DECADE: ESPN2's Suzy Kolber profiled NFL Commissioner
Paul Tagliabue on the 10-year anniversary of his hiring.
Kolber: "Under Tagliabue's guidance the NFL has grown in
financial power and worldwide popularity. ... ABC and ESPN
paid a record $9.2 billion to air the NFL in primetime
through the year 2005, part of a four-network deal totalling
over $17 billion. ... NFL paid attendance for the '98 season
was the highest in league history. ... And perhaps, most
significantly, the league has had labor peace over the last
11 years" ("NFL 2Night," ESPN2, 10/26).
CANADIAN ATTITUDES: In Toronto, James Christie cites an
ROI Sports and Entertainment Research poll which states that
one in five Canadian men "likes violence in sport." The
poll, which ROI Sports said was "paid for primarily" by NFL
Int'l, is "part of a larger study" that includes 12,000
respondents in 10 countries. The poll also found that
Australian men were second to Canada in their "taste for
violence in sport." A separate poll asked Canadians to name
their favorite sport to follow in the news, attend or watch
on TV. No. 1: NHL; No 2: MLB; No. 3: figure skating; No. 4:
golf; No. 5: NFL (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 10/27).
CHANGES AT THE CFL? In Toronto, Perry Lefko reports
that John Tory, who has been CFL Chair since '92, has
recently "sounded as though" the end of his tenure is near.
Tory: "I'm sort of thinking more seriously than I was before
about calling it a day. Before when I was thinking about
it, I was more readily persuadable than at this time."
Lefko notes that CFL President Jeff Giles is "considered a
possible candidate" to succeed Tory (TORONTO SUN, 10/27).