It is "hardly surprising -- and a wise decision -- that
Turner Broadcasting has linked the New York Goodwill Games
... to the Olympic cachet in as many ways as possible,"
according to Steve Zipay of NEWSDAY, who notes that during
Sunday's prime-time broadcast of the event, "the connections
to past Olympics were inescapable, not only with highlights
and references to records but also in employing the Olympic
TV format, alternating events and taped profiles." In
addition, Ted Turner announced that the 2001 Games will be
held in Australia, one year after the 2000 Summer Games.
Zipay: "Turner executives deny the choice of locale was to
rankle Australian and Turner nemesis Rupert Murdoch, but in
the media-mogul business, capitalizing on any chance to
tweak a rival is sound gamesmanship" (NEWSDAY, 7/21).
SEE ALL GOOD PEOPLE TURN THEIR HEADS EACH DAY: Turner
was profiled and interviewed by Maureen O'Boyle of "Extra"
during her nightly report from the Games. Turner: "Doing
good is always fun. You always feel better when you do good
things than when you do bad things. Hitler wasn't nearly as
happy as Bob Hope." Turner, on what dreams he still has:
"I've got a long list. I'd like to see everybody start
acting like educated, intelligent, kind-hearted human
beings. That's what I'd like to see first. Then I'd like
to win an NBA Championship" ("Extra," 7/20).
