by Bob Hunter, The Columbus Dispatch , The Columbus Dispatch

Scioto's 100th anniversary is in 2016, which is also the PGA's centennial year, but the championship that year has already been awarded to Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., where a PGA Tour event currently is played, also has bid on the 2017 PGA.

If Scioto loses out, it could go after another U.S. Senior Open, which it hosted in 1986. The club also has played host to the 1926 U.S. Open, 1931 Ryder Cup, 1950 PGA and 1968 U.S. Amateur.

Alexander Svitov hasn't played for the Blue Jackets since 2007, but the team still made a qualifying contract offer to him recently. Svitov has been playing in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League since he walked away from a two-year contract that he signed with the Blue Jackets in 2007, and there are no indications that he wants to return to the NHL. But the offer means that the team retains his North American rights for another year.

A team source indicated that the Jackets aren't sure that Svitov would even have a place on the roster if he did return, but they don't want to lose the rights to him in the event of a possible trade. If he doesn't sign, he will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Svitov was the captain of the Avangard team in Omsk until January, when Jaromir Jagr replaced him.

A Crew player who didn't want his name used said that the players are "really excited" about the CONCACAF Champions League games coming up, that "our contracts are geared toward league games." In other words, money talks. In addition to the $2,750 bonus that players divvy up for each Major League Soccer win, there is a big pot at the end; last year, Crew players split $196,000 for winning the MLS Cup.

MLS players aren't paid extra for the initial six Champions League group-stage games but start earning additional money if the team is one of eight (out of 24) to reach the quarterfinals. The team that wins the Champions League is guaranteed at least $1 million when it enters the FIFA World Club Championship, of which $200,000 goes to the players, but that's off in the distance. The initial six games are scheduled from Aug. 18 to Oct. 23, in the midst of the MLS season.

Crew general manager Mark McCullers says that MLS games are the top priority. But on a roster where there are six players making less than $40,000, enthusiasm for Champions League games might increase if the Crew gets close to cashing a paycheck there.

The Cincinnati Reds' visit to Los Angeles this week might have come at a good time for the Dodgers. General manager Ned Colletti says his top priority as the trade deadline approaches is landing a veteran reliever who can pitch in the seventh or eighth inning, and Cincinnati has three pitchers he reportedly has his eye on: Francisco Cordero, David Weathers and Arthur Rhodes. But the Dodgers also sent scouts to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates' John Grabow and Matt Capps and the Baltimore Orioles' George Sherrill, and it's still uncertain whether the Reds will be adding or subtracting at deadline time.

The Dodgers are also one of the teams looking at Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, and they might be interested in Cleveland's Cliff Lee, but the Indians' asking price is said to be too high.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are banking on the fact that many veteran free agents won't get the kind of contracts they want and will be available for a cheaper price come August. They aren't likely to bring back Wally Szczerbiak, and would like to replace him with a younger, more athletic player. Joe Smith wants a three-year contract; the Cavs reportedly are offering a one-year deal.

Some of the players the Cavs looked at have signed elsewhere (Sean May and Matt Barnes), but the Cavs are apparently willing to wait out the market.

If the Cavs could get Drew Gooden to sign a for one year, they might be interested, but the former Cavaliers player reportedly wants a three-year deal and has several suitors.

The Sporting News' Sean Deveney, writing from the NBA's Summer League, refers to former Ohio State center B.J. Mullens as "The Project." After including Mullens under the heading "The Not So Good," Deveney wrote: "It was well-known before the draft that any team selecting B.J. Mullens would have to be patient. After seeing him in the summer league, though, that might have to be upgraded to very patient. Mullens averaged 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds and shot 39.4 percent."

The Washington Post reported that Chicago Fire star Brian McBride will miss three to four months because of shoulder surgery instead of the four to six weeks that team doctors had originally predicted. The new timetable was offered after he had surgery last week. It means that the former Crew star is likely to miss the rest of the regular season.

Doug MacLean, the former Blue Jackets president and general manager, is among the finalists for the Florida Panthers' GM job, according to the Miami Herald. Panthers assistant GM Randy Sexton, ex-New York Rangers GM Neil Smith and former Minnesota Wild GM Doug Risebrough reportedly are in that group.

About a dozen teams reportedly are interested in former Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Levi Jones, but the word is that Jones isn't likely to sign until after the start of training camp. The former first-round pick played seven seasons with Cincinnati, but missed 18 games the past three years because of knee and leg injuries and was released in May. His agent is convinced that if any tackles are lost to injuries during training camp, Jones' value will increase.

Rick Nash played golf in the inaugural Mike Weir Classic in a Toronto suburb this week, so it didn't take long for the local media to ask him about spurning a chance to play for his hometown Maple Leafs to re-sign a long-term deal with the Blue Jackets . As always, Nash tried to be accommodating.

"It was tempting," he told the Toronto Sun. "It's home. And it would be a dream to wear the Maple Leafs uniform. But at the end of the day, Columbus is where I'm happy and I think we are on the right track.

"We have good goaltending, good young players, and it's going to be an appetizing place to come to soon. We are going to be a contender, and I want to be part of it."

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.

bhunter@dispatch.com

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