| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| • | Coca-Cola Hosts Garden Party, And Several Guests Are Invited |
| • | BCS Meetings End With No Changes Made In Rankings Formulas |
| • | WTA Tour To Hire Grey Advertising For Latest Campaign |
| • | Happy Hour? D'Backs Hope Late-Afternoon Start Will Draw Fans |
| • | My Education Was Never Quite Like This! Students Go To Ballpark |
| • | In Other News/Today's Events/TV Monitor/Laugh Track/Final Jeopardy! |
COCA-COLA PLANS FIRST-EVER ANNUAL MEETING TODAY
The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that Coca-Cola Co. "is staging its first-ever annual meeting" at MSG in N.Y. this morning, which will feature a "marketing showcase," with appearances by "numerous guests," including NBA Commissioner David Stern, the Boys Choir of Harlem and others. Nelson Mandela "will deliver a taped address about Coke" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 4/17).
BCS MEETINGS CONCLUDE WITHOUT ANY CHANGES MADE YET
USA TODAY reports that BCS officials "ended two days of meetings Tuesday without tinkering with the controversial formula that determines teams in college football's national championship game." Outgoing BCS Coordinator John Swofford called the meetings "very thorough without being conclusive." The meetings ended with ACC Commissioner Swofford turning over the coordinator responsibilities to Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese, who will serve for the next two years (USA TODAY, 4/17).
WTA TOUR TO TAB GREY ADVERTISING FOR BRANDING CAMPAIGN
The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Sanex WTA Tour plans to announce today "that it has hired Grey Advertising to conduct a seven-figure branding campaign." The new advertising is "expected to break late in the summer of 2002, which would place it around the time" of the U.S. Open. The selection of Grey Worldwide followed a brand-building review headed by new WTA Tour CEO Kevin Wulff (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/17).
D'BACKS HOPE FANS FLOCK TO NOT-SO-LATE DAY GAME
The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that today's Cardinals-D'Backs game at Bank One Ballpark will be the team's "first 3:05 p.m. weekday game in franchise history." D'Backs President Rich Dozer said that the late-afternoon start "could allow many fans to complete most of their day's work" before attending the game. About 15,000 tickets remain (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/17).
BALLPARK EDUCATION: SCHOOLS HOLD BASEBALL FIELD TRIPS
The AKRON BEACON JOURNAL reports that the Double-A Eastern League Akron Aeros will play a 10:35am ET game today against the Bowie BaySox as part of "Education Day," where area schools "attend the game as part of their curriculums." "Education Day" is a five-game program in which nearly 25,000 students will attend, and in which educational events take place throughout each game. The first game in the program was yesterday, and other days scheduled are for May 1, 14 and 15 (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 4/17).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
This week's issue of Sports Illustrated features Tiger Woods under the headline, "Tiger Walk: The Indomitable Tiger Woods Strolled To His Third Masters Title" (THE DAILY).
Greg Norman writes on SHARK.com: "Phil and Ernie and Sergio and Vijay and Retief and David have one hope left: The Swedish model. Maybe Tiger Woods will become so head-over-heels in love with his new girlfriend, Elin Nordegren, that he'll want to get married, have children and quit playing golf for a living" (SHARK.com, 4/15).
MLB attendance watch: Last night's Cubs-Expos game drew a season low attendance of 4,486 to Olympic Stadium. See today's issue of The Daily for an analysis on MLB's early-season attendance slump.
Tigers Manager Luis Pujols met Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch for the first time Tuesday. Pujols: "He seemed to be a nice man, and he's doing the best he can for this club. Getting to know who you're working for is nice" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 4/17).
The SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS reports that the Spurs played "in their last Alamodome regular-season game" last night, a 95-71 victory over the Suns. Before the game, the Spurs held a small "thank you" ceremony for the city and the dome management, running a "90-second highlight reel played on the giant screens." George Valle, president of Spurs fan club the Baseline Bums: "Good riddance, Alamodome. I hate this place. It's not good for NBA basketball" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 4/17).
BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that 49ers WR Terrell Owens "will play this summer" for the USBL Adirondack Wildcats. Projected as a shooting guard, Owens "will join the team in early May" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/17).
Actor Jason Priestley will drive for Kelley Racing in the IRL's Infiniti Pro Series, which begins in July (USA TODAY, 4/17).
TODAY'S EVENTS
The Columbia STATE reports that Serena Williams "will donate $10,000 to the struggling Clarendon County school district today in Charleston [SC], after her afternoon match at the Family Circle Cup." Williams "invited 90 students and 10 chaperones" from Clarendon School District 1 "to be her guests for the day at the Charleston tennis tournament" (Columbia STATE, 4/17).
MLS Crew Founder Lamar Hunt will hold a press luncheon to discuss the state of MLS and make an announcement regarding the team's front office. The event begins at 1:00pm ET at Crew Stadium (THE DAILY).
The AP reports that talks between MLB and the MLBPA will resume today in N.Y. "with the union explaining the reasoning behind its proposals to management negotiators" (AP, 4/17).
The ATLANTIC CITY PRESS reports that boxing promoter Don King and Bally's Atlantic City President Ken Condon will host a press conference in N.Y. to formally announce a bout between Evander Holyfield and Hasim Rahman at Boardwalk Hall on June 1 (ATLANTIC CITY PRESS, 4/17).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The N.Y. TIMES reports that "two years after its merger with Times Mirror, the Tribune Company has disclosed that it could owe up to $880 million in back taxes and interest as a result of two 1998 Times Mirror transactions whose tax-free basis has been disallowed by an [IRS] audit" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/17).
Discovery Communications Inc. announced yesterday its plans to launch a 24-hour HDTV channel on June 17 (WASHINGTON POST, 4/17).
The N.Y. Sun debuted yesterday and the N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports that the 18-page paper had "a serious tone and a design more antiquated than retro, marked by long columns of gray type and scant use of photos" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/17).
The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER reports, "As investors increase scrutiny of corporate financial reporting, Comcast Corp. said it consolidated all its results on its own books." Comcast Treasurer John Alchin said that there are no longer "off-the-books subsidiaries that could borrow money or cover losses that shareholders do not know about" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 4/17).
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "5-Letter Words."
"In 1898, the word 'telephone' made its debut in the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, as did this related word."
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES: NBC's Jay Leno: "The (IRS) mistakenly paid out more than $30(M) in refunds to black taxpayers who claimed a slavery credit on their taxes. ... What form do you fill out for that? A slavery credit? How old are these black taxpayers? Let me tell you something, if you're 170 and you're still working, God bless you. Get the credit!" Leno: "Apparently, another video has surfaced (of Osama bin Laden). I haven't seen the latest video, but let me guess. He's standing in front of a big rock, threatening us. Am I close? ... The Supreme Court ruled (yesterday) that virtual child pornography is legal. Finally, some good news for the church. As you know, the Pope has called all the U.S. Cardinals back to Rome, or as the Cardinals are calling it, Spring Break. ... According to (CA) researchers, male frogs that have been exposed to low doses of common weed killer can develop multiple sex organs. That's one way to get guys to start doing yard work. Multiple sex organs! Look at how much trouble guys get into with just one." Leno, on Pamela Anderson marrying Kid Rock: "Here's my question: If you're Kid Rock, do you even bother throwing a bachelor party? I mean, Pamela Anderson pretty much is a bachelor party" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 4/16).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS: NBC's Conan O'Brien, on the heat wave sweeping the country: "It was so bad, it wiped out Mayor Bloomberg's marijuana crop." Conan, on the new Osama Bin Laden video "He is dressed more casually, and is sitting by a mountain stream. The odd part is that it's a Coors commercial" ("Late Night," NBC, 4/16).
TUESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Astros-Reds.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is hello?"
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