, playing 18 holes and coming home" (CBS
SportsLine, 3/25)....The PGA is "stepping up enforcement of
its longstanding ban" against cameras and cell phones. At
this weekend's TPC, fans will be asked to check both items
at the gate. In Philadelphia, Bob Ford, on enforcing the
rule: "Thanks to technology, today's phones are so tiny as
to be undetectable to anything short of a complete body
search at a security checkpoint" (PHILA. INQUIRER, 3/25).
