Menu
Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz, August 15, 2002

The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, August 15, 2002
9:00am ET

PGA Championship Begins Today In MN With Live Coverage On TNT
Bump And Grind: MLB Labor Talks Bog Down Over Payroll Tax
Soccer Mom Expects To Be Announced As Next USOC President
The Kids Are Alright: Philly Plays Host To X Games Starting Today
The Real Deal: Winn-Dixie Guarantees Home Sellouts For Jaguars
In Other News/Today's Events/TV Monitor/Lighter Buzz/Final Jeopardy!

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP TEES OFF AT HAZELTINE THIS AFTERNOON

The 84th PGA Championship begins today at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, MN, with TNT airing live coverage starting at 2:00pm ET. The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports "crowds of 40,000 are expected each day, an increase of 7,000 from last year's tournament at the Atlanta Athletic Club." The tournament "officially is sold out," but brokers reportedly had tickets returned that were bought when it appeared Tiger Woods would be going for the Grand Slam this weekend. Local classified ads "are selling final-round tickets for as little as $80" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/15).


PROGRESS ON MLB LABOR TALKS COMES TO A HALT OVER TAX

The Newark STAR-LEDGER reports that during yesterday's bargaining sessions, "negotiators for the owners and players hit a 'bump in the road' while discussing the key issue of a payroll tax." The setback casts "doubt on the possibility that an agreement can be reached before players determine a walkout date, which will probably be Aug. 30" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 8/15).

MLB Exec VP/Labor Relations Rob Manfred: "[Wednesday] was not good. We hit a big bump in the road. We're hopeful we can get the process back on track." Meanwhile, no talks are scheduled for today, but "both sides expect to return to the table" (USA TODAY, 8/15).


USOC TO ANNOUNCE NEXT PRESIDENT AS SOON AS TODAY

The Colorado Springs GAZETTE reports that USOC interim President Marty Mankamyer said that "she expects to be confirmed as the [USOC's] next president when voting results are announced as early as today." Yesterday, Mankamyer said that "all but nine of 123 mail ballots from the USOC's board of directors had been received by KPMG, an independent auditing firm" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 8/15).


PHILLY MARKS THE SPOT AS X GAMES GET UNDERWAY TODAY

The Summer X Games begin today in Philadelphia and continue through Sunday, and USA TODAY reports that "more than 200,000 fans are expected to show up for the five-day celebration of skateboarding, BMX bike jumping, motorcycle flying and dirty-water wakeboarding." The events will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 (USA TODAY, 8/15). The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER lists today's X Games schedule, and the schedule of athletes who will be signing autographs at the Comcast-Spectacor interactive tent (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/15).


GROCERY STORE CHAIN ENSURES JAGUARS TO BE SEEN ON TV

The FL TIMES-UNION reports that Winn-Dixie and the Jaguars are expected to announce at a noon ET press conference today that the grocery store chain "has agreed to purchase enough Jaguars football tickets to ensure no home game is blacked out this season, starting with tomorrow night's game against Tampa Bay." NFL officials said that the scope of the deal "is unprecedented" (FL TIMES-UNION, 8/15).


A LIGHTER BUZZ

MLS Crew Owner Lamar Hunt gave a tour of Columbus Crew Stadium to representatives from Tulsa, OK, during last night's game against the Galaxy. Tulsa is studying the process of landing an expansion team (COLUMBUS DISPATCH 8/15).

NY Gov. George Pataki visited Giants camp yesterday and said of Redskins coach Steve Spurrier, "I hope the Giants, Jets and Bills all go down to Washington and win. [He] comes in with a lot of hype and a great offensive record, but it takes more than that to win in the NFL" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 8/15).

Jay Mohr appeared on CBS' "The Late Late Show" with Craig Kilborn last night and discussed the fact that his ESPN talk show, "Mohr Sports," has been cancelled. Mohr: "They didn't pick up the second-year option. It was a bit of a train wreck from the beginning. Creatively, we had the best staff ever. Mark Shapiro was the boss over at ESPN, and he just certainly didn't see eye-to-eye with our vision" (CBS, "The Late Late Show," 8/14).

For more on Mohr's appearance on Kilborn, see today's issue of THE DAILY.


ATTENDANCE TRACKER:

  • The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES reports that 15,919 fans showed up at Naperville's Cardinal Stadium for yesterday's MLS Wizards-Fire game. It was the largest crowd of the season for the Fire, and the club's largest mid-week crowd ever (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 8/15).
  • The Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL reports, "Thanks to Wednesday's crowd of 4,746 [for the Rockies-Marlins game], the Marlins fell behind the Montreal Expos for worst home attendance in the majors." It is believed to be "the first time in the club's 10-year history" it has drawn the fewest fans in MLB (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 8/15).
  • The Class A NY-Penn League Mahoning Valley Scrappers drew over 4,500 toupees, "sons of truck drivers" and impersonators for last night's "James Traficant Night" at Cafaro Field in Niles, OH. Among the night's activities was a base race between the Traficant impersonator and his assistant "Mini-Jim" (THE DAILY).

TODAY'S EVENTS

WNBA President Val Ackerman will participate in an online chat with fans at noon ET (THE DAILY).

AHL Chicago Wolves teammates Rob Brown, Steve Maltais, Bob Nardella and Ben Simon will throw out ceremonial first pitches and sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at the Astros-Cubs game at Wrigley Field at 1:20pm CT (THE DAILY).

Reebok, The Source Magazine & Interscope Records will announce the winner of the Unsigned Hype Freestyle promotion during a ceremony at Justin's Restaurant & Bar in N.Y., which begins at 11:30am ET. Among the prizes, the winner will receive an endorsement deal from Reebok and an appearance in a music video (THE DAILY).


IN OTHER NEWS….

N.Y. Post gossip columnist Neal Travis "died yesterday afternoon in his sleep." Travis, the "original editor of The Post's famed Page Six," had been battling cancer for several months. He was 62 years old. The N.Y. POST writes, "In the world of New York journalism, Neal Travis was an original. Yes, a throwback to an earlier era of Front Page-style journalism - but never an anachronism" (N.Y. POST, 8/15).

The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports, "Vivendi Universal fix-it man Jean-Rene Fourtou is selling book publishing giant Houghton Mifflin and is looking to raise $9.8 billion to keep his crumbling media empire afloat" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/15).

AD AGE reported that country singer Toby Keith "has been signed as a new pitchman for Ford Motor Co.'s Ford Division" in Dearborn, MI. Keith portrays himself as a "Ford truck man" in the lyrics of a new song he wrote "specifically to perform in new Ford TV spots" (ADAGE.com, 8/14).

The Newark STAR-LEDGER reports that Acclaim UK is "looking for at least five people to change their identities and become Turok, the title character of the company's popular dinosaur-hunter action game series." Acclaim spokesperson Andrew Bloch said, "It's not a gimmick. Every form of their identity will have to change for this to work. They'll be walking, talking, living, breathing advertisements" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 8/15).


FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION

Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Cities."

"Founded in 1565, it is the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the continental (U.S.)."


LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

NBC's Jay Leno: "(President) Bush told the attendees at his big summit on the economy (Wednesday) that he wants to simplify the numbers on Wall Street, so that people can understand what they're looking at.  Simplify the numbers?  They're already down to single digits on Wall Street.  You can't get any simpler than that. ... US Airways has a new slogan – 'Got any spare change?' ... (Wednesday) Fidel Castro turned 76 years old and he's been hinting about retiring.  You know what that means?  Castro could wind up living in Miami. ... A lot of rap stars and professional athletes are taking the air bags out of the steering wheels of their luxury cars and replacing them with TV sets ... which is great.  This way when they break the law, they can watch themselves on the high-speed chase. ... That's pretty dangerous putting a TV set in the steering wheel.  What if you accidentally put on a Dodger game?  You could fall asleep at the wheel. ... The inventor of the Frisbee has passed away. ... His family said his ashes would be molded into a Frisbee.  Somewhere Ted Williams is going, 'Hey, maybe being frozen isn't so bad.' ... That should be a lovely funeral.  'I'd like to pay my last respects.  Throw him over here!' ... The (MLBPA) met (Wednesday), but did not set a date for their next strike.  But the Tampa Bay Devil Rays did say one of their pitchers is thinking about throwing a strike maybe next month" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 8/14).

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

NBC's Conan O'Brien: "Palestinian chairman Yasser Arafat may have stolen $10(M) in aid money. As a result, Arafat has been appointed CEO of WorldCom. … At a press conference, actor Leonardo DiCaprio lashed out at President Bush for his environmental policy. After hearing about it, the President said, 'I thought he died on the Titanic.' … The other night in (NY), one of Senator Hillary Clinton's advisors was kicked out of a hotel bar for removing her blouse. As a result, the woman has been fired by Senator Clinton, and hired by Bill Clinton. … According to the Nielsen Company, the ratings for Anna Nicole Smith's new reality show dropped by 25% from the show's premiere episode. Even worse, since the first episode, Anna Nicole's weight has increased by 25%" ("Late Night," NBC, 8/14).

CBS' Craig Kilborn: "Several major airlines have announced they're going bankrupt this week. As a result, America West has a new policy for their pilots, 'Bring Your Own Booze.' … Happy birthday to Frank Gifford and Kathy Lee. She is 49. Frank is 72. They rolled out a big cake and 100 Honduran kids jumped out and said, 'Shoes are ready'" ("The Late Late Show," CBS, 8/14).


WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR

ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Giants-Braves.


FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"What is St. Augustine, FL?"


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.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2002/08/15/Morning-Buzz-August-15-2002.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2002/08/15/Morning-Buzz-August-15-2002.aspx

CLOSE