| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
9:00am ET | |
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| • | NBA To Release ‘03-04 Schedule Today; LeBron To Open With West Coast Trip |
| • | City Of Charlotte To Host “Groundblasting” Today For Bobcats’ Downtown Arena |
| • | CFL Likely To Revoke Argonauts Owner Sherwood Schwarz’ Franchise Today |
| • | Former Falcons VP Sues Blank For Condoning Poor Treatment Of Women |
| • | Bucs Owner Glazer Reaches Agreement In Principle To Purchase Dodgers |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
NBA TO RELEASE ‘03-04 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE TODAY AT NOON
The NBA will release its ‘03-04 season schedule today at noon ET, and BLOOMBERG NEWS reported that LeBron James and the Cavaliers will “open the regular season with a three-game West Coast trip.” The season will begin Tuesday, October 28, with three games: Mavericks-Lakers, Heat-76ers and Suns-Spurs. James’ first game is October 29 at the Kings, followed by games against the Suns and Trail Blazers. The Cavaliers’ first home game will be November 5 against the Nuggets and rookie Carmelo Anthony (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 7/28).
BOBCATS OWNER BOB JOHNSON TO PARTAKE IN TODAY’S CEREMONY
Bobcats Owner Bob Johnson and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory are among the participants today for a 10:00am ET “groundblasting” ceremony at the site of the city’s new downtown arena, and the CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL reported that construction on the arena “has already begun – mainly underground storage tank removal, environmental cleanup, utility work and road relocation. The six remaining buildings on the site will be demolished by month end.” While details for the “groundblasting” were not divulged, Charlotte Corporate Communications Dir Julie Hill said, “We’re not using gold shovels” (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/25 issue).
Johnson appeared on Charlotte’s WBT-AM this morning and said of the new arena’s design, “It captures Charlotte’s past and represents the excitement of Charlotte’s future. … If you walked around the entire arena, it will look like a cityscape that is filled with trees and walkways and plaza-like effects that will make the entire arena [look attractive]. There’s no back of the house that looks unattractive. … This arena is going to have outlets for restaurants, retail. It will have a practice court that is visible from the outside, as well as the inside. It’s really going to make a major statement about downtown Charlotte. At nighttime, this arena [will be] lit up, just like an entertainment beacon, calling people downtown to be part of the enthusiasm and excitement” (WBT-AM, 7/29).
CFL LIKELY TO REVOKE SHERWOOD SCHWARZ’ OWNERSHIP TODAY
The TORONTO SUN reports that the CFL BOG will conduct a conference call today to tell Argonauts Owner Sherwood Schwarz that his franchise “will be revoked unless he provides financial reasons to convince it otherwise.” However, it “appears unlikely” Schwarz will do so, as he does not “have anybody in place to partner with him, although he has made various attempts.” The league has already advanced Schwarz C$1.3M for various expenses. While sources insist Schwarz will make a scheduled payment to his players today, there is a thought he will not, and the league may use that fact “as the final means to strip Schwarz of the Toronto franchise” (TORONTO SUN, 7/29).
FORMER FALCONS VP SUES BLANK FOR POOR TREATMENT OF WOMEN
The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that former Falcons VP/Human Resources Carol Faubert yesterday filed a lawsuit in federal court that contends Owner Arthur Blank “condoned a work climate in which women employees were treated as ‘sex objects’ and told on occasion to wear ‘inappropriate, skimpy attire.’” The lawsuit alleges that Blank “declined to address” the issues and “dismissed Faubert because she had objected to his refusal to hire women with young children.” Falcons VP/Community Affairs Susan Bass said in a statement: “This lawsuit was filed by a disgruntled former employee whose objective is obvious: to threaten public embarrassment as a means of extracting unwarranted personal gain” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 7/29).
MORNING BRIEFS
CBS SportsLine reports that Bucs Owner Malcolm Glazer has reached an agreement in principle to purchase the Dodgers from News Corp. The sale price, “said to be [$400-450M], includes the Dodger franchise, Dodger Stadium, the team’s spring training facilities” in Vero Beach, FL, and the club’s Dominican Republic properties, but “does not include any of the Fox television properties” (CBSSPORTSLINE.com, 7/29).
The DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that former Texans OL Tony Boselli and former NFL Cardinals DE Andre Wadsworth spoke with AFL Commissioner David Baker yesterday at Cowboys training camp, as they “are interested in buying an [AFL] franchise.” Baker said that the AFL may “expand in Texas, looking at cities such as San Antonio and Houston.” However, Cowboys & Desperados Owner Jerry Jones has “territorial rights in San Antonio” for an af2 team (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/29).
The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus, Jr. yesterday ruled “against the NCAA and gave college basketball teams more freedom to schedule ‘exempt’ events” such as the Maui Classic. Sargus said that the NCAA “violated antitrust law by limiting teams to exempt events in no more than two out of every four years” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/29).
Imaging Technologies yesterday announced that its ProSportsHR subsidiary, which provides human resources services to professional sports teams, has signed a licensing agreement with Major League Alumni Marketing (MLAM), making it the preferred rep of the MLAM to provide services to MLB alumni (Imaging Technologies).
ATTENDANCE WATCH:
- NEWSDAY reports that the “impact of a makeup game involving the Mets and Milwaukee Brewers is too low to register, and judging by the 6,056 fans – a season low – who bothered to show up last night at Shea Stadium, it would not have been missed” (NEWSDAY, 7/29).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
Red Sox Owner John Henry, on Sunday night’s 6-4 come-from-behind victory over the Yankees: “It was as if Jason and Johnny and David and Nomar and Manny – 25 men, a manager and his coaches – were collectively throwing off the shackles of decades of frustration and proclaiming, ‘It’s a new century, damn it. It’s 2003 and we don’t believe in ghosts.’” Henry’s comments follow a statement released yesterday by Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner, which read in part: “It’s a long season and a long way to go. They haven’t won anything yet” (HARTFORD COURANT, 7/29).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sports covers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
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| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Daily News |
TODAY’S EVENTS
The Celtics will honor as many as 50 “Heroes Among Us” during a 2:00pm ET ceremony at the MA State House in Boston. Celtics CEO & Managing Partner Wyc Grousbeck, Celtics Managing Partners Steve Pagliuca and Robert Epstein, FSN New England Senior VP & GM David Woodman and MA Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey are among those expected to attend the ceremony. The award recognizes individuals who have made exceptional and lasting contributions to their communities.
The Southeastern Conference begins its annual media days at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, AL. The event runs through Thursday.
49ers players will get a sneak peek of 989 Sports’ soon-to-be-released “NFL Gameday 2004” from 11:00am-1:00pm PT at the team’s facility in Santa Clara.
IN OTHER NEWS….
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Walt Disney shares yesterday hit a 52-week high, “as momentum from a Wall Street upgrade and the solid weekend debut of ‘Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over’ built toward this week’s release of fiscal third-quarter earnings.” But Sanders Morris Harris financial analyst David Miller believes that much of the “recent optimism is already built into Disney’s shares.” Miller added that sports rights payments, “primarily involving the NBA, should be a significant issue for media networks this quarter” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 7/29).
DAILY VARIETY reports that Paramount Domestic TV made an offer that Mark Cuban’s HDNet could not “refuse, signing a nine-year deal to provide 175 films, including the ‘Godfather’ trilogy, for high-def satellite and cable broadcast” (DAILY VARIETY, 7/29).
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that French commercial network TF1’s $158M net income posted for the first half of ‘03 was “party attributed to the fact that income in the first half of last year was adversely affected” by the World Cup, which “led to a surge in programming costs but did not bring in the anticipated ad revenue” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 7/29).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy” was filmed on the Ohio State campus for the College Championship Tournament, with host Alex Trebek entering the studio in the No. 13 jersey of RB Maurice Clarett. The “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Theories of Science.”
“Physicist John Wheeler compared possible passages through space and time to the work of this creature.”
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS’ David Letterman: “I had a great weekend. You know what I did? I took mom to see the ‘Seabiscuit’ movie, and like 20 minutes into the movie, mom turns to me and she says, ‘David, when do I put on the 3-D glasses?’ ... Here’s some sad news. Liza Minnelli and her husband David Gest apparently have split up. All I can say is thank God they didn’t make a big deal out of their wedding. ... Apparently, the split came because there was another man, and Liza found out about him. Don’t worry about Liza now. She’s just fine. She’s dating Ashton Kutcher. ... Last week Kobe Bryant gives his wife a $4[M] purple diamond ring, and she is thrilled about it. In fact, she’s hoping he’ll have another affair because she’s got her eye on a matching necklace” ("Late Show," CBS, 7/28).
NBC’s Jay Leno: “Those of you that had 16 months in the Liza Minnelli divorce office pool, you are the winner. ... Liza Minnelli separated from her husband, David Gest. But the good news, I guess she’s finally sober. ... It’s the old story. Apparently, there was another woman involved: him. That was the problem. ... The closest they came to consummating this marriage was when David tried on her wedding dress. ... The U.S. military said today Saddam is running out of places to hide. Let’s just hope he doesn’t hide with his weapons of mass destruction. Man, we’ll never find him. ... President Bush spoke at the annual conference of the Urban League. I’m not sure Bush is familiar with the Urban League. The first thing he did was congratulate them on beating the National League in the All-Star Game. ... Lance Armstrong now has more victories in France than the German army. ... Kobe Bryant gave his wife a $4[M], eight-carat ring for that adultery thing. What happens when a member of the Clippers cheats? Does his wife get cubic zirconium?” ("Tonight Show," NBC, 7/28).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Perks Of Winning The Tour de France” ("Late Show," CBS, 7/28).
| 10) “Lifetime supply of béarnaise sauce.” |
| 9) “Great discounts on handlebar streamers.” |
| 8) “This week, ‘Crepes Suzette’ changed to ‘Crepes Lance.’” |
| 7) “You get first pick of the stationary bikes at participating health clubs.” |
| 6) “Invitation to Men’s Wearhouse summer sale: ‘Tour de Pants.’” |
| 5) “Congratulatory phone call from Gerard Depardieu.” |
| 4) “Really cool icebreaker for your bicycle messenger job interview.” |
| 3) “By pure luck, you’re in the public eye right when Liza’s available again.” |
| 2) “You can become the most famous cyclist since...uh...you know – that other guy.” |
| 1) “The French dislike you slightly less than other Americans.” |
MONDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
ESPN’s 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” led with D’Backs-Marlins, followed by Phillies-Reds and the Reds firing GM Jim Bowden and manager Bob Boone.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What is a worm?”
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