| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Tuesday, June 18, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | Does HBO Deserve A Gold Medal For Its “:03” Documentary? |
| • | NBC Claims Viewership For This Weekend's U.S. Open Best In History |
| • | Rob Manfred Urges Congress To Regulate Over-The-Counter Supplements |
| • | ECAC Intends To Move Men's Hockey Championship To Albany |
| • | NCAA's Frozen Four, To Be Held In Buffalo, Already A Sellout |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Daily Stat/In Other News/Channel Surfing |
HBO GOES FOR THE GOLD WITH TONIGHT'S “:03” DOCUMENTARY
HBO will premiere its documentary about the '72 U.S.-U.S.S.R. Olympic basketball Gold Medal game, entitled ":03 From Gold," tonight at 10:00pm ET. The following presents select reviews of HBO's effort, which received mostly positive remarks (THE DAILY):
Pro:
The ROCKY MOUNTAN NEWS' Dusty Saunders: "Splendid. … HBO proves once again TV sports coverage can be much more than simply a scoreboard report" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 6/17).
The HOUSTON CHRONICLE's David Barron: "A levelheaded, evenhanded look at the controversial game, which means it is an absolutely infuriating, frustrating way to spend an hour of your life. That doesn't mean it isn't great television in the tradition of HBO's documentary work" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/17).
The N.Y. TIMES' Richard Sandomir: "A powerful mystery story about a potent Cold War episode" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/18).
The New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE's Pierce Huff: "One of the most well-balanced sports documentaries of the year" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 6/16).
The ARIZONA REPUBLIC's Jim Gintonio: "Perfectly captures the game and its inequities, along with the political climate of the time that set the tone for the events that would unfold" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/18).
The L.A. TIMES' Larry Stewart: "Told completely, thoroughly and objectively" (L.A. TIMES, 6/18).
Mixed:
The WASHINGTON TIMES' Dick Heller: "Although HBO tells its tale well, the documentary often is a bit tedious" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 6/16).
The INDIANAPOLIS STAR's John O'Neill: "Nicely dissects the end of the game, though perhaps without the blow-by-blow precision I would have liked" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 6/15).
NBC'S WEEKEND VIEWERSHIP FOR U.S. OPEN BEST IN HISTORY
NBC's weekend coverage of the 102nd U.S. Open was viewed by 55 million viewers, making it the most-viewed in U.S. Open history. In addition, Sunday's final-round coverage of Tiger Woods' victory became the most-viewed golf telecast of '02, earning an 8.9/22 Nielsen rating (THE DAILY).
MANFRED SAYS CONGRESS SHOULD REGULATE SUPPLEMENTS
The AP reports that MLB Exec VP/Labor Relations Rob Manfred "urged Congress on Tuesday to regulate substances such as androstenedione, the over-the-counter supplement Mark McGwire used the year he broke the single-season home run mark." MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr "agreed it might be time for Congress to look again at andro, which, like illegal steroids, helps the body create testosterone" (AP, 6/18).
ECAC TO MOVE MEN'S HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP TO ALBANY
The ECAC announced today it will move its men's hockey championship to Albany, NY, next year after a 10-year run in Lake Placid. ECAC officials said bringing the Division I Men's Hockey Championship to the Pepsi Arena through '05 will help the league grow, while Commissioner Phil Buttafuoco noted that Albany is closer to N.Y. and Boston, as well as to most of the 12 schools in the conference (AP, 6/18).
ACTION PERFORMANCE TO ACQUIRE NASCAR GIFT DESIGNER TREVCO
Action Performance Co. announced today that it has paid $5M to acquire Trevco Trading Corp., a privately owned firm that designs and distributes products under NASCAR driver and team licenses. Trevco sells the merchandise to retailers, including Walgreens, Sears and Toys "R" Us (THE DAILY).
LIGHTER BUZZ
Rawlings Sporting Goods has changed external auditors from Arthur Andersen to KPMG. IL-based collectibles manufacturer Racing Champions Ertl Corp. has also dismissed Andersen, and expects to select a new auditor by the end of the month (THE DAILY).
The remix of Elvis Presley's '68 song "A Little Less Conversation," used by Nike for a World Cup TV spot, reached No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart. The hit pushes The King ahead of The Beatles for all-time No. 1 hits in the U.K. with 18, one ahead of the Fab Four (L.A. TIMES, 6/18).
The NCAA Men's Frozen Four, to be held at HSBC Arena in Buffalo April 10-12, 2003, is already a sellout. It marks the sixth time in the last seven years that the event has sold out (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The BUSINESS JOURNAL OF MILWAUKEE's Pete Millard on the Brewers' fan support.
The SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS JOURNAL's W. Scott Bailey comments on Chris Webber's near move to San Antonio last year.
The DENVER POST's Mike Chambers profiles Penske Racing President Tim Cindric.
The N.Y. TIMES' Joe Sharkey on PGA Tour players investing in a fractional share of a private business jet to ease travel troubles.
The Baltimore SUN's Don Markus on the fan-friendly initiatives of the Senior PGA Tour.
ESPN.com's Mechelle Voepel on the "idiotic" idea of a WNBA strike.
The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE's Phil Miller on the "hurt-me/hug-me" relationship between Jazz Owner Larry Miller and F Karl Malone.
CNNSI.com's Mike Fish believes the MLBPA should support steroid testing.
The ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH's Tom Timmermann on broadcasters using video feeds to perform play-by-play for the World Cup away from the event.
The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE's Rob Rossi conducts a Q&A with local sports talk radio host Mark Madden.
The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES' Tina Akouris on television coverage of past and present Chicago pro soccer teams.
The LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL's Mark Anderson on six MLB teams claiming Las Vegas as part of their home territory.
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
Reds CF Ken Griffey Jr. will host a group of 75 children and 40 chaperones from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cincinnati, Orlando and Seattle during the Mariners-Reds game. The group had dinner with Griffey on Sunday, visited the Kings Island amusement park yesterday and concludes with a lunch tomorrow (CINCINNATI POST, 6/15).
The Braves will present a plaque as part of a tribute to Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell before the Tigers-Braves game at Turner Field (THE DAILY).
An auction for personal ice time and dinner with '02 Short-Track Speedskating Gold & Silver Medalist Apolo Anton Ohno begins at usolympicteam.com and runs through June 28.
The WNBA Storm will give away F/C Lauren Jackson bobblehead dolls to the first 4,000 fans for the team's game against the Sting (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/18).
IN OTHER NEWS…
MN Gov. Jesse Ventura announced today that he would not seek a second term. Ventura said, "I'm like Che Guevara: My job is to lead the revolution and then hand it off to someone else" (REUTERS, 6/18).
ABC News announced today that former White House aide George Stephanopoulos "will take over as anchor of the Sunday morning public affairs show 'This Week' starting in September" (REUTERS, 6/18).
REUTERS reports that Alain Robert scaled a Paris skyscraper today dressed in Spider Man's trademark blue and red bodysuit. Robert, who "paid homage to the eponymous hero" before climbing, has "several arrests and minor charges to his name for climbing skyscrapers and other landmarks" (REUTERS, 6/18).
The AP reports that attendance at the Fan Fair country music festival "improved 2.5 percent this year, drawing about 31,600 people daily to downtown Nashville over the weekend." Total attendance was 126,500, compared to 124,000 last year (AP, 6/18).
THE DAILY STAT: NIELSEN//NETRATINGS SPORTS SITES FOR MAY '02
The following are the top sports Internet properties accessed from home and work, ranked by Nielsen//NetRatings in terms of unique audience for May '02. "Unique audience" = the number of people who access a site, with each person counted only once. "Active Reach %" = the number of unique Web users viewing a Web site one or more times, expressed as a percentage of the total active Web population for this week (i.e. 6.3% of Web users accessing the Internet from home viewed a site on ESPN at least once this time period). "Average Time Spent" = the average amount of time a visitor has spent at that property for the month. The data is based on audience measurement of more than 50,000 U.S. panelists who have Internet access at home and 7,000 U.S. panelists who have Internet access at work. Traffic to these sites is the predominant URLs, and is grouped to include commonly owned sites (NetRatings):
| TOP SPORTS SITES – MAY '02 |
| AT HOME |
| RK | | BRAND OR CHANNEL | UNIQUE
AUD (000) | ACTIVE
REACH % | AVERAGE
TIME SPENT
(HH:MM:SS) |
| 1) | | ESPN | 6,713 | 6.3% | 0:44:17 |
| 2) | | Yahoo! Sports | 3,682 | 3.5% | 1:06:14 |
| 3) | | SportsLine.com | 3,081 | 2.9% | 0:32:07 |
| 4) | | MLB.com | 2,882 | 2.7% | 0:29:45 |
| 5) | | CNNsi | 2,535 | 2.4% | 0:12:48 |
| 6) | | NASCAR.com | 2,358 | 2.2% | 0:19:01 |
| 7) | | NBA Internet Network | 1,901 | 1.8% | 0:13:17 |
| 8) | | NFL Internet Network | 1,574 | 1.5% | 0:20:32 |
| 9) | | FansOnly | 1,099 | 1.0% | 0:08:18 |
| 10) | | sportingnews.com | 999 | 0.9% | 0:14:00 |
| |
| AT WORK |
| RK | | BRAND OR CHANNEL | UNIQUE
AUD (000) | ACTIVE
REACH % | AVERAGE
TIME SPENT
(HH:MM:SS) |
| 1) | | ESPN | 6,275 | 14.19% | 1:04:39 |
| 2) | | Yahoo! Sports | 3,162 | 7.15% | 0:46:53 |
| 3) | | MLB.com | 2,599 | 5.88% | 0:18:53 |
| 4) | | CNNsi | 2,469 | 5.58% | 0:14:16 |
| 5) | | SportsLine.com | 2,300 | 5.20% | 0:21:51 |
| 6) | | NBA Internet Network | 1,456 | 3.29% | 0:25:39 |
| 7) | | FansOnly | 1,401 | 3.17% | 0:15:36 |
| 8) | | NASCAR.com | 1,285 | 2.91% | 0:19:53 |
| 9) | | NFL Internet Network | 1,127 | 2.55% | 0:13:32 |
| 10) | | USA Today Sports | 725 | 1.64% | 0:14:43 |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN2 will air the '02 NCAA College World Series Game 10, Notre Dame-Stanford, at 7:00pm ET.
MN Gov. Jesse Ventura will be on ESPN's "Off Course with Jack Wagner" at 7:30pm ET.
Lakers F Rick Fox, G Derek Fisher and musician Chris Isaak will be on ESPN's "Mohr Sports" at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Roy Campanella at 8:00pm ET.
Dodgers P Eric Gagne and C Paul LoDuca will be on ESPN's "Unscripted."
NASCAR's Michael Waltrip and John McEnroe will be on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
Golf instructor Butch Harmon and author John Feinstein will discuss Tiger Woods on FSN's "The Last Word."
A&E's "Biography" will profile actor Robert Mitchum at 8:00pm ET.
HBO premieres its documentary ":03 From Gold" at 10:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Ellen DeGeneres |
| "The Tonight Show" | Dennis Miller |
| "The Late Late Show" | Catherine Bell |
| "Late Night" | Colin Farrell |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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