The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Friday, August 31, 2001
9:00am ET
| • | A Good Call? Replacement Officials Do "A Credible Job" In Philadelphia |
| • | Loss Leader: WUSA Announces Restructuring After Finishing $10M In The Red |
| • | The Worldwide Leader Looks To Conquer The Big Apple |
| • | Playing Rough In Ottawa: Domi Joins CFL Investor Group |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/Final Jeopardy!/TV Monitor |
PUBLISHING NOTICE:
The Morning Buzz will be taking a respite for the Labor Day Weekend. The Buzz will be back on Wednesday, September 5. Have a nice weekend.
REPLACEMENT REFS MAKE SUCCESSFUL DEBUT
NEWSDAY’s Bob Glauber reports, "If you didn’t know there was a nasty labor fight between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association, you would have thought" last night’s Jets-Eagles game "was just another preseason game with just another officiating crew." The contest featured no controversial calls and "other than never having heard their names and never having seen their faces, the men in black-and-white stripes sure looked and sounded the same" as the regular league officials (NEWSDAY, 8/31).
WITH INAUGURAL SEASON OVER WUSA ANNOUNCES RESTURCTURING
The WASHINGTON TIMES reports that the WUSA announced a "major restructuring" yesterday "aimed at cutting the estimated $10 million in losses incurred this season." The revised plan includes moving the league office from N.Y. to Atlanta, announcing the promotion of COO Tony DiCicco to Commissioner and promoting Beat and Spirit GM Lynn Morgan to President (WASHINGTON TIMES, 8/31).
ESPN RADIO’S N.Y. DEBUT SET FOR SATURDAY
NEWSDAY reports that ESPN Radio will debut tomorrow in the N.Y. market "as scheduled, but the first live broadcast in its 24-hour sports-talk format won’t begin until Tuesday." Over the Labor Day holiday "programming will be taped introductions and promotions, including highlights." ESPN parent ABC has a two-year lease on WEVD-AM, with "the option to purchase the 50,000-watt station for $78 million" (NEWSDAY, 8/31).
LEAFS’ TIE DOMI IN INVESTOR GROUP FOR CFL OTTAWA FRANCHISE
The OTTAWA SUN reports that Maple Leafs RW Tie Domi "has joined the group of investors vying to bring" a CFL franchise to Ottawa. Domi, a 31-year-old Windsor native "who has kicked in a couple of exhibition games for the Toronto Argos, was brought on board by Brad Watters and his father Bill, who is the assistant to the president with the Maple Leafs" (OTTAWA SUN, 8/31).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
D’Backs manager Bob Brenly along with LF Luis Gonzalez and P Miguel Batista had lunch with AZ Gov. Jane Hull on Thursday while the governor declared September as "Purple Passion Month" in honor of the first-place D’Backs (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 8/31)….Patrick Rafter on his clean cut image, "It’s a matter of time before I stuff up. I try to live as normally as I can. Sometimes, you act like a bit of a hooligan. I’ve got that in my blood. I’m pretty sensible, but at times we have our weak points. I just haven’t been caught yet" (MIAMI HERALD, 8/31)….Tennis’ Justin Gimelstob threw out the first pitch at last night’s Phillies-Mets game (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/31)….WUSA MVP Tiffeny Milbrett signed autographs for an hour and conducted a soccer exhibition at the N.Y. State Fair in Syracuse on Wednesday (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 8/31)….Today is the final day for Patriots season-ticket holders to return seating preferences for CMGI Field. Despite plans to have the highest average ticket price in the NFL at $73 at CMGI, the Patriots have had just eight cancellations (BOSTON HERALD, 8/31)…. FoxSports.com (http://www.foxsports.com) will be re-launched today (THE DAILY).
AT THE GATE: Game One of the WNBA Finals between the Sparks-Sting drew 16,132 to the Charlotte Coliseum (L.A. TIMES, 8/31)….Last night’s Bills-Steelers game had a crowd of 57,899, the second consecutive game at the new Heinz Field to draw less than 58,000. The facility holds 64,450 (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/31)….Attendance at yesterday’s session of the U.S. Open was 31,414 during the day and 23,033 at night (L.A. TIMES, 8/31).
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's episode of "Jeopardy" was part of "Teen Week" and the "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Political Parties."
"In 1850 it was the name of the party of the British Prime Minister and of the U.S. President."
THURSDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
FSN’s 10:30pm ET "National Sports Report" led with Red Sox-Indians.
ESPN’s 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Titans-Lions.
CNN/SI’s 11:00pm ET "Sports Tonight" led with Red Sox-Indians.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is the Whig Party?"
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