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Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz, July 3, 2003

The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, July 3, 2003
9:00am ET

U.S. Women’s Open Begins Today With Most Buzz Since Nancy Lopez Era

ATP CEO Mark Miles To Meet Today With The Grand Slam Committee

At Least 23 People Taken To Hospital After Coors Field Escalator Malfunctions

Raiders Owner Al Davis To Continue Testimony Today In $1.1B Fraud Lawsuit

MLSE Ownership Shift Official; Tanenbaum Replaces Stavro As Chair

Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy!


The Morning Buzz will not publish tomorrow, July 4,
in observance of Independence Day.


U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN BEGINS TODAY IN OREGON WITH $3.1M PURSE

The U.S. Women’s Open begins today at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, OR, and USA TODAY notes that women’s golf “is attracting its most attention since Nancy Lopez wowed fans 25 years ago,” noting that ESPN’s “Pardon The Interruption” spent a segment Tuesday debating the popularity of Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie. LPGA Tour player Laura Diaz says that the LPGA “has been on the upswing since Commissioner Ty Votaw called a mandatory summit meeting at last year’s Safeway Ping tournament” to outline the “Five Points of Celebrity” marketing plan (USA TODAY, 7/3).

The DALLAS MORNING NEWS notes that the field “includes players ranging in ages from 13 to 48, from Sydney Burlison to Betsy King. The tournament also carries a record $3.1[M] purse. The winner will earn $560,000, which would have been good enough to finish 16th on last year’s money list.” Julie Inkster is the defending champion (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/3).

In L.A., Peter Yoon writes, “Of the 156 players who will begin play here today in the U.S. Women’s Open, 14 – almost 9% – have yet to celebrate their 20th birthday. Ten haven’t started college, two of those haven’t begun high school, seven can’t go to an R-rated movie without adult supervision and two wear braces” (L.A. TIMES, 7/3).


MARK MILES TO MEET WITH GRAND SLAM COMMITTEE TODAY

The L.A. TIMES reports ATP CEO Mark Miles today is expected to “meet with the Grand Slam Committee, which would be his first official session with that group since it rejected an initial $50[M] request for the players in Paris and the controversial players’ meeting [at Wimbledon] in which the ATP proposed playing in alternatives to the Slams.” The ATP is attempting to get “85 of the top 100 players – and 15 of the top 20 – to sign [a letter of intent to participate in potential alternative events] by Sunday, 50 days before the U.S. Open, which could be the first Slam to face a no-show” (L.A. TIMES, 7/3).


INSPECTORS TO REVIEW COORS FIELD ESCALATOR INCIDENT TODAY

The ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS reports that inspectors from Denver’s building department will be at Coors Field this morning “to make a more complete evaluation” after “more than two dozen people were injured – some seriously – when an escalator” failed after the D’Backs-Rockies game last night. Officials confirmed that at least “23 people were taken to local hospitals and at least an additional 10 more sought treatment on their own.” The stadium was near capacity “with an attendance of 47,032 on the first of two consecutive Fireworks Nights” (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 7/3).

Cherri Brownfield, who was riding on the escalator when it malfunctioned: "It's like it had no brakes and everybody was just piling up at the end of it" (AP, 7/2).


AL DAVIS TO RETURN TO THE STAND TODAY IN RAIDERS’ $1.1B SUIT

Raiders Owner Al Davis will continue to testify today in the Raiders’ $1.1B fraud lawsuit with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum board over the selling of tickets in Oakland. The AP reported that yesterday, Davis “struggled as he mounted the witness stand.” He “winced, grimaced and contorted his face between answers. He smiled occasionally at jurors and his lawyer and his husky voice was clear as he traded jabs” with defense attorneys (AP, 7/2).

The OAKLAND TRIBUNE reports that Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum board attorney James Brosnahan “hammered the 73-year-old owner about why he moved a multimillion dollar enterprise based on statements from inexperienced city leaders” (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 7/3).


MORNING BRIEFS

The TORONTO STAR reports that the MLSE ownership shift yesterday became official as “all the final approvals and deals (were) signed.” Larry Tanenbaum, “the most public face among the various ownership groups,” becomes MLSE BOD Chair, replacing Steve Stavro (TORONTO STAR, 7/3). The following lists the four ownership groups and their stake in the company:

Group

Stake

Teachers’ Merchant Bank

58%

Bell Globemedia

15%

TD Capital Group

14%

Kilmer Sports

13%

USA TODAY reports that former Univ. of AL football coach Mike Price’s appeal of his firing yesterday “was cut short … by the school’s Staff Mediation Council,” prompting Price’s attorney Stephen Heninger to say that a suit “would be filed within two weeks” (USA TODAY, 7/3).

Following reports that the ACC would pursue Notre Dame to become its 12th member, the INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that Notre Dame “remains anchored as an independent” for football. Notre Dame Associate AD John Heisler: “I don’t know if anyone can guarantee that will hold for another 80 years, but that has been a very important aspect of our athletic and university culture” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/3).

USA TODAY runs a special Tour de France section in today’s edition, previewing the race, which begins Saturday. Advertisers include the U.S. Postal Service with two full-page ads, Bissell, Power Bar and All Sport (THE DAILY).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

  • ESPN.com reported that a crowd of approximately 12,000 attended the ’10 Olympic Games host announcement at GM Place in Vancouver (ESPN.com, 7/2).
  • The MIAMI HERALD reports that a crowd of 30,634 attended last night’s Braves-Marlins game at Pro Player Stadium, the “second-largest crowd of the year.” Rookie P Dontrelle Willis, a postgame fireworks display and the Braves being in town contributed to the attendance (MIAMI HERALD, 7/3).
  • The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that a crowd of 10,101 attended last night’s Triple-A PCL Sacramento Rivercats-Tucson Sidewinders game at 12,000-seat Tucson Electric Park, featuring D’Backs P Curt Schilling and 2B Craig Counsell, who are on rehab assignments. Tonight’s Rivercats-Sidewinders game, which was “supposed to feature a start by [D’Backs P] Randy Johnson,” is a sellout. Johnson will not pitch as the team decided he is not ready (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/3).
  • The WASHINGTON POST reports that more than 150 dogs “arrived early, well turned-out and politely expectant” for Tuesday night’s “Bark in the Park” at Harry Grove Stadium, the annual “pooch-fest” sponsored by the Single-A Carolina League Frederick Keys in Frederick, MD (WASHINGTON POST, 7/3).

THE BACK PAGES

The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sports covers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:

N.Y. Post
N.Y. Daily News

TODAY’S EVENTS

Red Sox Owner John Henry will meet with RI Gov. Donald Carcieri during a noon ET press conference at the State Capitol in Providence to thank the state for its support of the franchise and announce the date for “Rhode Island Day” at Fenway Park (THE DAILY).

Oregon Stadium Campaign exec David Kahn and Pendleton Round-Up President Steven Corey will discuss the statewide tourism benefits that an MLB team would bring to all OR communities during a 9:30am PT briefing in Pendleton, OR (THE DAILY).

1980 U.S. Men’s Olympic hockey captain Mike Eruzione and former NHLer Ray Bourque will join MA Gov. Mitt Romney to unveil the America’s Heroes Relief Fund at the State House (BOSTON HERALD, 7/3).


IN OTHER NEWS….

The L.A. TIMES reports that a day after the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) “narrowly scuttled the idea of folding” SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) into a new super-union, officials said that another effort “may yet be made to marry the two groups.” AFTRA National Exec Dir Greg Hessinger: “We think it would be irresponsible to ignore the fact that 58% of SAG’s members and 76% of AFTRA’s members told us they want to pursue this” (L.A. TIMES, 7/3).

NEWSDAY has promoted Managing Editor Howard Schneider to Editor, succeeding Anthony Marro, “who will retire next month after leading the newsroom for 16 years” (NEWSDAY, 7/3).

The BOSTON GLOBE reports that the “word around Yawkey Way is that the Red Sox and rocker Bruce Springsteen are looking to add as many as two more dates to the two concerts at Fenway Park,” after the two scheduled September concerts sold out in “less than an hour.” As of yesterday, the Red Sox “had not applied for more permits seeking additional nights, and the team officials were mum” (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/3).

USA TODAY lists the 25 songs that have received the most radio play so far in ’03 (USA TODAY, 7/3). The following chart represents the top ten:

Rank Artist Title
Weeks On Top 100
1) 50 Cent “In da Club”
26
2) R. Kelly “Ignition”
26
3) Sean Paul “Get Busy”
20
4) Jennifer Lopez w/ LL Cool J “All I Have”
22
5) Aaliyah “Miss You”
26
6) 3 Doors Down “When I’m Gone”
26
7) 50 Cent w/ Nate Dogg “21 Questions”
17
8) Christina Aguilera “Beautiful”
26
9) Avril Lavigne “I’m With You”
26
10) Busta Rhymes “I Know What You Want”
19

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “The Body Human.”

“At about 63%, there are more atoms of this element than any other in your body.”


WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

ESPN’s 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” led with the disappearance of Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy, which included an interview with Baylor basketball coach Dave Bliss, followed by Giants-Cardinals and Braves-Marlins.


FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What is hydrogen?”


If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com

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