| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, November 8, 2001
9:00am ET | |
| • | Sources Say Contraction Meetings May Begin Today |
| • | Army Gives Seal Of Approval To Olympic Security |
| • | D’Backs’ World Series Parade Goes Off Without A Hitch |
| • | Stringer Family Expected To Announce $100M Lawsuit |
| • | Dynegy May Acquire Houston-Based Rival Enron |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
MEETINGS ON CONTRACTION COULD BEGIN AS EARLY AS TODAY
The AP reports, "Baseball and union representatives could meet as soon as Thursday to discuss which teams will be eliminated, possibly before the new season starts next spring." During the World Series, MLB managers "asked that players be available for a meeting" today, and several players "were expected to attend." However, according to a source, there "was a chance the meeting could be scrapped at the last minute" (AP, 11/8).
MLB Senior VP/PR Rich Levin: "I know they’re going to try and do it as soon as they can. I just know it will be this week or next week" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 11/8).
The WASHINGTON POST reports that, in light of MLB’s plans to contract two franchises, House Judiciary Committee member Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) "plans to introduce legislation next week to reduce Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption, according to two staff members of the committee" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/8).
ESPN.com MLB columnist Rob Neyer takes an extensive look at contraction under the header, "Nothing Good Will Come Of Contraction" (ESPN.com, 11/8).
ARMY SURVEYS OLYMPIC SITES, SAYS WINTER GAMES WILL BE SAFE
The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reports that U.S. Secretary of the Army Thomas White, after "spending a morning in the air assessing Olympic venues from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter," declared Wednesday that "the 2002 Games will be safe – thanks in part to an ubiquitous military presence." White: "I am absolutely confident that we are going to have a wonderful, safe and secure Olympics" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/8).
Meanwhile, General Motors Wednesday "turned over the keys to some of the 5,000 vehicles it will provide as part of its sponsorship of the 2002 Winter Olympics," which included 200 full-size vans that will shuttle athletes to their workouts and competitions. GM subsidiary Chevrolet also "is providing 50 vehicles for the Olympic torch relay that will crisscross the country" starting December 4 and ending February 8 (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/8).
D’BACKS PARADE FILLS PHOENIX WITH COOPERATIVE FANS
The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that D’Backs fans crowded downtown Phoenix on Wednesday for a parade honoring the World Series champions. The crowd, "variously estimated at 125,000 to 400,000, including 47,000 who nearly filled Bank One Ballpark, drew plaudits from police, who made no arrests and faced few serious crowd-control problems" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/8).
STRINGER FAMILY TO FILE $100M LAWSUIT AGAINST VIKINGS TODAY
The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reports, "Amid tense relations with the Minnesota Vikings and upset by a state report that cleared the team of wrongdoing," relatives of the late Vikings OL Korey Stringer are "expected to announce plans today for a $100 million wrongful-death lawsuit." The claim "will probably name some coaches, some training staff members and a team doctor, as well as the team itself" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/8).
HOUSTON-BASED DYNEGY MAY ACQUIRE RIVAL ENRON IN MERGER
The HOUSTON CRONICLE reports in a front-page story that Dynegy "was in advanced talks Wednesday night to acquire troubled rival Enron Corp., according to people familiar with the matter." The sources added that a merger "could be announced as early as today between the two Houston-based energy traders, which had been talking for about a week." Results of the merger, including whether the Enron name will disappear from Enron Field, are "difficult to gauge" until after the deal is announced (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/8).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
TNT's Charles Barkley, on Clippers F Lamar Odom being suspended five games for violating the NBA's drug policy: "The NBA doesn't help. They spend all this money on drug prevention and the NBA's got the solution: They give you a five-day vacation and let you come back to work. We got to find a way to get these kids some help ("Inside The NBA," TNT, 11/7).
The TORONTO SUN reports the Blue Jays asked the Yankees to interview Mark Newman, their VP/Baseball Operations, but Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner "denied the request." Newman recently signed a five-year deal with the Yankees (TORONTO SUN, 11/8).
The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that for last night’s Red Wings-Coyotes game at America West Arena, "at least" 50% of fans "showed up wearing red and white." Coyotes coach Bobby Francis, on the lack of a home-crowd advantage: "We live in a transient city. It’s that way with all the Original Six teams and Philadelphia" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/8).
Heisman Trophy ballots are being sent to media electors and past Heisman winners today. Fans can participate with one Heisman vote cast as the Suzuki Collective Fan Vote. The ballots will be tabulated by Deloitte & Touche, and the winner will be announced on December 8 (THE DAILY).
Yankees manager Joe Torre spoke yesterday at a management conference sponsored by Fortune magazine at the N.Y. Sheraton. Torre spoke about dealing with the Yankees’ recent World Series loss: "I don’t like to deal with negatives. I like to look at positives. I won’t tell you what you can’t do. The opposition will tell you" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/8).
The BOSTON GLOBE’s Bob Ryan, after watching Michael Jordan during last night’s Wizards-Celtics game, writes, "This is Michael Jordan’s third incarnation, and though the spirit is mighty, the flesh is, well, suspect." Ryan: "This … is a good player, but he is also someone teams can deal with" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/8).
The BOSTON HERALD reports that Killington, VT, "which prides itself on being the first New England ski area to open each season, has earned that honor again." The resort opened Tuesday with both natural and man-made snow on the slopes (BOSTON HERALD, 11/8).
"Tiger Woods: How I Play Golf" dropped from No. 12 to No. 23 on the USA TODAY list of Best-Selling Books (USA TODAY, 11/8).
TODAY’S EVENTS
The ECHL Greenville Grrrowl will visit Greenville Hospital System’s Children Hospital at 2:00pm ET. Players will join announcer Bill McLaughlin and team mascot, Grrruff, in visiting patients and giving out supplies and team memorabilia (THE DAILY).
Celtics players C Mark Blount and SF Roshown McLeod will join front office staff and FSN-New England’s "Coach" Willie Maye at a special assembly honoring middle school students in the Boston Stay in School program from 9:30-10:30am ET. The program is a collaboration among the Celtics, McDonald’s, Sprite, the New England Sports Museum and Boston Public Schools (THE DAILY).
Magic F’s Bo Outlaw, Pat Garrity, C Steven Hunter and G Jeryl Sasser join approximately 50 fourth-grade students from Wheatley Elementary school to launch American Education Week from 2:00-3:00pm ET. The players will unveil the school’s media center and deliver books to the library (THE DAILY).
The DALLAS MORNING NEWS reported the WISL Dallas Sidekicks "expect about 12,000 students" to attend the club’s first "Cool School Game." M Nick Stavrou will present a Fit-For-Life program prior to the 11:00am CT game versus the Utah Freezz (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/7).
Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS will appear on NASCAR.com for a live chat at 5:00pm ET. Sterling Martin will be driving a KISS-sponsored car at the Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 11 (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS…
Microsoft announced Wednesday that Charter Communications "would deploy Microsoft’s interactive-television software in a million homes" on Charter’s cable systems (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/8).
The N.Y. POST reports BusinessWeek "has lopped another 39 people from its staff," citing a "bleak" ad environment that caused a 37% drop in ad revenue this year (N.Y. POST, 11/8).
The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports that ABC "has seen its ratings decline at a steeper rate than its peers" since the beginning of the TV season, and as a result, "ad sales are taking a hit. Media buyers said the network will be forced to offer free commercial slots to advertisers – eating into inventory of ad space it otherwise could have sold" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/8).
LAUGH TRACK
Jay Leno said 40 million people watched the World Series Game Seven last week. Leno: "The sad part, most of those people watching the TV were airport security guards." Leno said "all the news networks" are airing video of Osama bin Laden talking, but asked, "Did you see what Fox is doing? Fox Network – they are shameless." Leno aired the bin Laden video with virtual ads behind his head of Fox shows "24," "The Tick" and "Temptation Island 2." Leno: "They're promoting their shows on the wall of the cave. ... That's wrong" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 11/7).
Last night's "Top Ten" list was "Top Ten Things That Will Get You Kicked Out Of The Taliban" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/7).
| 10. | "Lighting up in a smoke-free cave." |
| 9. | "On enlightening journey to Mecca, suggesting you go see 'K-Pax.'" |
| 8. | "Questioning strategy of battling Stealth bombers with a stick." |
| 7. | "Overdrawing your checking account at Talibank." |
| 6. | "Nominating Al Gore for membership because he has a beard." |
| 5. | "After President Bush speech, remarking, 'You know, the guy has some valid points about us being completely insane.'" |
| 4. | "Shaving your beard just to see if the Gillette Mach 3 with patented comfort edges really does give you the cleanest, smoothest shave possible." |
| 3. | "Parking your camel in the supreme leader's space." |
| 2. | "Calling Osama bin Laden by his real first name, 'Earl.'" |
| 1. | "Mailing Anthrax without proper postage." |
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's edition of "Jeopardy" was part of "College Championships" week. The "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Legendary Characters."
"Led by Nicholas, a German boy, the children's crusade of 1212 may have been the inspiration for this character."
WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
FSN’s 10:30pm ET "National Sports Report" led with Wizards-Celtics.
ESPN’s 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Wizards-Celtics.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"Who was the Pied Piper?"
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