Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban said that the current NBA officiating system has "little effect on referee improvement because an 82-game season and constant travel leaves scant time for effective training." He noted the G League has a 45-game season, so there is "time for refs to spend more time, do more video work." Cuban: "We should invest our best resources into making our G League refs much, much better. That's who we need to make better because those are our NBA referees of the future" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/5).
DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD: The NATIONAL POST's Scott Stinson notes MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's decision to use an automated strike zone in at least one minor league next season should be "both welcomed and feared." Technological innovation "works best in sports when it can quickly provide an objective measurement of something that otherwise is left to human subjectivity." It is "not a stretch to imagine that the advent of robo-zones would require a baseball-wide rethink of what, exactly, constitutes a strike." Stinson: "You'd like to imagine that baseball could find a happy medium" (NATIONAL POST, 11/6).
NOT ALL ROSES: The AP's Arnie Stapleton writes the NFL's 100th season has "not been worth celebrating even if the history of the league is." Several teams are "tanking, penalties are wrecking the flow of games" and some of the biggest stars like Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and Saints QB Drew Brees "have been sidelined." Stapleton: "Even though ratings are up, it all looks like one big mess on TV" (AP, 11/6).
