Morning Buzz, September 26, 2003

SUGAR SHANE MOSLEY IN SEARCH OF ENDORSEMENT CONTRACTS

USA TODAY reports that WBA & WBC super welterweightchampion Shane Mosley will meet today with a major advertising firm “inan attempt to secure endorsement deals” following his unanimous decision over OscarDe La Hoya, something “he didn’t do after beating De La Hoya in 2000.”  Mosley will ring the NYSE opening bell thismorning, “before the final stop on his busy East Coast swing, a victory party”at HBO’s N.Y. offices (USA TODAY, 9/26).  Mosley appeared this morning on Fox NewsChannel’s “Fox & Friends 1^st” as part of this week’s media tour(THE DAILY).

PHILLIES TODAY WILL CLOSE AUCTION OF SELECT VET ITEMS

WithVeterans Stadium scheduled for implosion sometime following the Phillies’ finalhomestand this weekend, the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER reports that the clubtoday will conclude a sealed-bid auction “for a number of old, large and mostly unglamorous items.  On offer are the stadium lights, all 863 ofthem; the aluminum railings and risers; the sound system; the boiler-roomcontents; everything in the kitchens and dining rooms; the turnstiles; thegates; and 141 roll-up doors.  Also upfor auction were 15 elevators, 11 escalators, the scoreboards, Phanavision, andthat Liberty Bell.”  Over 10,000 pairsof seats have been sold at $280 each, with nearly 10,000 still available (PHILADELPHIAINQUIRER, 9/26).

TERRY MEYOCKS TO REMAIN IN CHARGE OF NYRA RACING OPERATION

NEWSDAY reports that the NYRA, as early as today, “is expected to announce a realignment ofmanagement responsibilities.”  While President& COO Terry Meyocks “is expected to remain in charge of the racingoperation,” former Goldman Sachs partner Steven Dunker and former MorganStanley Dean Witter Institutional Securities Group President Peter Parchesare “expected to take larger roles on the business side of the operation” (NEWSDAY,9/26).

NBA ROOKIE TRANSITION PROGRAM ENDS TODAY IN TARRYTOWN

The NBA Rookie Transition Program concludes today inTarrytown, NY, and NEWSDAY notes that players are “tutored on everything from how to write a check to where to fix theireyes while being interviewed by a television reporter.  They also are taught that both the NBA andthe players association have counselors in every city that will help them withtheir problems.  Players attend a totalof 53 hours of workshops, lectures and group counseling sessions.”  Following Kobe Bryant’s arrest inJuly, “there was heightened interest” in the program this year (NEWSDAY,9/26).

MORNING BRIEFS

The L.A. TIMESreports that Bank of America has signed a three-year deal, with an option afterthe first year, to title sponsor the season-ending WTA Championships.  The Home Depot was the title sponsor of theevent in its first year at Staples Center in L.A. (L.A.TIMES, 9/26).

ESPN.com reportedthat Notre Dame SID John Heisler said that the Fighting Irish “willremain an independent and have not agreed to join the ACC in stages,” disputinga report in yesterday’s Charlotte Observer. ACC Commissioner John Swofford also called the newspaper’s report“erroneous” (ESPN.com, 9/25).

The WASHINGTON POST reports that the NFL has “agreed to payMetro $36,000 of the $57,000 the transit system had been seeking asreimbursement for running extra subway service” during the NFL Kickoff Live2003 celebration on the National Mall (WASHINGTONPOST, 9/26).

The N.Y. TIMES reports that through three weeks of the NFLseason, “there have been 117 more penalties called this season than last, alittle more than two and a half more penalties each game.”  NFL Senior Dir of Officiating MikePereira: “We have an increase in fouls, but not a decrease in accuracy” (N.Y. TIMES,9/26).

Following Maurice Clarett filing a lawsuit againstthe NFL, the Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan arm of the U.S.House that uses scholars and lawyers to “consider public policy questions, hasissued the opinion that the NFL’s early-entry draft prohibition … probablyviolates federal anti-trust law.” Legislative research attorney Janice Rubin drafted the report,citing Spencer Haywood’s “successful 1971 challenge to the NBA thatopened up that league to college underclassmen and high school players” (ESPN.com, 9/25).

The ST. PETERSBURG TIMESreports that after WQYK-AM failed to cut into WDAE-AM’s ratings lead, InfinityBroadcasting “may be waving the white flag by inviting ESPN Radio to providethe bulk of the station’s content in an agreement set to begin before the newyear.”  ESPN Radio currently has anagreement with WDAE-AM (ST.PETERSBURG TIMES, 9/26).

USA TODAY reportsthat the NCAA, which now limits year-round random drug testing to football andtrack & field, is “moving toward expanding the program to all sports – inpart out of growing concern over the stimulant ephedrine.”  An NCAA committee “tentatively recommendedthe change last week” (USA TODAY,9/26).

The L.A. TIMES reports that the USOC yesterday “confirmedthat sprinter Jerome Young tested positive for a banned steroid a yearbefore winning a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, clearing the way forinternational officials to review the case and perhaps strip the U.S.1,600-meter relay team of its medals” (L.A.TIMES, 9/26).

DolphinsDE Jason Taylor appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” anddiscussed his off-field endeavors, including part-time modeling and his Neutrogena spot (THE DAILY).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• A crowd of 31,553 attended last night’s Sweden-North Korea and Nigeria-U.S. Women’s World Cup doubleheader at Lincoln Financial Field.  A crowd of 13,929 attended the Ghana-Russia and China-Australia doubleheader last night at The Home Depot Center (THE DAILY).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM reports that Cowboys coach BillParcells “invoked an impression from one of his favorite” TV sitcoms,“Hogan’s Heroes,” when asked about Maurice Clarett.  Parcells: “Don’t get me in that can ofworms.  I’m Sergeant Schultz on that” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 9/26).

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. Daily News

Philadelphia Daily News

TODAY’S EVENTS

The ‘03 Coca-ColaNBA Jam Session begins a three-day stop at Oriental Mall in Beijing.  Inaddition to title sponsor Coca-Cola, associate sponsors of the event includeReebok, Spalding and Northwest Airlines.

The inaugural ChampionsTour Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn Golf Club & Spa in Hickory, NC,begins today with a total purse of $1.5M. The Golf Channel begins TV coverage at 1:30pm ET.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…..

Every Friday, the Morning Buzz highlights a video clip, chart orpiece of information that might have fallen through the cracks.  Thisweek, while interviewing Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden on “Today,”NBC’s Matt Lauer is reminded that there is no editing on liveTV.  Perhaps he has been following theRose Bowl/Coliseum/Carson fight for the NFL’s return to L.A., but the teamplaying the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI was from St. Louis, not the city ofAngels.  The Rams relocated to TheGateway City in ‘95 (THE DAILY).

Click Here To View Clip

INOTHER NEWS….

The L.A. TIMES reports that shares of TiVo yesterdaydecreased 17% after two analysts “speculated that the … company could lose akey distribution deal” with DirecTV. News Corp. Monday sent a letter to the FCC “outlining its plans forDirecTV.  In the letter, News Corp. saidit would deploy 1 million DirecTV receivers with built-in digital recordersover the next year, but it made no mention of TiVo” (L.A.TIMES, 9/26).

The WASHINGTON POST reports that a King County (WA) judgeyesterday ruled that the Seattle Times, “the dominant paper in [Seattle],cannot get out of its 22-year-old joint operating agreement with the SeattlePost-Intelligencer, which as been losing circulation in recent years.”  The Times reacted by saying that is “losingmoney and is likely to continue doing so,” adding that it “may have no choicebut to try again to invoke a ‘loss clause’ that would allow it escape itsunhappy business marriage to the P-I” (WASHINGTONPOST, 9/26).

DAILY VARIETY reports that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnsonwill make “Spy Hunter,” an adaptation of the classic ‘80s video game, his nextfilm.  In the movie, Johnson will “playan ex-fighter pilot who fights spies and assassins with his high-tech G-6155Interceptor car” (DAILYVARIETY, 9/26).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Sports Stars.”

“His given name is Eldrick; his more famous nicknamehonors his father’s Vietnam War buddy.”

LAUGH TRACK

THEMONOLOGUES: 

CBS’ David Letterman: “It’s autumn in New York.  It’s crisp. You can tell that it’s fall time in New York, can’t you?  Here was a sure sign that it’s autumn.  Today, my cab driver switched to a wood-burningturban. ... Congratulations to Billy Crystal.  He will be the host of next year’s Academy Awards. ...Apparently, my lifetime ban is still in effect. ... Have you been watching“Survivor?”  They have a grocery clerk,they have a former Marine, they have a lawyer, they have a bartender, they havea mortician.  I’m sorry, those are theDemocratic candidates for president. ... Anybody visiting from California?  How much longer until they close that state?... Wesley Clark is being coached by former President Clinton.  I believe this is the first time a generalis being advised by a pot-smoking draft dodger” ("Late Show," CBS,9/25).

NBC’s Jay Leno: “Last night the California ship offools made its maiden voyage.  It gotpretty raucous.  The crowd started toget out of control a couple of times. Luckily, the security guard, Gary Coleman, was able to calmthings down.  Was it me, or was theresome weird sexual tension between Arianna Huffington and Arnold?  Could you feel it? ... The one thing thatall the candidates did agree on was they all want to make California businessfriendly as opposed to what it is now, illegal immigrant and celebrity-murdererfriendly. ... According to a new CNN poll, President Bush’s approval hasdropped to its lowest level ever.  ThePresident’s rating is now at 50%.  Lasttime Bush had a score of 50%, he was taking his finals at Yale” ("TheTonight Show," NBC, 9/25).

THURSDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

ESPN’s “Around The Horn” and “PTI” were pre-empted due tothe net’s coverage of the PGA Tour Valero Texas Open.

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“Who is Tiger Woods?”

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

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