| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | Fehr's Memo Becomes Center Of Storm In Stalled MLB Labor Talks |
| • | Powered By Penske, Detroit Begins Super Bowl Beautification Process |
| • | Search Begins To Replace Late COC CEO Jim Thompson |
| • | Holy ?$@!!! Dodgers OF Shawn Green Exposed For All He's Worth |
| • | Just Win Baby! City of Oakland, Alameda County and Raiders Back In Court |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/In Other News/Laugh Track/Final Jeopardy!/TV Monitor |
MLB LABOR NEGOTIATIONS DRAG ON WITHOUT ANY PROGRESS
While reports around the country continue to cite MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr's memo to players and agents about MLB's bargaining position, the AP reports that negotiators for the two sides yesterday "met twice and discussed the core economic issues, focusing on the luxury tax and revenue sharing." The two sides are scheduled to resume bargaining today (AP, 8/21). The WASHINGTON POST reports the two sides "barely budged from a week-old stalemate in labor negotiations … with rhetoric and a memorandum adding to the difficulties of reaching an agreement before the players' strike date" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/21).
DETROIT DISTRICT TO UNDERGO RENEWAL FOR SUPER BOWL
The DETROIT NEWS reports that a nine-block area in Detroit "is being targeted for significant upgrades in preparation for the [NFL's] 2006 Super Bowl." Detroit Super Bowl XL Host Committee Chair Roger Penske "is scheduled to announce today plans to polish downtown areas, accommodate public and private parties and target areas for concessions." Additionally, the committee is "planning sporting competitions and learning centers for children" (DETROIT NEWS, 8/21).
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS TO BE NAMED INTERIM CEO
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) will hold an "executive meeting by conference call today as its first step toward recovering from the stunning death" of CEO Jim Thompson last week. The COC "is expected to install" Dir of Business Operations Lou Ragagnin as interim CEO, "a post he had for a year while the COC – formerly the Canadian Olympic Association – conducted a search to replace the late Carol Anne Letheren, who had died suddenly at the start of 2001" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 8/21).
FINCHEM: WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS WILL RETURN TO LA COSTA
The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE reports that PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem will announce at a news conference today at the NEC Invitational in Seattle "that the World Golf Championships' match play tournament, featuring the top 64 ranked players in the world, will return to the La Costa Resort and Spa for four years beginning in February" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/21).
Meanwhile, the ORLANDO SENTINEL reports former Golf Channel personality Peter Kessler will announce today that he "has signed on with Golf Magazine to produce a monthly question-and-answer series – in other words, his old Golf Talk Live show in print" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 8/21).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
This week's cover of Sports Illustrated features Yankees 2B Alfonso Soriano with the tagline, "ALFONSO SORIANO … The Latest Greatest Yankee" (THE DAILY).
ABC Radio's Keith Olbermann reported that a column of the Santa Clarita (CA) Signal, which "waxed poetic about seeing the private parts" of Dodgers OF Shawn Green, was "pulled … from its website early last evening." In the column, Patti Shea, a political reporter who had a one-day assignment to cover the Dodgers, saw Green disrobe, and wrote: "Holy ?$@!!! I'm going to need to see a chiropractor for the whiplash I gave myself. I turned away to not see most of the goods, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I saw Greenie's buns, le toosh, el booty. Catch my drift?" (ABC Radio, 8/21).
The OAKLAND TRIBUNE reports a Sacramento County Superior Court Judge will hear arguments from the City of Oakland and Alameda County today looking "to curtail damages asked for by the Raiders" in the long-running lawsuit between the two groups. The two sides are scheduled to be back in court this afternoon for the case, which is "to go to trial next spring" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 8/21).
The NEW HAVEN REGISTER reports last night's Pilot Pen Tennis tournament match between Venus Williams and Meghann Shaughnessy drew 7,864. The tournament's daytime attendance was 6,469, bringing the week's attendance to 42,236, up from 39,818 from the same period a year ago. The tournament "is on pace to break its own attendance record of 92,687 set last year" (NEW HAVEN REGISTER, 8/21).
TODAY'S EVENTS
The Packers will conduct a 1:00pm CT tour of the new Lambeau Field press box and related media facilities for all credentialed WI sports media (THE DAILY).
The Sabres will unveil their sales and marketing campaign for the '03-04 season at a noon ET luncheon in the HSBC Arena's Harbour Club (THE DAILY).
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco has scheduled an afternoon news conference at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem to discuss future plans for The Winston, NASCAR's all-star race (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/15).
The Stadium Foundation of West Des Moines, IA, will host a 2:00pm CT press conference to announce a naming rights partner for the newly constructed stadium in Urbandale. The Premier Development League (PDL) Des Moines Menace will be the first tenant of the stadium. The PDL is aligned with the United Soccer League (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The N.Y. TIMES reports, "Some associates of Bill Clinton and executives from CBS are involved in negotiations to make the former president the host of a daily afternoon talk show" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/21).
NEWSDAY reports, "After plunging for much of this year, Cablevision Systems Corp.'s stock price has jumped the past five days, the first such string of daily gains since February." Cablevision stock closed yesterday at $7.82, up $0.35 on the day and 58% since it hit a 10-year-low of $4.95 (NEWSDAY, 8/21).
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that AOL Time Warner (AOL TW) and AT&T "are set to announce a complex deal today that will see AOL TW buying back full control of the two companies' Time Warner Entertainment partnership for cash and stock totaling at least $9 billion" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/21).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Word & Phrase Origins."
"Don Hoefler, a reporter for Electronic News, is credited with coining this name for an area south of San Francisco."
TUESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Angels-Yankees.
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS' David Letterman: "I'm walking around the halls of CBS earlier today and Dr. Phil comes up to me and says, 'Dave, anytime you need to talk, let me know.' ... Outside in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater, there's a guy that's been doing this everyday for the last nine or ten years. Everyday when I come to work, he gives me the finger. Well (yesterday), he set a strike date for August 30. ... It looks like August 30, (the MLB players) may go on strike, and I know nothing about labor negotiations, and so I had a friend give me a call ... and (I asked) what's going on with the baseball players. He said, 'Here is the sticking point of the negotiations – the players want a piece of that bobblehead doll action.' ... The strike date is August 30. Of course, the Mets' work stoppage began in May. ... Remember a couple years ago, Barbra Streisand retired? Had her farewell concert. It was our darkest hour, am I right? She's coming out of retirement and she's going to be performing at a Democratic fundraiser. ... When this announcement was made, (Mets C) Mike Piazza held a press conference and he announced that he would not be attending the concert. ... It's really a great time to be in (N.Y.). You can go boating in Central Park. You can have dinner at The Plaza. You can have sex at St. Patrick's Cathedral. ... Last week a couple was arrested for having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral and the priest was so shocked that he fell off an altar boy" ("The Late Show," CBS, 8/20).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night's "Top Ten" was "Top Ten Signs You're Not Going To Win 'American Idol'" ("The Late Show," CBS, 8/20).
| 10. | "You only got two phone votes last week, and one was a wrong number." |
| 9. | "Sang one note and your car's already loaded with parting gifts." |
| 8. | "The only other time you sang in public, you received a $50 fine." |
| 7. | "Amish sect forbids you to appear on camera or use any audio equipment." |
| 6. | "Russian mob strong-armed the French judge into voting against you." |
| 5. | "You look like a teenaged Henry Kissinger." |
| 4. | "While you sing, you chain-smoke Kools." |
| 3. | "The 'studio' – your basement. The 'judges' – your kitties." |
| 2. | "Your ill-advised song, 'I Love You, Osama.'" |
| 1. | "The only words you can make out from screaming audience members are 'microphone,' 'shove' and 'ass.'" |
Jon Stewart: "A routine carjacking in [L.A.] went horribly, wonderfully awry yesterday, when a 20-year-old perpetrator made the unfortunate mistake of trying to steal a van carrying members of a Florida judo club. The result? The half-dozen martial artists pummeled the man and turned him over to the L.A.P.D. … How refreshing! A suspect beaten up before the L.A.P.D. gets to him. What a novel idea. … [The perpetrator] is being held on $1.2 million bail, money his brother hopes to raise by kidnapping Jackie Chan's family and holding them for ransom" ("The Daily Show," Comedy Central, 8/20).
CBS' Craig Kilborn: "CBS announced that a contestant in the next 'Survivor' series is a used car salesman who used to be a porno actor. Now why would you want somebody who used to have such a seedy profession on your show? C'mon the guy used to be a used car salesman! … A recent poll asked American high school students if the void left by Saddam Hussein could destabilize the Middle East, and 90% said, 'You lost me at poll, dude'" ("The Late Late Show," CBS, 8/20).
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is Silicon Valley?"
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