AT THE WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS: In San Diego, Jay
Popper notes the number of upsets at yesterday's Andersen
Consulting Match Play Championships, including the defeats
of Ernie Els, Mark O'Meara and Davis Love III. ABC Sports
Golf Producer Jack Graham: "Sure, we're a little
disappointed from a TV standpoint" (UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/25).
In Toronto, Michael Grange reports that "heavy traffic" and
the "burden of a new scoring system" for the Andersen
Championship caused "some delays" on the PGA Tour's site at
www.pgatour.com. But the event "has proved a hit" for fans.
Producer Charlie Schmitt: "We haven't got our numbers yet,
but from talking to our staff, it looks like there is more
interest than an average tournament" (GLOBE & MAIL, 2/25).
NOTES: In Seattle, Ronald Tillery reported that Sonics
F Vin Baker's weekly radio show on KJR was "pulled" Tuesday,
"apparently at the request of" Sonics GM Wally Walker.
There were "league concerns" that Baker's radio stipend
"might be a way for the Sonics to circumvent the league
salary cap." The radio station and the Sonics are both
owned by Barry Ackerley (POST-INTELLIGENCER, 2/24)...In St.
Petersburg, Brian Landman writes that FSU will play
Louisiana Tech on August 28 after Auburn backed out of the
September 2 game. The August 28 game will be televised by
ESPN2 and Landman reports that the ACC "probably will not
follow through" with its threat to sue Auburn for $850,000
in lost revenues (ST. PETE TIMES, 2/25)....In Portland, KGW-
NBC's Nielsen ratings of Blazers games "are about even" with
last season. Three telecasts this year of games against the
Sonics, Pacers and Warriors averaged a 12.4/20.7, compared
to last year's 12.6/21.3 three game avg. (OREGONIAN, 2/24).
LEGAL BATTLE BREWING: CBS and Fox, joined by ABC, NBC
and affiliate groups, have asked a Miami federal judge to
stop DirecTV from beaming their programs into customers
homes. The action comes after DirecTV announced plans to
drop its network programming supplier PrimeTime 24 to offer
the networks' programming "directly to its customers" per a
previous court order (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/25).
