TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET (late due to MLB)
30-minute edition of FSN's "National Sports Report" led with
news on the Blue Ribbon Task Force Report on MLB economics
and the possible elimination of two MLB franchises, followed
by Mets-Red Sox. The first non-MLB report, at 20:31 into
the broadcast, was news that Lakers Exec VP Jerry West may
resign. "NSR" did not report on the Tour de France. Last
night's 11:00pm ET 30-minute edition of CNN/SI's "Sports
Tonight" led with Mets-Red Sox, followed by Braves-Orioles.
The first non-MLB report, at 6:16, was Mark Messier's return
to the Rangers. "Sports Tonight" reported on the Tour de
France at 25:58. Last night's 11:00pm ET 60-minute edition
of ESPN's "SportsCenter" led with Mets-Red Sox, followed by
Braves-Orioles. The first non-MLB report, at 12:11, was
Messier's return to the Rangers. "SportsCenter" reported on
the Tour de France at 38:17 (THE DAILY).
TAKING A FEW HITS: Wimbledon's official Web site,
located at www.wimbledon.org and powered by IBM, reported
total site traffic during this year's event reached 2.3
billion hits, topping last year's site record of 942 million
hits. The busiest day was July 7, during the Andre Agassi-
Patrick Rafter match, which saw the site average 963,948
hits per minute. During the Serena Williams-Venus Williams
semifinal, traffic peaked at 885,499 hits per minute (IBM).
LETTER TO THE BOSS: In Baltimore, Milton Kent writes an
open letter to Comcast President Brian Roberts offering his
suggestions after Comcast's purchase of Home Team Sports
(HTS): "Truth be told, ... the worst thing that has happened
at HTS is that its leaders failed to stand up for themselves
when the Orioles came crying about what announcers said
about the team's performance." Kent also suggests that
Comcast "leave the channel name alone" (Balt. SUN, 7/14).
PATRICK TOO CHUMMY? In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes that
ESPN Radio host Dan Patrick and Blue Jays P David Wells "had
a back-slapping, good-ol'-boy good time trashing" SI writer
Jeff Pearlman on a show this week. Mushnick notes that
Patrick was "shamelessly pandering" to Wells. Mushnick:
"Had Pearlman worked for ESPN's magazines, as do several
former SI staffers, do you think this interview would've
gone in the same direction? Neither do I" (N.Y. POST, 7/14).
