Morning Buzz, August 27, 2002

USOC EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE TWO '12 BID CITY FINALISTS

The USOC Bid Evaluation Task Force has scheduled a 5:00pm ET press conference to announce the two cities selected from Houston, N.Y., S.F. and Washington-Baltimore as the U.S. bid candidates for the '12 Olympics. The two cities will be placed on the ballot for a November 3 vote by the USOC's 123-member BOD. The winner will face international candidates in a vote by the IOC in '05 to select the host city.

NEWSDAY reports "there is no rigid format for how Tuesday's survivors will be determined," as something "as simple as a voice vote could quickly settle the matter if it is clear that two cities are overwhelmingly favored" (NEWSDAY, 8/27). The CONTRA COSTA TIMES reports that "each member already has scored the four cities based on three categories: 54 percent for IOC guidelines for host city candidates; 15 percent for financial stability; and 31 percent for international strategies, partnership proposals with the USOC and Paralympics plan."  But comparisons of the members' scores will not take place until today (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 8/27).

Early reports had Washington and S.F. as the front-runners and today's WASHINGTON POST cites several members of the USOC's site evaluation team as saying that the Washington-Baltimore bid "is likely to advance" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/27). Additionally, the N.Y. DAILY NEWS quotes "a committee insider" as saying that N.Y.'s bid will survive "because of its 'international appeal'" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/27). Bay Area Bid President Anne Cribbs: "We're cautiously optimistic about our chances of making the short list" (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 8/27). Houston 2012 Foundation President Susan Bandy: "We think that for 2012, they'll be looking for a technically superior bid – something with no questions, something that represents a slam-dunk for them. So just come to Houston. We'll do it for you. It will be nice. It will be wonderful. It will be easy" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/27). USOC site evaluation Chair Charles Moore, on the selection process: "It will not be simple. All four deserve to win. The cities are probably the four most qualified in the world" (AP, 8/27).

Meanwhile, the AP reports that the IOC Exec Board today "will open three days of meetings" today and is expected to announce tomorrow news on the site of the '10 Games, by cutting the field to "two, three or four official bid cities" (AP, 8/27).

BARGAINING CONTINUES AS SIDES TRY TO AVERT MLB LABOR STRIKE

Conflicting reports have baseball negotiators meeting two or three times during bargaining sessions yesterday. The MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL reports that reps from MLB and MLBPA met twice Monday night, "but a planned third meeting never took place." MLB President & COO Bob DuPuy, on why the third session did not happen: "They don't want to meet" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/27). However, USA TODAY reports that while three bargaining sessions took place yesterday, "no proposals or counterproposals were made" by either side (USA TODAY, 8/27). MLBPA General Counsel Gene Orza, on the latest talks: "We had some informal conversations, that's it" (AP, 8/27). Neither side met with the media yesterday, and MLB Senior VP/PR Rich Levin said, "Both sides have decided to calm down the rhetoric and concentrate on trying to get a deal done" (DENVER POST, 8/27).

Brewers 3B and player rep Mark Loretta said that the union "is scheduled to hold a conference call today to discuss the latest proposal, then will deliver it to baseball negotiators" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/27).

PUBLIC MEETINGS BEGIN ON THE VALUE OF TITLE IX

USA TODAY reports that the public debate over Title IX "begins in earnest today with the first of four town hall meetings." The U.S. Secretary of Education's Commission On Opportunity in Athletics is holding the conferences, the first of which will be a two-day session in Atlanta. Today's meeting will include "remarks from Education Department officials and commission members, followed by testimony from invited witnesses." Among those scheduled to speak is former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, who introduced the Title IX legislation in '72 (USA TODAY, 8/27).

GWINNETT CENTER TO ADD SECOND MINOR LEAGUE FRANCHISE

The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that the AFL Georgia Force will "announce today it is leaving Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta for the northern suburbs" of Gwinnett County. The club, which moved from Nashville a season ago, will play in the Gwinnett Center, beginning in February '03. The Force will receive "free office space, a free practice field, and a share of concessions" as part of the five-year deal, which also includes a five-year renewal option. Additionally, the ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators will begin play in the arena in October '03 (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/27).

LPGA LOOKING TO HIT 'EM LONG AND STRAIGHT AT CROOKED STICK

The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that LPGA Tour representatives and the IN Sports Corporation will "officially announce this morning that The Solheim Cup will be played at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel in 2005." The tentative dates of the '05 event, to be televised by NBC, are Sept. 16-18, the weekend before F1's U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/27).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that Australian tennis writer Alan Trengove's streak of covering 90 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments is coming to an end at this year's U.S. Open. Trengove opted not to cover the N.Y. event because of "a change in the editorial direction of Australia's Tennis magazine" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 8/27).

The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that a Bank One Ballpark ticket usher "was caught with about 20 winning scratch cards that were supposed to be distributed to fans" for Saturday's Cubs-D'Backs game. A winning ticket entitled the owner to a bobblehead doll of D'Backs P Randy Johnson. Unconfirmed reports had the usher being "fired immediately" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 8/27).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• The attendance of 62,663 for last night's Browns-Packers game was a Lambeau Field record, but it wasn't a full house. The current capacity of Lambeau, expanded from last season, is 65,290. The largest previous crowd at Lambeau was 60,766 for a regular-season game against the Bears in '97 (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/27).

TODAY'S EVENTS

THE DAILY's sister publication, SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, will host a breakfast briefing at the Parker Meridien Hotel in N.Y. from 8:30-10:30am ET around the '02 U.S. Open entitled "The Economics of Professional Tennis… Can You Make Money In This Game?" (THE DAILY).

The Tennis Channel Chair & CEO David Meister and President & Founder Steve Bellamy will host a 10:30am ET news conference in N.Y. to make programming, marketing and advertising announcements (THE DAILY).

The '02 USA Basketball Men's World Championship Team will read books and teach basic basketball skills to 100 kids in Indianapolis as part of the "Basketball and Books Clinic" at 1:00pm CT at the IUPUI Gym (THE DAILY).

The 49ers will host the launch of the World Bowl XI official Web site at 12:30pm PT (THE DAILY).

Coyotes Chair & CEO Steve Ellman, President Jim Lites and RW Claude Lemieux will conduct a behind-the scenes tour of the construction of the team's new Glendale, AZ, arena at 10:00am PT (THE DAILY).

Sports filmmaker Bud Greenspan will host a 2:00pm ET conference call to discuss his documentary "The 1972 Munich Olympic Games: Bud Greenspan Remembers" (THE DAILY).

The Chevy 500 Road Trip, which runs today through Friday, will make stops at Chevrolet dealerships in seven cities to promote the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Silverado 350k and the IRL Chevy 500k, to be held Sept. 13 and 15, respectively, at TX Motor Speedway (THE DAILY).

IN OTHER NEWS….

USA TODAY reports that Sony's PlayStation 2 today will introduce "an online add-on to let players battle via the Net." The Network Adaptor, which retails for $39.99, "fits into the back of the game system and connects either to broadband connections or to phone lines to reach the Internet" (USA TODAY, 8/27).

The L.A. TIMES reports that Fitch Ratings on Monday "downgraded its rating" on Disney's unsecured debt from A-minus to BBB-plus, citing "the company's debt, the struggling ABC television network and the falloff in the company's theme park business" (L.A. TIMES, 8/27).

The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that the "average person in France drinks 104 servings of Coke products per year – double what it was a decade ago" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/27).

The N.Y. TIMES reports, "Pepsi executives said the company had more than doubled its advertising budget aimed at minorities this year." While the company declined to say how much was spent on the campaign, "company officials said Pepsi used 15 television ads that could be categorized as multicultural this year, compared with 7 in 2001, and 20 radio spots, compared with 8 in 2001" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/27).

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that "although the capacity crowds have begun to drift away in recent weeks," summer box office totals are "expected to be up 3% over last summer" and year-to-date box office totals are "up 13% from last year" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/27).

A CMR survey on advertising shows that spending for the first half of the year "fell 0.2% across all media categories to $53.7 billion, compared with $53.8 billion in the same period last year" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/27).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

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

"This California structure whose official color is international orange is one of the seven wonders of the modern world."

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

CBS' David Letterman: "It was such a beautiful day (yesterday), the (NY) Mets said, 'Let's lose two.' ... It was a strange weekend in (N.Y.), I'm telling you. The Mets won – that made it strange right there. The Yankees lost and nobody got laid in St. Patrick's Cathedral. ... Weeks ago they arrested a couple for having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral, and it's crazy. Now, when you go to church and you light a candle, it's to create a romantic mood. ... One in every 32 adults in this country is in jail or on probation, and that's just clergy." Letterman, on the LLWS: "Remember last year they had the scandal with Danny Almonte, and like this year, one of the pitchers was Danny Almonte Jr. and I'm watching the game and I'm thinking, 'My God, how old are these kids,' because ABC between innings was showing pictures of the players' wives." Letterman: "According to a new study, if you have a lot of sex you will live longer. Yeah right, sure, until you get the bill!" ("The Late Show," CBS, 8/26).

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

Letterman aired a skit called, "Baseball Strike: What The Owners Say, What The Players Say" ("The Late Show," CBS, 8/26).

"SNL" cast member Jimmy Fallon appeared on last night's edition of CBS' "The Late Show" where he talked about his minority ownership of the Independent Northern League Brockton (MA) Rox. Fallon: "I say I'm an owner. I have 1% of this team. I couldn't afford 51%, so I figured what's the difference between 1% or 2%? ... (But) I get free hot dogs." Fallon added, "Basically, it's a waste of money" ("The Late Show," CBS, 8/26).

MONDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR

ESPN's 1:00am ET "SportsCenter" led with A's-Royals.

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"What is the Golden Gate Bridge?"

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