ONE-ON-ONE: CNN's Larry King hosted former IU's men's
basketball coach BOBBY KNIGHT last night. Knight, on CNN/SI,
which first aired the tape that showed Knight choking player
Neil Reed: "That happened three years before and ... never
was an issue then and I don't know why it became a issue at
that point. ... I don't think [CNN/SI] handled it very well
at the time. I think that they went into this with a lot of
allegations to begin with and I think the tape and
subsequent interviews with people proved all of those
allegations to be false." Knight, on the media: "I've never
really had a great respect for the press across the board"
("Larry King Live," 9/27). In Indy, Terry Hutchens writes
that Knight revealed "little new" about himself but was
"unfailingly polite" with King (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 9/28).
NAMES: In Newark, Stewart & Sterling writes that Jets
Owner ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON IV "will help kick off a major
research initiative" today that "is aimed at preventing,
treating and curing" lupus within the next ten years.
Johnson is contributing $12M in seed money to the Alliance
for Lupus Research (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 9/28)....Saints RB
RICKY WILLIAMS, on filing a $35M countersuit against PERCY
"MASTER P" MILLER, NO LIMIT SPORTS and former agent LELAND
HARDY, for the rookie deal negotiated for Williams in '99:
"It wasn't the contract, it was just the way everything was
done. It wasn't done professionally. ... If I have to pay
them it's really not a big deal but I don't think I should
have to" ("Up Close," ESPN, 9/27)....In Atlanta, Tinah
Saunders writes that Fulton County marshals served eviction
papers to HOLYFIELD'S NEW SOUTH GRILL, a local restaurant in
which boxer EVANDER HOLYFIELD was a primary investor
(ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 9/28)....WAYNE GRETZKY "will be the
subject" of an IMAX film produced by DON and STEVE KEMPF for
release in September 2001 (DAILY VARIETY, 9/28)....In
Phoenix, Paola Boivin writes that singer NEIL YOUNG received
a Coyotes jersey backstage at Desert Sky Pavilion on Sunday
from two fans -- Coyotes C JOE JUNEAU and G SEAN BURKE
(ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 9/28)....In Milwaukee, Lori Nickel
profiles Packers President BOB HARLAN, who was "in the
middle" of lobbying residents to support a $295M renovation
of Lambeau Field, while he had "personal issues and family
obligations. His mother had passed away in Iowa and his son
[Bryan] resigned amid a scandal" with the Bears (MILWAUKEE
JOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/28)....In Portland, ME, Edward Murphy
reported that RESORT SPORTS NETWORK "laid off nearly" 10% of
its national staff on Tuesday, including 15 employees in its
Portland headquarters. The company said that it was
expecting layoffs because of its decision to "put a travel
agency up for sale and because of a shift back to its core
businesses of television production and distribution and
advertising sales for its television and Internet products."
Most of the layoffs involved employees in e-commerce
ventures (Portland PRESS-HERALD, 9/27)....The company
SHADOWPACK has created technology that transmits "esoteric
references" made by DENNIS MILLER directly to Internet-ready
cellphone or personal digital assistant (USA TODAY, 9/28).
