Morning Buzz, December 4, 2002

TOWN HALL MEETING INFO TO BE USED FOR RECOMMENDATION

The AP reported that the 15-member Commission on Opportunity in Athletics today in Philadelphia will discuss recommendations on the future of Title IX legislation. The commission's recommendations, which will be based upon findings from its series of town hall meetings, are "eagerly anticipated by Title IX's critics, as well as by boosters of women's athletics" (AP, 12/3).

Meanwhile, NEWSDAY's Johnette Howard wonders if "this is an empty exercise in soliciting public comment to provide cover later on for an administration that already has its mind made up?" Howard continues, "It's clear that the definition of Title IX compliance is going to change. The question is just how much" (NEWSDAY, 12/4).

FOX SET TO ANNOUNCE EXTREME SPORTS CHANNEL TODAY

Fox Entertainment Group will announce today at the BroadbandPlus Show in Anaheim that it plans to launch a new digital network devoted to extreme sports.  As noted in yesterday's issue of The Daily, the channel has yet to be named, and no launch date nor carriage agreements have been revealed (THE DAILY).

REPORT ATTRIBUTES $3.3B IN NEW DEVELOPMENT TO ARENA

The WASHINGTON TIMES notes that the Wizards held a ceremony during last night's game against the Bucks, marking "the fifth year of operation for MCI Center." The building was noted as helping to spur $3.3B in "new development in the area, including hotels, restaurants, businesses and apartments. The building also is credited with having increased the use of the Metrorail system, with an estimated 60[%] of the system's patrons attending events at MCI Center" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 12/4).

DODGERS AND METS TO MEET IN MEXICO CITY FOR A PAIR OF GAMES

MLB today will make video footage available at 3:00pm ET of yesterday's press conference announcing that the Mets and Dodgers will play two exhibitions games at Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City in March '03. Mets P John Franco and Dodgers Senior VP Tommy Lasorda were present for the announcement. The games mark the fourth time in five years that MLB teams have played in Mexico (THE DAILY).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS reports that about 40 Philadelphia police officers are boycotting a Sixers-sponsored law-enforcement night scheduled for the Pistons-76ers game on January 8, 2003 "because they are angry with Allen Iverson for saying he fears city police" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 12/4).

The Syracuse POST-STANDARD notes that on a frigid night in Syracuse, Carrier Dome officials thought creatively to combat the sparsely attended Colgate Univ.-Syracuse Univ. game. The public address announcer told the "crowd that anyone who wished to move to the lower seating sections could do so," marking the "first time the university has ever announced that people could move down to a closer seat" (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 12/4).

ABC Radio's Keith Olbermann notes, "The men's and women's varsity [swimming] programs [at Dartmouth College] are victims of an athletic department cutback at the Ivy League school, something the Dartmouth kids point out is kind of unusual considering the school has an endowment of two billion dollars. So the swimmers are offering themselves up for auction. On eBay! The minimum bid for corporate sponsorship is $211,000, for which you get all the Dartmouth swimmers" (ABC Radio, 12/4). As of presstime, no bids had been placed on the team.

• The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE reports that 11,640 people attended last night's Capitals-Penguins game, "the smallest crowd for a game at Mellon Arena" since December 2, 1999 (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 12/4).

• The Nashville TENNESSEAN reports that 10,258 people attended last night's Hurricanes-Predators game, "the second-smallest home crowd in the Predators' history." The smallest crowd of 10,123 was earlier this season against the Coyotes (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 12/4).

TODAY'S EVENTS

The Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center on the campus of Montclair State Univ. (NJ) will host a special program entitled, "The Power in Sports? Who's Got It?," from 8:30-10:30am ET. Panelists include former Devils and Astros Owner John McMullen, MONY Sports Financial Services VP &former NFL Giants DE George Martin and Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Claire Smith (THE DAILY).

76ers GM Billy King will serve as headmaster at Furness High School in Philadelphia as part of the Philadelphia Cares' "Principal For A Day" program (THE DAILY).

Champions Week continues in N.Y. today as NASCAR Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart will be the guest of honor for a luncheon at the "21 Club" with Northeast media outlets. Later tonight, Stewart will attend the R.J. Reynolds media reception and dinner at Sardi's Restaurant (THE DAILY).

IN OTHER NEWS….

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE reports that "in a move symbolic of the company's strategic shift from its roots as a newspaper publisher to a $5[B] multimedia conglomerate," Tribune President & COO Dennis FitzSimons, a former WGN GM, was elected yesterday by the company's BOD to become CEO (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 12/4).

The N.Y. TIMES reports that Disney will "reconfigure the board committees and conduct two meetings a year without company executives present. The moves are part of a yearlong process by Disney to shore up its board, which has long been criticized for being too close" to CEO Michael Eisner (N.Y. TIMES, 12/4).

Meanwhile, the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the SEC is "investigating the company's previous disclosures regarding the independence of its (BOD)." As expected, Disney created the position of presiding director, naming former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell to the post. Mitchell "will lead two executive sessions of the board per year" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 12/4).

USA TODAY reports that RealNetworks and Starz Encore Group will announce today plans for "a subscription-based video-on-demand (VOD) service for the Web: Starz On Demand." The service, will allow subscribers to "download and watch any of about 75 movies that Starz makes available, usually about a year after they first appear in theaters" (USA TODAY, 12/4).

The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that GovernanceMetrics Int'l (GMI) marked its official launch yesterday by "issuing a report based on extensive research of corporate governance practices at S&P 500 companies." Among the 164 companies that received "below-average" scores were Nike and Disney (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/4).

FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION

Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Washington, D.C."

"The National Mall is bounded by these two avenues whose names recall historic documents."

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

NBC's Jay Leno: "Where do you think the lines are longer this week? At the mall or waiting for the bathroom at the Carnival cruise ship? ... 300 more people are throwing up today and those are just Lakers and Clippers fans. It looks like the Clippers finally got their wish. They're now as good as the Lakers. ... The Lakers and the Clippers are tied for last place. Do you realize things are so bad for the Lakers now, the best thing (Lakers C Shaquille O'Neal) has going is his singing career? ... Luckily he's got that 'Shazam' movie to fall back on. ... This is a tough time to be living in (L.A.). The Lakers and Clippers are in last place. We have no NFL team. Holiday traffic is murder. You can't get around. Speaking of murder, we're the murder capital of the (U.S.). Did you ever think you'd live to see the day when the best thing about living in L.A. was the air? ... U.N. weapons inspectors spent this past weekend visiting three alcohol beverage plants in Iraq. I think I'm starting to understand why these guys haven't found any weapons yet: 'There's a cocaine factory we want you to visit too while you're here!' ... The Archdiocese of Boston is now considering filing for bankruptcy. Apparently, they bet everything they had on Notre Dame to beat USC. Doesn't look good for the Catholic Church. They say they're going broke. Give you an idea how bad it is, priests are putting their hands in kid's pockets just looking for lunch money" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 12/3).

TUESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR

ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" (late due to Univ. of MD-IN Univ. men's college basketball) led with Univ. of NC-IL Univ. men's college basketball.

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"What are Constitution and Independence Avenues?"

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