TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET edition of FSN's
"Fox Sports News" and the 11:00pm ET edition of CNN/SI's
"Sports Tonight" both led with Yankees DH Darryl Strawberry
testing positive for cocaine, followed by reaction to Bruins
D Marty McSorley's high-sticking incident on Canucks LW
Donald Brashear. The first NBA story on FSN, at 10:30 into
the broadcast, was an update on the health of Nets C Jayson
Williams, while the first NBA story on "Sports Tonight" at
5:40, was Lakers-Nets. Last night's 11:00pm ET edition of
ESPN's "SportsCenter" led with Lakers-Nets, followed by
Warriors-T'Wolves. ESPN reported on the McSorley incident
at 10:02 and the Strawberry story at 15:48 (THE DAILY).
MIKE BEHIND THE MIKE: USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke reports
that Mike Ditka "is in the final stages" of securing a
three- to four-year contract paying $450,000 annually to
join CBS' "NFL Today." Negotiations "are expected to
conclude in 7-10 days" (USA TODAY, 2/23). In Chicago, Ed
Sherman writes that CBS hopes Ditka brings "fire" and "big-
name appeal" to a show that "could use a ratings boost."
Sherman adds whether Ditka's arrival "means somebody is out
on 'NFL Today' remains to be seen" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/23).
NOTES: CBS MarketWatch's John Thorsberg reported that
Sports Illustrated's 2000 swimsuit issue will draw "about 56
million adult readers," which is "more than double" the
magazine's 23 million weekly readers. A basic full-page ad
in a regular SI issue costs $190,000, but in the swimsuit
issue, the price "surges" to $226,000. Toyota has "bought
up a lot of space" on CNNSI.com's "special issue Web pages
and also has ads in the magazine for its Lexus" brand (CBS
MarketWatch, 2/18)....MLS signed a deal for Telemundo to air
a series of 16 "Soccer Saturday" matches beginning Saturday,
March 18 and continuing through August 26 (MLS).
