STATE OF THE GAMES: NHL, NBA PLAYOFFS, THE TENNIS PROBLEM?

          A WASHINGTON POST editorial follows up on William
     Gildea's interview with NBA Commissioner David Stern where
     he said he hopes to enlist a number of experts this summer
     to find ways to improve the NBA.   The POST states that
     "more important than points scored is passion expended. ...
     College basketball ... has a huge following, in large part
     because of the intensity with which it's played" (WASHINGTON
     POST, 5/7).....In Toronto, Stephen Brunt writes that the
     Penguins' and Isles' situations and "the plight of the
     Canadian teams have chipped away a bit of the [NHL's]
     facade, and the repair work has been more problematic than
     NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman ... must have anticipated"
     (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/7)....In N.Y., Frederick Klein writes there
     is "no mystery" as to why tennis has "lost favor" with the
     public: "Tennis is difficult to play even poorly and, thus,
     suffers in competition with the many forms of exercise that
     allow people to sweat stylishly" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/7).