| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Friday, July 18, 2003
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | Vail Newspaper Reports That Kobe Bryant Is Likely To Be Charged Today |
| • | PA State House To Resume Slots Debate; Pens’ Money Drawing Opposition |
| • | Sue Bird Welcomed Home Last Night To Sun’s Second Sellout Of The Season |
| • | Australian National Basketball League Close To Signing Telstra As Partner |
| • | Deal Still Not Done Between David McDavid And AOL Time Warner |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
ONE REPORT SAYS KOBE BRYANT LIKELY TO BE CHARGED TODAY
The VAIL DAILY reports that Kobe Bryant “will likely be charged today in connection with sexual assaultallegations, … [but] no specific information was available at press time as towhat those charges will be.” Eagle County (CO) District Attorney Mark Hurlbert will announcehis determinations during a 5:00pm ET news conference (VAILDAILY, 7/18).
SOME IN STATE HOUSE OPPOSE USING SLOTS MONEY FORPENGUINS
The PA State House today will resume its slot machine debatetoday “after the Democratic Caucus was unable to garner sufficient support” forthe legislation last night. The bill“would allow thousands of slot machines at 11 sites throughout the state –including stand-alone slot parlors in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.” However, using slot money to assist inpaying for a new arena for the Penguins was “drawing opposition from Democratsand Republicans from Southwestern [PA]” (PittsburghTRIBUNE-REVIEW, 7/18).
LOCAL FAVORITE’S RETURN, MATINEE SPUR WNBA ATTENDANCE
The SEATTLE TIMES reports that former UConn and current WNBAStorm G Sue Bird “received thepaparazzi treatment as she waltzed through the Mohegan Sun Casino en route tothe Mohegan Sun Arena with her teammates last night” for a game against theSun. A sellout crowd of 9,341attended the game, the team’s second sellout of the season. Furthermore, the media room “was just asfull with 13 reporters from the New England area attending” (SEATTLETIMES, 7/18).
The WNBA Mystics hosted an 11:30am ET matinee yesterdayagainst the Sting, and the WASHINGTON POST reports that an announced crowd of19,683 at MCI Center included mostly “local camp kids and a few season ticketholders” (WASHINGTONPOST, 7/18). Yesterday’s crowdwas a season high (WASHINGTONTIMES, 7/18). The WNBA mandatesthat each team host at least one matinee per season (THE DAILY).
TELSTRA-AUSTRALIAN HOOPS LEAGUE DEAL NEAR $2M PER YEAR
The Melbourne AGE reported that the Australian NationalBasketball League (NBL) was scheduled to meet today with representatives of amajor telecommunications company, believed to be Telstra, to “confirm athree-year [naming-rights] deal that is expected to give greater internetcoverage and, possibly, a free-to-air television presence.” The deal is reportedly “not too far off”former sponsor Mitsubishi’s annual payments of more than $2M per year. Mitsubishi ended its sponsorship after the’00-01 season (MelbourneAGE, 7/16). Former Univ. of ORWarsaw Sports Marketing Center Exec Dir Rick Burton was named NBLCommissioner last month.
PUBLIC MEMORIAL SERVICE TO BE HELD TODAY FOR TEX SCHRAMM
A public memorial service will be held for former CowboysPresident & GM Tex Schramm at 2:00pm CT at Lovers Lane UnitedMethodist Church in Dallas (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/16).
MORNING BRIEFS
The NHL yesterday imposed limits on the length of goaltenderpads for the ’03-04 season. The maximumlength of the pads will be 38”. The NHLnotes that approximately one-third of goalies last season exceeded the newlimit. For violations of the rule,clubs will be fined $25,000 (NHL).
AOL Time Warner Senior VP/Communications Greg Hughes,on negotiations between the company and David McDavid to buy the Hawks,Thrashers and operating rights to Philips Arena: “We are continuing ourconversations, making progress and feel confident a deal will be reached” (ATLANTACONSTITUTION, 7/18).
USA TODAY reports that IOC officials met yesterday with U.S.administrator Paul Bremer in Baghdad “to discuss Iraq’s Olympic program,which the IOC dissolved in May.” Bremer“tapped retired athletes to help rebuild local and national sports federations,hoping to form an Olympic committee by September.” If a committee is not formed, Iraqi athletes “may compete underthe Olympic flag next year in Athens” (USA TODAY, 7/18).
The WASHINGTON POST reports that the “aftershocks of therecent college athletic conference realignment reached Congress yesterday” whenU.S. Rep. & House Judiciary Committee Chair James Sensenbrenner(R-WI) announced that he will “schedule a hearing to discuss the application ofantitrust laws to major college sports,” including the BCS. U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) made aformal request to Sensenbrenner for the hearing (WASHINGTONPOST, 7/18).
ATTENDANCE WATCH:
- The BOSTON GLOBE reports that a sellout crowd of 34,521 attended last night’s Blue Jays-Red Sox game at Fenway Park, the “20th sellout of the season, [and] the 10th consecutive.” The Blue Jays won, 5-2 (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/18).
- The N.Y. TIMES reports that a crowd of 5,764 attended last night’s MLL All-Star Game at Mitchel Field in Uniondale, NY. The National Division defeated the American Division, 27-12 (N.Y. TIMES, 7/18).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
This year’s MLS All-Star Game will feature the MLS All-Starsagainst Mexican club Chivas August 2 at The Home Depot Center, and the L.A.TIMES reports that AEG President Tim Leiweke and Chivas President IvarSisniega have made a friendly wager on the game. Should the MLS All-Stars win, Sisniega will “wear a pair of sockschosen by Leiweke.” If Chivas isvictorious, Leiweke will kiss Chivas’ mascot, a goat (L.A.TIMES, 7/18).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sportscovers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
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| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Daily News |
TODAY’S EVENTS
Finish Line President & CEO Alan Cohen will openthe NASDAQ Market at 9:30am ET in N.Y.
Red Sox Owner John Henry and Chair Tom Werner,NESN play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo and former P Luis Tiantare among the group that will meet with U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd andUConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun at a 10:30am ET pressconference at the State Capitol in Hartford to thank the state for its supportof the franchise and announce the date for “Connecticut Day” at Fenway Park.
Sting G Dawn Staley, G Andrea Stinson and C TammySutton-Brown will visit the NBA Store in N.Y. at 1:30pm ET to discuss the’03 WNBA season as well as their 7:30pm ET game against the WNBA Liberty.
Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation will host thefive-day Jeter’s Leaders Conference, beginning at 6:30pm ET at Wagner Collegeon Staten Island. Among those scheduledto join Jeter are Olympic Gold Medalist Dominique Dawes, Knicks G AllanHouston, BET’s “106th and Park” host AJ and motivationalspeaker Scott Anthony Robinson. The Turn 2 Foundation was established in ’96 to promote healthylifestyles, educational achievement and leadership.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…..
Every Friday, the MorningBuzz highlights a video clip, chart or piece of information that might havefallen through the cracks. This week,ESPY host Jamie Foxx serenades an amused, yet visibly embarrassed SerenaWilliams with the surefire classic, “Can I Be Your Tennis Ball?” (THEDAILY).
INOTHER NEWS….
The N.Y. TIMES reports that Foote, Cone & Belding haspromoted Exec VP & Exec Creative Dir Chris Becker to Chief CreativeOfficer, succeeding Rich Russo, who is leaving the company (N.Y. TIMES,7/18).
DAILY VARIETY reports that Fox has “partnered with Ford tosponsor the commercial-free third-season premiere” of “24” on October 28 (DAILYVARIETY, 7/18).
Coca-Cola yesterdayreported its Q2 ’03 earnings, and the WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that whilethe company reported an 11% increase in profit on “solid sales world-wide and alower tax rate,” results for its “two most profitable markets, North Americaand Japan, remained sluggish.” Netincome increased to $1.36B, up from $1.22B in the same period a yearearlier. Revenue grew 6.1% from $5.37Bin Q2 ’02 to $5.69B (WALL STREETJOURNAL, 7/18).
The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that Coca-Cola “has invitedseveral agencies to pitch ideas” for the advertising account of NBA partnerSprite. Coca-Cola Dir of North AmericanCommunications Dan Schafer said that the company is not “seeking a newagency for Sprite and that the latest move is just to ‘ask for ideas’” (ATLANTACONSTITUTION, 7/18).
Cablevision last night launched its Rainbow DBS 1 satellite,and DAILY VARIETY reports that the service “will launch with a nominal eighthigh definition channels, presumably based on some of Rainbow’s existingprogramming from IFC, AMC and WE: Women’s Entertainment and possibly somesports offerings” (DAILYVARIETY, 7/18).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “People.”
“He said, ‘I ... really never considered myself a TVstar. I always thought I was a neighborwho just came in for a visit.’”
LAUGH TRACK
THEMONOLOGUES:
CBS’ DavidLetterman: “Apparently, they’re still looking for Jimmy Hoffa’sbody, and yesterday, cops go to this backyard in Michigan, who knows, maybe itwas your backyard. So they dig and theydig and they dig and they dig all day, and they dig all day and they find nobody, but guess what, they found O.J.’s knife. ... Guy goes into Wendy’sand he orders the chili. They give himthe chili and it has a mouse in it. They’re saying that it was his fault. He should have ordered the vegetarian chili. ... The Emmy nominationswere announced today, and we here at the ‘Late Show’ were lucky enough toreceive four nominations. We’re in kindof a weird category this year. We’re upagainst ‘Jackass’ and a Baghdad Bob press conference. ... Jerry Springer isrunning for Senate, and Democrats are very excited about this because thiscould be the new embarrassing sex scandal they’ve been hoping for. ... To raisemoney, the Clinton Presidential Library has published the presidentialcookbook, and it features all of President Clinton’s favorite recipes. Not surprisingly, his favorite dessert isimpeached cobbler. ... His favorite pizza recipe is cheese and pepperonidelivered by a naive intern” ("Late Show," CBS, 7/17).
NBC’sJay Leno: “It was so hot in Milwaukee, instead of a sausage race theyhad four Slim Jims running around the track. It was so hot in L.A., Kobe Bryant actually enjoyed being under acloud of suspicion. It was cooler. ...What is going on with Kobe? What arethey waiting for, everybody to die of natural causes? ... Gary Paytonand Karl Malone have signed with the Lakers. The Lakers are very clever. This is a part of their, ‘Uh oh, what if Kobe’s really guilty’ plan. ...Tony Blair addressed the Congress today. In a statement, President Bush said he and Tony Blair havethe exact same goal: reelection. ... McDonald’s announced they are nowexperimenting with fresh fruit in their Happy Meals. See, whenever McDonald’s tries something fresh, it’s alwaysconsidered an experiment. ... An inventor in Japan says he has created anelectronic device that would allow people to talk with their cat. Using this you’ll be able to understand whatyour cat is saying. We had somethingsimilar to that back in the 60’s. Itwas called LSD” ("Tonight Show," NBC, 7/17).
THURSDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
ESPN’s 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” led with Blue Jays-RedSox, followed by Mariners-Royals and the first round of the BritishOpen.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“Who is Fred Rogers?”
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