| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, July 29, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | “Battle At Bighorn” Brings Golf's Brightest Back To Primetime Spotlight |
| • | WUSA Selects Portland As Host City For League's Inaugural All-Star Game |
| • | Iverson Accuser Changes Initial Story During Today's Preliminary Hearing |
| • | Sports Loyalty Index Marks Overall MLB Decline, Increase For Indians |
| • | Reebok Employees In Jakarta Take To The Streets In Protest Against Company |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Daily Stat/Articles of Interest/In Other News/Channel Surfing |
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME GOLF? “BIGHORN” TEES UP IN PRIMETIME
The L.A. TIMES reports that four of golf's biggest names will compete in the "Battle at Bighorn," the fourth edition of ABC's version of Monday night golf. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods will team up against Lee Trevino and Sergio Garcia in the $1.7M, best-ball match.
The following presents a Nielsen ratings trend for the previous two "Battle at Bighorn" events and '99's "Showdown at Sherwood" (THE DAILY):
| YR | PLAYERS | RAT/SHR |
| '01 | Woods/Sorenstam – Duval/Webb | 6.1/11 |
| '00 | Woods-Garcia | 7.6/13 |
| '99 | Woods-Duval | 6.9/12 |
Tonight's telecast "will have an interactive aspect," as viewers will be able to log on to Enhanced TV through ESPN.com and "attempt to predict the outcome of each hole" to win prizes (L.A. TIMES, 7/29).
Meanwhile, Top-Flite announced today that Trevino will be playing the company's new Top-Flite Tour golf ball tonight. Trevino: "I'm coming out there with a new ball that might help me. But Tiger and Sergio will probably still outdrive me by 120 yards" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 7/29).
PORTLAND TO PLAY HOST TO WUSA'S INAUGURAL ALL-STAR GAME
WUSA and Portland Family Entertainment announced today that Portland will host the '02 WUSA All-Star Game on Saturday, September 21 at 4:00pm ET. The inaugural All-Star Game, presented by Hyundai, will be played at PGE Park and will be broadcast on PAX TV. The format of the game will feature North All-Stars versus South All-Stars selected from all eight WUSA teams (THE DAILY).
IVERSON WITNESS CHANGES TUNE DURING PRELIMINARY HEARING
The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER reports that "one of the men who said that Allen Iverson threatened him with a gun changed his story during a preliminary hearing today and said he never saw the 76ers star with a weapon." Under questioning by Iverson attorney Richard Sprague, Hakim Carey "said he did not see Iverson brandish a gun when Iverson and his uncle showed up at a West Philadelphia apartment in the early morning hours of July 3." Carey said that his friend, Charles Jones, told him to back up Jones' story that Iverson had a gun. Jones was on the stand later in the day and denied that he had told Carey what to say to police (PHILLY.com, 7/29).
Meanwhile, the Wharton School of the Univ. of PA sports business and law professor Kenneth Shropshire appeared on "CNN Live Today" discussing the Iverson case and its impact on Iverson's endorsements, and said, "He's not the type of endorser that everybody looks to as perfection. … I don't think he'll lose much. … [The Reebok deal] is kind of a consequence of his success. He is not striving to get the ivory soap ads, or the Milk Council ads. He's happy with what he's got" (CNN, 7/29).
A TRIBE CALLED LOYALTY: INDIANS FANS RANK HIGH IN SURVEY
The sixth annual Brand Keys Sports Loyalty Index released today shows that MLB has experienced a drop in fan loyalty over the past four years, after enjoying an increase from '97-99. Brand Keys conducted 13,200 interviews with MLB fans to measure fan loyalty, which peaked in '99 with an overall rating of 110, based on an average of the four key bonding "drivers," and declined in each year since: '00 (106), '01 (103) and '02 (101). Meanwhile, the Index shows that the Indians have overtaken the Yankees as the No. 1 team in fan loyalty, with an overall '02 rating of 130 (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
The AP reports that more than a thousand Reebok workers "protested outside the American Embassy in Jakarta Monday over a cut in orders they claimed left 5,400 workers without jobs." The protestors chanted "Reebok are killers," and "Reebok are exploiters" outside the embassy (AP, 7/29).
NASCAR Busch Series driver Jamie McMurray launched his official driver Web site today, located at www.jamiemcmurray.com (THE DAILY).
ESPN Star Sports today announced the acquisition of cricket telecast rights for all international cricket events from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and England for the next five years (THE DAILY).
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
The Red Wings will premiere "Red Alert: Hockeytown 3, The Official NHL 2002 Stanley Cup Championship Home Video" tonight at the Fox Theater in Detroit. Doors will open at 6:00pm ET, and the show will start at 8:00pm (THE DAILY).
NBA Senior VP/Basketball Operations Stu Jackson will hold a media conference call at 5:30pm ET to discuss the results of today's vote by the BOG on the use of instant replay (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL's Allan Maki on the minor adjustments being made in the world of pro sports which are aimed at correcting "a thousand" marketing blunders.
The L.A. TIMES' Larry Stewart on former Cowboys WR Michael Irvin's career rebirth on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
The BOSTON HERALD's Joe Fitzgerald remembers former Red Sox broadcaster Ned Martin, who suffered a fatal heart attack on his way home from the recent memorial service for Ted Williams.
The ARIZONA REPUBLIC's Richard Obert on the number of training facilities located in the Phoenix area geared towards assisting pro athletes.
The L.A. TIMES' Bill Plaschke on African-American golfers struggling to receive sponsorship recognition despite the success of Tiger Woods.
NEWSDAY's Bob Glauber profiles Jets Owner Woody Johnson, focusing on his dedication to medical research and the disease lupus.
The WASHINGTON TIMES' Eric Fisher profiles attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who is repping a group of former Expos limited partners in a racketeering and fraud suit filed against MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Marlins Managing General Partner Jeffrey Loria.
The DALLAS MORNING NEWS' Richard Alm on the consistent ability of pro sports franchises to attract buyers and avoid folding.
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
IN OTHER NEWS…
CBS MARKETWATCH reports that IVillage Inc. said today it would eliminate pop-up advertisements from its network of sites by October 1. IVillage Editor-In-Chief Nancy Evans: "We have built IVillage by listening to what women want, and our move to eliminate pop-up advertising is a direct example of this" (CBS MARKETWATCH, 7/29).
The AP reports that creditors owed tens of billions of dollars by WorldCom "gathered [today] to form the committee that will represent their interests in the bankruptcy case of the scandal-plagued telephone and Internet company" (AP, 7/29).
Two men accused of trying to sell a stolen copy of "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" on eBay were "returned to their native Canada after each paid about $3,100 in fines" (AP, 7/29).
THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BEST SELLING NONFICTION
The following presents best selling nonfiction books from the N.Y. Times the week ending July 20, 2002 (N.Y. TIMES).
| THIS
WEEK | HARDCOVER NONFICTION |
| 1) | SLANDER, Ann Coulter (Crown) |
| 2) | THE LOBSTER CHRONICLES, Linda Greenlaw (Hyperion) |
| 3) | YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS, John McEnroe with James Kaplan (Putnam) |
| 4) | STUPID WHITE MEN, Michael Moore (ReganBooks/HarperCollins) |
| 5) | JOHN ADAMS, David McCullough (Simon & Schuster) |
| 6) | WHY I AM A CATHOLIC, Garry Wills (Houghton Mifflin) |
| 7) | THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME, edited by Marlo Thomas (Atria) |
| 8) | A MIND AT A TIME, Mel Levine (Simon & Schuster) |
| 9) | THE SEXUAL LIFE OF CATHERINE M., Catherine Millet (Grove) |
| 10) | TEN THINGS I LEARNED FROM BILL PORTER, Shelly Brady (New World Library) |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will debut "Monday Night Countdown" at 7:00pm ET.
ABC will air the "Battle at Bighorn" at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN will air Yankees-Rangers at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Mark Fidrych at 8:00pm ET.
WNBA Sparks coach Michael Cooper, Seahawks S Shawn Springs, "Fox NFL Sunday" host James Brown and singer Toby Keith are scheduled to appear on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
A&E's "TVography" will profile "The Ozzie and Harriet Show" at 8:00pm ET and "The Wonder Years" at 10:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile the TV shows "The Beverly Hillbillies" at 8:00pm ET and "Andy of Mayberry" at 10:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Julia Stiles |
| "The Tonight Show" | Dennis Miller |
| "The Late Late Show" | Kathy Ireland |
| "Late Night" | Martin Short (r) |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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