Morning Buzz, October 17, 2002

INTERPUBLIC LOWERS EARNINGS FORECAST, FACES CUTBACKS

The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that Interpublic Group late yesterday "slashed its earnings forecast for the third quarter and the rest of the year," and a "significant deterioration" at Octagon's motorsports operation was cited as a "major reason for the poor earnings" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/17). One unnamed senior Interpublic exec said of the company, "It's a disaster. This thing's broken. They're going to throw people overboard" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/17).

TIME INC. TO SHUTTER SI WOMEN AFTER DECEMBER ISSUE

The N.Y. TIMES reports that Time Inc. "has shut down a money-losing magazine," as it will cease publication of Sports Illustrated Women with its December issue. The magazine, which started regular publication in '00, had a circulation of 400,000, and its 45 employees were notified yesterday of the decision (N.Y. TIMES, 10/17).

NEWARK CITY COUNCIL APPROVES FUNDING FOR DOWNTOWN ARENA

The Newark STAR-LEDGER reports that a majority of the nine-member Newark City Council last night "approved landmark legislation that puts funding in place" to build a $355M downtown arena for the Nets and Devils. Construction "could begin as soon as summer, assuming the rest of the pieces fall into place" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/17).

FANS OVERWHELM WEB SITES TRYING TO GET SERIES TICKETS

The S.F. CHRONICLE reports that "a digital tsunami overwhelmed the [MLB] Giants online ticket site" yesterday, as fans attempted to purchase World Series tickets. Both MLB.com and Tickets.com established new traffic records. The Tickets.com site "was swamped with millions of hits," leaving "all but a handful of fans getting error messages instead of tickets." Giants VP/Ticket Sales Russ Stanley: "I wouldn't call it a crash, but it ground to a halt, and people were waiting a long time" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/17).

DICK'S SPORTING GOODS' IPO EXPERIENCES HEAVY ACTIVITY

The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE reports that in its initial day of trading, Dick's Sporting Goods shares closed at $13.15, up 7% from the $12.25 open "despite an overall drop in the three major stock indexes." However, Dick's "had to lure institutional investors by selling at $12 a share, lower than the targeted $15 to $18 range." Dick's raised about $33.2M in the IPO. With investors selling an additional 4.5 million shares, the IPO had "a total value of $87 million, not counting expenses" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 10/17).

TODAY THE DAILY GOES ONE-ONE-ONE WITH

Which president of a high-profile division within a company named for a Greek goddess studied grapes as a major in college, is a self-taught guitar player and still has time to satisfy a voracious reading habit? To find out, see today's Sports Industrialists section for "THE DAILY Goes One-On-One With..."

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The crowd of 12,161 for last night's Thrashers-Penguins game in Pittsburgh was 4,797 under capacity at Mellon Arena and the lowest since December 2, 1999. Team Lemieux President Tom Rooney said, "It's disconcerting. We knew it was going to be a difficult year with losing 1,600 season tickets, nearly 70[%] of those because people were affected by the economy. But we're going to keep working on it" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 10/17).

The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER reports that St. Joseph's Univ. will hold at a 3:00pm ET press conference to unveil a "redesigned logo of its well-known mascot, the Hawk" as well as an 8:00pm event at the campus fieldhouse to celebrate the coming season (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/17).

MLB Rangers SS Alex Rodriguez was named the '02 Player of The Year at last night's MLBPA '02 Players Choice Awards. The '02 Players Choice Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, recognizing a player's on-field performance and contributions to his community, went to Braves P John Smoltz. Read a complete list of the winners (THE DAILY).

The NHLPA announced "that it has donated 100 sets of equipment valued" at C$50,000 to young hockey players across Alberta, Canada, as part of its Goals and Dreams Fund. The equipment "will be distributed by KidSport, a local sports-related charity, and its partner, Sport Swap Ltd" (CALGARY HERALD, 10/17).

Burton Snowboard Co. held the video premiere of the film "Good Times" last night in Salt Lake City. Olympic snowboarding Gold Medalist Ross Powers and snowboarder/skateboarder Jeff Anderson attended (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 10/17).

Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban said of his recent marriage, "Before we even exchanged vows, before we said our `I do's,' I had to say that I would not buy another team. We each wrote our own vows, and it was like: `Will you take another team? I won't. Ok, will you take Tiffany? I do'" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 10/17).

USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand notes, "If you live for national TV sports, you faced the unthinkable Tuesday and again Wednesday: Nothing was on – literally. … But don't fret: Live TV sports starts up again today at 9:15am ET with European golf from Surrey, England, on The Golf Channel" (USA TODAY, 10/17).

TODAY'S EVENTS

Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) will release its '02 Q3 earnings and will hold a 2:00pm PT conference call to discuss the results. The call will be broadcast live on www.callawaygolf.com (THE DAILY).

As part of its MLB post-season initiative, Toys "R" Us in N.Y.'s Times Square will host a player appearance with former Yankee 1B Don Mattingly (THE DAILY).

Winthrop Univ. in Rock Hill, SC, will host the United States Disc Golf Championship beginning today through October 20 (THE DAILY).

Cavaliers players and coaching staff, along with the WNBA Rockers coach Dan Hughes and F/C Chasity Melvin, will host 100 students from John D. Rockefeller Elementary School in Cleveland for a "Reading Time Out" at Gund Arena beginning at 1:00pm ET (THE DAILY).

MLS Commissioner Don Garber will participate in an online chat on ESPN.com beginning at 6:00pm ET to promote this weekend's MLS Cup 2002 (THE DAILY).

IN OTHER NEWS….

The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that Coca-Cola announced Q3 results yesterday and while new products "boosted growth in the long-sluggish North American soft drink business, much of the rest of the globe put a drag on the company" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/17).

Time Warner Cable announced that its video-on-demand service will "begin rolling out in [N.Y.] over the next few weeks." The service will reach about half of the company's 500,000 digital subscribers (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/17).

FINAL JEOPARDY

Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Famous Americans."

"In 1920 this man, great-grandson of Sauk leader Black Hawk, became the first President of what is now the NFL."

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

CBS' David Letterman: "It's autumn in (N.Y.) and I was in Central Park (yesterday) on my lunch hour and I saw one of those autumn in (N.Y.) kind of scenes. Two rats tore the sweater off a poodle. ... The mayors of (Anaheim and S.F.) have one of those friendly bets (on the World Series). So if (S.F.) wins the World Series they get a free trip to Disneyland for Anaheim and if Anaheim wins the World Series they get the first season of the 'Judy Garland Show' on DVD. ... Congratulations to Saddam Hussein. He won the election. Once again he's President of Iraq. ... He elected himself to another seven-year term and he celebrated quietly by shooting a brother-in-law. ... The Catholic Church is revising the rosary for the first time in 900 years. ... It's all part of their ongoing effort to change the subject" ("Late Show," CBS, 10/16).

NBC's Jay Leno: "Saddam Hussein got 100% of the vote (in the Iraqi presidential election) or as they say in (FL), 'Too close to call.' ... 100% of the vote!? Well, that's according to Saddam's campaign manager, Jeb Hussein. ... How much do you think tickets for the World Series games in Anaheim are going for? $5,000! Well, it's still cheaper than Disneyland. ... The Vatican is outraged -- outraged! -- after it was reported that a church-owned property in Moscow is being turned into a brothel with hookers dressed as nuns. It could've been worse. They could've been dressed as Cub Scouts. ... The tabloid The Globe ... is reporting action star Vin Diesel has a huge crush on Anna Nicole Smith which makes sense. A guy named Diesel attracted to a woman as big as a truck." Leno aired a skit last night on the all-CA World Series. Leno: "For any number of reasons, an all-(CA) World Series is quite a bit different than a regular World Series." Leno: "In a regular series, batters box. In a (CA) series, botox. ... In a regular series, player grabs his crotch. In a (CA) series, player 'gets in touch with his inner self.' ... In a regular series, the 'House That Ruth Built.' In a (CA) series, 'Plastic Surgeons That Built Ruth.' ... In a regular series, buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks. In a (CA) series, just buy me the crack, Jack" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 10/16).

Last night's "Top Ten" was "Top Ten Ways CBS Can Attract Viewers To 'The Early Show'" ("The Late Show," 10/16).

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart: "Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology have discovered a new planet at the far reaches of the solar system. The planet has been named 'Quaoar,' after the creator god of the Indian people who originally inhabited the (L.A.) basin. It's a great honor, although for $10K the astronomers will change the name to 'The AOL/Time Warner Rockin' Space Rock sponsored by Orbit Gum.' … This Saturday, the NL Champion Giants travel downstate to take on the AL's Angels in Game One of an all-California World Series, or, as the rest of the country calls it, 'Football Season.' The Giants, of course, are led by Barry Bonds, one of the greatest sluggers in baseball history. Despite his greatness, Bonds has a history of reaching the post-season only to disappoint; this according to Tony Dinouza, overweight and unkempt bus driver who made this claim on WFAN last night, to Mike and/or the Mad Dog. … (49ers receiver) Terrell Owens took a sharpie out of his sock and signed the football for a friend of his after scoring the go ahead touchdown against the Seahawks… Now some people found that very amusing. Many thought it was a brazen display of bad sportsmanship, matched only by the cigar Owens was smoking when he caught the ball ("The Daily Show," Comedy Central, 10/16).

CBS' Craig Kilborn: "Last night, (N.Y. was) the site of the annual VH-1 Fashion Awards. I taped it; please don't tell me which supermodel Mick Jagger knocked up. Lots of celebrities at the awards; I actually heard Winona Ryder had a stunning outfit. Versace gown and purse with matching price tags. … World Series is starting Saturday in Anaheim. The mayors of the two towns have a friendly bet: if the Giants win, Anaheim will give (S.F.'s) mayor a crate of oranges. If the Angels win (S.F.) will give Anaheim's mayor a deep tissue massage" ("The Late Late Show," CBS, 10/16).

WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR

Last night's 11:00pm ET edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" led with a report on how the Angels plan to pitch to Giants LF Barry Bonds during the World Series and analysis of Bonds' hitting style, followed by Bruins-Canucks and Thrashers-Penguins.

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"Who was Jim Thorpe?"

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