| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, November 7, 2002
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | ESPN To Debut New Set Of "This Is SportsCenter" Spots Today |
| • | NJSEA, MetroStars Reach Agreement On Int'l Game Promotion |
| • | Houston Welcomes MLS Exhibition Game In Hopes Of Landing Expansion Team |
| • | Jazz Play To Smallest Crowd In Delta Center History – By Nearly 2,000 |
| • | School Day Games Prove Successful For Minor League Teams |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
ESPN TO DEBUT NEW SET OF "THIS IS SPORTSCENTER" ADS TODAY
ESPN will debut a new set of "This is SportsCenter" creatives today from Wieden & Kennedy. "Arm Soak" features Red Sox P Pedro Martinez, "Stealing Mascot" features NFL Giants DE Michael Strahan and "Dinnertime" features "SportsCenter" anchor Scott Van Pelt and Producer Jay Levy. "Protecting The Trophy," featuring PGA Tour player Rich Beem, has been in the net's rotation for several days. Click on the images below to view the creatives (THE DAILY).
NJSEA TO ANNOUNCE DEAL WITH METROSTARS ON INT'L GAMES
The Newark STAR-LEDGER reports the NJSEA will announce today that "it has reached agreement with the MetroStars to jointly promote international soccer games at Giants Stadium" through '08. The agreement ends the legal dispute between the two sides regarding the MetorStars' exclusive rights to promote int'l exhibitions at the stadium (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 11/7).
LLOYD WARD TO ANNOUNCE FORMATION OF TITAN GAMES TODAY
USOC CEO Lloyd Ward will hold an 11:00am PT press conference at the Event Center at San Jose State Univ. to announce the formation of the multi-sport Titan Games. The Games, scheduled to take place at the university from February 14-15, 2003, were developed by the USOC in partnership with its affiliated NGB's. The Games will feature wrestling, boxing, fencing, judo, karate, taekwondo, weightlifting, and other events (THE DAILY).
HBO TO ANNOUNCE HOLYFIELD-BYRD FIGHT TODAY
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that HBO will hold a news conference this morning in N.Y. to announce that Evander Holyfield will fight Chris Byrd for the vacant IBF heavyweight title on December 14 in Atlantic City. Don King will promote the fight (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 11/7). Meanwhile, the Atlantic City PRESS noted that Caesars Atlantic City will sponsor the fight, after paying "a site fee of nearly $2[M] to bring the fight to Boardwalk Hall" (Atlantic City PRESS, 11/5).
MLS MAKES FIRST VISIT TO HOUSTON, U.S. WOMEN PLAY TO 10,000+
The HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports that "more than 15,000 spectators" attended yesterday's MLS Galaxy exhibition game against Mexican First Division team Santos at Robertson Stadium in Houston. The game "marked the first-ever visit to Houston by an MLS franchise … foreshadowing the start of a long-term relationship between Houston and MLS." Houston "remains a prime candidate" for MLS expansion in two years (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/7).
Meanwhile, the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER reports that 10,079 fans attended the U.S. Women's National Team 7-0 defeat of Costa Rica yesterday at Safeco Field. The team qualified for next year's World Cup with the victory (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 11/7).
TODAY THE DAILY GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH…
Which former U.S. Olympian, who later became the first female VP at ABC Sports, thinks ballroom dancing would make for compelling reality TV viewing? Hint: She also considers herself a "West Wing" junkie. To find out, see today's Sports Industrialists section for "THE DAILY Goes One-On-One With..."
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that Rangers SS Alex Rodriguez married "longtime girlfriend Cynthia Scurtis, formerly a high school psychology teacher in Miami," last Saturday in Dallas. Rodriguez, a Miami native, "worked hard to keep the details of his wedding quiet" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/7).
The CALGARY SUN reports that the '98 Grey Cup ring of 49ers QB Jeff Garcia "is apparently selling for a bargain price on eBay." As of presstime, bidding had reached US$510, "surprisingly modest for an item estimated to be worth more than C$10,000" (CALGARY SUN, 11/7).
ATTENDANCE WATCH:
- The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reports that attendance at last night's Pistons-Jazz game was 15,055, "the smallest Jazz crowd, by more than two thousand," in Delta Center history (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/7).
- The CHICAGO TRIBUNE reports Celtics F Antoine Walker, a Chicago native, purchased 175 tickets for last night's game against the Bulls, the most Bulls Senior Dir of Ticket Operation Joe O'Neil "has sold to a player in his 24 years" with the team (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/7).
- The AHL Philadelphia Phantoms' "School Day Game" against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, as noted in yesterday's Morning Buzz, drew a crowd of 9,137 to the First Union Spectrum (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 11/7). Meanwhile, the other noted game, the MISL Dallas Sidekicks' "Cool School Day" game against the K.C. Comets drew a "season-high crowd of 11,078" to Reunion Arena (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/7).
TODAY'S EVENTS
Sister publication, SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL will open the Sports Media & Technology 2002 Conference today at the Hilton N.Y. The event, presented in conjunction with THE DAILY, runs through Friday. Today's featured topics include: "Finding the Upside of a Multi-Platform World: Effectively Reaching the Fans, the Industry and the Advertising Community," "What Value-Added Media Buys are Advertisers and Sponsors Seeking from Media Properties?" and "The Anatomy of a Deal: Media Perspectives on the NBA Rights Deal and the Implications for the Rest of the Industry" (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The L.A. TIMES reports that CBS has filed a suit to "block rival ABC from airing an alleged knockoff" of CBS' "Survivor" called "I'm A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here." According to ABC, the series will follow the [Britain] version of dropping eight celebrities in one of the world's most inhospitable climates with just basic rations of rice and water (L.A. TIMES, 11/7).
The N.Y. POST reports that Fox News Channel's "wall-to-wall" election coverage from 8:00pm-3:00am ET averaged nearly 2.2 million viewers, "up 17% from election night in November '00." Meanwhile, CNN's average of 1.9 million viewers was down 66% from '00 and MSNBC's 745,000 viewers marked a 71% decrease from '00. On the broadcast side, NBC earned a 6.8/10 Nielsen overnight rating, "narrowly edging out" CBS, which earned a 6.7/10. ABC finished third, posting a 5.8/9 (N.Y. POST, 11/7).
NEWSDAY reports that Cablevision's stock price "soared 20 percent yesterday," up $2.54 to close at $15.55, "following a string of encouraging news for the beleaguered company." The increase marked the third consecutive day of more than 10% gains (NEWSDAY, 11/7).
The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that Vail Resorts, looking to boost its skier visits, "has cut fresh deals with American and United airlines that fly children under 12 for free, bestow free lift tickets on them, and even lodge them for free, amounting to potential savings of thousands of dollars" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/7).
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Authors."
"In September 1941 this author christened the warship Atlanta, also known as 'The Mighty A.'"
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS' David Letterman: "Congratulations to Jeb Bush. He was reelected as (FL) governor, and things went so well for Jeb Bush, they didn't have to use the crooked voting machines. ... It wasn't a complete disaster for the Democrats. They did keep control of 'West Wing.' ... Call me sentimental, but wasn't it uplifting to see Walter Mondale come out of retirement for one last ass-whipping. ... Old habits are hard to break. Sometime, I guess, around midnight Al Gore conceded" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/6).
NBC's Jay Leno: "According to the final tally this morning, the only Democrat still in office … Martin Sheen. ... Earlier today in the Caribbean, a boatload of 200 Democrats jumped overboard asking for political asylum in Haiti. ... I had a strange thing happen to me this morning. ... I wake up (and) I go into the bathroom, Ozzy Osbourne's in my shower trying to vote. ... I guess there was more confusion (Tuesday) in (FL). Apparently, during the voting a lot of the people kept yelling out Bingo. ... (Elizabeth Dole) had a terrific campaign slogan – 'Don't make me stay home all day with Bob.' ... These are real, supermodel trading cards. ... Have you seen these? In fact, instead of bubblegum they each come with a slice of lettuce." Leno, on Winona Ryder being found guilty of shoplifting: "I think this verdict does send a clear message to the Hollywood community. Just because you're a celebrity, you can't get away with shoplifting in this town. Killing your wife, maybe" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 11/6).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night's "Top Ten" list was "Top Ten Signs President Bush Is Getting Cocky" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/6).
| 10) "Didn't even try to hide the fact that he voted five times." |
| 9) "Claims he has a plan to 'tax poor people back to the stone age.'" |
| 8) "Instead of the United States Marine Band, now travels with the Foo Fighters." |
| 7) "Encouraging his daughters to drink more, in public." |
| 6) "On CNN, referred to Tom Daschle as his 'bitch.'" |
| 5) "Three words: Presidential Rally Monkey." |
| 4) "He's been mispronouncing bigger words lately." |
| 3) "Told Secret Service agent, 'Go ahead – punch me in the stomach.'" |
| 2) "Screams 'Boo!' at Dick Cheney." |
| 1) "He just gave Monica a call." |
NBC's Conan O'Brien: "(Tuesday night) Jeb Bush won the election for governor of (FL). President Bush was very pleased, he said 'Not only did Jeb win, he even got more votes than the other guy. … (FL) used a brand new state of the art touch-screen voting system. There were some problems in Palm Beach County when some older voters said they couldn't get any money from it. … During CBS' election coverage, Dan Rather said one race was 'cracklin' like a hickory fire,' while another was 'tighter than a botox smile.' It's true. … In a related story, people are beginning to say that Dan Rather is 'crazy as a Dan Rather." … Winona Ryder was found guilty of grand theft and vandalism. While her lawyer was filing an appeal, Winona started narrowing down her list of celebrity boxing opponents. …The Mattel Toy Company announced they are coming out with a doll inspired by the singer Shakira. Christmas is coming, you can get your Shakira doll. Get this, they are also coming out with a blowup doll of Christina Aguilera ("Late Night," NBC, 11/6).
WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 12:00am ET "SportsCenter" led with Mavericks-Raptors, followed by Sonics-Hornets and Nets-Bucks.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"Who was Margaret Mitchell?"
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