| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Tuesday, May 7, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | "Tank" Black Convicted, Sentenced To Five Years In Prison |
| • | ESPN.com To Unveil Web Site Dedicated To FIFA World Cup |
| • | Teed Off! Mariners Fan Continues To Protest Over T-Shirt Policy |
| • | Visa Ad Still In The Cards After Slew's Death? |
| • | Rookie Coach Rick Carlisle Wins NBA Coach Of Year Award |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight's Events/Daily Stat/Channel Surfing |
BLACK SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS FOR DEFRAUDING NFL PLAYERS
The AP reports that sports agent William ''Tank'' Black was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for "swindling millions of dollars from NFL players he represented." A jury convicted Black on January 31 of defrauding players including Jaguars RB Fred Taylor and Giants WR Ike Hilliard. U.S. District Judge Stephen Mickle ordered Black to serve the new sentence after finishing the 6-year, 10-month sentence he is serving for laundering $1.1M for a drug ring in Detroit (AP, 5/7).
ESPN UNVEILS ONLINE COVERAGE FOR FIFA WORLD CUP
ESPN.com today unveiled its Web site dedicated to coverage of the '02 FIFA World Cup. The site will offer live scoring, news, match previews and reviews, chats, photo galleries and video features. FIFA partner adidas will be the presenting sponsor of ESPN.com's World Cup coverage (THE DAILY).
TICKED OFF FAN CONTINUES MARINERS PROTEST OVER T-SHIRT
Mariners fan Matt Villano has organized a protest outside Safeco Field tonight to "picket the Mariners in response to incidents involving controversial T-shirts during the last homestand" against the Yankees. Villano said he expects "about 100 compatriots" for the protest, which will be held at the corner of Occidental Avenue and Royal Brougham Way outside the left-field gates (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/7).
THOROUGHBRED SEATTLE SLEW DIES 25 YEARS AFTER DERBY WIN
Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew died today on the 25th anniversary of his Kentucky Derby victory. The horse's Triple Crown accomplishment in '77 was the basis of a new tribute ad by Triple Crown title sponsor Visa. There was no word today whether that campaign would be changed in light of Seattle Slew's death (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
Cal Ripken Jr. has signed an agreement with MBNA America Bank to represent and promote some of the bank's marketing activities. Ripken's name and likeness will be used in print, billboard and Internet advertising, his signature will be used on select mailpieces, and he will make several personal appearances on the bank's behalf (THE DAILY).
Pistons rookie coach Rick Carlisle won the NBA Coach of the Year Award today. Carlisle: "I'm humbled to win this and be among this type of basketball royalty, but I couldn't have done it without the players and the staff and their hard work" (AP, 5/7).
The PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Global Sports has "been selected to operate an e-commerce Web site for Tweeter Home Entertainment Group" (PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/7).
Last night, CBS' David Letterman conducted a "Kentucky Derby Quiz." Take the quiz here ("Late Show," CBS, 5/6).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
In an Op-Ed in the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Univ. of Chicago law professor Richard Epstein lobbies against the renovation of Soldier Field.
The N.Y. TIMES' Murray Chass on declining attendance at new ballparks.
The WASHINGTON POST on Nike reconfiguring the size scale for women's fitness apparel to accommodate larger customers.
In Part III of a three-part series on the business of sports, the L.A. TIMES' David Wharton writes on factors contributing to traditional sports losing their teen fan base.
The ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER's Marcia Smith reports on the recent efforts of several franchises to police unruly crowds.
The TAMPA TRIBUNE's Martin Fennelly writes that the NHL should take measures to end on-ice violence.
The ST. PETERSBURG TIMES' John Romano on the NHL's balancing act as a result of recent on-ice incidents in playoff games.
The WASHINGTON POST's Leonard Shapiro on the Orioles' plans to launch their own in-house regional sports cable network.
The DETROIT FREE PRESS compares efforts by the Pistons and Red Wings to attract fans.
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
Several Liberty players will help the team tip-off ticket sales for the upcoming '02 season from 5:00-7:00pm ET in the MSG box office lobby (THE DAILY). Meanwhile, Liberty G Becky Hammon will host an interactive reading session at the Barnes & Noble Liberty Reading Zone in N.Y. at 4:30pm ET (THE DAILY).
Virginians for Baseball Fan Club and the Greater Reston (VA) Chamber of Commerce will host a member event and live Webcast to make several announcements concerning the effort to bring baseball to VA. The event will be available live at 5:15pm ET at http://www.virginiansforbaseball.com. It will also be archived for later viewing at the same site (THE DAILY).
Actress Mary Tyler Moore will throw out the ceremonial first pitch for tonight's Royals-Twins game. Moore also will re-enact her famous "hat-toss" by tossing a Twins hat into the air (THE DAILY).
The Chicago Bulls/Chicago Park District Men's Basketball League will play the championship game beginning at 7:30pm CT at the Moody Bible Institute (THE DAILY).
Lowe's Motor Speedway will test the superspeedway's sewer and water infrastructure with the "Great Speedway Toilet Flush" at approximately 7:15pm ET. Fans have been invited to watch NASCAR Winston Cup testing and help with the flushing (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS…
Ahead of the official unveiling of the new Hewlett-Packard today, the company told customers in a letter that it was "eager" to prove itself and confirmed more details about its product strategy (ZDNet News, 5/7).
Pepsi-Cola today unveiled a "bright blue cola, Pepsi Blue," as the company adds to its carbonated lineup to "perk up sluggish cola sales in the key U.S. market." Pepsi-Cola North America called the berry-flavored drink targeted to teens a "fusion of berry and cola" flavors and said it will be on store shelves by early August (REUTERS, 5/7).
REUTERS reports that shares fell today in two publicly traded satellite radio broadcasters – XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio – and one analyst said investors were "worried that their already sliding stock prices could hurt their ability to raise funds" (REUTERS, 5/7).
The L.A. TIMES reports that "Saturday Night Live" star Will Ferrell is leaving the weekly series for "reasons you might expect, including the sense that, after seven years, it is time." The actor "segues now into a career that will presumably involve trying to become big at the movies" (L.A. TIMES, 5/7).
THE DAILY STAT: TOP DAILY NEWSPAPERS BY CIRCULATION
The following are the top daily newspapers by circulation according to numbers released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations for the six months ending March 31 (Editor and Publisher, 5/6):
| AVERAGE DAILY CIRCULATION FOR SIX MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2002. |
| RK | DAILY NEWSPAPER (DAYS) | CIRCULATION |
| 1) | USA Today, (M-Th) | 2,120,357 |
| 2) | The Wall Street Journal (M-F) | 1,820,525 |
| 3) | The New York Times (M-F) | 1,194,491 |
| 4) | Los Angeles Times (Th-Sa) | 1,011,732 |
| 5) | The Washington Post (M-F) | 811,925 |
| 6) | Daily News, New York (M-F) | 733,099 |
| 7) | Chicago Tribune (W-F) | 689,026 |
| 8) | Newsday, Melville, N.Y. (M-F) | 577,796 |
| 9) | New York Post (M-F) | 562,639 |
| 10) | Houston Chronicle (M-Sa) | 545,727 |
| 11) | San Francisco Chronicle (M-F) | 525,369 |
| 12) | The Dallas Morning News (M-Th) | 511,159 |
| 13) | The Arizona Republic, Phoenix (M-Sa) | 496,373 |
| 14) | Chicago Sun-Times (M-F) | 487,480 |
| 15) | The Boston Globe (M-F) | 478,735 |
| 16) | The Star-Ledger, Newark (M-F) | 406,717 |
| 17) | Star Tribune, Minneapolis (Th-Sa) | 405,459 |
| 18) | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (M-Th) | 405,367 |
| 19) | The Philadelphia Inquirer (M-F) | 381,104 |
| 20) | The Plain Dealer, Cleveland (M-Sa) | 368,322 |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN2 will air NHL Conference Semifinals, Hurricanes-Canadiens, at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN's "SportsCentury" will profile Roger Clemens at 7:30pm ET.
TBS will air NBA Conference Semifinals: Hornets-Nets at 8:00pm ET and Spurs-Lakers at 10:30pm ET.
ESPN will air NHL Conference Semifinals, Red Wings-Blues, at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air "The Making of Ultimate X" at 11:00pm ET.
Nets coach Byron Scott, Angels 3B Troy Glaus and CF Darin Erstad will be on ESPN's "Unscripted."
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile the TV Show "All in the Family" at 8:00pm ET.
ABC will air "Laverne & Shirley: Together Again" at 8:00pm ET, followed by "Favorite Stars: Then & Now" at 9:00pm ET.
Pacers G Reggie Miller will be on "The Late Show" with David Letterman tonight, and "Live with Regis and Kelly" tomorrow morning.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Richard Gere |
| "The Tonight Show" | David Spade |
| "The Late Late Show" | Scott Bakula |
| "Late Night" | Tina Fey |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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