| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Friday, April 26, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | Nike's Hockey Documentary Rolls Into Anaheim Saturday Night |
| • | Yawkey Donation To Assist Social Service Group; Kids Set Loose At Fenway |
| • | Inflation Station: Japan Says World Cup Costs Have Tripled Since '98 |
| • | Dale Jarrett, UPS Challenge Fans To Race The Infamous Truck |
| • | Channel Surfing: Playoff Fever, Young Golfers And More Jay Mohr |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/In Other News/Daily Stat/Critics Weigh In/Channel Surfing |
NIKE'S “DREAMS” OF HOCKEY STARDOM REALIZED SATURDAY NIGHT
Nike Hockey will make its debut into the roller hockey world with "Rocket Dreams - The Road to Vegas," a documentary it underwrote which premiers Saturday at The Anaheim Hockey Club. The film follows a co-ed San Diego-based roller hockey team from tryouts to the North American Roller Hockey Championships Winternationals in Las Vegas, and marks the beginning of a grassroots marketing campaign to launch Nike's new line of roller hockey products (THE DAILY).
Meanwhile, the Vans/Sony skateboarding documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys" opens this weekend in select cities. USA Today says the film "has a flashy editing style," and the N.Y. Times calls it a "giddy, thrilling, rock 'n' roll-saturated history of skateboarding in Southern California," the L.A. Times describes the film as "graceless" (THE DAILY).
JAPAN SAYS COST OF WORLD CUP THREE TIMES WHAT FRANCE SPENT
The AP reports that Japan officials said today that co-hosting the World Cup has cost the country "at least three times the amount France spent four years ago." Japan Tournament Dir Junji Ogura said that $4.5B has been spent on stadiums, hotels, transportation and other infrastructure since '96. That compares to about $1.5B France spent to host the '98 soccer event. South Korea, with whom Japan is co-hosting the World Cup final from May 31-June 30, has spent $1.7B on stadiums (AP, 4/26).
JOB FAIR SET TO COMPLETE STAFFING AT NEW SEATTLE FACILITY
The PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that a job fair Saturday in Seattle will "offer about 800 part-time jobs" at the city's new football stadium. First & Goal Inc., which manages the new facility, and PA-based Aramark Corp., which handles the concessions, are co-sponsoring the fair intended to hire game-day staff. The job fair runs between 10:00-5:00pm PT at the Stadium Exhibition Center (PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/25).
YAWKEY FOUNDATION OFFERS GRANT; A NEW DAY FOR FENWAY
The AP reports that the Jean Yawkey Foundation, in its first major grant since the sale of the Red Sox, said Friday "it would donate $500,000 to a social services organization hit by a slowdown in donations from the sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church" (AP, 4/26).
Meanwhile, the BOSTON GLOBE noted that children "running the bases after a game is hardly a new concept," but "it wasn't done" in Fenway Park, in part because longtime groundskeeper Joe Mooney disapproved of the idea. But as part of what the Red Sox are promoting as Kids' Opening Weekend against the Devil Rays, the team is "permitting all kids 15 and under to run the bases after games Saturday and Sunday" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/25).
HICKORY FANS ENCOURAGED TO “RACE THE TRUCK” ON SATURDAY
The CHARLOTTE OBSERVER reports that fans attending Dale Jarrett Inc.'s "Night at the Races" Saturday at Hickory Motor Speedway are invited to "bring their own version of the big brown [UPS] truck (a cardboard box) to race (with their feet) for prizes." Dale Jarrett Inc.'s Blair Phillips: "We thought it'd be something fun for the fans to honor Dale with. I hope people bring a lot of creativity" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/26). Meanwhile, Jarrett himself will throw out the first pitch at tonight's Blue Jays-Angels game and "trade a UPS racing jacket to Angels pitcher Jarrod Washburn for an Angels jersey bearing Jarrett's No. 88." NASCAR is racing at the CA Speedway in Fontana, CA this weekend (Long Beach PRESS-ENTERPRISE, 4/26).
BUZZER BEATERS
The Texans outreach tour will begin on Sunday and travel through six TX cities in eight days, including Lufkin, Waco, Corpus Christi and Austin (THE DAILY).
A Duke official said today that Duke's Junior C Carlos Boozer has signed with sports agent Arn Tellem of SFX Sports, which means Boozer has lost his remaining year of college eligibility (AP, 4/26)
OMEGA will recruit tennis players Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova for a press conference in Paris tonight at Theatre National de Chaillot to "celebrate the worldwide launch of its new jewelry collection" (NEWSTREAM.com, 4/26).
NASCAR.com and SportsBlast will announce the name of the first Winston Cup driver to make a cameo on the animated Web series "The Kellys" during a press conference Saturday at 8:00am PT. Episodes of "The Kellys" can be seen each Friday at NASCAR.com (THE DAILY).
Daktronics announced this afternoon it has received orders exceeding $5.6M for new scoreboards and video displays at the Univ. of IL, IA State Univ., Baylor Univ. and the U.S. Naval Academy. Installation of the new systems is scheduled to be complete prior to the start of the '02 college football season (THE DAILY).
WEEKEND EVENTS
Friday
The MISL Milwaukee Wave and Philadelphia Kixx will start their best-of-three finals tonight at the Bradley Center (THE DAILY).
Saturday
"Sopranos" star Jamie-Lynn Sigler will perform the national anthem prior to Saturday's MLS Earthquakes-MetroStars game at Giants Stadium (THE DAILY).
Tony Hawk will host the Boom Boom Huckjam, a sports and music show, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas (THE DAILY).
Verizon will sponsor the appearance of several luge and bobsled athletes at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia at 12:30pm ET (THE DAILY).
Sunday
The Marlins will partner with the Humane Society of Broward County (FL) to host pet lovers and their dogs at Pro Player Stadium Sunday for the team's 1:05pm ET game against the D'Backs (THE DAILY).
The Colts will hold their final mini-camp workout in conjunction with the Select-A-Seat FanFest at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis from 2:00-4:00pm CT (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
Nearly 3,000 workers at two Hershey Foods Pennsylvania plants went on strike today, two days after negotiations between the company and its union "broke down" (REUTERS, 4/26).
TODAY'S DAILY STAT: LYCOS' MOST-SEARCHED ATHLETES
The following are the most-searched athletes by Lycos search engines users for the week ending April 20 (THE DAILY):
| RK | | ATHLETE |
| 1) | | Anna Kournikova |
| 2) | | Tiger Woods |
| 3) | | Jeff Gordon |
| 4) | | Allen Iverson |
| 5) | | Michael Jordan |
| 6) | | Apolo Anton Ohno |
| 7) | | Vince Carter |
| 8) | | Kobe Bryant |
| 9) | | David Beckham |
| 10) | | Derek Jeter |
| |
CRITICS WEIGH IN: “JASON X” & “LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT”
Good thing the NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing, because both movies opening this week – "Jason X" and "Life Or Something Like It" – were panned by critics. Read a sample of this week's reviewsHartnett Hartnett wages a war against celibacy:
| Movie
|
| Jason X | Life Or Something Like It |
| Chicago Sun-Times | | |
|
| L.A. Times | | |
|
| N.Y. Times | | |
|
| USA Today | | |
|
| Washington Post | | |
| |
Instead, you might want to try the skateboarding documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys." Reviews are posted in THE BELL's first story.
CHANNEL SURFING
FRIDAY
ESPN will air NHL Conference Quarterfinals, Senators-Flyers, at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NHL Conference Quarterfinals: Islanders-Maple Leafs at 7:00pm ET and Coyotes-Sharks at 10:00pm ET.
TNT will air NBA Conference Quarterfinals, Nets-Pacers, at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Chris Webber at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN's Jay Mohr will be on NBC's "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno tonight at 11:30pm ET.
SATURDAY
WUSA Atlanta Beat twins Julie and Nancy Augustyniak and Washington Freedom twins Jacqui and Skylar Little will appear on "CNN Saturday" from noon-1:00pm ET.
NBC will air NBA Conference Quarterfinals: Hornets-Magic at 12:30pm ET, Kings-Jazz at 3:00pm ET and Spurs-Sonics at 5:30pm ET.
ABC will air regional coverage of the NHL Conference Quarterfinals, Canadiens-Bruins or Hurricanes-Devils, at 1:00pm ET.
FOX will air NASCAR BGN Auto Club 300 at 4:00pm ET.
ESPN will air NHL Conference Quarterfinals, Red Wings-Canucks, at 7:00pm ET.
TNT will air NBA Conference Quarterfinals, Pistons-Raptors, at 8:30pm ET.
SUNDAY
NBC will air NBA Conference Quarterfinals: Celtics-76ers at 12:30pm ET, Mavericks-Timberwolves at 3:00pm ET and Lakers-Trail Blazers at 5:30pm ET.
FOX will air NASCAR Winston Cup Napa Auto Parts 500 at 2:30pm ET.
CBS Sports will profile Ty Tryon, David Gossett, Charles Howell III and Matt Kuchar during a special entitled "PGA Tour: The Next Generation" at 3:00pm ET.
French figure skating judge Marie-Reine le Gougne will give her first U.S. TV interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" from 7:00-8:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NHL Conference Quarterfinals, Maple Leafs-Islanders, at 8:00pm ET.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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