The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Areddy & Cohen cited sources as saying that the NBA is "heartened that China's major media have cooled their initial antileague rhetoric." Still, "no Chinese sponsor that turned its back on the NBA in recent weeks has publicly reversed its position." Even when China-based league streaming partner Tencent "put a video online [last] week to promote pro-basketball programming, it hardly referred to the NBA and used a nationalistic-sounding tagline, 'here is my homecourt,' alongside the logo of the China Basketball Association." Areddy & Cohen: "Now there might be another problem for getting the NBA back on air in China: U.S. arenas are becoming backdrops for grievance-airing against Beijing" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/26).
GOING GLOBAL: Sportsnet's Chris Johnston noted talks between the NHL and NHLPA have "fallen a little quiet" in the leadup to a pair of games between the Lightning and Sabres on Nov. 8-9 in Stockholm. Johnston added IIHF President Rene Fasel "will be there," along with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Exec Dir Don Fehr, to discuss possible Olympic participation. Johnston: "There will be a chance for them to talk there about the future of international hockey. I believe as the CBA talks have gone along, that the big hurdle remains what happens with the Olympics, where does that leave the World Cup and how does this international calendar unfold" ("HNIC," Sportsnet, 10/26).
CHA-CHING! In N.Y., Bill Madden wrote one has to "believe there is no one salivating more over this World Series" than agent Scott Boras. All the "best players" in the Series -- Nationals Ps Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, 3B Anthony Rendon and LF Juan Soto and Astros P Gerrit Cole -- are clients of his and at least two of them, Rendon and Cole, will be free agents after the Series and are "looking at mega pay days" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/27).
