TV MONITOR: Last night's 11:00pm ET edition of both
ESPN's "SportsCenter" and CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight" led with
Red Sox P Pedro Martinez's arm injury and followed with
Marlins-Red Sox and Expos-Yankees. FSN's "Primetime" (Fox
Sports Net Detroit) led with Expos-Yankees and followed with
Mets-Orioles (THE DAILY).
SCHWING, EXCELLENT! In DC, Peter Carlson reports on the
new "punk golf" magazine called "Schwing!" The S.F.-based
title "covers the whitest of white-bread sports with a
distinctly punk sensibility. And somehow it makes sense.
Sort of." Carlson: "It's really a magazine for people who
love golfing but are hip enough to feel kind of goofy
playing the quasi-official sport of country club Republicans
in mint-green pants" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/20).
NOTES: A 30-second TV spot for ESPN's telecast of the
Asahi North American Sumo Championships was recently offered
for bidding on eBay. Pricing was set at $1,800, but no bids
were received (THE DAILY)....CBS saw an increase in its
average Saturday night viewer demos with its primetime
telecast of NASCAR's Pepsi 400 on Saturday, July 3. Among
women (18-49), the race earned a 2.5/12, up 19% over CBS's
summer Saturday night broadcast average of a 2.1/8. Among
men (18-49), the race earned a 4.2/19, up 133% over the
net's summer Saturday broadcast average of a 1.8/7 (VARIETY,
7/12 issue)....In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley writes that ESPN's
50 Greatest Athletes of the Century documentaries "have been
outstanding. But the practice of including celebrities who
are just fans in the testimonials about the athletes
continues to be annoying. ... We don't care what Billy
Crystal thinks about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
SENTINEL, 7/20)....The Spurs held an event yesterday to
officially launch the NBA's commemorative video, book and CD
documenting the Spurs' '99 championship season. A 60-minute
video chronicles the team's playoff run, while "One For San
Antonio" is a 112-page retrospective written by NBA
Publishing Ventures Exec Editor Jan Hubbard which features
150 pictures from the NBA Finals. The CD contains arena
anthems (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 7/20).
