THE NEW DON: In NC, Michael Lewis wrote that since
being named MLS Commissioner in August '99, Don Garber has
"served as a one-man ray of sunshine [for soccer],
encouraging nervous owners, wooing potential fans and
shelling out major contracts for international stars."
Garber: "People have said I'm unconventional because I don't
have a soccer background, but I think that's exactly why I
was hired, because I come at things from a different
perspective. There were a lot of things about this league
that needed to be moved forward, and I think we're
definitely getting those things headed in the right
direction" (Wilmington STAR-NEWS, 6/14).
NOTES: In DC, Eric Fisher talks to MLB Commissioner Bud
Selig, who participated yesterday in a Korean War memorial
service at Arlington National Cemetery. Selig said that
MLB's "involvement with the national Korean War
commemoration, which officially starts Sunday, is the first
of what will likely be a long involvement with the U.S.
Armed Forces." While Fisher is reporting that MLB "is
conducting an internal inquiry" into the Orioles' policy of
not signing Cuban defectors, Selig "declined to specify its
nature" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 6/15)....AT&T Corp. filed a
lawsuit against the NFL in U.S. District Court in L.A. for
$100,527.18. AT&T is claiming that the NFL "is refusing to
pay the bill for services" in June '98. NFLP Dir of
Communications Chris Widmaier said that the charges are for
calls made by someone who "broke into the telephone system"
at the L.A. office of NFLP (Curtis Eichelberger, BLOOMBERG
NEWS, 6/13)....CBS SportsLine's Clay Kallam wrote under the
header, "Quality of Play In WNBA Continues To Improve."
Kallam called the WNBA "fast-paced, intense and entertaining
-- three attributes that the league's big brother, the NBA,
cannot always claim" (CBS SportsLine, 6/13).
