| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | Kobe Bryant Reportedly Agrees On Five-Year Endorsement Deal With Nike |
| • | Senate Committee To Be Briefed Today On USOC Reform Recommendations |
| • | Penguins To Announce Share Of Funding Today For Proposed Downtown Arena |
| • | Eagles, WYSP-FM Expected To Announce Five-Year Extension Today |
| • | Angels To Lower Ticket Prices On 1,700 Seats For Remainder Of Season |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
KOBE’S DEAL WITH NIKE REPORTEDLY FOR FIVE YEARS, $40-45M
The L.A. TIMES reports that a source close to Lakers G KobeBryant yesterday confirmed an endorsement deal with Nike, which a shoeindustry insider values at $40-45M over five years. The same insider said that Bryant “would receive royalties on aplanned signature shoe, which would boost the total value of the deal, thoughnot necessarily into the range” of LeBron James’ $90M Nike contract (L.A.TIMES, 6/24).
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS USOC REFORM TODAY
The Senate Commerce Committee will conduct a meeting on USOCreform today at 9:30am ET, and USA TODAY reports that the “nuts-and-bolts phaseof restructuring … begins today, with the Senate Commerce Committee likely tostart drafting legislation after being briefed on two fundamentally similarproposals.” Both the Independent Commissionof the USOC and a USOC task force “propose drastic change, including trimmingthe 123-member board of directors to approximately 10. Core changes are likely to be written intothe 1978 Amateur Sports Act” (USA TODAY, 6/24).
PENGUINS TO ANNOUNCE TODAY SHARE OF FUNDING FOR NEWARENA
The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE reports that the Penguins todaywill announce “their share of the funding for a new $270[M] hockey arena forDowntown, and some of it could hinge on whether a proposed thoroughbredracetrack and casino in Harmar win state approval.” The would-be-owner of the Harmar track has proposed to “devoteperhaps [2 or 3%] of the annual profits brought in by slot machines to help coverthe Penguins’ share of arena construction costs” (PITTSBURGHPOST-GAZETTE, 6/24).
The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE also reports that a vote onlegislation to legalize slot machines at PA racetracks could “come as early astoday, but most likely won’t happen until tomorrow or Thursday” (PITTSBURGHPOST-GAZETTE, 6/24).
WYSP-FM TO REMAIN EAGLES’ RADIO HOME FOR FIVE MORE YEARS
The PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS reports that the Eagles andWYSP-FM today are expected to announce “an extension of their contract to continue carrying Eaglesgames.” The extension is reportedly forfive years. WYSP has been the Eagles’flagship station for 11 seasons (PHILADELPHIADAILY NEWS, 6/24).
MORNING BRIEFS
The L.A. TIMES reports that AngelsOwner Arturo Moreno has reduced ticket prices on as many as 1,700right-field pavilion seats at Edison Field “beginning tonight for allremaining Monday through Thursday home games.” The tickets have been reduced from $10 to $5 for adults and from $7 to$5 for children (L.A.TIMES, 6/24).
NTRA Commissioner Tim Smith,responding to NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s recommendation thatNYRA President & COO Terry Meyocks be fired: “We’ll have some official pronouncements tomake about our views on all that in the coming days, but I’d just like to sayin the five years I’ve been doing this, I haven’t met any person more committedto the success of the industry and with more personal integrity than TerryMeyocks” (N.Y. DAILYNEWS, 6/24).
St. Paul WinterCarnival and city officials today will announce details for an “OfficialIce Block Certificate” program to help underwrite the cost of next year’s$2.5M Ice Palace, which will be 75 feet high and located adjacent to XcelEnergy Center during the ‘04 NHL All-Star Weekend. Certificates will cost $20 (ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 6/24).
The N.Y. POST reports that formerNIT Exec Dir Peter Carlesimo “succumbed to a lengthy battle with illnessSunday” in his NJ home at the age of 87. Also a former AD at Scranton and Fordham Universities, Carlesimo “savedthe NIT by moving the first three rounds of the tournament to on-campus sites”(N.Y.POST, 6/24).
ATTENDANCE WATCH:
- The L.A. DAILY NEWS reports that the Giants beat the Dodgers in 11 innings last night “in front of a sold-out crowd of 42,474” at Pac Bell Park (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 6/24).
- The OMAHA WORLD-HERALD reports that Rice defeated Stanford in the decisive third game of the College World Series championship series before 18,494 at Rosenblatt Stadium, earning the Houston university the first national championship in any sport in school history (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 6/24). The AP reports that the new championship format “begs the question: Is it too much of a good thing?” Since ’95, “no fewer than 23,500 attended the title game,” a figure more than 5,000 greater than last night’s attendance. Overall, the College World Series averaged 21,674 per session (AP, 6/24).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sportscovers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
| | |
| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Daily News |
TODAY’S EVENTS
The L.A. Chapter of the National Sports Marketing Networkwill host a luncheon/visit at The Home Depot Center from noon-2:00pm PT. The luncheon, hosted by AEG and The HomeDepot Center, will include a presentation by The Home Depot Center GM BethWhite (THE DAILY).
The Bucs and Pewter Partner TECO Energy will sponsor seasonkick-off events with two local Chambers of Commerce. Coach Jon Gruden, WR Joe Jurevicius and DT AnthonyMcFarland will serve as guest speakers during a 7:30am ET joint breakfastmeeting of the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce and the St. PetersburgArea Chamber of Commerce at the Pinellas Expo Center. The group will then be the featured speakers at the Greater TampaChamber of Commerce’s annual luncheon, scheduled for 11:45am at the HyattRegency Downtown (THE DAILY).
Jesse Jackson will hold a two-day sports summit aspart of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Annual Conference, being held at the SheratonChicago Hotel and Towers. View acomplete scheduleof events (THE DAILY).
INOTHER NEWS….
The N.Y. POST reports that Viacom “opted out of bidding in the first round of the auction” for VivendiUniversal Entertainment. Vivendireceived five bids yesterday, “reportedly in the [$12-14B] range, and expectsto whittle that number down at a board meeting next week.” The bidders were MGM, GE, Liberty MediaChair John Malone, and private equity groups headed by Marvin Davisand Edgar Bronfman Jr. (N.Y. POST, 6/24).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “U.S. History.”
“For evading taxes on profits earned, former CIA agent ThomasClines was the only one sent to prison over this scandal.”
LAUGH TRACK
THEMONOLOGUES:
CBS’ DavidLetterman: “It has rained everyday in New York since Halloween. We’ve had like 18 feet of rain, and they sayit’s the rainiest June on record and finally today, it turned out to be a niceday. Here’s how much rain we’ve had inNew York. On my lunch hour today,because it was so nice, I’m walking through Central Park and I see a squirrelwith mildew on his nuts. ... Saturday was the summer solstice. Longest day of the year. In fact, it’s still Saturday. ... You cansure tell that it’s summertime in New York because today my cab driver waswearing his lemon-scented turban. ... First of all, they say Saddam Husseinis dead. Then they think that he’s notdead. Then over the weekend, they said,‘No, no, he’s dead and we’re checking for DNA.’ Now the New York Times says, ‘No, he’s not dead,’ and I’m justthinking I hope he’s not dead because he’s supposed to be here guest-hosting onFriday” ("Late Show," CBS, 6/23).
NBC’sJay Leno: “This weekend, if you were in a bookstore, you really had onlytwo choices. Read about the HarryPotter tale or read about the Bill Clinton tail. ... In the movie ‘TheHulk,’ Nick Nolte plays the Hulk’s father. He plays a crazed scientist who injects himself with all theseexperimental drugs. There’s a realstretch for Nick Nolte. ... Did you see that one scene where the Hulk losescontrol? He just goes berserk and heterrorizes a bunch of people in a hotel. No, I’m sorry. That was MikeTyson this week. Once again, policearrested Mike Tyson after he got into a fight with two men outside a Brooklynhotel at 5:30 in the morning. But inhis defense – you know me, I’m not a Tyson fan – but this time it may not behis fault. They said, according to eyewitnesses,the fight started after two men began verbally taunting Tyson. What kind of idiot taunts Tyson!? ... Lateron in the day, those two guys went down to Sea World and poked Shamu in the eyewith a big stick. ... Did you see the cut on Vitali Klitschko? Even O.J. said, ‘That’s the worst cutI’ve ever seen.’ ... Mike Price is suing Sports Illustrated for $20[M]claiming they defamed him in an article last month about his alleged badbehavior at a Florida strip club. Idon’t know if he’ll win. Like today, hesaid if he gets the $20[M], he wants it all in dollar bills. ... Yesterday wasthe Arena Football League championship game, the ArenaBowl. You know who won? Seriously, anybody know who won? I don’t have any idea. ... It was announced today quite proudly thatArena Football is returning to NBC again next year. Apparently, we managed to outbid the Food Network” ("TonightShow," NBC, 6/23).
LATENIGHT LAUGHS:
Lastnight’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Things You Don’t Want To Hear From A GuyDressed As The Hulk” (“Late Show,” CBS, 6/23).
| 10) “I just grabbed your car and tossed it down the block.” |
| 9) “Take it from me – don’t go swimming in the East River.” |
| 8) “Can I buy you a drink later when my rage has receded?” |
| 7) “I wouldn’t go in there. They got a gamma ray leak.” |
| 6) “Do you guys know where I can find a bright green hooker?” |
| 5) “See what monkeypox does to you?” |
| 4) “Hey, did you call me ‘Kermit?’ You son of a bitch.” |
| 3) “My green skin doesn’t look half as bad as your hairpiece.” |
| 2) “Frankenstein had a fling with my mom in the mid 70’s.” |
| 1) “Buddy, do me a favor? You see the Jolly Green Giant, tell him if he goes near my wife again I’m gonna shove a can of corn niblets up his ass” |
MONDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
ESPN’s 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” led with Wimbledon No. 1 seed Lleyton Hewittlosing in the first round to qualifier Ivo Karlovic, followed by Stanford-RiceCollege World Series championship game and Tigers-Red Sox.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What was the Iran-Contra scandal?”
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