| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Wednesday, July 31, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | MLB Talks Resume Today After Two Bargaining Sessions Yesterday |
| • | Bloom's CO Court Battle Against NCAA Regulations May Be Decided Today |
| • | Gravity Games To Get Off The Ground In Cleveland Today |
| • | Merger To End Racing At Sportsman's Park After 70 Years |
| • | Last Leap: North End Of Lambeau Field Scheduled For Demolition Today |
| • | Lighter Buzz/Today's Events/In Other News/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
MLB TALKS CONTINUE TODAY AFTER TWO TUESDAY SESSIONS
Negotiations between the MLB and MLBPA continue today and USA TODAY reports that the participants met yesterday in "morning and afternoon sessions in New York that totaled nearly four hours," where the two sides discussed a minimum payroll and teams' debt ratio in addition to the usual topic of revenue sharing. MLBPA General Counsel Gene Orza: "In some respects, the conversation was productive. We got a little closer, but there are still significant hurdles we have to find a way to get through" (USA TODAY, 7/31).
Meanwhile, the N.Y. TIMES reports that MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr will meet with the Yankees and Rangers today and the Cubs tomorrow, leaving the Red Sox as the last team Fehr will address. Fehr said that the exec board "would very likely have a conference call next week and could meet in person the following week" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/31).
BLOOM BATTLE FOR COLLEGE ELIGIBILITY MAY BE SETTLED TODAY
ESPN.com reported that Olympic skier Jeremy Bloom's college football future could be decided today if a CO judge approves a "temporary injunction that would allow [Bloom] to play" at the Univ. of CO this fall despite receiving income "from skiing endorsements, a modeling contract and, potentially, as a television reporter." Bloom is contesting NCAA rules that prohibit college athletes from being paid for appearances, as well as receiving "endorsement income related to their athletic prowess" (ESPN.com, 7/30).
GRAVITY GAMES EXPECTED TO BRING 250,000 TO CLEVELAND
The Cleveland PLAIN DEALER reports that the Gravity Games officially open today at the city's North Coast Harbor after a two-day stint in Salamanca, NY. Gravity Games Exec Dir Wade Martin said, "There's a great buzz in the community." He added that ticket sales have been good, but he expects a "very significant walk-up crowd." Organizers predict that the games, which carry a total purse of more than $900,000, will attract 250,000 visitors and pump more than $30M into Cleveland's economy (Cleveland PLAIN-DEALER, 7/31).
SPORTSMAN'S PARK TO CLOSE AFTER 70 YEARS OF RACING
The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES reports that the management of Hawthorne Race Course and Sportsman's Park will announce today "the formation of a new limited liability corporation that will move all live thoroughbred racing in the Cicero-Stickney corridor to Hawthorne beginning next year." The deal means the end of 70 years of live racing at Sportsman's Park. Sportsman's National Jockey Club President Charlie Bidwill III and Hawthorne Dir of Operations Thomas Carey III called the new alliance "a merger" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 7/31).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
This week's cover of Sports Illustrated features Lance Armstrong with the tagline, "SUPERMAN: The Unbeatable Lance Armstrong Rides Away With His Fourth Tour De France" (THE DAILY).
Last night ESPN2 aired the season premiere of "NFL 2Night," where host Mark Malone said, "We're not talking about baseball or strikes. Thank God, it's time for football" ("NFL 2Night," ESPN2, 7/30).
The MIAMI HERALD reports that an "overflow crowd of 3,357" watched the Dolphins' first evening practice last night, with the turnout "so large that the team removed screens behind the back fences so all could see" the field (MIAMI HERALD, 7/31).
The GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE reports that the demolition of the north end of Lambeau Field will begin today. The demolition "is the next major focus of the $295 million stadium renovation scheduled to be completed in August of 2003" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 7/31).
The HARTFORD COURANT continues its chronicle of a week in Winston Cup racing today with a profile of Joe Gibbs Racing VP/Operations Todd Meredith under the headline, "An Executive In The Pit" (HARTFORD COURANT, 7/31). The Allentown MORNING CALL will follow NASCAR's Elliott Sadler for a ten-day stint, as well. Today, Paul Reinhard follows Sadler to Stuart, VA, home base of Wood Brothers Racing (Allentown MORNING CALL, 7/31).
The Albany TIMES UNION reports, "Attendance and track handle for the first week of racing at Saratoga were both down when compared with figures from the same period in 2001." Attendance is down more than 10% from last year's record-setting meet (Albany TIMES UNION, 7/31).
The AKRON BEACON JOURNAL reports that Cavaliers F Darius Miles was on a movie set in Vancouver filming the movie "A Perfect Score" when he found out he had been traded by the Clippers (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 7/31).
Sportvision has launched LoveTheLine.com, a Web site designed for fans of the Emmy Award-winning yellow line used to represent first downs during televised NFL games (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S EVENTS
The Pac-10 Conference will hold its annual football media day in L.A. (THE DAILY).
NBC will host a 3:00pm ET conference call to preview the net's coverage of this Sunday's Brickyard 400. NASCAR analysts Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach are among those expected to participate (THE DAILY).
The WNBA Shock will hold an open practice from 12:30-2:00pm ET at The Palace. An autograph session will follow the practice (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/30).
The WNBA Storm will give lunchboxes to the first 4,000 fans for their noon PT game against the Lynx. The lunchboxes feature F/C Lauren Jackson and recently traded G Semeka Randall (THE DAILY).
SFX Sports Group's Arn Tellem, former NBA coach Don Casey and four of Tellem's NBA clients, Brent Barry, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Antawn Jamison, will hold a basketball clinic and conflict-resolution discussion as part of the "Seeds of Peace Camp" in Otisfield, ME. The camp features about 160 kids from countries around the world (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 7/29).
The U.S. Polo Association will host a 3:00-5:00pm ET reception to unveil a planned exhibit at the int'l terminal of JFK Airport in N.Y. The exhibit, which will feature 25 life-sized statues depicting heroic figures as polo players, will promote both N.Y.'s candidacy for the '12 Olympics and the return of polo as an Olympic event that year (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The U.S. Justice Department "has opened an investigation into accounting practices at AOL Time Warner" (USA TODAY, 7/31). Meanwhile, CIBC World Markets analyst Michael Gallant says that AOL Time Warner "is not in danger of running into near-term liquidity problems" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 7/31).
IBM announced Tuesday that it "planned to buy PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting for $3.5 billion," in a move that will "accelerate I.B.M.'s shift from selling just computers and software toward a future of providing information technology to corporate customers as a utility-like service" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/31).
The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that beginning today, Walt Disney's ABC News "will no longer allow users free access to video clips" on its Web site. Instead, ABC News "will begin charging visitors a $4.95 monthly fee to view news programming" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/31).
USA TODAY reports, "In an effort to jump-start the languid rollout of digital TV, federal regulators next week are expected to require all new TV sets to include digital receivers by 2006" (USA TODAY, 7/31).
The AP reports that Elizabeth Taylor, James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera, Paul McCartney and James Levine will share the 25th annual honors of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during a ceremony on December 8 (AP, 7/31).
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "The Universe."
"It's the body that's about 1 1/4 light-seconds from Earth."
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS' David Letterman: "(It was so hot), I'm driving to work (yesterday) and the guy in the toll booth was growing orchids. ... It was so hot (yesterday), in my neighborhood they mugged the UPS guy for his shorts. ... It was so hot (yesterday), Al Sharpton was caught on surveillance tape buying lemonade. ... It was so hot (yesterday), Ted Williams said, 'Hey, who's crazy now!?'" Letterman, on Osama bin Laden's son: "Apparently, he's very active in Al Qaeda and he's trying to recruit younger members to participate in Al Qaeda. As a matter of fact, he just produced his dad's most recent video, 'Dude, Where's My Jihad?'" ("The Late Show," CBS, 7/30).
NBC's Jay Leno: "I think President Bush is a little confused. Like (yesterday), he called the miners to personally congratulate the men and wish them the best. In fact, he said he'd like to buy them a beer, but he couldn't because they were minors. ... (It was so hot), I was sweating like Saddam Hussein watching Bush's poll numbers drop. ... It's interesting what's happening with President Bush's popularity. As far as the war against terrorism is going, he's doing great. The people are behind him 100%. When it comes to the economy and business, he's not doing so good. He's dropping quickly. I think the answer here is pretty obvious. Bush needs to bomb Enron. ... A Federal judge sentenced (OH) Congressman James Traficant to eight years in prison. ... Traficant acted as his own attorney. How often do you get to see a criminal and his lawyer both go to jail? In fact, they said on the news that he could be the first guy to go to prison where the prison haircut would actually be an improvement. ... I saw a lawyer outside a McDonald's handing out his business card to fat people. ... A man in (NY) is suing McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and (KFC) claiming their food made him fat, and now he's suing Victoria's Secret for making him play with himself. ... In a related story, Siegfried & Roy are suing Pottery Barn for making them gay. ... Britney Spears gave some fans the finger at a concert in Mexico. But she claims it was not her fans she was giving the finger to. She says it was just the paparazzi that were bothering her. In fact, not only did she give them the finger, she also lip-synched three obscenities" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 7/30).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night's "Top Ten" was "Top Ten Perks Of Being Osama bin Laden's Son" ("The Late Show," CBS, 7/30).
| 10) | "Sometimes lets you work the camera for his videotaped rants." |
| 9) | "Touching moment when he teaches you how to torture an infidel." |
| 8) | "As busy as he is, Osama always makes time for Jihad Father and Son Day." |
| 7) | "Drop the old man's name at Kandahar TGI Friday's and you're looking at complimentary popcorn shrimp." |
| 6) | "Always asked to be celebrity judge at wet burqa contests." |
| 5) | "Has a surprisingly good collection of early 70's (Bob) Dylan records." |
| 4) | "Fast-track membership process at the Tora Bora Country Club." |
| 3) | "Would be great for picking up babes if you were allowed to talk to babes." |
| 2) | "You are one (U.S.) air strike away from running the damn business." |
| 1) | "At butcher shop, you always get the tastiest cut of goat." |
CBS' Craig Kilborn: "John Tesh, our friend John Tesh, is gonna begin his world tour August 3rd. In a related story, those nine guys in (PA) asked to be put back down in the mines. … Our friend, Congressman James Traficant, was sentenced to eight years in prison. As he was being led out of the courtroom, his hair yelled out to him, 'I'll wait for you.' … The E! channel has been deliberating whether or not to show footage of Anna Nicole Smith unsnapping her bra. They have finally opted not to, out of respect for the cameraman who was killed" ("The Late Late Show," CBS, 7/30).
Jon Stewart: "The latest corporate casualty is rental car giant Budget, which announced (Monday) it will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, though it is expected to park in Chapter 7 and then wait for the shuttle bus to 11" ("The Daily Show," Comedy Central, 7/30).
Jay Mohr: "On the advice of (Colts QB) Peyton Manning, (Colts RB) Edgerrin James took a cab 70 miles to Colts training camp. The cab was driven by Ryan Leaf. ... Anna Kournikova actually won a match last week and then she immediately lost to Venus Williams. ... I have a prediction. Anna Kournikova will beat Venus di Milo. That will still go three sets. ... [Kournikova] says she learns from her losses. Well honey, you must be a freakin' doctor. ... Packers (RB) Najeh Davenport was arrested earlier this month for defecating in a women's dorm room closet. His response to the media was 'it's a misunderstanding.' Why, were you aiming for the hamper? ... Couldn't you start with some roses maybe, some candies, work your way up to dropping a deuce in the closet? Some guys think they can just get right to third base" ("Mohr Sports," ESPN, 7/30).
TUESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Cardinals-Marlins.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is the moon?"
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
The Morning Buzz provides an early update of the news and headlines each Monday through Friday at approximately 9:00am ET. If you would like to sign up for an e-mail alert to the Morning Buzz, go to My Account and personalize your e-mail alert options.
