Category: Sports

NHL launches new campaign ahead of new season
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – Stung by a yearlong lockout that was resolved in July, the National Hockey League, its players and media partners presented a united front Wednesday night in advance of the game’s return early next month.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, a handful of players, along with representatives from NHL, Comcast and OLN (Outdoor Life Network), XM Satellite Radio and others attended an event at the Museum of Television & Radio to show off the league’s new campaign and to talk up how hockey had changed. In the past several months, the NHL settled its labor dispute, embarked on a new contract with the players union, made some key rules changes and left its longtime cable home ESPN for a new start on Comcast’s OLN.
The NHL’s message: It’s a whole new game.
“This is about our fans. This is about renewal,” Bettman said. “This is about moving forward, about making the game the best it’s ever been.”
To help draw the fans back and highlight hockey’s message, the NHL chose movie marketing company Conductor, a Los Angeles-based firm that has been responsible for a number of movie ad campaigns like “Spider-Man.” The ads, known collectively as “My NHL,” highlight the cinematic and dramatic qualities of hockey as well as the players, the battle on the ice and the fans who are passionate about the sport.
The campaign, which begins running this month, includes 30-second spots that are league- and team-specific, as well as in both French and English. The tell the story of hockey through five vignettes, including the first shown to press and business partners Wednesday night. It shows a goalie suiting up for a game with the help of a woman who tells him it’s time to go on the ice and ends with the player heading off to the rink.
Horne said that hockey had talked to fans in its one-year layoff and they found out a number of things that were incorporated into the campaign.
“They wanted to get closer to the game. … They said, ‘Make it my NHL,”‘ Horne said.
The campaign is directed by Samuel Bayer, who won an MTV Video Music Award this month for Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
OLN’s cable rights deal includes 58 regular-season games on Mondays and Tuesdays along with the All-Star Game beginning in 2007 and a number of playoff games. The first telecast will be the New York Rangers-Philadelphia Flyers game October 5, the first day of the new season. NBC, another new hockey partner that wasn’t able to start its rights deal on time last year because of the cancellation of the season, begins its hockey telecasts January 14.

NHL Games Skate to OLN
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Even back when the National Hockey League was still playing games, its TV ratings weren’t exactly stratospheric. But telecasts on ESPN and ESPN2 could at least draw a million viewers, maybe 2 million on a good night during the playoffs.
If an NHL game pulls in 2 million people on OLN, the league’s new cable home, it will be a record for the channel.
The network previously best known for its Tour de France coverage, outdoor sports and “Survivor” reruns has ponied up a reported $200 million to become hockey’s cable home for the next three seasons. It’s the first foray into professional team sports by the network, which is owned by cable giant Comcast (which also owns the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and several regional sports networks).
“We are proud to be the new national television home of the NHL when the puck drops on Oct. 5,” OLN President Gavin Harvey says. “Adding hockey to our lineup when the NHL returns to the ice with a fresh season, new energy, new players and a new attitude adds tremendous value to OLN.”
If you don’t remember the last time you saw an NHL game on TV, that may be because there haven’t been any since June 2004. The league lost its entire 2004-05 season to a labor dispute after the owners locked out players.
OLN will televise at least 58 regular-season games on Monday and Tuesday nights, along with the NHL All-Star Game and most of the Stanley Cup playoffs, including the first two games of the Finals. NBC has the rights to a handful of weekend regular-season games and games three through seven of the Finals, in a deal for which it paid no rights fees.
OLN grabbed its biggest audience ever — 1.7 million viewers — last month for the final stage of Lance Armstrong’s record seventh Tour de France victory. The network, which is available in about 64 million homes, averages fewer than a half-million viewers in primetime.

NHL, Players OK Agreement to End Lockout
NEW YORK – Open the arenas, break out the skates and fire up the Zamboni. The NHL is back. After losing an entire season to a lockout, players and owners ended an all-night bargaining session Wednesday by reaching their goal: a tentative deal, expected to include a salary cap, that virtually ensures hockey will return this fall.
The six-year pact still needs to be ratified by both sides. The players’ association has scheduled a members meeting in Toronto next week, while the NHL board of governors plans to gather next Thursday in New York for a vote.
“It’s a new day,” Philadelphia Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said. “It’s pretty exciting.”
And about time.
“At the end of the day everybody lost,” said Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s career scoring leader and the managing partner of the Phoenix Coyotes. “We almost crippled our industry. It was very disappointing what happened.”
The last round of negotiations began Tuesday at noon and culminated around noon Wednesday with a joint news release announcing the deal.
Though details won’t be released until both sides approve it, a salary cap would be something players’ union executive director Bob Goodenow never wanted.
Once everyone signs off on the deal, the league can begin the difficult task of gaining public support. No matter who won or lost, the fight cost the NHL a full season.
“To be totally honest, I really don’t care what the deal is anymore. All I care about is getting the game back on the ice,” Flyers star Jeremy Roenick said in a telephone interview during a celebrity golf event in Nevada.
“I think the deal is not great for the players. It is definitely an owner-friendly deal. For the last 10 years, the players have made a lot of money and now we are in a position where everybody is going to make money,” he said. “Unfortunately, it had to take a whole year to get to a point where we could have been last year.”
This lockout was worse than any in sports, dwarfing the one that cut the 1994-95 hockey season nearly in half and resulted in the agreement that expired last September.
In February, commissioner Gary Bettman canceled the season, making the NHL the first North American sports league to lose a year because of a labor dispute.
“I don’t want to get to the relief point yet until everything’s finalized,” said Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford, a former goalie. “What we went through was necessary. We had to get some controls on our business and certainly I’m hoping that’s what this new agreement does.”
While the NHL seems to have gotten what it wanted, there is no way to measure the damage done to a sport that already was the least popular of the four major leagues in the United States.
“That’s going to be our next big step √≥ winning back the fans,” said Nashville Predators forward Jim McKenzie, a 15-year NHL veteran. “We’ll have our work cut out for us.”
If all goes according to plan, a scaled-down draft is expected to be held later this month and training camps will open in September from Vancouver to Miami. NHL games will be back on the schedule in October.
“It’ll be a great thing to get the game back up,” Columbus Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said.
Selling the sport might take a while longer.
During the lockout, disgruntled Buffalo fan Doug Sitler sold more than 15,000 magnetic car ribbons that read: “I need my hockey fix(ed).”
“I think it’s going to take a little bit of time for people to get back in the swing of things,” he said. “But sports fans are pretty fickle. They have short memories. They really do.”
It took all night and then some for the final round of negotiations to produce an agreement.
The sides met for 10 straight days in New York, and it became clear Wednesday morning √≥ the 301st day of the lockout √≥ that they weren’t going to leave the room without an agreement.
The expected salary cap likely will have a ceiling of $39 million and a minimum around $22 million.
Player salaries will not exceed 54 percent of league-wide revenues, expected to be around $1.8 billion. Players will also put money into escrow, and after each season that will be used to balance out the set percentage based on actual revenues.
Bettman warned in February that offers the union passed up were better than any it would see once a year of hockey was lost.
Just days before the season was wiped out, the players’ association said for the first time it would accept a salary cap if the league dropped its desire to link player costs to revenues.
That started a wild week that included the cancellation of the season Feb. 16 and a false hope three days later that it would be saved. Even Gretzky and Mario Lemieux √≥ superstars turned executives √≥ couldn’t resurrect it during an emergency bargaining session in New York.
Negotiations resumed in mid-March.
Bettman promised “cost certainty” in the form of a hard salary cap to the owners and he has gotten it.
The landscape of the NHL will be quite different than it was in June 2004 when the Tampa Bay Lightning skated off with the Stanley Cup in the league’s last game before the lockout. For the first time since a flu epidemic in 1919, there was no Stanley Cup champion in 2005.
When the league relaunches in the fall, it will do so with a new salary structure that keeps high-spending teams such as Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia and the New York Rangers in check.
The first order of business after ratification will be to get a majority of the players signed. The belief is that last season’s contracts will be wiped from the books, leaving many players without deals.
Those who are still under contract will have their salaries reduced by 24 percent, a concept first proposed by the union last December. Some high-priced players will also be on the market as teams pare payrolls to get down to the cap.
Even with the salary rollback, nine teams would’ve been over the cap based on payrolls at the end of the 2003-04 season.
There will also be rules changes, some that could include the size of goaltender equipment to a shootout to eliminate tie games.
“Our focus right now, from the coaches standpoint, is we’re waiting to see what our roster is going to look like and what the playing rules are going to look like,” Hitchcock said.
The draft was supposed to be held last month in Ottawa, and the Canadian capital might get to host the event soon.
Junior hockey phenom Sidney Crosby is the consensus choice to be the No. 1 pick. Where he goes will be determined by a weighted draft lottery that will give each team some opportunity to snag him.
NBC will start its two-year television deal a year late, but the NHL still needs to find a cable partner.
“We are thrilled for the fans that hockey is returning to the ice, and we’re delighted to be the network television partner of the NHL as it moves into what I believe will be an exciting new era,” NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said.
The deal finally came down during sport’s biggest lull of the year √≥ the baseball All-Star break.
The NHL probably won’t hold such an event until 2007 as next year’s All-Star game is expected to be replaced by an Olympic break, allowing for players to represent their countries in Turin, Italy.

Skateboarder Clears Great Wall of China
LOS ANGELES – Daredevil skateboarder Danny Way rolled down a massive ramp at nearly 50 mph and jumped across the Great Wall of China on Saturday, becoming the first person to clear the wall without motorized aid, an event sponsor said.
Way botched the landing on his first attempt but then successfully completed the jump across the 61-foot gap four times, adding 360 degree spins on his last three tries, sponsor Quiksilver, Inc. said.
“I was aware of the dangers and my heart was pumping in my chest the whole time, but I managed to pull it off with the help of my team, and I’m honored to have my visions embraced by the people of China,” Way said in a statement.
A crowd of several thousand people, including China’s ministers of extreme sports and culture, gathered at the Ju Yong Guan Gate about a 40-minute drive from Beijing, Quiksilver’s greater China marketing director Ryan Hollis said.
“It was pretty fantastic,” Hollis said in an interview from Beijing. “He really has spent quite a few years even thinking about this whole idea. It’s been in logistical planning for about eight months. … It was pretty amazing today to see this happen, to see it adopted by the culture, adopted by the government.”
Way’s made the jump on an adaptation of the so-called mega ramp, a gigantic structure that he helped create near his home in the Southern California desert. He set a skateboard jump world record for distance (79 feet) on a mega ramp at last summer’s X Games, and in 2003 set the height record of 23 1/2 feet at the desert ramp.
Event sponsor Quiksilver, based in Huntington Beach, makes skateboard apparel.

London Awarded 2012 Olympic Games
SINGAPORE – London was awarded the 2012 Olympics on Wednesday, narrowly defeating European rival Paris in the final round of voting to take the games back to the British capital for the first time since 1948.
After Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated in the first three rounds, London beat its cross-Channel opponent 54-50 on the fourth ballot of the International Olympic Committee vote ó capping the most glamorous and hotly contested bid race in Olympic history.
“I’m looking forward to what I’m sure will be a fantastic Olympic Games,” said Prince William, speaking from New Zealand.
Paris had been the front-runner throughout the campaign, but London picked up momentum in the late stages with strong support from Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Part of London’s pitch was that it stepped in to help the Olympic movement by staging the games as Europe was still recovering from World War II.
The race had been considered too close to call as an unprecedented collection of world leaders and sports celebrities converged on Singapore to lobby for the bids.
London’s victory handed Paris its third stinging Olympic defeat in 20 years, following failed bids for the 1992 and 2008 Olympics. Paris hasn’t hosted the games since 1924.
IOC president Jacques Rogge opened a sealed envelope and declared the result in a live televised ceremony: “The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing that the Games of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 are awarded to the city of London.”
The tan-suited London delegates in the convention hall leaped out of their seats, arms raised in jubilation and cheering wildly.
The voting figures weren’t immediately released.
In London, crowds cheered and waved flags as they watched the announcement from Singapore on a giant screen in Trafalgar Square, and in the east London area where the main Olympic complex will be based.
The results of the first three rounds came as no surprise. Moscow was always considered the longshot, with New York and Madrid outsiders. Moscow went out with 15 votes in the first round, New York dropped out next with 16, then Madrid with 31.
Paris had the perceived advantage of bidding for a third time, especially since the IOC tends to reward persistence. The French capital also had a ready-to-go Olympic stadium in the Stade de France and embraced the IOC’s blueprint for controlling the size and cost of the games.
But not even a personal appearance in Singapore by French President Jacques Chirac could secure victory.
“The heart of Paris and the heart of France are beating in unison in the hope of becoming Olympic host in 2012,” Chirac said during the city’s final presentation to the IOC. “You can put your trust and faith in France, you can trust the French, you can trust us.”
Blair, who spent two days of lobbying in Singapore before leaving to host the G8 summit in Scotland, spoke in a video message √≥ half of which was delivered in French, one of the IOC’s two official languages.
“My promise to you is we will be your very best partners,” Blair said. “The entire government are united behind this bid. … It is the nation’s bid.”
London centered its bid on the massive urban renewal of a dilapidated area of East London. It’s the fourth bid from Britain after failed attempts by Birmingham for the 1992 Olympics and Manchester for 1996 and 2000.
London got off to a slow start, but made big strides under Sebastian Coe, a two-time Olympic 1,500-meter gold medalist who replaced American businesswoman Barbara Cassani as head of the bid in May 2004.

Slash to handle anthems, Trailer Park Boys first pitch at Jays home opener
TORONTO (CP) – Laurel Lindsay knows it sounds cheesy but she can’t help herself.
“You want to make a splash and you make a splash with Slash,” she said with a laugh Tuesday after the Toronto Blue Jays announced plans to have the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist perform the national anthems before the club’s April 8 home opener against the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
“Opening night isn’t your typical night,” added Lindsay, vice-president, consumer marketing for the Jays. “It’s about entertainment and it’s the one game of the year when you can be different from other nights.”
With the three main characters of the Canadian cult TV hit Trailer Park Boys on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, Blue Jays fans can be certain of that.
Rather than the safe, staid choices who typically perform the anthems at the Rogers Centre – it was R&B artist Keshia Chante at last year’s opening day and Shawn Desman a year before that – Slash is a riskier, more memorable choice.
The renowned guitarist, famous for wearing top hats that sit precariously atop his wild curls and strumming with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was a longtime member of rebel heavy metal band Guns N’ Roses before joining rock supergroup Velvet Revolver.
Deb Belinsky, who is in charge of in-game entertainment for the Jays, pitched the idea to Slash last summer when he was in Toronto with Velvet Revolver for a show. He’ll make a side trip from the group’s current tour to play the home opener.
“He loved it,” said Lindsay. “He loved the fact of coming here to perform solo and do the anthems. He’s never done it before.”
As for those worried about what Slash might do to O Canada, Lindsay says not to worry.
“It’s going to be similar to a Jimi Hendrix style of anthem,” she said. “It’s going to be his rendition. He’s been supplied with all the music and I know he’s already practising.”
The ceremonial first pitch, however, might not be as incident-free.
Showcase’s Trailer Park Boys revolves around the troubled lives of Julian (played by John Paul Tremblay), Ricky (Robb Wells) and Bubbles (Mike Smith), who will take the mound in character and perhaps bring the shenanigans from the show with them.
“We’ll know when they get to the mound,” said Lindsay. “I have a feeling with these guys, you can’t really predict a lot.”
Actor Eugene Levy threw out the first pitch last year.

Raptors Rock Nets 100-82
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The sight of his old team made Vince Carter look like the player the Toronto Raptors wanted to get rid of. Carter struggled in his first game against the team that traded him to New Jersey earlier this season, missing 17 of 25 shots while being outplayed by Jalen Rose in Toronto’s 100-82 victory over the Nets on Tuesday night.
Rose shot 12-for-15, scored 30 points and did a fine defensive job on Carter, who seem to be pressing in a game that he acknowledged meant a lot to him.
Rose led the Raptors on a 14-4 run early in the fourth quarter, and New Jersey never recovered. Chris Bosh had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Milt Palacio added 13 points for Toronto, which had six players in double figures.
Carter scored 22 points, and Jason Kidd added 20 for the Nets, who had no one else in double figures.
Carter seemed loose before the game as he discussed last weekend’s slam dunk contest won by J.R. Smith of Atlanta. Carter said he has a dunk in his repertoire that no one had seen yet, a specialty he plans to keep under wraps until the next time he enters the dunk contest.
But once the game began, Carter missed several drives, was off-target with his jumper, committed four turnovers and missed four free throws.
Toronto led 71-64 after three quarters, getting 20 points from Rose on 8-for-10 shooting. Carter was 6-for-20 for 15 points.
Rose had a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter as the shot clock expired before Carter came up with his lone highlight-reel move of the night, spinning 360 degrees as he drove beneath the basket before spinning in a reverse layup.
But Rose answered by driving around Carter for a layup, then stealing the ball from Carter as he was double-teamed. The steal led to a 3 by Donyell Marshall that made it 79-66, and Carter followed by missing a running jumper to make the Nets 1-for-9 in the period.
Carter fouled Marshall on a 3-point attempt with 5:09 left, and Marshall made two of the free throws for a 17-point lead. That was it for the Nets, who were without starting center Nenad Krstic (viral infection) and Rodney Buford (left ankle), leaving them with only 10 players in uniform, one of whom, Jabari Smith, made his first career start.
Notes:@ Bosh, 20, became the third-youngest NBA player in NBA history to reach 1,000 career rebounds. Only Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady reached the plateau at a younger age. … Krstic has a viral infection, and the team was worried he had mononucleosis before tests came back negative. “Hopefully antibiotics and rest will be the cure,” coach Lawrence Frank said. Krstic will miss Wednesday night’s game at Milwaukee, and Rodney Buford (left ankle) also will sit out against the Bucks. “He’s not ready to roll,” Frank said. We’ll give him two more days and see where he’s at.”

CTV-Rogers score Olympics rights
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (CP) ó The Olympics have a new TV home in Canada. And for the first time the price tag of the Winter Games has exceeded that of the Summer Games.
A consortium led by Bell Globemedia, incorporating CTV and Rogers Communications, was awarded Canadian television rights Monday for the plum 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Olympics, another high-profile event with a quintet of glamourous cities bidding to host.
IOC president Jacques Rogge said the winning bid was $153 million US, an increase of 124 per cent on the $73 million spent for the 2006 and 2008 Games.
Of that, $90 million US is for the 2010 Games and $63 million for the 2012 Games.
ìThis is the first time that the amount for the Games exceeds the Summer Games,î IOC Finance Commission chairman Richard Carrion told an IOC news conference.
ìWe certainly believe that 2010 will be the biggest sport events in Canada this decade, may well be the biggest event in Canada this decade,î added Ivan Fecan, president and CEO of Bell Globemedia.
ìWe really felt we needed to be part of it and right at the centre of it. We also think thereís a huge amount of interest, from viewers and advertisers for 2010.î
The winning bid offers a wide-ranging Olympic menu of networks. CTVís subsidiaries include TSN, TQS, RDS and the Outdoor Life Network. Rogers holdings includes Rogers Sportsnet and the Omni channels, plus radio stations.
The winning bid offers round-the-clock coverage.
CTV will get the glamour items on the Olympic calendar, with TSN and Rogers Sportsnet offering more indepth look at certain events. Outdoor Life will also play a role, as will the consortiumís ethnic and aboriginal stations.
In Quebec, TQS will be the main carrier with RDS also helping out in coverage.
More than 4,000 hours of coverage is planned.
Fecan called it the ìmost inclusive (Olympic) coverageî in Canada.
CBC paid a Canadian record $45 million US for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, part of a $165-million US package deal for five Olympics back in 1998.
In contrast, CTV paid $4.3 million US in 1988 for rights to the Calgary Games.
The IOC declined to specify financial details from the CBC bid. But CBCís website, citing sources, said ìthere was a wide disparity in the amount of money each camp was willing to offer.î
Fecan called his offer ìa strategic but responsible bid.î
Itís more bad news for CBC Sports, which is already suffering from the NHL lockout. There had been speculation the network might reduce its amateur sports coverage if it lost the bid.
The loss is also a blow to the prestige of the CBC, which has broadcast every Olympics since 1996, recently sharing coverage with TSN. It also holds the rights to the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
ìWe would like to acknowledge the CBC for their efforts,î Carrion said. ìTheyíve been an excellent partner and will continue to be our partner in 2006 in Turin and 2008 in Beijing.
ìThis was obviously a very good result for the IOC. It was a very hotly contested negotiation.î
CTV broadcast the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, the ë92 Summer Games in Barcelona and the ë94 Winter Games in Lillehammer.
One source told The Canadian Press that CBC went into the bidding knowing they didnít have enough cash to win.
ìThey knew their bid was not going to be enough,î said the source.
ìWhat the strategy was, if it was close, people would look at the fact CBC does a good job of broadcasting the Games and is pretty dedicated to amateur sports in the country.î
But the decision is a resounding victory for the alliance of private broadcasters, led by CTV Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., and points to the intertwining of media interests.
CTV is owned by BCE Inc., which also owns Bell Canada. Bell paid $200 million Cdn for the telecommunication rights for the 2010 Games.
London, Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris are all vying to host the 2012 Games. The IOC will decide the 2012 host city July 6 in Singapore.
The stakes are high because of 2010. With the Games in Vancouver, Canadian interest will be sky-high.
NBC has already paid $2.201 billion US for the American television rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympics. That deal included $820 million US for the 2010 Games.
The IOC will share a percentage of television revenues with the Vancouver Games organizing committee.
Mondayís decision came after each network made a two-hour presentation and then handed over a sealed bid.
The CBC option involved its main network, CBC Newsworld, its French service, the digital channel CBC Country Canada and its radio network. CBC was also allied with The Score on this bid, giving it another cable outlet.

Baseball Players, Owners OK Steroid Tests
NEW YORK – Baseball players and owners have reached an agreement on a tougher steroid-testing program and plan to announce it Thursday, The Associated Press has learned.
The agreement will include penalties for first-time offenders, an AL player said on condition of anonymity. Other details, such as the frequency of tests, were not immediately available.
Commissioner Bud Selig, asked about a steroid agreement at the owners meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., declined comment but did say: “We’ll have announcements to make tomorrow.” Gene Orza, the union’s chief operating officer, also declined comment.
“I’m glad we could come to an agreement,” said Chicago Cubs pitcher Mike Remlinger, who was briefed on the deal Wednesday. “It was the right thing to do. I think it was something that needed to be done, and I think players understand it needed to be addressed.”
The sides spent the past month negotiating the deal after the union’s executive board gave its staff approval to pursue an agreement on a more rigorous testing program. Some in Congress threatened to take action unless baseball reached an agreement on its own.
“I think it’s going to entail more testing, some out-season testing, yes, more in-season random testing and stiffer penalties,” said New York Mets pitcher Tom Glavine, a senior member of the union.
Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said he anticipated confirmation of a deal by the end of the owners’ meeting.
“It will be wonderful once it’s done, but I don’t want to pre-empt any announcement, and I certainly don’t want to pre-empt all the work the commissioner has done on this, so I’ll reserve my comments until after it’s announced,” he said.
Tony Clark, another senior union leader, said public questions about steroid use had caused players to think about a tougher agreement.
“The integrity of our game was beginning to come under fire, and there are too many great players, past and present, that deserve to be celebrated for their ability to play this game at a very high level,” the free-agent first baseman said in an e-mail to the AP. “If a stricter drug policy brings that level of appreciation back, we felt that it was worth pursuing.”
Players and owners agreed to a drug-testing plan in 2002 that called for survey-testing for steroids the following year. Because more than 5 percent of tests were positive, random testing with penalties began last year. Each player was tested for steroids twice over a single five- to seven-day period.
A first positive test resulted in treatment. If a player tested positive again, he would have been subject to a 15-day suspension.
No player was suspended for steroid use in 2004.
Since the 2002 agreement, baseball has come under increased scrutiny for steroid use. Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield testified before a federal grand jury in December 2003. Giambi and Sheffield admitted using steroids, according to reports by the San Francisco Chronicle. Sheffield said he wasn’t aware when he used the substances that they contained steroids.
Bonds, according to the paper, admitted using substances prosecutors say contained steroids.
“Everybody believed that the program we had in place was having an effect and definitely it was doing what it designed to do,” Glavine said, “but having said that, with the stuff that was going on and whatnot, it forced us to take a look at revising it or making it a little tougher. It was not a question anymore if that agreement was going to be enough. It was a question to address some of the new issues that came to light and get our fans to believe we were doing everything we could to make the problem go away 100 percent.”

Sox First Baseman Won’t Give Up Ball
BOSTON – Calling it “my retirement fund,” Boston first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz stashed in his safe deposit box the ball used in the final out that sealed the Red Sox’s first World Series championship in 86 years. Now, his boss wants it back.
“We want it to be part of Red Sox archives or museums so it can be shared with the fans,” Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino told The Boston Globe on Thursday. “We would hope he would understand the historical nature of it.”
Mientkiewicz seems to understand it very well, which is exactly why he held on to it.
Historic baseballs have recently fetched impressive sums. The baseball Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk banged off the foul pole in the 1975 World Series sold for $113,373. The ball Barry Bonds hit for his 73rd home run went for $450,000. The most expensive baseball of all time is Mark McGwire’s 70th homer, which went for $3 million.
Mientkiewicz said he thinks the Boston’s World Series ball has more value than a home run ball.
“Those are important and all, don’t get me wrong, but there are always going to be more home runs,” he said. “This is something that took 86 years, and 86 years is a long time. Personally, I went through hell and back this year. But winning the World Series is something I’m going to remember for a long time.”
Mientkiewicz came to Boston from Minnesota in a three-team midseason deal that sent Boston shortstop Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs.
Mientkiewicz, who batted .215 for Boston, was used primarily as a late innings defensive replacement, and has indicated his unhappiness with the role.
Boston broke its championship drought by beating the New York Yankees in seven games in the AL championship series, then sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in four games in the World Series.
After the game, Mientkiewicz said he put the ball in his locker, then gave it to his wife, Jodi, who put it in her purse. The next day, the ball was authenticated by Major League Baseball.
Carmine Tiso, spokesman for MLB, told the Globe that Mientkiewicz owns the baseball, though Joe Januszewski, Red Sox director of corporate partnerships, said he thinks the team owns it.
Mientkiewicz couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday by the Globe after Lucchino said the club wanted the ball back. But on Wednesday, he left no doubt that he believes the ball belongs to him.
“I know this ball has a lot of sentimental value,” Mientkiewicz said. “I hope I don’t have to use it for the money. It would be cool if we have kids someday to have it stay in our family for a long time. But I can be bought. I’m thinking, there’s four years at Florida State for one of my kids. At least.”