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Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz, August 26, 2003

The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
9:00am ET

Eugene Melnyk To Be Officially Introduced Today As New Owner Of Senators

College Sports TV To Launch First Official Season On The Air Today

NFL, AOL To Announce Expanded Content Agreement Today For Broadband

Prospective CFL Argonauts Owner To Begin Three-Day Fact-Finding Trip Today

OR Ballpark Financing Bill To Go To Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s Desk Today

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


MELNYK TO OFFICIALLY TAKE CONTROL OF SENATORS TODAY

The OTTAWA SUN reports that Eugene Melnyk “willbe handed the keys to the boss’ suite at the Corel Centre today as heofficially takes over as owner” of the Senators.  Lawyers worked “into last night as they scrambled to put thefinishing touches on the deal.”  Melnyk,who will meet with the media at a Corel Centre reception today, paid C$100M forthe team and C$27.5M for the Corel Centre (OTTAWA SUN, 8/26).


CSTV TODAY TO BEGIN LAUNCH OF NINE NEW PROGRAMS IN 13 DAYS

College Sports TV today kicks off its first official seasonon the air, launching nine new programs over a 13-day period.  Many of the net’s programs will offermultiple editions each week.  Thefollowing details the programming lineup, as well as premiere date and time (CSTV):

Program Description
Premiere
Time
“Dog Days” Behind the scenes with college football programs
August 26
10:00pm ET
“Crystal Ball” College football predictions
August 27
9:00pm ET
“CSTV Football Saturday” Football game of the week(Montana-Maine)
August 30
6:00pm ET
“Retrovision” Classic college sports action
September 1
4:00pm ET
“Coast 2Coach” Coaches shows, press conferences
September 1
6:00pm ET
“CSTV Primetime” Preview of nightly events
September 4
7:30pm ET
“CSTV Scoreboard” Highlights show
September 4
11:30pm ET
“Sunday Night Spikes” Volleyball match of the week
September 7
TBD
“Notre Dame Primetime” Current, classic Irish games
September 7
8:30pm ET

AOL FOR BROADBAND USERS TO BE OFFERED GREATER NFL CONTENT

The NFL and AOLtoday will announce a multiyear agreement that expands upon their existingagreement, giving AOL for Broadband subscribers more NFL-related content at noadditional charge.  Highlights of thenew content called “NFL@AOL” include classic NFL rivalries, greatest playerpieces, NFL Films clips, game highlights, a weekly spotlight on an NFL club,game previews, Super Bowl highlights, breaking NFL news and access to NFL audioprogramming.  The deal also affords AOLthe use of NFL marks and logos (AOL).


STEVE STOTLAND TO BEGIN ARGOS FACT-FINDING TRIP TODAY

The TORONTO SUN reports that Montreal business exec SteveStotland will be in Toronto today through Thursday to collect informationregarding his potential purchase of the CFL Argonauts.  Stotland, who will meet with CFLCommissioner Tom Wright tomorrow, said yesterday, “If I do the deal, I’d do it sooner ratherthan later.”  Stotland reportedlyoffered C$3M to former Owner Sherwood Schwarz, but was rejected becauseSchwarz “thought the team was worth at least twice that.”  By season’s end, the league will haveinvested about C$4M into the team (TORONTOSUN, 8/26).


MORNING BRIEFS

The WASHINGTON POST reports that the OR House yesterdaypassed the $150M ballpark financing bill by a 31-24 vote.  The bill now “goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski,who has said he will sign it” (WASHINGTONPOST, 8/26).

The N.Y. POST’s Mark Cannizzaro writes, “Talk about ajinx.  Sports Illustrated writer MichaelSilver first reported and wrote a story on Atlanta QB Michael Vickthat was scheduled to be the cover of the magazine’s NFL preview issue.  When Vick broke his ankle, Silver wasdispatched … to write [Jets QB Chad] Pennington as the coverpiece.  You know the rest” (N.Y. POST, 8/26).

ESPN today runs full-page ads on the back covers of the N.Y.Times and USA Today sports sections, promoting its original series,“Playmakers,” which debuts tonight at 9:00pm ET.  For a roundup of reviews, please see today’s issue of TheDaily.

The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that former Blues VP& Dir of Hockey Operations John Ferguson Jr. will be introduced asthe Maple Leafs new GM as early as today. At 36, Ferguson will become the youngest GM in the NHL this season (TorontoGLOBE & MAIL, 8/26).

The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that the former Univ. of GAstudent who accused three UGA athletes of rape last year yesterday filed a $25Mlawsuit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta against the school.  The suit names UGA President MichaelAdams, AD Vince Dooley and former men’s basketball coach JimHarrick, “claiming that they were aware that Tony Cole, one of theaccused athletes, had a history of sexual assaults before they recruited andadmitted him” (ATLANTACONSTITUTION, 8/26).

The IOC yesterday announced an amendment to the June ’01IOC/IPC Agreement on the organization of Paralympic Games, ensuring that thatOlympic organizing committees pay the IPC $9M for the ’08 Games and $14M forthe 2010 and 2012 Games for broadcasting and marketing on the event (IOC).

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE reports that the USATF Monday was “given24 hours to discipline sprinter Jon Drummond for behavior” that IOCPresident Jacques Rogge “blasted.” Protesting his disqualification from the men’s 100-meter quarterfinalsfor a false start, Drummond twice lay on the track to stop the race (CHICAGOTRIBUNE, 8/26).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

  • USA TODAY reports that 29,098 spectators attended yesterday’s U.S. Open afternoon session at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, “just 233 down from last year” (USA TODAY, 8/26).  The evening session drew 21,853 (THE DAILY).
  • The WASHINGTON POST reports that a crowd of approximately 500 attended yesterday’s WUSA Washington Freedom championship rally at RFK Stadium (WASHINGTON POST, 8/26).
  • The Montreal GAZETTE reports that a crowd of 30,501 attended last night’s Phillies-Expos game at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, including approximately 13,500 walkups for the $5 night promotion (Montreal GAZETTE, 8/26).
  • The BOSTON GLOBE reports that the Patriots kickoff gala drew about 1,000 to Gillette Stadium last night.  Patriots T Matt Light and LB Mike Vrabel served as auctioneers.  Among the “more interesting items – a trip for two to the Super Bowl went for $11,000 and 15 minutes of playing catch with Tom Brady went for $34,000” (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/26).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The ORLANDO SENTINEL reports that Cubs prospect JaeKuk Ryu, who was “charged with attempting to kill, injure or molest amigratory bird” after hitting an osprey at the Mets’ training facility inApril, yesterday “reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.”  Under the deal, Ryu “would be fined $500,ordered to pay court costs and cost of the investigation, and perform 100 hoursof community service,” as well as six months probation (ORLANDOSENTINEL, 8/26).


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. Post
N.Y. Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News

TODAY’S EVENTS

The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reports that Big TenCommissioner Jim Delany will “hold a conference call with thepresidents, athletic directors and head football coaches from Minnesota,Michigan and Michigan State this morning to discuss the potential schedulingconflicts with the Metrodome and two October games.”  Delany gave the schools until tomorrow to resolve the matter (Minneapolis STARTRIBUNE, 8/26).

ESPN2 will begin live TV coverage of the IAAF World Track& Field Championships from Paris today from 2:00-4:00pm ET, with a recapfrom 10:00pm-midnight.  The meet will be“carried live and with repeats on ESPN2 through Sunday, the day that ABC Sportswill air the final events” from 12:30-4:00pm ET (PHILADELPHIAINQUIRER, 8/26).


INOTHER NEWS….

The L.A. TIMES reports that Vivendi Universal’s managementteam today is scheduled to present offers from GE and a consortium led byVivendi Vice Chair Edgar Bronfman to its BOD and “weigh whether to enterinto an exclusive negotiation” with one of the two.  Liberty Media pulled out of the auction yesterday (L.A.TIMES, 8/26).

The N.Y. TIMES reports that Timex is “dropping the‘licking/ticking’ slogan,” which was “introduced in the 1950s and brought backin the 1990s.”  The company’s newcampaign, via Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners, N.Y., features the tagline,“Timex. Life is Ticking.”  Print adswill appear in the September issue of Transworld Snowboarding magazine, as wellas other publications  (N.Y. TIMES,8/26).

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that a recent U.S. CommerceDepartment study reveals that e-commerce sales in Q2 ’03 increased 27.8% overthe same period a year earlier. Internet retail sales exceeded $12.4B, “accounting for 1.5% of the total$858.8[B] in retail sales” for the quarter, up from 1.2% of the total retailsales in the same period a year earlier (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 8/26).


FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy!” was the beginning of the“$1,000,000 Masters Tournament.”  The“Final Jeopardy” category was “Espionage.”

“He was born in India; his father worked for the Britishgovernment and he was nicknamed for a Kipling character.”


LAUGH TRACK

THEMONOLOGUES: 

CBS’ DavidLetterman: “Thank God everybody survived the big blackout.  Everybody was affected by the bigblackout.  For example, my mother’sblender went out and she had to go 18 hours without a margarita. ... New Yorkwas hit hard.  The rats were walkingaround with flashlights.  I actually hadto sleep out on the sidewalk during the blackout.  Luckily, I was carrying my yoga mat. ... It was caused by a fatguy in Queens microwaving a burrito. ... The darkness enveloped New York.  It was so dark up in Chappaqua, BillClinton actually got into bed with his wife” ("Late Show,"CBS, 8/25).

LATENIGHT LAUGHS:

Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Reasons The NationalCrime Rate Is Down” ("Late Show," CBS, 8/25).

10) “Dozens of boxes of crime reports were stolen.”

9) “Thanks to NAFTA, much of America’s crime now committed in Mexico.”

8) “Go on a shooting rampage and miss all-new episode of ‘Sex and the City?’  Yeah, right!”

7) “Why steal a DVD player from Circuit City when their prices are so low, they’re practically giving them away!”

6) “O.J. verdict taught the world if you commit a crime, it cuts into golf.”

5) “I don’t know … something to do with Mars?”

4) “Crooks know they’ll get caught just like Osama or Saddam.”

3) “Most of the good stuff’s already stolen.”

2) “Winona hasn’t gone ‘shopping’ for her fall wardrobe yet.”

1) “All the losers and deadbeats are in California running for governor.”


MONDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

ESPN’s midnight ET “SportsCenter” (late due toPadres-D’Backs) led with A’s-Blue Jays, followed by Mariners-Red Soxand the Mariners’ six-game losing streak.


FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“Who was Kim Philby?”


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

TheMorning Buzz provides an early update of the news and headlines each Mondaythrough Friday at approximately 9:00am ET. If you would like to sign up for ane-mail alert to the Morning Buzz, go to My Account and personalize your e-mail alert options.

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