| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, March 14, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| • | “March Madness” Begins Today, Just Not So Close To Home |
| • | Today's BUY.com Tour Stop Boasts Richest Purse In New Zealand |
| • | Record Crowd Turns Out To See LeBron James In Cleveland |
| • | Nancy Lopez To Hang Up Clubs At End Of Season |
| • | Dodgeball Makes The Leap From Elementary School To College |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/In Other News/TV Monitor/Laugh Track/Final Jeopardy! |
NCAA TOURNAMENT CRITICIZED FOR REGIONAL PLACEMENTS
The '02 NCAA men's college basketball tournament tips off today with a 12:20pm ET Kent St.-OK St. game, followed by Valparaiso-Univ. of KY at 12:25pm ET. The N.Y. TIMES reports that the NCAA "made some extravagant claims about keeping teams closer to home this year," but the tournament "looks about as transcontinental as ever." They tried to "fool us by the bizarre diversion of dividing various subregional sites into two different regionals — Sacramento into the South and Midwest, for example. It's confusing, but not necessarily serious except to athletes who might not know where they are or what to pack" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/14).
BUY.COM CLEARWATER CLASSIC BOASTS RECORD PURSE
REUTERS reported that the $500,000 purse for the Clearwater Classic in New Zealand, which begins today, "is the richest sporting prize" in the country. The event, scheduled to begin today and run through March 17, also is the "first Buy.com event played in New Zealand" (REUTERS, 3/12).
Meanwhile, GOLF WORLD BUSINESS reported that a Springfield, MA, federal district court judge "declined to issue a ruling" Tuesday on Spalding Sports Worldwide's request for a "temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Wilson Sporting Goods relating to Wilson's advertising campaign for its new Staff True golf ball." Spalding sued February 22 claiming that the ad is "misleading." The lack of a ruling "allows Wilson to continue running its ads for the True ball" (GOLF WORLD BUSINESS, 3/13).
LEBRON JAMES PACKS THE GUND IN CLEVELAND
USA TODAY reports that Akron, OH, St. Vincent-St. Mary prep star LeBron James "led his team into the Division II Toledo Regional before a sellout crowd of approximately 20,500" at Cleveland's Gund Arena last night. Fans camped out overnight Sunday when 3,500 tickets went on sale at the four participating schools. It was "the largest crowd ever to watch a high school basketball game in Ohio." The Gund Arena box office "put 6,000 tickets on sale Sunday for $5 apiece and sold out the same day" (USA TODAY, 3/14).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
LPGA Tour golfer Nancy Lopez announced Wednesday that this season, her 25th on the LPGA Tour, will be her last. The remainder of the year, according to the golfer, will be the "Nancy Lopez Farewell Tour" (THE DAILY).
Fannie Mae, the "primary funder" of Home Team Partnership, "has decided to end its sponsorship, effectively ending the program." The partnership, which included the NBA and Neighborhood Housing Services, "has built or renovated 879 homes across the country" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 3/14).
Vikings coach Mike Tice "signed a one-year deal" with KSTP-TV Channel 5 on Wednesday "to do a weekly coach's show" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/13).
The AKRON BEACON JOURNAL reports, "Several thousand additional seats will be available to fans at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies this year in Canton" because the induction, set for August 3, "will be moved from the front steps of the hall into adjacent Fawcett Stadium" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 3/14).
The SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS reports that the USOC yesterday "officially agreed to support [San Antonio's] Sport Conference of the Americas, lending legitimacy to an informal lobbying event in San Antonio's campaign for the 2007 Pan American Games" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 3/14).
A newly formed World Dodgeball Association announced today its plan to roll out the sport in a 12-city college tour later this year (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S EVENTS
T'Wovles F Marc Jackson, F Sam Mitchell and G Wally Szczerbiak will visit two Minneapolis middle schools as part of the N.B.A. (Never Be Absent) program. Szczerbiak will visit Anthony Middle School while Jackson and Mitchell will stop by Northeast Middle School. Both visits will run from 1:15-2:00pm CT (THE DAILY).
Pistons C Mikki Moore and F Rodney White, along with members of the Pistons and IBM staffs, will clean and paint an 850-square-foot library room from 3:00-4:00pm ET to kick-off its transformation into The Pistons Reading and Learning Center at the Police Athletic League St. James Activity Center in Detroit (THE DAILY).
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta will be briefed on transportation for the '02 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games at 2:45pm MT. Also attending the briefing will be SLOC President & CEO Mitt Romney, UT Gov. Mike Leavitt, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, SLOC COO Fraser Bullock and IPC President Phil Craven (THE DAILY).
Lawyer Mark Kanai, who is representing Class AAA Rainiers Owners George & Sue Foster as they attempt to sell the team, will met with Tacoma city officials today as well as the Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE's editorial board. Kanai "will not announce that the team has been sold," but will be "expressing frustration at the lack of offers from Tacoma" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 3/12).
IN OTHER NEWS….
Comcast Cable Corp. "plans to announce today plans to transmit" HDTV channels in Washington, DC and "several other major markets, helping to jump-start a technology that so far has fallen short of its early promise." A source "close to the company" said that DC area customers will be "among the first to receive the new HDTV offering," while Comcast plans to offer the service in Northern VA by June, followed by the MD suburbs "early in the second half of the year" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/14).
GOLF MAGAZINE reports that the criminal investigation into the plane crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart and five others "has ended. Despite an intense federal probe, no charges will be filed against SunJet Aviation," the operator of the LearJet in which the group was flying in '99 (GOLF MAGAZINE, 3/14).
American Skiing Co. announced Wednesday that it "expects" the company's shares of common stock will commence trading on the "Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board" under the ticker symbol AESK beginning today. The company's stock previously traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol SKI (THE DAILY).
DAILY VARIETY reports that, in a "blockbuster deal" valued at more than $300M, NBC has "locked up" the Thursday night comedy "Will & Grace" for three more seasons. NBC will pay its own NBC Studios a license fee of roughly $4M per episode to keep the show on the air through May '05 (DAILY VARIETY, 3/14).
Ernst & Young and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu "backed away yesterday" from attempting to acquire "beleaguered" accounting firm Arthur Andersen, citing "threats of lawsuits as a possible criminal indictment loomed against the former auditor of bankrupt Enron" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/14).
Mandalay Entertainment is launching a new marketing consultancy called Mandalay Branded Entertainment, which "aims to build strength for clients through film, TV and new-media projects to be produced by Mandalay." Mandalay Entertainment's other units include Mandalay Pictures, Mandalay Television, Mandalay Sports and Mandalay E-Media (DAILY VARIETY, 3/14).
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Popular Song."
"The lyrics to a song that went to No. 1 on the sales charts in October 2001 were written by this 19th century American."
LAUGH TRACK
NBC's Jay Leno, on Darryl Strawberry getting arrested again: "This time he was arrested inside a drug rehab treatment center. That's not a good sign, when you get arrested inside the drug rehab center. ... Sources say he broke the no-sex rule by having sex with a woman at the facility. I just hope it wasn't Betty Ford." Leno, on D.C. granting Mike Tyson a boxing license: "I guess they figure if Washington can give visas to terrorists, we can give Mike Tyson a boxing license." Leno, on last night's Paula Jones-Tonya Harding boxing match: "They said this is the first boxing match where you could suffer brain damage just by watching the fight." Leno: "Anna Kournikova has been kicked out of school in Moscow. It turns out her father had been taking the tests for her. Well, too bad he wasn't playing tennis for her. She might have won a match" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 3/13).
WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Kings-76ers.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"Who was Francis Scott Key?"
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