Ads for Muscle-Building Supplement Pulled by ESPN

Bowing to public pressure, ESPN on Wednesday pulled off the air ads for the muscle-building supplement androstenedione.

The spots for the supplement used by Mark McGwire were part of a new national advertising campaign by MetRx Engineered Nutrition, and first appeared Tuesday on ESPN’s “American Muscle.”

One day later, ESPN backtracked and said it would no longer run the commercial.

The NCAA, which had been critical of ESPN on Tuesday, praised the cable network for its decision to pull the ads.

The supplement is on the list of banned substances by the International Olympic Committee, NCAA and the NFL but is not banned in baseball.

Basketball

The NBA plans to cancel at least some exhibition games today, Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik told the Washington Post on Wednesday as the league’s labor stalemate and lockout began its 13th week. It will be the first time in the league’s five decades that either a preseason game or a regular season game involving two NBA teams has been canceled because of labor problems.

Sources throughout the league said Wednesday that they expected the NBA to decide to cancel the entire preseason by the end of the week. While Granik did not rule out that possibility, he said, “That would be extreme. We will only cancel things as we absolutely have to.”

Auto Racing

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway reportedly is about to complete a deal to host a Formula One race as early as September 2000.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Formula One officials have an oral agreement for the track to stage a new U.S. Grand Prix in September 2000, the Indianapolis Star said in today’s editions.

Jurisprudence

The wife of Weber State basketball Coach Ron Abegglen alleged in a court document filed in Ogden, Utah, that her husband shoved her “violently” when she told him she was filing for divorce. The incident left the 57-year-old woman with a broken right wrist.

Nedra Abegglen’s filing cast new light on a July 3 altercation the couple had at Ron Abegglen’s Dee Event Center office.

An affidavit filed by Nedra Abegglen with the divorce papers states the incident began when she tried to explain a dent in her car.

Nearly 100 current and former North Carolina women’s soccer players--including Olympian Mia Hamm--have signed a letter supporting Coach Anson Dorrance, who faces a $12-million sexual harassment lawsuit filed last month by former players Debbie Keller and Melissa Jennings.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco reinstated a lawsuit by Don Newcombe, a former Dodger and a recovering alcoholic, over a beer ad with a drawing based on a photo of him pitching.

Miscellany

For the first time, a Professional Bowlers Assn. tournament was cut short when the threat of Hurricane Georges caused the Naples Senior Open in Naples, Fla., to be called off after 27 games. Pete Couture was declared the winner. . . . A group opposed to Rupert Murdoch’s buying the Manchester United soccer team is trying to convince fellow shareholders to block the deal. . . . Josh Wolff drew a penalty kick, earned an assist and scored the last-minute game-winner as the Chicago Fire defeated the New England Revolution, 3-2, in a Major League Soccer game in Chicago before 11,244 fans.

Names in the News

Monica Seles sent Naoko Sawamatsu into retirement with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory at Tokyo in the final match on the WTA Tour for the Japanese player. . . . Chet “Red” Hoff, the oldest former major league player, was buried in Ossining, N.Y. He was 107 when he died last Thursday at a nursing home in Daytona Beach, Fla.