The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Wednesday, July 11, 2001
9:00am ET
| • | Prentice Tries For Fourth Time To Join MLB |
| • | Contraction? The Whole World Is Watching! |
| • | Is There A Championship Coming To Your Area? |
| • | Are National Security & Defense Spending Mutually Exclusive? |
| • | A Lighter Buzz |
| • | Puffy In Amish Country |
MILES PRENTICE TO FORM GROUP INTERESTED IN BUYING RED SOX
The BOSTON GLOBE reports that Miles Prentice "has been cleared" by MLB to review the Red Sox' "confidential financial records." Prentice joins five other groups with approval from MLB to study the team’s finances. Prentice’s group "includes several New Englanders," and "several wealthy Bostonians…may soon join in his bid." Prentice previously has been involved in three other attempts to purchase an MLB franchise, most recently the Royals (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/11).
ALL-STAR GAME SHINES IN SEATTLE BUT IS CONTRACTION COMING?
The SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER reports that MLB’s All-Star game was played "under a sparkling summer afternoon" while "tens of thousands of fans at Safeco Field – and millions more around the globe – marveled at Seattle’s beauty." The game was a chance "for Mariners fans to celebrate the team’s remarkable first half; a night in which the world could root for Seattle’s Ichiro" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 7/11).
Meanwhile, the threat of contraction looms over the game and there have been suggestions that a mock schedule for next year contains only 28 of the existing 30 teams. But MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr dismissed those rumors last night by saying, "As far as we know [we] haven’t seen any schedule for 28 teams" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/11).
BOSTON, DALLAS & BALTIMORE LAND CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
The BOSTON GLOBE reports that the WUSA has scheduled a press conference in Boston today to announce the league’s championship game, "which is likely to be" held at Foxboro Stadium on August 25th (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/11).
Meanwhile, the DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that SMU and Dallas have landed "another college soccer plum," as they will host the ’02 and ’04 NCAA men’s soccer championships (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/11).
Finally, the Baltimore SUN reports that PSINet Stadium "was approved as the site" for the ’03 and ’04 NCAA men’s lacrosse championships. Baltimore "faced no alternate bidders competing for the tournament’s climax" in the two years (Baltimore SUN, 7/11).
OLYMPIC SECURITY ISSUES DOMINATE IN U.S. & MOSCOW
The AP reports that an amendment "that would have taken $60 million from security preparations" for the ’02 Games was defeated late Tuesday. Scrapping the Olympic funding was part of an $847M plan by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) "for strapped defense programs." The McCain amendment failed, 83-16 (AP/WASHINGTO POST, 7/11).
Meanwhile, security for the IOC meetings in Moscow was tightened "after organizers discovered an undisclosed number of news-media credentials were missing." IOC Dir General Francois Carrard said the security risk was "not a major problem." Carrard: "After discussions with the [Moscow] organizing committee, they don’t want to take any risks with security. We want to follow the advice of security authorities here" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 7/11).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
Fortune Group Editor John Huey will become Editorial Director at Time Inc. and the No. 2 man to Editor-in-Chief Norman Pearlstine. Huey’s duties include overseeing People, Time and Sports Illustrated (N.Y. POST, 7/11)…New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell "is threatening to boycott" the New Zealand Open over rising ticket prices "as organizers bid to recoup $2 million in appearance money demanded by Tiger Woods." A weeklong ticket costs $205 this year compared to $20.50 last year (AP/ESPN.com, 7/11)….AOL Time Warner laid off "about 30 people" in its online marketing division yesterday in an attempt to cut payroll (WASHINGTON POST, 7/11)….Magazine ad pages for June dropped 18.6% over the same month from last year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. This comes after May saw a 16.9% slide, while April’s sales dropped 9.5% (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/11)….Cable networks are "following their broadcast brethren" by drastically reducing prices during upfront sales (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 7/11).
LAUGH TRACK
Last night's "Top Ten" list, read by Sean "Puffy" Combs, was "Top Ten Things You'll Never Hear In A Puffy Song" ("Late Show," CBS, 7/10).
| 10. | "Everyone in Amish country say, 'Yeah!'" |
| 9. | "Ladies, those skirts are much too short. Please put on some clothes." |
| 8. | "With this new denture adhesive I can eat corn on the cob again!" |
| 7. | "I wanna give a shout out to the United States Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta." |
| 6. | "Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow." |
| 5. | "What rhymes with 'chrysanthemum.'" |
| 4. | "I've got spring-mounted shelves to protect my hummel figurines from earthquakes." |
| 3. | "I saw a great rerun of 'The Golden Girls' last night." |
| 2. | "I would now like everyone to call me 'Larry.'" |
| 1. | "Does my ass look big?" |
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Organizations"
"'A Simple, Decent Place To Live' is Millard Fuller's book about the history of this organization."
TUESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
FSN’s 10:30pm ET "National Sports Report" led with a report that Devil Rays 1B Fred McGriff will be traded to the Cubs.
ESPN’s 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with an injury update on Red Sox P Pedro Martinez.
CNN/SI’s 11:00pm ET "Sports Tonight" also led with Martinez.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is Habitat For Humanity?"
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