In Michigan, Tom Kowalski reported due to the lockout, all Lions employees "have had their salaries reduced in some fashion, from being forced to take an unpaid two-week furlough to taking a 25 percent salary reduction." A source said that Lions Owner William Clay Ford Sr. "plans to reimburse the money to all employees if the entire football schedule is played this season." That option "has not been made public because of the uncertainty surrounding the labor negotiations and the prospect that the 2011 season could be shortened or eliminated" (GRAND RAPIDS PRESS, 6/7).
INITIAL TALKS HELD: Hornets Chair Jac Sperling said there have been "very casual discussions with people that are characterized as local buyers who like to keep the team" in New Orleans. The Hornets yesterday "launched their new initiative" to reach 10,000 season ticket holders by Sept. 15, and Sperling said, "We haven't engaged into anything serious because we're waiting until we get the financial situation into a more improved state. The season tickets are an important part of that." Meanwhile, Sperling said that a "potential lockout is irrelevant regarding their plans to find a potential local owner or meeting their sales objective." Sperling: "It's all about New Orleans. It’s about the Hornets and New Orleans. All the other issues are peripheral to that. We can control this. What we’re trying to do is continue to sell tickets up to the scheduled date to opening the season" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 6/8).
GREEN BREW: In Milwaukee, Don Walker reported the Brewers during the week of June 20-26 are "launching a 'Brewing a Greener Game' initiative, a more comprehensive approach to recycling and energy efficiency." As part of the initiative, the Brewers on June 21 "will host an eCycling event in collaboration with Waste Management." Team employees will also "take part in a waste cleanup and invasive species removal" on June 23, and the team "will have a 'Bike to the Ballpark' event" on June 26. Walker noted the Brewers "worked with Johnson Controls on the initiative" (JSONLINE.com, 6/7).
ANOTHER TWITTER CONTROVERSY: In Chicago, Rick Telander notes the White Sox selected OF Keenyn Walker with their first pick in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, and former White Sox staffer Oney Guillen, the son of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, in response tweeted, "Shocker white sox pick another good athlete black kid. How about picking a good baseball player." Telander writes "taking a black draft pick, an athlete -- as if that were some kind of negative quality -- is a direct rip at" White Sox Senior VP & GM Ken Williams. Telander: "When he rips on the team, he's ripping for Pops. That's how it is, regardless if Ozzie says that 25-year-old Oney is his own man" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/8).
