| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Friday, September 13, 2002
9:00am ET | |
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| • | Former adidas Head Louis-Dreyfus Mulls Bid To Acquire KirchSport |
| • | Tagliabue To Be Deposed In Kelci Stringer's Suit Against Vikings |
| • | CART Makes Changes To Allow Forsythe To Increase Stake |
| • | Online Petition Urges Ravens To Rename Stadium For Late Johnny Unitas |
| • | Last Call For Carson Daly On E!, Jay Mohr To Search For America's Funniest |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
INVESTORS PLAN BIDS FOR KIRCHSPORT BUYOUT
The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that former adidas Chair & CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus is planning to bid for the global broadcast rights to the '06 Men's World Cup soccer championships, with a "management buyout of KirchSport." Others rumored to be interested include Kirch Group Founder Leo Kirch and former Kirch Group CEO Dieter Hahn, although "it was unclear if they would follow through by Friday's deadline" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/13). However, the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that despite "a tentative deadline for bids … today, the absolute cutoff point for final offers seems likely to be pushed back yet again" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 9/13).
TAGLIABUE AND MEDICAL EXPERTS TO BE DEPOSED IN NOVEMBER
The ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS reports that "lawyers for the widow of Korey Stringer will take depositions" from NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in the $100M wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the Vikings. Kelci Stringer's attorney, Paul DeMarco, will depose Tagliabue and two of the league's medical experts in November. Depositions will continue next week with Vikings Exec VP Mike Kelly and Vikings Medical Coordinator Dr. David Fischer scheduled (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 9/13).
CART ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO STOCKHOLDERS RIGHTS PLAN
CART announced yesterday that it has amended its stockholders rights plan to permit Gerald Forsythe and his affiliated entities to increase their aggregate ownership of CART stock to 23% without triggering the stockholders rights plan. CART's BOD said that the amendment was made at the request of Forsythe and not in response to any proposal to acquire CART (THE DAILY).
21,000 AND COUNTING, RAVENS HAVE NO COMMENT ON PETITION
The Baltimore SUN reports that an online petition "urging that [Ravens Stadium] be renamed 'Johnny Unitas Memorial Stadium' … had collected more than 21,000 signatures" by last night. Meanwhile, Colts QB Peyton Manning "requested permission from the league to wear a pair of black hightop shoes during" Sunday's Dolphins-Colts game, in tribute to Unitas. Additionally, Cardinal William Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, plans to hold a funeral mass for Unitas at 10:00am ET on Tuesday at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen (Baltimore SUN, 9/13).
ACTION PERFORMANCE ACQUIRES LICENSED LOGO DESIGNER
Action Performance Companies, Inc. has completed the acquisition of Jeff Hamilton Industries, Inc., a designer and producer of leather jackets featuring licensed logos and images from the NBA, NFL, NHL and NASCAR teams and athletes. The acquisition will cost Action $4.5M, consisting of cash, stock and the assumption of liabilities. While Jeff Hamilton Collection operations will remain in L.A., accounting and finance responsibilities will be consolidated into Action's corporate HQs in Phoenix (THE DAILY).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
MLB announced yesterday that Cal Ripken Jr.'s 2,131st consecutive game is in the lead as the top moment in MLB history in the MasterCard Memorable Moments campaign. There are three weeks left in the fan balloting period (THE DAILY).
The S.F. CHRONICLE reports, "A jury will decide who gets to keep Barry Bonds' record-setting 73rd home run ball, after a San Francisco Superior Court judge rejected claims by two Bay Area men hoping to keep the potentially lucrative piece of memorabilia" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/13).
Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham said yesterday that the last two counts against 76ers G Allen Iverson will be dropped because his accusers don't want to pursue the case. Originally, Iverson was charged with 14 counts, including four felonies. Iverson released a written statement and thanked Reebok Chair & CEO Paul Fireman and "the other people at Reebok for supporting [him] during this situation" (AP, 9/12).
The AP reported that IN Univ. has "extended the deadline for Bob Knight to sue the school over his 2000 firing as basketball coach to Oct. 11." State law had required Knight to take legal action by Monday (AP, 9/10).
The Indians, along with Linda and Jordan Warfield, yesterday announced the establishment of scholarship funds at OH State Univ. and PA State Univ., in the name of Jimmy Warfield, the long-time Indians trainer who passed away on July 16 (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S EVENTS
The Steelers will host a pep rally and "Million Dollar Football Toss" to benefit the United Way of Allegheny County. The event, to be held on the plaza of the U.S. Steel Tower, runs from 11:00am-3:00pm ET (THE DAILY).
Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich and his wife, Sophie, will host the Ninth Annual Rudy T. Golf Tournament at Galveston Country Club to raise college scholarship funds for students who have struggled with adversity in their lives. The scramble starts at noon CT (THE DAILY).
Hawks G Dan Dickau will attend a Reading Timeout and ice cream party at the Harland Boys & Girls Club in Atlanta at 3:30pm ET (THE DAILY).
The Wild's merchandise store, The Hockey Lodge, opens its Mall of America location at 10:00am CT (THE DAILY).
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…..
Every Friday, the Morning Buzz highlights a video clip, chart or piece of information that might have fallen through the cracks. This week, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart takes a shot at Fox' NFL claymation promos on "The Daily Show," but saves some venom for the traffic headaches caused by the NFL and its concert in Times Square (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
Huffy Corp. announced yesterday that it received approval for the issuance of up to 5,000,000 shares of common stock in connection with the previously announced acquisition of Gen-X Sports, Inc. (THE DAILY).
MULTICHANNEL NEWS reports that E! pulled NBC late-night talk show "Last Call with Carson Daly" from its schedule "after the show's repurposed episodes failed to find an audience." The show averaged about a 0.2 Nielsen cable rating (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 9/13).
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that CBS "will likely replace Jane Clayson as co-host of CBS' 'The Early Show.'" Sources at the net have also said that A&E's "Biography" host Harry Smith "has emerged as a viable candidate to replace Bryant Gumbel," who left the show when his contract expired in May" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 9/13).
DAILY VARIETY reports that comedian Jay Mohr "will partner with NBC" for eight episodes of a project tentatively titled, "Funniest Person in America" (DAILY VARIETY, 9/13).
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "U.S. History."
"Dating back to the Revolution, it's the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States."
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS' David Letterman: "I was up in Central Park on my lunch hour and I saw one of those perfect autumn scenes that every now and then you see in Central Park. ... Four rats had surrounded a squirrel and made him hand over his nuts. ... Here's good news. President Bill Clinton finally got his own talk show on CBS – mine! Clinton was on the show (last Wed. night). But you know, frankly, I'm glad he's gone. Now I can go back to making Clinton jokes. ... It looks like Janet Reno lost the primary election for governor down there in (FL). ... They think what hurt her were the allegations of steroid abuse" ("The Late Show," CBS, 9/12).
NBC's Jay Leno: "I thought President Bush gave an excellent speech (about Iraq). ... He had some strong words for Saddam Hussein in his speech. He had trouble pronouncing most of them, but they were strong words. ... I guess they figured out (yesterday) what happened with the (FL) elections. Apparently, the voting machines are still clogged with Al Gore ballots. ... Congress asked the Justice Department to begin a criminal investigation of Martha Stewart, and a lot of Martha's friends think she's getting a little paranoid. Like (yesterday) in the kitchen, when she was poking the Pillsbury Doughboy – she wasn't trying to tickle him. She was checking to see if he was wearing a wire. ... Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown have been fined by the state of (NJ) for exceeding the state's water restriction limits. Using too much water? How big is their bong?" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 9/12).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Thursday's "Top Ten" was "Top Ten Ways To Tick Off Buzz Aldrin" ("The Late Show," CBS, 9/12).
| 10) | "When you meet him, make buzzing sound like a bee." |
| 9) | "Squeegee his space helmet and ask for a buck." |
| 8) | "Spell 'Buzz' with one 'z.'" |
| 7) | "Pronounce NASA, 'NASSAU.'" |
| 6) | "Fill his oxygen tank with piping hot clam chowder." |
| 5) | "Every time he eats cheese, wink and say, 'Wonder where you got that, moon boy?'" |
| 4) | "Ask if he's related to Ruth Buzzi!" |
| 3) | "Call him Spock." |
| 2) | "Refer to Apollo XI as 'that guy from the Rocky movies.'" |
| 1) | "Hog the Tang." |
THURSDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 10:30pm ET (late due to NCAA football) 90-minute edition of "SportsCenter" led with updates on the NL and AL West division races.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is West Point?"
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