The GUARDIAN's Stuart James notes EPL club Aston Villa CEO Tom Fox hopes Randy Lerner "will continue to be the club's owner for a 'long, long time.'" Fox: "Look, there may be people out there who in their own mind think they want to buy Aston Villa. It’s nothing that we know about it. People are trying to fill the void of information with something. And I’m not suggesting you are irresponsible for asking these questions, but a lot of what is being said out there is just borderline irresponsible" (GUARDIAN, 4/30).
HOLT YOUR HORSES: In Tampa, Tom Jones writes the Spurs -- particularly F Tim Duncan and coach Gregg Popovich -- "showed class and grace following their first-round series loss to the Clippers on Saturday." That is "part of the reason they have been the NBA's best franchise over recent years." But Spurs Owner Peter Holt "needs to shape up a bit." He "had every right to be upset over an inadvertent buzzer with one second left in Saturday's Game 7, but you can't be caught on camera screaming the expletives he was screaming" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 5/4).
MADD ABOUT YOU: In Boston, Nick Cafardo cited sources as saying that the tampering investigation brought by Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg against the Cubs for their hiring of manager Joe Maddon "was reinvestigated when Sternberg didn’t like the first verdict that exonerated the Cubs." In the end, the conclusion "was the same -- there was no tampering in the Maddon negotiations" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/3).
