AMONG USOC DECISIONS, N.Y. SELECTED AS 2012 CANDIDATE CITY

The USOC concluded its meetings in Colorado Springs yesterday and will meet again in Fort Worth from April 12-13, 2003.  Among the session's highlights:  the BOD selected N.Y. over S.F., by a vote 132-91, to serve as the U.S. candidate city for the 2012 Summer Olympics; USA Boxing was placed on probation for failing to comply with Olympic membership requirements; an operating reserve of $60M was established and $4.5M of additional national governing body and athlete support for '03 was approved.

The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS reports that the IOC "plans to make its final choice" for the 2012 Olympics in '05, and N.Y. is expected to compete against Budapest, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Toronto and others (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 11/4).

The Colorado Springs GAZETTE reports that N.Y. and the USOC "face an uphill climb when it comes to winning over the IOC" as the U.S. is viewed as "the fat cat of the Olympic movement" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 11/4).

Commenting on N.Y.'s selection, IOC VP Dick Pound said, ''I don't think with something as important as the Olympics Games to the IOC that the members are going to vote out of some misguided sympathy or solidarity for [N.Y.], which is as far as I can see the only card they have to play"(AP, 11/4).

For a full recap of the USOC session, see today's edition of THE DAILY.

KNICKS' SELLOUT STREAK LIKELY TO END TONIGHT AGAINST BUCKS

The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports "barring a brisk last minute walk-up sale, the Knicks' home sellout streak will end at 433 straight games tonight" against the Bucks (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/4).  Meanwhile, NEWSDAY reported that MSG President of Team Operations Steve Mills "held an impromptu news conference [Saturday] to announce that there were a little more than 1,000 tickets left" for tonight's game.  Mills: "This is something all of us saw as inevitable, even at the end of last season.  This is an inevitable thing in sports" (NEWSDAY, 11/3).

HOCKEY HOF TO INDUCT '02 CLASS TONIGHT

The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto tonight inducts its '02 Class, including Blues C Bernie Federko, Islanders F Clark Gillies, Capitals D Rod Langway and coach Roger Neilson, in a ceremony from 7:00-8:30pm ET.  The induction ceremony will be covered live by TSN in Canada. In the U.S., ESPN will tape the ceremony and broadcast it at 11:00pm on ESPN2 (THE DAILY).

$25M TIGER WOODS LEARNING CENTER TO BE BUILT IN ANAHEIM

The ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER reports the Tiger Woods Foundation and the Orange County Board of Supervisors will announce today "a deal finalizing the Tiger Woods Learning Center at H.G. "Dad" Miller Golf Course in Anaheim."  Construction on the $25M center, which will include "a two-sided driving range, two-story building, chipping and putting green and 18-hole putting course," is expected to begin in six to nine months "and take approximately a year to build."  The property is owned by Orange County (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 11/4).

"AROUND THE HORN" TO FEATURE NATIONWIDE NEWSROOM DEBATE

ESPN will debut "Around the Horn" today at 5:00pm ET, a 30-minute opinion-based program that will select four columnists from five newsrooms each Monday-Friday to discuss news of the day.  Host Max Kellerman will be joined each day by four of the following columnists: Boston Globe's Bob Ryan, Chicago Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti, Dallas Morning News' Tim Cowlishaw, Denver Post's Woody Paige, L.A. Times' T.J. Simers.

Commenting on becoming a "national TV star," Paige writes today, "I'll be sort of a George Clooney type, only cuter and smarter. … My bobblehead dolls should be in the stores by Christmas, and I'll be making public appearances in November at Grandpa's Burger Haven and the bus station" (DENVER POST, 11/4).

Meanwhile, USA TODAY reports that "Pardon the Interruption" co-hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon will appear tonight at halftime of ABC's "Monday Night Football" in "the first of periodic 'PTI' plugs" (USA TODAY, 11/4).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL reported that the '02 November breeding stock sale begins today in Lexington, and "Keeneland executives are worried" that the sale "will be a rerun of last year, when the sales average declined 23 percent" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 11/2).

Alternate uniforms again were in the mix in the NFL on Sunday.  While the Chargers broke out their powder-blue unis and traditional helmet, the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION reports that for "the first time in franchise history" the Jaguars wore black pants with their white jerseys against the Giants.  Unlike with jerseys, NFL teams "don't need permission from the league to wear different pants" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 11/4).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• There were 31,932 participants at this year's N.Y. Marathon on Sunday, as compared to approximately 25,000 at last year's event (NEWSDAY, 11/3).

• The IL DAILY HERALD reported that Saturday's Boston College-Notre Dame game was played before "a record crowd of 80,935" at Notre Dame Stadium (IL DAILY HERALD, 11/3).

• The L.A. DAILY NEWS reports that Sunday's CART Toyota 500 drew an "estimated 60,000 fans" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 11/4).

• The L.A. DAILY NEWS reported that Friday night's Lakers-Clippers game at Staples Center drew 20,474 fans, "the biggest crowd in the history of Staples for any Lakers or Clippers contest" (L.A. DAILY NEWS 11/2).

EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Below are this week's confirmed earnings announcements for sports-business related companies (THE DAILY).

IN OTHER NEWS….

This week's cover of TIME goes "Inside the Womb."  Meanwhile, NEWSWEEK examines "Why TV Is Good For Kids" (THE DAILY).

The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that Coca-Cola "has approached Robert DeNiro, Julia Roberts and Nicolas Cage" to become celebrity endorsers as part of the company's new advertising campaign (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/4).

The N.Y. TIMES reports David Letterman's "Late Show," is "moving to radio … in the latest example of a synergistic crossover [between] Infinity radio stations and the CBS television network."  The show will begin at 11:35pm local time "in 15 of the country's biggest cities" including N.Y., Chicago, L.A. and S.F., starting Monday, November 11 (N.Y. TIMES, 11/4).

The L.A. TIMES reports that NBC "is close to a deal" to buy the Bravo cable channel from Cablevision Systems for $1.25B in cash and stock, which would give the network its first general entertainment cable channel.  The two parties "were hours away" from signing a deal late Sunday night after weeks of talks (L.A. TIMES, 11/4).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last Friday's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Business Geography."

"The U.S. company that now has the greatest revenues is headquartered in this state that's near the bottom in household income."

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES: 

CBS' David Letterman: "(Friday morning) I'm coming to work and I was telling my cab driver, 'It's great news.  Good news. The drought is over.  You can take as many showers as you want.'  The guy says, 'That's great.  What is a shower?' ... I have a sports update, ladies and gentlemen.  The Mets have just fired Art Howe."  Letterman, on VH1 canceling Liza Minnelli and her husband's reality show: "VH1 said Liza's husband would not allow cameras into the bedroom.  Well, hell, he won't even allow Liza in the bedroom. ... The folks at VH1 said that Liza's husband is a hysterical control freak who throws hissy fits.  It's like I have a twin" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/1).

NBC's Jay Leno: "I ate a lot of candy (last Friday, the day after Halloween).  I tell you, my hands were stickier than Winona Ryder's. ... Do we even need Halloween anymore when you think about it?  I mean, isn't every day scary now?  We got terrorism.  We got snipers.  We got poison.  'Oooh, a witch!' ... I did see a lot of creative costumes this year. One kid came to my house (on Halloween) dressed as a giant snowman.  I said to him, 'Hey, are you Frosty the Snowman?'  He said, 'No.  I'm Ted Williams.' ... A Japanese doctor in Tokyo claims that breast size reveals a woman's true character.  That may be true in Japan but here in the (U.S.), I think breast size reveals a man's true character" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 11/1).

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

Last Friday's "Top Ten" was "Top Ten Signs Your Wife Is Having An Affair With U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/1).

SUNDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR

ESPN's 11:30pm ET "SportsCenter" (late due to NFL football) led with 49ers-Raiders.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the "estimated total for the frame's top 12 films was $103.2[M], down 22% from the comparable weekend a year ago" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 11/4).

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"What is Arkansas?"

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