| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Tuesday, June 4, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| • | Oh Canada: MLB Clubs Look For Top Talent North Of The Border In Draft |
| • | Adelphia Business Solutions Agrees To Remove Name From Titans Stadium |
| • | From Zeroes To Heroes, Nets Now Hot Ticket Amongst Basketball Fans |
| • | Hard Knocks: Tony Siragusa To Replace HOFer Deacon Jones On FSN Show |
| • | World Cup Headquarters: Latest Headlines, Schedules & Sites Of Interest |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Box Office |
AS WORLDWIDE MLB DRAFT LOOMS, CANADA SHOWS WHY
The L.A. TIMES reports that MLB's draft "will take a historic turn today when Canada's Adam Loewen and Jeff Francis are selected in the first round." The pair of LHPs "are projected the be among the top 15 picks in the 50-round draft, the first time two Canadians will be among the first 30 players chosen overall" (L.A. TIMES, 6/4).
ANONYMOUS: ADELPHIA TO REMOVE NAME FROM TITANS STADIUM
The Nashville TENNESSEAN reports that Adelphia Business Solutions has "agreed to relinquish naming rights to Adelphia Coliseum as part of a settlement" with the Titans. Details of the agreement will be made public this morning, when representatives for the Titans and Adelphia Business Solutions "are scheduled to appear at a federal Bankruptcy Court hearing" in N.Y. (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 6/4).
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE: BANDWAGON NETS FANS WAIT FOR TICKETS
The Newark STAR-LEDGER reports that "roughly seven months after only 8,749 fans showed up to watch the Nets play in their first game of the season," an estimated 2,000 people waited in line yesterday for the chance to get a ticket to one of the team's three NBA Finals home games at the 20,000-seat Continental Airlines Arena. All three games are "guaranteed sellouts" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 6/4).
THE BEST GOOSE EVER? FSN INKS FORMER RAVENS DL
FSN will host a 1:00pm ET conference call today and the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the network "is expected to announce" it has signed former pro football player Tony Siragusa as an analyst. Siragusa will be featured on the net's pregame show as well as "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 6/4). The N.Y. TIMES reports that FSN's pregame show "will get a new name today and a nearly new cast," as the net also adds former Cowboys WR Michael Irvin and former Rams DL D'Marco Farr to the Sunday morning show (N.Y. TIMES, 6/4).
WORLD CUP DAY FIVE: JAPAN, FIFA DIAL UP TICKET SOLUTIONS
The Japanese World Cup organizing committee announced today following a meeting in Tokyo Monday night with FIFA representatives that it "will sell unsold tickets to three World Cup matches in Japan by telephone." The move counters a "growing anger among soccer fans in Japan at the sight of empty seats at World Cup games as a result of unsold tickets reserved for sale overseas" (JAPAN TODAY, 6/4).
Today's Headlines:
- Koreans Take World Cup Ticket Farce To Courts (London GUARDIAN, 6/4).
- FIFA Admits Ticket Crisis As Worries Mount Over Quiet Fans (London GUARDIAN, 6/4).
- Ticket Blunders Anger World Cup Hosts (LONDON TIMES, 6/4).
- Analyzing World Cup Ads From Nike, Budweiser (LONDON TIMES, 6/4).
- Spree Of Stadiums Leaves A Huge Tab (INT'L HERALD TRIBUNE, 6/4).
- Lack Of Broadcasts Has Fans In Uproar (L.A. TIMES, 6/4).
Soccer Sites of Interest:
A LIGHTER BUZZ
Today's debate on USA Today's editorial page surrounds MLB and steroids. Under the headline "National Pastime Strikes Out On Drug Testing," the paper writes, "Players using steroids to smash records corrupt baseball's traditions. By refusing to call them on it, baseball squanders high salaries on injury-prone players. And it unfairly taints the accomplishments of players who succeed on natural talent." MLB President & COO Robert DuPuy offers an opposing view under the headline, "We Worry About Steroids," and writes, "We worry and have worried about the long-term health of any player who uses steroids and we worry about the effect steroid use has on the competitive integrity of the game" (USA TODAY, 6/4).
Viagra runs a full-page ad in today's edition of USA Today featuring MLB Rangers 1B Rafael Palmeiro. The ad tells readers, "Hey, it all adds up. So do what Rafael did" (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S EVENTS
N.Y. Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff will be the guest speaker at an 8:30am ET breakfast sponsored by the Association for a Better New York. Doctoroff will present N.Y.'s vision of the 2012 Olympic Games in a video that will also be presented to the USOC on its final visit to N.Y. later this month (THE DAILY).
MLB Radio will provide live streaming audio coverage of every pick of the two-day '02 First-Year Player Draft, beginning with a one-hour pre-draft show at noon ET (THE DAILY).
NBC Sports will hold an NBA Finals media call with announcers Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Bill Walton and Steve Jones. The call begins at 11:30am ET (THE DAILY).
LPGA HOFer Nancy Lopez will participate in a USA Today live chat session at 2:30pm ET (THE DAILY).
A public viewing of the Stanley Cup will be held at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, MI, from noon-4:00pm ET (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
USA TODAY reports, "In the strongest sign yet that the advertising recession is ending, major television networks say their all-important advance sales for spots on fall prime-time shows rose nearly 15% over last year to about $7.8 billion" (USA TODAY, 6/4). Meanwhile, the WALL STREET JOURNAL reports the ad figure to be $8.1B, broken down as follows:
| Network | '02 Sales | % Change From '01 |
| NBC | $2.7B | 42.1% |
| CBS | $1.8B | 28.6% |
| ABC | $1.49B | (12.4%) |
| Fox | $1.3B | Unchanged |
| WB | $0.56B | 16.7% |
| UPN | $0.25B | 25% |
CBS "deliberately sold only 65% of its ad inventory in last year's upfront, holding more ads to sell during the season" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/4).
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that despite industry troubles in '01, "global entertainment and media spending still grew 1.5% to exceed the $1 trillion mark." PricewaterhouseCoopers, in its "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2002-2006" to be released today, projects that spending will "continue to grow, reaching $1.4 trillion by 2006, for an annual growth rate of 5.2%" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 6/4).
In Memoriam: Hollywood Pioneer Lew Wasserman
DAILY VARIETY reports that Lew Wasserman died at home Monday of complications from a stroke. He was 89. Wasserman, the "last of Hollywood's major builders," was a "unique industry presence who brought about changes in virtually every aspect of show business" (DAILY VARIETY, 6/4). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Wasserman's passing "represented not just the end of a singular executive but also that of an entire era" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 6/4). Read obituaries from the N.Y. Times and L.A. Times.
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "France."
"Of France's 22 official regions, this one extends the farthest west."
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES: NBC's Jay Leno: "Did you all watch (Sunday night)? Wasn't that incredible? I have never seen a more exciting finish in my life. You didn't know who was going to win. It went right to the last second. But enough about the Tony Awards. ... Actually, there was one big surprise in the Tony's. The Best Actor went to (Kings C) Vlade Divac for flopping on the floor crying, 'Foul, foul!' ... (The Kings) played a great game except, for the free throws. Free throws were not good. In fact, at one point they were so desperate, they were asking (Lakers C Shaquille O'Neal) for tips. ... I guess the ratings were huge. ... Seemed like everybody was watching this series, well, except for the refs. ... The biggest movie over the weekend was 'Sum Of All Fears.' ... It's about a terrorist attack on the Super Bowl. It's a Super Bowl game between the (MN) Vikings and the S.D. Chargers and people are thinking, 'Oh, it's scary.' Folks, that would never, ever happen. The Vikings and the Chargers in the Super Bowl! No way! No way! ... To give you an idea how serious the talk of war is between India and
Pakistan, even the FBI is now aware of it. ... The (Univ. of AR) announced they're going to be offering a course on Bill Clinton's presidency. In fact, it's the first class where cheating is actually encouraged. I tell you something, that's got to be every dad's worst nightmare. Your daughter comes home, 'Hey dad, I'm taking Clinton 101. I got a big oral exam at the end of the year.' ... Kmart announced they're coming out with their own platinum Kmart credit card. I've got one. You know what I bought with it? Kmart. ... Sports Illustrated says that steroid use by baseball players is now extremely widespread. How depressing is that for Tampa Bay Devil Rays fans? To find out your team's performance has already been enhanced. This is as good as it's ever going to get. ... Anna Nicole Smith has just signed with the E! Network to star in her own weekly Osbournes-style half-hour reality show. It's going to be called 'Who Wants To Bury A Millionaire?'" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 6/3).
CBS' David Letterman: "Apparently, (Al Qaeda) now says that there will be more terror attacks. It's a warning. They say there will be more terror attacks, and I'm wondering, would somebody here like to go tell the FBI? ... (Mets C Mike Piazza) announced earlier (yesterday) that he did not watch the Tony Awards (Sunday) night. ... Man, what a night (at the Tony Awards)! The entire audience was people previously married to Liza Minelli. ... (N.Y.) has a priest shortage. So you see, there is some good news in the world. But this priest shortage is serious here in (N.Y.). To give you an idea how bad it is, earlier (yesterday) in Brooklyn an altar boy had to grope himself" ("The Late Show," CBS, 6/3).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS: Letterman said, "If the Pacers aren't going to be the world champions in basketball, by and large I don't care." Letterman: "Here's why we don't want the Lakers to win. Forget the fact that their coach (Phil Jackson) is weird. ... Here's why the Nets should win. ... There's nothing wrong with (the Nets') uniform. ... I defy you to tell me there's something wrong with that uniform." Letterman, showing a picture of Shaquille O'Neal in his Lakers jersey said the jersey is a "pixie shirt." Letterman: "Do we want a team of world champions representing this great land of ours wearing a pixie shirt?" Bandleader Paul Shaffer said, "Dave's right, where have I seen that pixie shirt before?" Letterman showed a picture of Peter Pan wearing a Lakers jersey. Letterman: "You can't watch a basketball game anymore because every two seconds there's a foul, and then there's a timeout, and then there's another foul, and then there's a timeout, and then there's six or seven minutes of commercials, and then you come back, and then the lights in the arena go off" ("The Late Show," CBS, 6/3).
CBS's Craig Kilborn: "Anybody watch the Tony Awards (Sunday) night on CBS? I, for the life of me, couldn't figure out which actors were straight and which ones were (MLB) players" ("The Late Late Show," CBS, 6/3).
MONDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Red Sox-Tigers.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is Brittany?"
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