| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Friday, June 14, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| • | New Deal Positions Indian Wells As West Coast Tennis Major |
| • | Will MLB Embrace Offer From U.S. Anti-Doping Agency? |
| • | NFL Malpractice Update: Stringer Case Sets Hearing, Novak Case Delayed |
| • | Another Year, Another Parade Through Downtown L.A. For Lakers |
| • | World Cup Headquarters: Latest Headlines, Schedules & Sites Of Interest |
| • | In Other News/Today's Events/TV Monitor/Lighter Buzz/Final Jeopardy! |
INDIAN WELLS SIGNS NEW 50-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH ATP
The L.A. TIMES reports that the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament at Indian Wells will officially announce today a 50-year agreement with the ATP tour. The new deal, which begins in '04 and sees the field expand from 64 to 96 players, sees Indian Wells "become one of only two multiple-weeks, combined men's and women's events in professional tennis, other than the four Grand Slam tournaments" (L.A. TIMES, 6/14).
THE STRAIGHT DOPE: OLYMPIC TESTING AGENCY CONTACTS MLB
USA TODAY reports that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), "which conducts drug testing domestically for Olympic sports, has approached [MLB] and the [MLBPA] about handling testing for a league that has none." The news comes as all three groups ready for a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing in DC on Tuesday, which addresses performance-enhancing drugs. MLB Exec VP/Labor Relations Rob Manfred, MLBPA Exec Dir Don Fehr and USADA President Frank Shorter are scheduled to appear at the hearing (USA TODAY, 6/14).
Meanwhile, on last night's edition of HBO's "On The Record," Bob Costas asked Giants OF Barry Bonds, "Forget about the owners, forget about the fans, shouldn't the players rise up and tell Don Fehr and (MLBPA General Counsel) Gene Orza, 'Come on, let's get some testing and wipe it out.'" Bonds: "I don't think the players have a problem with that at all. (But) what are they going to do? Randomly test you? Are they going to come to your door? That's the thing the players have the problem with because now that becomes invasion of privacy" ("On The Record," HBO, 6/13).
KOREY STRINGER HEARING SCHEDULED; NOVAK CASE DELAYED
The ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS reports that a hearing in the $100M wrongful death suit brought by the widow of Vikings OT Korey Stringer will take place on June 24 in Hennepin County District Court. The hearing "is on a motion by lawyers for Kelci Stringer seeking information about other players who suffered heat-related illness" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 6/14). Meanwhile, the JACKSONVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL reported that the trial surrounding former Jaguars LB Jeff Novak's "claim of malpractice against the team's former physician has been delayed for a month because one of the attorneys is ill" (JACKSONVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/13).
NBA CHAMPION LAKERS TO CELEBRATE VICTORY WITH FANS TODAY
The L.A. DAILY NEWS reports that an "expected crowd of 1 million spectators" will attend the Lakers' victory parade, which "will begin with a City Hall rally" at 10:30am PT. Eighteen cannons will "shower the crowd with a ton of confetti" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 6/14). Four over-the-air channels, plus FSN, will provide live television coverage of today's Lakers parade, as well (L.A. TIMES, 6/14).
CFL RETURNS TO OTTAWA AS EXPANSION SQUAD PLAYS FIRST GAME
The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that 19,213 fans showed up to Frank Claire Stadium last night for the debut of the CFL Ottawa Renegades and watched the team lose an exhibition game to the Toronto Argonauts, 18-11. Ottawa has been without a team in the league since '96. Since being awarded the expansion franchise in March of '00, the Renegades "have marketed aggressively … producing 13,000 season-ticket sales during the off-season and selling a host of merchandise throughout the city" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 6/14).
WORLD CUP, DAY 15: FIFA'S OFFICIAL WEB PRESENCE SOARS
The KOREA HERALD reports that the '02 FIFA World Cup official Web site "is renewing its record of page views day by day, with more than 800 million page views accumulated since the May 31 start of the tournament" (KOREA HERALD, 6/14).
Today's Headlines:
- FIFA's Empty-Seat Syndrome Out Of Its Hands (USA TODAY, 6/14).
- FA Rejects 1,000 Tickets For Denmark Match (London GUARDIAN, 6/14).
- Tuning In The Really Late Show (L.A. TIMES, 6/14).
- Breakfast TV Ratings Skyrocket In England (London GUARDIAN, 6/14).
- London's Employment Rate Takes Unusual Hit (L.A. TIMES, 6/14).
- Sober Japan Suddenly Drunk On Soccer (N.Y. TIMES, 6/14).
- Bored In The USA (London GUARDIAN, 6/14).
- Portuguese Team Relies On Its Chef (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/14).
Soccer Sites of Interest:
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The DETROIT FREE PRESS reports that the Official NHL '02 Stanley Cup Championship Home Video, entitled "Red Alert – Hockeytown 3," will be available on July 30. The video will sell for $14.95 in VHS and $19.95 in DVD, which will contain extra footage (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/14).
The WNBA Lynx announced yesterday the Lynx Family Pack, a package that includes four general admission tickets, four slices of pizza, four sodas and four boxes of Hot Tamales for $39 (THE DAILY).
The DETROIT FREE PRESS reports that former Pistons C Bill Laimbeer "is expected to replace Greg Williams as Detroit Shock coach next week when the team returns from a four-game trip." The Shock is 0-8 so far this season (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/14).
USA TODAY reports that in order "to show off the Greek capital, the 2004 Olympics in Athens will open with cycling, not the traditional archery" (USA TODAY, 6/13).
The ECHL announced yesterday that Greenville Grrrowl Dir of Media Relations Bill McLaughlin won the league's '01-02 PR Award. Additionally, FL Everblades Dir of Marketing Mark Miller won the league's Marketing Award (THE DAILY).
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…..
Every Friday, the Morning Buzz will highlight a video clip, chart or piece of information that might have fallen through the cracks. This week, FHM Magazine names Anna Kournikova its No. 1 sexiest female, and the anchors at "E! News Daily" are none too pleased about it (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S EVENTS
The National Soccer Hall of Fame will host a "Breakfast at the World Cup," event that includes admission to the Oneonta, NY, site, a chance to watch the U.S. Men's National Team game against Poland, and breakfast (THE DAILY).
Chargers LB Junior Seau will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new sports field at the Polinsky Children's Center in San Diego at 10:00am PT. The field will be called "Duke Field at the Junior Seau Foundation Park" (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The WASHINGTON POST reports, "Retail sales tumbled last month following a strong gain in April, as consumers spent less on vehicles, gasoline and clothing." But analysts said falling gasoline prices and cool, rainy weather in some parts of the country "contributed to the drop and that sales appear to have picked up again early this month" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/14).
Hewlett-Packard said yesterday that it would eliminate Foote, Cone & Belding from its roster "in consolidating accounts after its acquisition of Compaq Computer" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/14).
adidas announced yesterday that it expected its '02 sales to rise 5%, matching analysts' forecasts, due to double-digit growth in North America and Asia (REUTERS, 6/13).
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Medical Words."
"After ether's first use in surgery, Oliver Wendell Holmes coined this word from the Greek from the condition it produced."
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES: NBC's Jay Leno: "As you know, in a stunning upset, the Lakers won (Wednesday) night. Who saw that coming? Who could have predicted that? … In fact, they're calling this the most famous three-peat, well, since President Bush was in the eighth grade. It was pretty calm, actually, (Wednesday) night because police told Lakers fans not to fire their guns in the air after the Lakers won, because you shoot a gun in the air, you don't know where it's going to come down. Kind of like the Nets shooting. ... Not as many rioters out. I think a lot of them are bored. In fact, most fans stayed home and did their looting on-line. ... I blame the media. The media gets everybody all riled up. There would be no riots if it wasn't for the media. Like on the local news, 'There's a crowd gathering at Third and Figueroa. It's not much of a crowd yet. This is usually where the riots start. We're two blocks from the Staples (Center). Take the third exit on the freeway!' ... Of course, this Sunday is Father's Day and I tell you this has not been a very good year for a lot of fathers -- Father Gagan, Father Shanley, Father Donahue, Father Robinson. ... This week hundreds of Catholic bishops arrived in Dallas for their annual convention. You know what that means? Party, party, yeah! ... I guess the bishops originally wanted the conference this year in (VA) because you know that's where the Little League World Series is being held. ... President Bush was very upset at Attorney General John Ashcroft for exaggerating this whole dirty bomb. Apparently, it wasn't that bad, and Ashcroft kind of made more of it than it was. Ashcroft was not available for comment (yesterday). He said he was too busy tracking a giant asteroid that's headed this way. ... Kmart's now offering their own platinum Kmart credit card. This is for people who up to now, of course, could only dream about living the life of Paula Jones and Tonya Harding. Now you can. ... CBS announced they're coming out with a four-hour mini-series about the life of Adolph Hitler. It's going to be called the 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Aryan Brotherhood' ("Tonight Show," NBC, 6/13).
CBS' David Letterman: "Did you see that basketball game (Wednesday night)? Big victory for the Lakers. I'm doing all right because in the office pool, I have the Nets in eight. ... Osama bin Laden is operating a recruiting school down in (FL) to get new members of Al Qaeda. Isn't that crazy? ... Maybe this explains old people always driving into buildings. ... Have you been following the Robert Blake case? This is beginning to make that O.J. Simpson deal look like a student film. They now say that he actually tried to hire his wife's brother to kill her. But the guy turned him down. Well sure, typical of a brother-in-law. He'd rather borrow money than work for it. ... The Catholic Church has said that John Gotti cannot have a Catholic funeral mass. So all of a sudden, what, they're doing background checks. When did that start?" ("The Late Show," CBS, 6/13).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS: Last night's "Top Ten" was "Top Ten Responsibilities Of The U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment (Old Guard)." The Top Ten list was read by Army soldiers in VA ("Late Show," CBS, 6/13).
| 10. | "After helicopter takes off from the South Lawn, straighten up any patio furniture that blew over." |
| 9. | "Settling disputes between the Second and the Fourth Infantry." |
| 8. | "Saluting like crazy." |
| 7. | "Enforcing dress code at Army dance." |
| 6. | "If the Commander-in-Chief has a daughter in the Girl Scouts, we buy lots of cookies." |
| 5. | "To look really good in our uniforms." |
| 4. | "Providing the President's daily 21-gun wake-up call." |
| 3. | "The ongoing struggle to put an end to guys tying sweaters around their shoulders." |
| 2. | "When Tony Blair is in town, making sure the White House has plenty of scones." |
| 1. | "Safeguarding each and every divine secret of the Ya-Ya sisterhood." |
THURSDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Hurricanes-Red Wings Stanley Cup Finals Game Five.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is anesthesia?"
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