| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, November 5, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | LeBron And Carmelo To Square Off Tonight As Cavaliers Host Nuggets |
| • | Rockers Supporters To Play Off Sold-Out Cavaliers Crowd With Team Rally |
| • | Prosecution In SLOC Trial Suffers Setback Today As “Geld File” Thrown Out |
| • | NHL Panthers To Host First “Business To Business Wednesdays” Event Tonight |
| • | THG Added to World Anti-Doping Agency, IOC Lists Of Banned Substances |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
WHAT COULD BE NEXT GREAT INDIVIDUAL RIVALRY BEGINS TONIGHT
TheCavaliers host their Gund Arena opener tonight against the Nuggets in amatch-up that pits celebrated rookies LeBron James and CarmeloAnthony. ESPN will televise the8:00pm ET game, and the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER notes that the NBA is “embracingwhat it hopes is the next great individual rivalry” (ClevelandPLAIN DEALER, 11/5).
TheAKRON BEACON JOURNAL notes that tonight’s game is a sellout. Last season, the Cavaliers drew 16,822 fortheir home opener against the Clippers, but “there were only about 13,000 inthe seats.” Though team officials aremum on season-ticket sales, a “reasonable estimate is the Cavaliers were at 3,000 a yearago, and now it’s at least 10,000 and growing” (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 11/5). About 150 reporters are expected for tonight’s game (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL,11/5).
CNBC’s“Power Lunch” profiled James’ impact on the franchise, the NBA and city ofCleveland. CNBC’s Scott Wapner notedthe Cavaliers have moved into the league’s top three in merchandise sales afterranking last in ‘02. CavaliersPresident Len Komoroski “is hopeful of turning a profit after years oflosses.” Komoroski: “It’s putting us ina position where we can be, hopefully, financially viable as an organizationhere in the near term.” Wapner addedCavaliers’ sponsorships “are up 50[%] this year and many more deals have yet tobe signed” (“Power Lunch,” CNBC, 11/5).
ROCKERS SUPPORTERS TO HOLD RALLY TONIGHT AT GUND ARENA
The Cleveland PLAIN DEALERreports at a Save the Rockers rally will be held outside Gund Arena prior toNuggets-Cavaliers. A group of “avidfans has been trying to keep the WNBA team in Cleveland ever since the Cavaliers/GundArena Co. announced” on September 19 that it would no longer own and operatethe team. Due to the Cavaliers sellout,there “should be some pretty steady traffic in the area” (ClevelandPLAIN DEALER, 11/5).
“GELD FILE” TODAY RULED INADMISSIBLE IN SLOC BRIBERY TRIAL
TheAP reports that the government’s bribery case against former SLOC President TomWelch and Senior VP Dave Johnson suffered a setback today when U.S.District Judge David Sam “threw out what prosecutors considered theirstrongest piece of evidence.” Samsonruled that the “geld file,” a “gossipy dossier of [IOC] delegates that listedtheir personal and family needs and standing in the organization,” was inadmissible(AP,11/5).
PANTHERS TO HOST FIRST BUSINESS TO BUSINESS EVENT TONIGHT
TheNHL Panthers will host the first in a series of a “Business-to-BusinessWednesdays,” beginning at 6:30pm ET at Office Depot Center, prior to the team’s7:30pm ET game against the Kings. Theevent allows team sponsors, such as BankUnited, Nextel, Office Depot and SpiritAirlines, to showcase their new products and services. A special two-for-one ticket offer isavailable for the games (Panthers).
CHARGERS TO OFFER FULL REFUNDS FOR MONDAY NIGHT GAME
TheChargers today announced that the club is offering full refunds for ticketspurchased through the club or TicketMaster for last week’s Monday night gamethat was moved to Tempe. The only fanswho need to return the original game tickets for a refund are those whopurchased individual game tickets at a Chargers ticket window, and those fanswho purchased their tickets at a TicketMaster outlet (Chargers).
BUZZER BEATERS
SportingNews this week offers its college basketball preview, featuring Duke coach MikeKrzyzewski and UNC coach Roy Williams on the cover.
Aspart of its 50th anniversary celebration, Sports Illustrated thisweek offers “The Covers … All 2,548.” Forty-eight past covers are featured on this week’s cover.
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| Sporting News | Sports Illustrated |
MassMutualFinancial Group today announced that it has joined the Sports Illustrated 50thAnniversary Tour as a program sponsor. Under the deal, MassMutual will lend its “Game Face: What Does A FemaleAthlete Look Like?” photo collection to the tour. The collection will be unveiled November 14 in Homestead, FL (MassMutual).
HowardSokolowskiand David Cynamon were introduced today as the new owners of the CFLToronto Argonauts. Following theirintroduction, the pair announced former TSN President Keith Pelley asthe team’s new President & CEO (CFL).
REUTERSreports that THG has been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency and IOC listsof prohibited substances (REUTERS,11/5).
LillyICOS and the PGA Tour today officially announced a four-year sponsorshipagreement, naming the company an official partner of the PGA Tour and ChampionsTour (Lilly ICOS).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
WLWT-NBCin Cincinnati will air an interview with Pete Rose in which Rose claimsto “have a good feeling about reinstatement.” Rose also suggests that a reinstatement agreement “will allow him tomanage again” (CINCINNATIENQUIRER, 11/5).
Steelersplayers and their families will model Lazarus-Macy’s fashions at a 5:30pm ETdinner to benefit various Steelers charities at the Pittsburgh Hilton andTowers.
TheBoys’ Club of N.Y. will hold its 28th Annual All Sports HOF Dinnerat the Waldorf-Astoria. This year’sinductees include NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, former Lakers F JamesWorthy and baseball HOFer Gary Carter (N.Y. POST).
CHANNEL SURFING
ActorWill Ferrell will be on the “Hot Seat” during “SportsCenter” at 6:00pm ET.
ESPNwill air Nuggets-Cavaliers at 8:00pmET and Grizzlies-Trail Blazers at10:30pm ET.
ESPN2will air NCAA football: Louisville-TCUat 7:30pm ET.
ESPN2will air first-round coverage of the ’03Bank of America WTA Championships at 10:30pm ET.
ESPNClassic’s “SportsCentury” will profile the year 1983 at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN’s“OTL Nightly” will examine orchestratedrecords at midnight ET on ESPN2.
VikingsDT Chris Hovan, Magic G Grant Hill, and NFL wives Holly Robinson Peete, Julie Romanowski and Kim Stubblefield are scheduled toappear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
HBOwill air “Inside the NFL” at 10:00pmET.
PBS’“Nightly Business Report” will airthe second of a three-part series around the NBA.
Marlinsmanager Jack McKeon will be on CBS’“Late Show” with David Letterman at 11:35pm ET.
Heavyweightboxer Lennox Lewis will be on NBC’s“Last Call” with Carson Daly at 1:30am ET.
A&E’s“Biography” will profile James Garnerat 8:00pm ET.
E!’s“True Hollywood Story” will profile AnnaNicole Smith at 8:00pm ET.
CBSwill air the 37th Annual CMAAwards at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Hereare tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Will Ferrell |
| “The Tonight Show” | James Caan |
| “The Late Late Show” | Jeff Bridges |
| “Late Night” | Laurence Fishburne |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Michael Vartan |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
TheL.A. TIMES’ Mulligan & Vincent offer a profile of prospective Dodgers OwnerFrank McCourt, and write, “Some leaders in the L.A. business communityrefuse to believe that McCourt’s agenda is aboutbaseball and baseball only. … McCourt’s endgame could be to build housingadjacent to Dodger Stadium atop the 300-acre parcel on Chavez Ravine. Others surmise that McCourt may move theDodgers from their longtime home and into a new stadium that would be builtdowntown” (L.A. TIMES).
The ARIZONA REPUBLIC’s Craig Harris writes, “Despite playing in a bowl game, reaching thesecond round of the NCAA Tournament in men’s basketball and nearly making theCollege World Series in 2002-03, ArizonaState still has money problems. TheSun Devils ranked ninth in the Pac-10 in athletics funding during the lastfiscal year, according to records from the 10 member schools. Only Washington State had less totalrevenue, while Stanford raised the most” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC).
- Celtics black out tradition by changing to whitesneakers.
- PGA Tour’s new “PendulumTester” could debut at ’04 season-opening event.
- Examining the drop in TVviewers from an advertising perspective.
- ATHOC idea to move shotput event to Olympia is a grand one.
SeeThe Daily Insider’s Articles ofInterest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Mindbenders: NASA was consideringsending canaries into space to study them under zero gravity. The project was scrapped when someonerealized that in spite of having sufficient water supplies, they could die ofdehydration within a few hours. Why?
IN OTHERNEWS……
TheCHICAGO TRIBUNE reports that Leo Burnett USA “is cutting 20 jobs, or roughly2[%] of its workforce, as the weak ad economy continues to hammer the agency” (CHICAGOTRIBUNE, 11/5).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS
Thefollowing lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows forthe week of October 27-November 2. Alsoprovided are the weekly viewership averages for each net (USA TODAY, 11/5).
| RK | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | VIEWERS (IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | CSI | CBS | Thu | 17.1/26 | 27.3 |
| 2) | Survivor: Pearl Islands | CBS | Thu | 12.0/19 | 20.8 |
| 3) | ER | NBC | Thu | 13.2/22 | 19.9 |
| 4) | Friends | NBC | Thu | 13.0/21 | 19.4 |
| 5) | Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | Mon | 11.5/17 | 18.3 |
| 6) | CBS At 75 | CBS | Sun | 11.9/18 | 18.2 |
| 7) | CSI: Miami | CBS | Mon | 11.6/19 | 17.0 |
| 8) | Law & Order | NBC | Wed | 11.1/19 | 16.2 |
| 8) | The Simpsons | Fox | Sun | 8.9/13 | 16.2 |
| 10) | Will & Grace | NBC | Thu | 10.8/17 | 15.9 |
| space | |
| NET | VIEWERS |
| CBS | 13.7 |
| NBC | 11.3 |
| ABC | 9.4 |
| Fox | 8.0 |
| WB | 3.9 |
| UPN | 3.5 |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
Birds need gravity toswallow. Humans can swallow even while hanging upsidedown.
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