TV MONITOR: Last night's 11:00pm ET edition of ESPN's
"SportsCenter" (ESPN2 due to "Wednesday Night Baseball") led
with an update from the Knicks-Pacers, followed by Red Sox-
Expos. FSN's "FSN Primetime (Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh) led
with Red Sox-Expos, followed by Yankees-Phillies. CNN/SI's
"Sports Tonight" led with Red Sox-Expos, followed by
Yankees-Phillies (THE DAILY)....NBC's coverage of last
night's Knicks-Pacers Game Five earned a 10.3/17 overnight
Nielsen rating for 46 markets. In Indianapolis, the game
drew a 41.0/62 overnight and in N.Y., the game drew a
17.3/26 overnight (THE DAILY).
RACING: The DAILY RACING FORM's Matt Hegarty wrote that
ABC's decision to focus on Charismatic's injury after the
Belmont Stakes was "upsetting for some weak-kneed racing
lovers because that unavoidable question was hanging over
Charismatic's head: 'They shoot horses, don't they?'" But
ABC's "reward" for letting "the best story remain on center
stage" was "several stirring images" (DAILY RACING FORM,
6/9). ABC Sports Dir of PR Mark Mandel, on the Belmont's
6.6 overnight rating: "In the area of sports television on
weekend afternoons, that 6.6 stands out as an extremely high
number" (DRF, 6/8)....L.A.-based Youbet.com and Stations
Casinos have signed a letter of intent to jointly offer in-
home interactive race and sports wagering to NV residents,
with each owning 50% of the venture (Youbet.com).
BOXING: In San Jose, Michael Martinez profiled women's
boxing and wrote that "despite infrequent appearances,"
ESPN2 telecasts of female bouts "have outdrawn those of men"
and are "frequently the most exciting on any show." NV
State Athletic Commission Exec Dir Marc Ratner: "I think
there's a market for it" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 6/9). In
Detroit, Steve Crowe writes that ESPN drew a 1.5 cable
rating for women's boxing, "tripling what the men got in the
same time slot" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/10).
