| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
9:00am ET | |
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| • | Vancouver Council Elects To Hold Citywide Vote On Staging Of '10 Olympics |
| • | Season-High Walkup Helps To Keep Rockets Out Of Last Place In Attendance |
| • | IOC Coordination Commission To Begin Three-Day Visit To Torino Today |
| • | Harris Poll To Be Released Today Shows 48% Of Public Disagree With Augusta |
| • | HBO's "The Sopranos" Posts Higher Ratings Than Every Broadcast Offering |
| • | A Lighter Buzz/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
CITYWIDE VOTE COULD KILL CITY'S CHANCES OF HOSTING GAMES
The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports, "In a decision that some have said could kill the city's chances of holding the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver's newly elected council voted yesterday to proceed with a campaign promise to hold a plebiscite on staging the Games." The citywide vote will be held February 22 at a cost of C$538,000 (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 12/11).
ROCKETS' AVERAGE ATTENDANCE UP 1,000+ OVER LAST YEAR
The HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports that the Rockets continued to climb their way "out of last place in attendance," as last night's turnout of 13,158 against the Kings "moved the Rockets to an average of 12,816, up from last season's average of 11,737." The numbers were bolstered by a season-high walkup of 1,000 at the Compaq Center. Rockets G Steve Francis: "We're tired of hearing people say we're 30th out of 29 teams in attendance. That really takes a toll on a team" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/11).
SECOND VISIT THIS YEAR TO VIEW TRAVEL CONDITIONS IN WINTER
AROUND THE RINGS reported that the IOC Coordination Commission for the '06 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, today "returns for its second visit of the year … to travel during winter conditions to the mountain venues at Bardonecchia." Coordination Commission President Jean-Claude Killy will lead the commission's three-day visit. The IOC continues to be disappointed with Torino organizers "over the inability … to line up more national sponsors for the Games beyond Sao Paolo Bank" (AROUND THE RINGS, 12/6).
K2 ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT IS ONE OF THE SUITORS FOR RAWLINGS
K2 Inc. confirmed this morning that it is participating in discussions with Rawlings Sporting Goods Company and is looking to a possible acquisition of Rawlings. K2 said in a statement today that "important terms and provisions of a possible transaction have not been established, that Rawlings has stated that it may consider other alternatives, and that there is no assurance that an agreement will be reached" (THE DAILY).
UNLESS RED SOX' OFFER CHANGES, MCDONOUGH HEADED TO N.Y.
NEWSDAY reports that "barring an expanded, eleventh-hour contract proposal today from the Red Sox," Sean McDonough will be heading to N.Y. to handle the TV play-by-play for the Mets. McDonough: "The way the two offers are now, I would go with the Mets, so if the Red Sox situation doesn't change, that's what'll happen" (NEWSDAY, 12/11).
HARRIS POLL SHOWS MEN SUPPORT AUGUSTA MORE THAN WOMEN
A Harris Poll set to be released today shows that 48% of the public "believes Augusta National is wrong to prevent women from joining its exclusive club." However, 47% of males surveyed "believe the club is right, as opposed to 22% of women." Among women, 60% "believe Augusta's stance is wrong, compared to just 36% of males." The poll, which surveyed a nationwide cross section of 2,221 adults, was conducted in the U.S from November 22 – December 2 (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/11).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman held an hour-long hearing following the NHL BOG meeting in Scottsdale, AZ, "but made no decision" on the dispute between the Stars and Flyers over $100,000 of unpaid salary to Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock. Bettman has requested more information (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 12/11).
The N.Y. TIMES cites a source with knowledge of the details of Bud Selig's meeting with Pete Rose, who says that Rose "must acknowledge betting on baseball games" before being reinstated by the league. The source adds, "His hang-up is he's been denying it for 13 years. To him, that's troubling to admit after lying about it for so long. But that has to happen" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/11).
Last night's edition of ABC's "World News Tonight" examined a campaign by the Canadian Hockey Association to educate parents on not putting too much pressure on their kids to play well and to act responsibly during the games. ABC's Peter Jennings: "The campaign includes a series of public service messages wondering how things would be if the roles were reversed." Jennings said the "hockey messages have only been running for a week so we cannot judge their effectiveness. It may take time to remind parents that what kids do is play games" ("World News Tonight," ABC, 12/10).
Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner received the Gold Medal Award at last night's National Football Foundation and College HOF 45th Annual Awards Dinner in N.Y. (N.Y. POST, 12/11).
TODAY'S EVENTS
The Coyotes will hold an 11:00am MT press conference to formally introduce Doug Moss as the team's President & COO (THE DAILY).
Churchill Downs Inc. will hold a 10:00am ET conference call to make executive staff announcements at a number of the company's racing operations (THE DAILY).
Red Wings D Chris Chelios will hold a news conference today at Dearborn (MI) City Hall to formally announce the opening of his restaurant, Cheli's Chili Bar (DETROIT NEWS, 12/11).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The N.Y. TIMES reports that Sunday night's season finale of "The Sopranos" on HBO "had higher ratings than every broadcast network's offering during the 75 minutes it was on, even though HBO … is available in only a third as many homes as the major networks." Sunday's program "again crushed all its competition in viewers between the ages of 18 and 49," attracting 8.5 million viewers in that group (N.Y. TIMES, 12/11).
The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reported that Coca-Cola "has replaced Pepsi as a partner in a multimillion-dollar deal with shopping mall giant Simon Property Group." The five-year agreement "calls for Coke to have exclusive promotional and vending rights in the common areas of Simon properties" in the U.S. (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 12/10).
Speaking at UBS Warburg's 30th Annual Media Week Conference yesterday, AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons said that merger talks between CNN and ABC News are on hold. Parsons: "We have hit the pause button on that because it's very, very complicated" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 12/11). Meanwhile, when asked about a possible spin-off of AOL, Parsons said, "Could it be done? Yes. Would it be a good idea? No" (AD AGE, 12/11).
The N.Y. TIMES reports that United Airlines is "withdrawing from advertising in the traditional media until its new branding campaign is ready to begin sometime in the next quarter" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/11).
The SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS reports that SBC Communications will "eliminate its regional brand names in favor of a single corporate identity: SBC." The company will phase out its regional brand names, including Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Ameritech over coming weeks (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 12/11).
The S.F. CHRONICLE reports that Yahoo "cut an unspecified but 'small' number of jobs in its online broadcasting unit." The unit oversees audio and video streaming, entertainment news and movies (S.F. CHRONICLE, 12/11).
FINAL JEOPARDY QUESTION
Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "The Space Program."
"In 1979 NASA officials received a fine for littering from a small town in this country."
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS' David Letterman: "I'm walking to work and there's a sidewalk Santa there with a big kettle, so I reach into my pocket and I pull out a handful of change ... and I drop them into the kettle. I'm feeling pretty good, and the guy says, 'Thanks dumbass. You ruined the soup.' ... It's fun to be out during the holidays. It's crowded and crazy, but it's fun. I was in Bloomingdale's doing some last minute shopping earlier, and I'm in the elevator and Kenny G was playing in the elevator. So I left him a really nice tip. ... President Bush is impatiently waiting for his three-page summary of the 10,000-page Iraqi weapons report. ... This Saddam Hussein is nuts. He's just like a maniac, but he's also very wily and now he's starting to pretend like he's a nice guy. He apologized to Kuwait, and then earlier today he resigned from Augusta National Golf Club. ... Yesterday, the new Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow resigned from Augusta National Golf Club ... and he resigned because they won't allow women members. Today the reporters were saying, 'Well, what will you miss most about Augusta National Golf Club?' He said, 'Well you know, showering with all the men'" ("Late Show," CBS, 12/10).
NBC's Jay Leno: "The good news: weather forecasters are predicting a white Christmas. The bad news: that's just for Whitney Houston. ... Iraq has handed in their weapons report. The only thing they left out, of course, the weapons. ... Over 100 Hollywood celebrities have sent a letter to President Bush asking him not to attack Iraq, which is amazing to me. I didn't think we had 100 celebrities who weren't either in jail or rehab. ... United Airlines filed for bankruptcy yesterday. US Airways filed for bankruptcy a couple of months ago. Do you realize before this is over, the U.S. could have more no-fly zones than Iraq? ... To give you an idea how strapped United is for cash, they're now selling their airsickness bags to the Carnival Cruise line people. ... In (OH), a high school student has been suspended for putting marijuana in Rice Krispies treats and selling them at a school fundraiser. ... But the good news, the fundraiser took in over $20(M)" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 12/10).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night's Top Ten list was "Top Ten Demands Of The Striking Strippers" ("Late Show," CBS, 12/10).
| 10) "No more than three girls in a club named 'Brandi.'" |
| 9) "Less leering, more ogling." |
| 8) "As an 'essential public service provider,' automatic exemption from jury duty." |
| 7) "If we work a bachelor party, we should be invited to the wedding." |
| 6) "Professional courtesy at strip malls." |
| 5) "Grievances handled by well-toned, semi-nude arbitrators." |
| 4) "20% discount for family." |
| 3) "Garter insurance." |
| 2) "Create a workplace free of sexual harassment." |
| 1) "Heated poles." |
TUESDAY NIGHT'S TV MONITOR
ESPN's 11:00pm ET "SportsCenter" led with Trail Blazers-Wizards followed by Kings-Rockets.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
"What is Australia?"
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