In DC, Dave Sheinin wrote as the MLB season "careens toward its 81-game midpoint, the sport is witnessing a sort of extreme stratification unseen in its recent history, its teams increasingly separated into two groups -- the great and the awful -- with a shrinking middle class." It is "almost certainly an outgrowth of the practice that has come to be known as tanking," and it "may be fueling the most alarming trend in the game so far this season: the steepest drop in attendance the game has seen since the aftermath" of the '94-95 players' strike. Leaguewide attendance is down nearly 7% over last year, with 19 of 30 teams "seeing year-over-year declines." At some point, MLB is "going to have to do something to rein in the practice of tanking" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/23).
YOUTH MOVEMENT: In Boston, Gary Washburn wrote teams in the Eastern Conference during last week's NBA Draft, including the Magic, Bulls, Pacers, Hornets, Wizards and Bucks, "joined the Celtics and 76ers in keeping their draft picks and padding their roster with young talent instead of making a risky trade." There are "often fireworks on draft night," but there were "no deals involving veteran players" this year. The league's salary cap spike heading into '16-17 season was "going to result in a slew of bad contracts, and teams are being cautious about their spending." Washburn: "We'll see whether this caution spreads to free agency in a week, but it's obvious that teams are being more judicious in their decision-making" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/24).
SKATING AROUND THE ISSUE: Hockey HOFer Ken Dryden in a special to the WASHINGTON POST wonders how players and the players' families feel when NHL owners "say they haven't heard about CTE." The players "need to believe the league is doing its absolute best." The owners continue to fight a concussion lawsuit that started in '14 to "avoid a payout to players that they don't think is merited." They use arguments that "made sense for so long inside the NHL's community of experts but suddenly in the public light of day are just embarrassing." Losing face is something team owners "dislike even more than losing money." For NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the owners, this "isn't going to get any easier" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/25).
