Pete Rose will help launch today an Internet Hall-of-
Fame petition with www.sportcut.com, a new
sports/entertainment Web site, according to USA TODAY's Mike
Dodd. Fans will be asked to go to sportcut.com to vote on
whether Rose should be allowed entry into Baseball's Hall of
Fame (USA TODAY, 11/30). Rose appeared on CBS' "The Early
Show" this morning for an 8:15 interview with Bryant Gumbel
to discuss his attempts at reinstatement in MLB. MLB Exec
VP/Administration Robert Dupuy will meet in early 2000 with
Rose's attorney Roger Makley. Following the interview,
Gumbel said, "Let me make note here, that you can access the
Pete Rose petition at sportcut.com." A graphic then was
shown with the Web address (CBS, 11/30). Worldwide
Entertainment & Sports and sportcut.com Chair Charles
Koppelman appeared on "Biz Buzz." Koppelman, asked how his
site will "get people's attention" with other competition:
"It's not really a lot of competition. ... If you want to
buy something in the sports world, you have specific places
you can go to, ... but that's all you're going to do there.
If you want information and irreverent content, you've got
some places to go to, but you're not going to be able to buy
very much. If you want entertainment and games in the
sports world, you've got some other places to go to.
Sportcut has all of the above" ("Biz Buzz," CNNfn, 11/29).
SO SORRY: FSN's Keith Olbermann noted that Rose said
that NBC/TNT's Craig Sager "apologized" to him after his
World Series interview with NBC's Jim Gray. Olbermann added
that Sager "immediately denied that, adding he hasn't even
spoken to Rose about the interview." Olbermann: "I worked
with Craig Sager for three years at CNN and with Jim Gray
for two at NBC, and of the hundreds of ex-colleagues I have,
they may be the two who are the most likely to tell the
truth no matter the consequences. And Gray may be the guy
who is the least concerned with advancing his own career at
somebody else's expense" ("Primetime," FSN, 11/29).