MARIO RESTRUCTURES BID: In Pittsburgh, Ann Belser
writes that prospective Penguins Owner Mario Lemieux has
altered his financial bid for the team and now will get no
up-front payment. The latest plan has Lemieux putting the
$5M he was to receive from the team into the franchise and
instead getting a $750,000 annual salary as the team's
Managing Dir. The move not to take the $5M "may be a signal
that he is having difficulty meeting a goal" of $50M in
outside private investments. Another investor, CA-based Ron
Burkle, has decreased his stake in the team from $20M to
$15M (POST-GAZETTE, 8/18)....Meanwhile, in a "major keystone
step" toward Lemieux's efforts, the Allegheny Regional Asset
District board voted 6-1 to approve a multiyear,
multimillion-dollar grant to the Public Auditorium
Authority. The deal "relieves" the Penguins and SMG of
responsibility for certain debts related to past improvement
work at the arena (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/18).
MOUSE IS LOOSE: In N.Y., Geraldine Fabrikant interviews
Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner, whose strategy to right
Disney is to "streamline operations, sell nonstrategic
assets and get spending down." Schroder analyst David
Londoner would "be happy" to see Disney sell the Angels and
Mighty Ducks: "It is not a core business. I always worry
when chief executives buy sports teams. So many times, it
is ego-driven rather than bottom-line-oriented" (N.Y. TIMES,
8/18). In Orange County, Barbara Kingsley reports that
Disney gave MLB's Commissioner's Office "preliminary notice
of a potential sale" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 8/18).
OTHER NOTES: German National Team sweeper Lothar
Matthaeus signed with MLS and will be allocated to the
MetroStars next season. His deal is for around $1M, of
which $250,000 will come from the league while MLS sponsors
will "pick up the rest" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/18)....In
Chicago, Jay Mariotti writes that Bulls Chair Jerry
Reinsdorf is the "real villain" in the team's recent cost-
cutting moves: "As [Bulls GM Jerry] Krause dutifully cuts
the team payroll to little-league levels far below the NBA
minimum, who benefits from the bonanza of unspent profits?
Yep, Reinsdorf, who is pocketing the windfall and swimming
in a sea of green with his giddy investors" (SUN-TIMES,
8/18)....ESPN's Jason Jackson reported that Jazz players
"assisted in some of the early stages of clearance [of the
wreckage left by last week's tornado in Salt Lake City],
adding other helpful deeds as well" ("NBA Today," 8/17).
