Press Box: Little progress reported in NHL talks
Representatives of the NHL owners and the NHL Players' Association met for two hours Tuesday morning in New York to continue negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement but made no progress, according to reports.
The news was bleak after the brief meeting, ESPN.com reported, with no resolution in sight. But it's possible the two sides will meet later in the week in Toronto.
"Today was not overly encouraging," Daly said after the meeting.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly hinted that federal mediation might be necessary down the road if the stalemate continues.
"A mediator can only be helpful if both sides are willing to embrace it and compromise," Daly was quoted as saying by ESPN.com. "We certainly haven't ruled out that possibility."
Daly added that the league estimates its losses at $100 million from cancelled preseason games because of the lockout. The regular season, which was set to begin Oct. 11, is closer to being postponed, and CBSSports.com reported that an announcement is expected in the next few days saying the regular season will not start on time.
AUTO RACING
---NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kevin Harvick was forced to change his home phone number twice recently as a result of harassing phone calls he received after fellow driver Tony Stewart playfully goosed his wife before a race last month. ESPN.com.
Video captured Stewart's grab of DeLana Harvick's buttocks on pit road before the Sept. 16 race at Chicagoland Speedway. Stewart said he's been doing the same thing playfully for years because the Harvicks are close friends. But this time the video of the grab went viral on the Internet and appeared on major news outlets such as CNN's Headline News.
"It's not like I just went up to some random person and did that," Stewart said on Tuesday, according to ESPN.com. "Kevin and DeLana still laugh about it. The sad part is it got so much attention that they had to change their phone number twice. That's the disappointing part. "After they changed it the first time, within 30 minutes, they got another call."
NBA
--Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade is encouraged with his recovery from offseason knee surgery and hopes to be able to play in a few exhibition games.
The early stages of training camp have gone well for Wade, ESPN.com reported. Wade had the procedure July 9 on the left knee that bothered him throughout the Heat's run to the NBA title.
"I will try a preseason game," Wade said Tuesday. "At least one. But it will be more than one. It won't be (all) eight. If I keep progressing the way I'm progressing, I will try a few."
