| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, August 7, 2003
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | Darlington Raceway Officials To Announce Plans Today To Install Lights |
| • | LPGA Tour Officials To Conduct Meeting On Allegations Against Korean Players |
| • | Trail Blazers Reduce Season-Ticket Prices; Unveil 25-Point Pledge To Fans |
| • | San Diego City Council Expected To Approve Negotiating Extension Today |
| • | Kobe’s Court Hearing: Seven Minutes, Two Words, Several Hundred In Media |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
DARLINGTON RACEWAY RECEIVES APPROVAL TO INSTALL LIGHTS
The AP reports that Darlington Raceway officials today areexpected to announce that they have “gotten go-ahead to install a lighting system that would be readyfor testing by early fall 2004.” However, track President Andrew Gurtis would not say if the fall’04 race, scheduled for November 14, “would be the old country track’s firstnight event.” NASCAR VP/CorporateCommunications & former Darlington President Jim Hunter: “I don’tthink [ISC] would invest in the lights if they didn’t think there was a futureat Darlington.” While Darlington lostits Labor Day weekend date, it retained two NASCAR race weekends on next year’sschedule (AP,8/7).
LPGA TOUR OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS ALLEGATIONS AGAINST KOREANS
The Gordon Teter Pro-Am begins today at 7:00am ET as part ofthe LPGA Tour’s Wendy’s Championship for Children weekend at Tartan Fields inDublin, OH, and GOLF WORLD reports that LPGA Tour officials have called ameeting to discuss a “series of accusations against members of the tour’scontingent of Korean players, including improper coaching by parents during competition,parents threatening caddies and, in one case, a father moving his daughter’sball out from behind a tree during a tournament” (GOLF WORLD, 8/8 issue).
TRAIL BLAZERS REDUCE SEASON-TICKET PRICES; UNVEIL FAN PLEDGE
Trail Blazers President Steve Patterson met lastnight with season-ticket holders to announce a new pricing structure that willreduce season-ticket prices by an average of 9.3%. Additionally, the team will not raise prices of individual gametickets for the fourth straight year. Patterson also unveiled a pledge to fans that included 25 specificprinciples and standards by which the organization can be held accountable (TrailBlazers). View thepledge.
EXTENSION MEANS CHARGERS TICKET GUARANTEE TO CONTINUE
The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE reports that the San Diego CityCouncil today will meet at 10:00am PT to approve an extension of thenegotiating period with the Chargers for a new stadium. However, the extension “comes with a price,”as the “unpopular ticket guarantee returns” with the team’s August 16 preseasongame against the Cardinals. Since the guarantee, which requires the city to buyunsold tickets to home games, was instituted in ’97, the Chargers “have billedthe city for more than $30[M] in tickets” (SANDIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/7).
TODAY THE DAILY GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH…
Which industry exec is an admitted chauvinist when it comesto his hometown of Chicago and was recently seen rubbing elbows with Pele? To find out, see today’s “SportsIndustrialists” section for “THE DAILY Goes One-On-One With…”
MORNING BRIEFS
The N.Y. TIMES reports that Kobe Bryant “appeared forseven minutes” yesterday during his advisory hearing in Eagle, CO, in whatJudge Frederick Gannett called a “somewhat extraordinary event.” Bryant spoke just two words, “No, sir,” inresponse to whether he objected to waiving a requirement that the next hearingin the case be held within 30 days. Thenext hearing is scheduled for October 9 (N.Y.TIMES, 8/7).
USA TODAY notes that 24 mobile satellite uplinks, “severalhundred reporters, photographers and technicians and 120 phone lines” werestationed at the courthouse (USATODAY, 8/7).
Sources close to Bryant said that he will “attend [Lakers]training camp in Honolulu, reporting when veterans are due October 2, and thathe plans to play as much of the regular season as possible” (L.A.TIMES, 8/7).
BLOOMBERG NEWS reported that NFL officials “will be gradedas teams this season, instead of a previous system that rated them asindividuals.” NFL Officiating Dir MikePereira said that part of the reason for the new system “is that this year,entire crews will work together in the playoffs.” Previously, the NFL “created new crews of officials that gradedhighest at their positions” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 8/6).
USA TODAY reports that LPGA Tour player Jan Stephensonhas accepted a sponsor’s invitation to play in the Champions Tour Turtle BayChampionship October 10-12 at Turtle Bay Resort in Oahu, HI (USATODAY, 8/7).
The AP reports that the person who caught Sammy Sosa’s500th career home run ball “is putting it up for auction” throughChicago-based MastroNet, which will begin taking bids Monday. While MastroNet has set a minimum bid of$20,000, the company “expects the ball to go for much higher” (AP, 8/7).
The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES reports that Judge Leo Holt,saying that baseball players “encourage violence at ballparks,” yesterdaydecided “not to send William Ligue, Jr. to jail for storming onto thefield at [U.S. Cellular Field] with his 16-year-old son last year and attacking[Royals coach] Tom Gamboa.” Ligue received 30 months probation. Holt also refused to bar Ligue from MLB ballparks (CHICAGOSUN-TIMES, 8/7).
ATTENDANCE WATCH:
- The ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH reports that a crowd of 31,606 attended last night’s Marlins-Cardinals game at Busch Stadium, in which Marlins P Dontrelle Willis pushed his record to 11-2 with a 7-3 Marlins win (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/7). Prior to last night’s game, the Cardinals were averaging 30,915 for Wednesday home games (THE DAILY).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER reports that there was a newsconference yesterday at the Philadelphia Hilton to announce that 76ers G AllenIverson would host the Allen Iverson 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament &Music Fest August 29 in Caguas, Puerto Rico. There was one problem. Iversonwas a no-show (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER,8/7).
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. Post |
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| Philadelphia Daily News | Philadelphia Daily News |
TODAY’S EVENTS
Red Sox Chair Tom Werner, President & CEO LarryLucchino, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Burlington Mayor PeterClavelle will be among those in attendance at the Vermont Day Rally at12:30pm ET at Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, where VT Gov. JimDouglas will declare today Red Sox day in Vermont. The visit completes the team's four-state New England tour.
Padres President & COO Dick Freeman and HonoraryChair Tony Gwynn will conduct an 11:00am PT news conference at QualcommStadium to announce details of the team’s “Say Goodbye to the Q” weekend, whichwill take place September 26-28, the team’s final games at QualcommStadium. Promotional items and theofficial logo will be unveiled.
INOTHER NEWS….
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Arnold Schwarzeneggeryesterday “rocked the worlds of showbiz and politics” by announcing hiscandidacy for Governor of CA in the upcoming recall election of Gov. GrayDavis on NBC’s “Tonight Show.” Schwarzenegger called the decision to run the “toughest [I’ve] madesince deciding to get a bikini wax in 1978” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 8/7).
The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that total magazine adrevenue rose 7.9% to $1.17B for July, compared with figures from the sameperiod a year earlier. July ad pagestotaled 14,696, a 0.2% decrease from ’02. Year-to-date ad revenue increased 9.6% to $9.76B, and the number of adpages jumped 1.6% to 123,878 (WALLSTREET JOURNAL, 8/7).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Americana.”
“Baptist minister Francis Bellamy penned this oath in1892 to reflect his Christian socialist beliefs.”
LAUGH TRACK
THEMONOLOGUES:
CBS’ DavidLetterman: “George W. Bush is still on his 35-day vacation. Hell, I didn’t get 35 days off when I had mybypass surgery. ... It’s hot and muggy here. It was so hot and muggy today, I had to hose down my two pit bulls, Udayand Qusay. It was so hot today,my cab driver accidentally used deodorant. It was so hot today, I had to pay ten extra bucks for an oscillatinghooker. ... A British performance artist wants to have a human ear surgicallyattached to his arm. Oh, I’msorry. Did I say performanceartist? I meant to say moron. ... MikeTyson is bankrupt. He made in hiscareer between [$300-500M] and I’m surprised because, a brokeprizefighter? You hardly ever see that.... Mark Cuban says that the Kobe Bryant case will be good forbusiness. You know, it’s only August,but as far as I’m concerned, Mark Cuban pretty much has locked up the Idiot ofthe Year award. ... According to reports, North Korea and Iran are workingtogether to make nuclear warheads. That’s pretty frightening, isn’t it? But you know, if they want to make a huge bomb, what they really oughtto do is bring in Ben and J.Lo” ("Late Show," CBS,8/6).
NBC’sJay Leno: “This governor race here in California is just gettingcrazy. Just moments ago, Seabiscuitannounced he’s running. Don’t we lookdumb here? Here’s how bad Californialooks to the rest of the country: People in Florida are laughing at us. ... Youknow who should run for governor of California? Mike Tyson. He’s built likeSchwarzenegger, he spends like Davis and he sounds like BarbaraBoxer. ... President Bush said today the economy is getting better andpeople are beginning to spend more, to which Kobe Bryant’s wife said, ‘Youknow, I’ve noticed that.’ ... The movie ‘Freaky Friday’ opens today. It’s about an adult who switches bodies witha teenager and finds out what it’s like to be inside a teenage girl’sbody. I’m sorry, that’s Kobe Bryant.... They’re saying that the trial will just turn into a three-ring circus. Four rings if you count the one he boughthis wife. It’s a shame. I mean a lot of other players in the NBA arenot getting the attention they deserve for their crimes” ("TonightShow," NBC, 8/6).
LATENIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Good Things About Being a Twin,” read on stage byten pairs of twins (“The Late Show,” CBS, 8/6).
| 10) “Picking out his birthday gift is easy – I just buy what I like.” |
| 9) “We can communicate telepathically, but it really, really hurts.” |
| 8) “As far as our boss knows, we’re one guy who puts in tons of overtime.” |
| 7) “Thinking about a new hairstyle? Try it on your twin when she’s asleep.” |
| 6) “Check it out – we’re wearing each other’s pants!” |
| 5) “Need money? You can always do one of them Doublemint commercials.” |
| 4) “Actually, it’s no big deal. We’re fraternal twins.” |
| 3) “We save thousands on mirrors.” |
| 2) “If I ever commit a crime (points to twin), he’s going to jail.” |
| 1) “I slept with my brother’s wife.” |
WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
ESPN’s 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” led with Kobe Bryant’sadvisory hearing in Eagle County, CO, followed by the Yankees trading P ArmandoBenitez and cash to the Mariners for P Jeff Nelson, and Rangers-Yankees.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What is the Pledge of Allegiance?”
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