OLYMPIC TORCH TO FINALLY REACH ITS DESTINATION TODAY

The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reports that bearers of the Olympic torch "will enter the Salt Lake Valley through Emigration Canyon" today, and "tens of thousands of people are expected to throng Salt Lake City streets from the torch's arrival" at about 4:00pm MT until it comes to rest around 10:00pm MT at the downtown City-County Building (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 2/7).

Last night, NBC continued to air its Coca-Cola Olympic Torch Relay. The spot featured Kevin Schultz, son of a Marine who dedicates his time to assisting veterans. Schultz was shown carrying the flame through Orem, UT (NBC, 2/6).

USA TODAY has collected national commentaries from writers who "strove to explain how the torch filled their cities and towns with the spirit of the Olympics" as it worked its way across the country to Salt Lake City (USA TODAY, 2/7).

The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reports that U.S. short-track speedskater Amy Peterson "will carry the U.S. flag into the Opening Ceremony" on Friday. Peterson, a three-time Olympic medal winner, "won the vote of captains of all of the various sports teams that make up the 211-member U.S. team" late Wednesday night (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/7). Meanwhile, skeleton racer Jim Shea Jr. "was chosen to take the athlete's oath in the same secret-ballot vote of team captains." His grandfather, also an Olympian, had the same honor at the 1932 Games in Lake Placid, NY (AP, 2/6).

Meanwhile, the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reports, "Two points became clear at Wednesday's dress rehearsal for Friday's Opening Ceremony of the 2002 Winter Games: Go early. Dress warmly." It took "roughly an hour for most spectators to get through the security checkpoint" at the southwest corner of the Univ. of UT's Rice-Eccles Stadium (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 2/7).

OLYMPIC AD WATCH: MONSTER.COM & THE IOC

MONSTER.com and the IOC each take out a full-page ad in USA TODAY. Monster's ad touts the message, "When The Olympics Are Over, We're All Yours," adding, "Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games Employees Are Now Available For Hire." The IOC runs another installment of its "Celebrate Humanity" campaign (USA TODAY, 2/7).

CART TO PLAY BY IRL ENGINE AND CHASSIS RULES BY '03

USA TODAY reports that CART is "set to align its engine and chassis rules" with the rival IRL starting in '03. The new regulations will be announced at CART's preseason "Sneak Preview," beginning today at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA (USA TODAY, 2/7).

PHILADELPHIA BECOMES THE CENTER OF THE BASKETBALL WORLD

The PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS reports that with today's official start of NBA All-Star Weekend, "the city's vibe will crackle with a bit more electricity than usual in anticipation of all the fun, festivities, parties and – almost incidentally – a Sunday All-Star Game." Included in the events surrounding All-Star Weekend is the NBA Jam Fest at the PA Convention Center, which contains 300,000 square feet of interactive basketball-related activities (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 2/7).

Also in Philadelphia, legends of the NBA gather today to honor the memory of HOFer Wilt Chamberlain and unveil the renovations to the Shepard Recreation Center. The NBA and the 76ers join IBM as partners in the renovations, which include a new Reading and Learning Center. Festivities begin at 1:45pm ET (THE DAILY).

The City of Brotherly Love also hosted the WNBA "Opportunity Day" yesterday at the Palestra, held in front of 200 high school students. In addition to WNBA stars, the event featured "professionals in coaching, sports journalism, sports marketing, sports broadcasting and sports medicine and training" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 2/7).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

During last night's Kings-Celtics game, the FleetCenter featured highlights of the Patriots Super Bowl win during a third quarter timeout. Patriots DE Bobby Hamilton, RB J.R. Redmond, WR Fred Coleman and C Lonnie Paxton were at the game and were recognized by the crowd with a standing ovation. Kings C Vlade Divac walked over to the players and shook their hands (BOSTON HERALD, 2/7).

CBS' David Letterman: "A couple of days ago up there in Boston, they had their victory parade for the Patriots, and the Red Sox all showed up just to see what is was like. But up in Boston, they don't have that many victory parades, so they had to borrow our key to the city" ("Late Show," CBS, 2/6).

USA TODAY profiles the NFL Pro Bowl in HI this weekend and writes, "The relationship between Hawaii and the NFL is like a good marriage. Both sides benefit." While the athletes "love performing in a tropical setting," HI Gov. Ben Cayetano estimates that the state will see an $80M economic impact from the game this year, including direct and indirect revenue (USA TODAY, 2/7).

NHL fans generously supported Hockey Fights Cancer and Hockey's All-Star Kids during the Nextel '02 NHL All-Star Weekend. The Hockey Fights Cancer online charity auction raised $277,676.94, while the NHL All-Star Celebrity Challenge raised $62,882. At the All-Star FANtasy, fans contributed $18,755.33 in donations for having the opportunity to have their picture taken with the Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, the NHL donated more than $64,000 in tickets to various L.A.-based nonprofit programs (THE DAILY).

USA TODAY continues its "Ten Olympic Athletes To Watch" series with a profile of Cammi Granato, "the only player on the U.S. women's hockey team since its inception in 1990, and its all-time leading goal scorer" (USA TODAY, 2/7).

The BOSTON HERALD reports that Red Sox co-Owner John Henry "made the rounds of the Bay State's congressional delegation yesterday in Washington." Henry was joined at the power lunch with co-Owners Tom Werner and George Mitchell, the former Senate Majority Leader from ME (BOSTON HERALD, 2/7).

John Daly, on what his hometown, Dardanelle, AR, has to offer: "Wal-Mart, McDonald's, what more do you need?" (L.A. TIMES, 2/7).

TODAY'S EVENTS

Nike will officially present the '02 team Swift Skins for the Australian, Dutch and USA Speedskating teams at the Nike UT '02 Media Center at noon MT. The event will also be shown as a Webcast at Nike's media-only Web site (THE DAILY).

A's GM Billy Beane joins Giants manager Dusty Baker and S.F. Mayor Willie Brown as speakers at FSN's 12^th Annual Bay Area Baseball Luncheon at noon PT at the Building One Lobby at Treasure Island, CA (THE DAILY).

IOC President Jacques Rogge joins McDonald's CEO Jack Greenberg and Gold Medallists Bonnie Blair and Carl Lewis in hosting a McDonald's crew rally and Big Mac-building competition from 9:00-10:30am MT at the McDonald's restaurant on 210 West 5^th South, UT (THE DAILY).

IN OTHER NEWS….

The FINANCIAL TIMES reported Rupert Murdoch and his European television execs will meet today to "discuss proposals to take control of Kirch pay-TV or trigger an option that could bankrupt Mr. Leo Kirch's entire media empire" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 2/6). DAILY VARIETY adds that the German government "was pressing Kirch to sell assets, such as … its majority share in Formula One motor racing, to prevent a takeover by Murdoch's News Corp." (DAILY VARIETY, 2/7).

The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that UPS today will launch a $45M ad campaign that asks, "What can brown do for you?" The ads highlight UPS' "growing logistics, finance and international reach," and will "appear during the Winter Olympics and in business publications" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/7).

William Shatner is "beaming back for an encore performance" as PRICELINE.com's celebrity pitchman. Shatner signed a new contract with the online travel site to do radio and television advertising for an undisclosed fee (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/7).

The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports that Time, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report "grew their circulations by running up huge increases in their traditionally modest newsstand sales." According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, Time and Newsweek "each had an 80% rise in their average weekly newsstand sales during the second half of 2001, over the year before" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/7).

DAILY VARIETY reports that NBC "is close to paying roughly $8 million a year" to keep "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien at the network for another four years (DAILY VARIETY, 2/7).

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the Oxygen network "laid off 24 workers last week, a consequence of the network's move to cut its live daily 'Pure Oxygen' from 90 minutes to 60 minutes" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/7).

The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports, "Red-faced staffers at MSNBC were still apologizing yesterday for a major spelling goof that appeared on-air Tuesday. During an interview with Republican consultant Niger Innis, who is African-American, a producer, in creating an on-screen graphic, wrote 'Nigger Innis'" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/7).

FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION

Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Cities."

"Founded in 1565, it is the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the Continental (U.S.)."

LAUGH TRACK

Jay Leno, on the NBA All-Star Weekend events: "The big one -- my favorite – [is] the father and illegitimate son basketball game."

Leno: "(L.A.) Mayor James Hahn has promised that (L.A.) will have a professional football team within five years. And today, the mayor of Detroit made the same promise to his city." Leno, on Paul McCartney's upcoming tour: "The bad news? He's singing with Terry Bradshaw."

During last night's edition of CBS' "Late Show," Patriots K Adam Vinatieri appeared to discuss his Super Bowl-winning kick. Vinatieri said after winning the Super Bowl, "I'm sure there was many Hurricanes consumed that night" in New Orleans. Vinatieri, on being superstitious: "There's some kickers out there that are like that. I'm pretty mellow, I guess, as far as that's concerned." David Letterman told Vinatieri, "You're like Mr. Bigshot now for the next year. You're the guy who won the Super Bowl." Later in the show, Vinatieri from atop a building attempted several kicks from the rooftop to another rooftop where Donald Trump was waiting to catch the kick. Letterman: "I don't want you going up there pulling a bunch a ligaments or something and having to lay out next year because of this dumb thing." Vinatieri, after missing a kick left, said he "basically has to aim right over the cameraman, so I hope he's got workman's comp" insurance. Letterman, to Vinatieri after he missed several kicks, asked, "Is Donald Trump bothering you?" ("Late Show," CBS, 2/6).

WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR

FSN's 10:30pm ET "National Sports Report" led with Mavericks-Nets.

ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" also led with Mavericks-Nets.

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"What is St. Augustine?"

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