| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Monday, January 7, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| • | Seifert, Schottenheimer and Mora Top List Of NFL Coaches On Bubble |
| • | Formal Negotiations For MLB’s CBA Begin Today In N.Y. |
| • | Women’s Events Draw Record-Breaking Crowds Over Weekend |
| • | Wristbands For Free Olympic Event Tickets Hit UT Today |
| • | Win, Place, TV Show? “Sopranos” To Shoot Episode At Aqueduct Today |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy!/Box Office |
SIDELINE STATUS OF NFL COACHES UNKNOWN AT SEASON’S END
As the NFL’s regular season comes to a close, the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER reports that Panthers coach George Seifert and the team, which finished the season 1-15, “will part ways today,” and that team Owner Jerry Richardson “has decided to fire Seifert with two years and about $5 million remaining on his contract” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/7).
Despite speculation on his future, Redskins coach Marty Schottenheimer, who guided his team to an 8-8 record after losing the first five games, said, “I'm going to sit down with [Owner Daniel Snyder] and we'll talk about all that. Would I like to come back? You bet your tail. I love coaching. And you know what -- and if this is arrogant, so be it -- I'm pretty damn good at it” (WASHINGTON POST, 1/7).
The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that the next 24 to 48 hours will see a “seismic change” at the top of the Colts' organizational chart. The only question, the one that “lingered after [coach Jim] Mora's wrenching and defiant postgame performance, was how all the craziness would shake out.” Mora, during a “tear-filled” news conference: “I want to coach here and I should be the coach here. I'll tell you that right now” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/7).
Meanwhile, Fox’s James Brown reported the Chargers are “interested” in hiring Bill Parcells as their next coach. Brown said Chargers Owner Alex Spanos “was turned down” by Jimmy Johnson and “now wants Parcells, which would help increase the overall value of the Chargers franchise and make it possible to move it to (L.A.)” (Fox, 1/6).
MLB BEGINS LABOR TALKS WITH CONTRACTION STILL LOOMING
USA TODAY reports “formal negotiations for baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement begin Tuesday” in N.Y. Meanwhile contraction hearings, which were in their seventh day on Friday, won’t resume until Thursday, when management attorneys continue their cross-examination of union attorneys (USA TODAY, 1/7).
MARQUEE WOMEN’S GAMES DRAW ALL TIME BEST CROWDS
The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reports that the women’s U.S. Olympic hockey team drew a crowd of 10,158 fans for their exhibition game versus Canada on Sunday at Joe Lewis Arena. The gathering “was the largest crowd to watch women’s hockey in the United States” (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 1/7).
Meanwhile, the Nashville TENNESSEAN reported that a game Saturday of the top two teams in women’s college basketball, the Univ. of CT-Univ. of TN, drew a crowd of 24,611, which “was the largest Division I women’s college crowd of all time.” Additionally, the game was broadcast to a national TV audience on CBS (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 1/6).
BAND ON THE HAND MAY GET YOU INTO OLYMPIC EVENTS FOR FREE
The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reported that 100 wristbands for tickets to the Olympic Medal Plaza “will be given out at each of the 35 Smith’s Tix outlets in Utah” starting at 10:00am MT today. Wristbands “will entitle the wearer to return to the same Smith's store on Thursday to select up to four tickets to the medals' presentations and concerts on one of the first five nights of competition during the 2002 Winter Games” (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 1/5).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The DETROIT NEWS reports the “hooliganism never materialized,” and the sellout crowd “was tame, although at times stunningly loud,” during the Lions’ final game at the Silverdome on Sunday. There was “no visible sign of property damage, either in the seating or concourse areas.” The team will move into Ford Field next season (DETROIT NEWS, 1/7).
NASCAR team Owner Ray Evernham will announce today that he “has secured a primary sponsor” for Casey Atwood's Winston Cup car. Sirius Satellite Radio “is sponsoring the No. 7 Dodge, co-owned by Evernham and Jim Smith” (USA TODAY, 1/7).
The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that Vivendi Universal’s pay-television unit Groupe Canal Plus and RTL Group, whose “main holder is German media concern Bertelsmann, have launched a takeover bid for the 15% of French sports-rights group Sport-five they don’t already own” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/7).
THOROUGHBRED TIMES reports that “The Sopranos” will shoot a segment at Aqueduct today “for an episode that will air sometime after the series begins its fourth season in September.” James Gandolfini and Stevie Van Zandt “will be at the track for the filming” (THOROUGHBRED TIMES, 1/6).
The OTTAWA SUN reports that all members of the San Jose Sharks’ front office “have been summoned to that city for a meeting” today to “find out about their status.” With the exception of Dir. of Pro Development Doug Wilson, everybody on the Sharks staff – “including GM Dean Lombardi -- is in the final year of their contract and the club is expected to be sold” (OTTAWA SUN, 1/7).
Longtime Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck “is recuperating in a local hospital after undergoing surgery” on Friday to “remove an intestinal blockage.” Buck, 77, had surgery for lung cancer in December. Joe Buck, son and fellow broadcaster: “This was completely unrelated to the last procedure. It's so fluky it happened so close to the other one. It's stunning it happened so close” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/6).
Kia Pauloff-Pecorelli of Ferndale, MI, carried the Olympic torch through Detroit on Sunday “in honor of her husband, Tom Pecorelli, who died Sept. 11 on American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the World Trade Center.” Pecorelli was a camera operator for Fox Sports (DETROIT FREE-PRESS, 1/7).
TODAY’S EVENTS
Grizzlies F Lorenzen Wright, G Nick Anderson and sideline reporter Nikki McCray will visit Ridgeway Middle School at 1:00pm CT to help teach students about the importance of reading as part of the team’s Read To Achieve program (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 1/7).
IN OTHER NEWS….
This week’s NEWSWEEK features a cover story on April Ray, who was married to a member of Al Qauda, with the tagline, “Married to Al Qaeda.” TIME’s cover story looks at the new Apple iMac.
The FINANCIAL TIMES reports Ford Motor Co.’s BOD this week will “approve a wide ranging US restructuring expected to involve up to 20,000 job losses, the closure of plants and aggressive capacity cutbacks” (FINANCIAL TIMES, 1/7).
Incoming AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons is expected today to deliver “a conservative outlook for 2002, with an eye toward rebuilding trust with shareholders” (FINANCIAL TIMES, 1/7).
The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports Walt Disney Chair & CEO Michael Eisner “didn’t receive a bonus for fiscal 2001, the second time in three years that the Disney chief was denied bonus compensation because of the company’s poor performance.” Eisner is paid a base salary of $1M (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/7).
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” was named movie of the year at the American Film Institute’s inaugural AFI Awards (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 1/7).
Meanwhile, the National Society of Film Critics selected David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” as best picture for ’01 (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 1/7).
USA TODAY reports the ’02 Nissan Altima was named North American Car of the Year, while the ’02 Chevrolet TrailBlazer won North American Truck of the Year at Sunday’s North American Int’l Auto Show in Detroit (USA TODAY, 1/7).
EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS
Below are this week’s confirmed earnings announcements for sports-business related companies (THE DAILY).
| DATE | SYMBOL | COMPANY | QUARTER |
| 1/9 | TOPP | Topps | Q3 2002 |
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Friday night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "19th Century Presidents."
“Other than FDR, he’s the only Democrat to receive his party’s Presidential nominations in three straight elections.”
LAUGH TRACK
NBC’s Jay Leno: “They’re tightening up security everywhere. In fact, next year at the Rose Bowl, security will be so tight, they want to make sure teams that aren’t supposed to be there don’t get through.” Leno, on the Rose Bowl: “The game was 34-0 at halftime. Even the Detroit Lions are going, ‘Come on, what are you doing?’” (“Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/4).
SUNDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
FSN’s 11:00pm ET “National Sports Report” led with. Jets-Raiders.
ESPN’s 11:30pm ET “SportsCenter” led with Jets-Raiders.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"Who was Grover Cleveland?”
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
| Title | This Weekend | Cumulative |
| The Lord of the Rings | $23M | $205.5M |
| A Beautiful Mind | $17M | $38.2M |
| Ocean’s Eleven | $11.8M | $152.7M |
| Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius | $9.2M | $62.5M |
| The Royal Tennenbaums | $8.8M | $21M |
| Ali | $7.6M | $50.1M |
| Vanilla Sky | $7.4M | $81.4M |
| Kate & Leopold | $6.7M | $31.1M |
| Harry Potter | $6.1M | $300.6M |
| Monsters, Inc. | $4M | $244.8M |
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