| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | ESPN2 Today Celebrates Tenth Anniversary; To Air Daily Memorable Moments |
| • | 12th Annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference Ends Today In N.Y. |
| • | Former Jets OL To Appeal Suit Against Team Physicians Today In NY Court |
| • | Discussions On Future Of The Deutsche Bank Championship To Begin Today |
| • | N.Y. City Council Approves Bill To Punish Unruly Fans Who Enter Playing Areas |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
ESPN2 TODAY BEGINS MONTH-LONG TENTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
ESPN2 today begins a month-long celebration of its tenthanniversary, during which the net will present daily vignettes recognizing 30memorable sports moments that occurred on the net during its first decade. The 30-second highlights will appear on avariety of programming on all of the ESPN networks. Nielsen Media Research shows that ESPN2 is the second largestnational sports network (behind ESPN) and the 16th largest cablenetwork overall. The net’s reach of85.7 million U.S. households represents 98% of ESPN’s distribution (THEDAILY).
As the net celebrates its anniversary, The Daily isreminded of the “Top Ten Rejected Slogans For ESPN2,” as read by CBS’ DavidLetterman, when he appeared on the first-ever ESPN2 program, “SportsNight,”on October 1, 1993.
| 10) | “We’re Mets Free.” |
| 9) | “Drink a quart of beer and stare at our programming for a while.” |
| 8) | “We’ve got high school golf.” |
| 7) | “There might be nudity.” |
| 6) | “You think we’re lame. Wait’ll you see ESPN3.” |
| 5) | “Reading bad! ESPN2 good.” |
| 4) | “Less talk, more groin pulls.” |
| 3) | “We got arm-wrestling monkeys.” |
| 2) | “Now you have twice as many excuses not to get your fat ass off the couch.” |
| 1) | “Can’t sleep? No friends? Here we are.” |
Also celebrating an anniversary today is Comcast SportsNet,which launched October 1, 1997 (THE DAILY).
CHERNIN, ROBBINS HIGHLIGHT GOLDMAN SACHS CONFERENCE
The 12th annual Goldman Sachs CommunacopiaConference concludes today in N.Y., and the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that NewsCorp. President Peter Chernin yesterday said that his company’s plan to “acquire satellite TV giantHughes Electronics will transform the company in a way never attemptedbefore.” Chernin: “What’s pretty clearto us is you want both – content and distribution. … We’ll be the first (majorentertainment) company to sit on both sides of the table” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 10/1).
CoxCommunications CEO Jim Robbins said he is compelled to “protectshareholders from (escalating) programming costs,” adding that ESPN “has askedfor a 20%-plus increase in fees, and Fox has asked for a 35% increase for itssports networks when their current carriage agreements with Cox end in thecoming months” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 10/1). For more onthe debate, see today’s issue of The Daily.
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER also notes that Viacom President& COO Mel Karmazin “promised investors that the advertising business would be back infull swing for Viacom next year.” Karmazin: “2004 is going to be the first year since the Viacom-CBSmerger when you are going to see the true power of the company” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 10/1).
BIG FOUR UNIONS SUPPORTING FORMER JETS OL LOTYSZ’APPEAL
The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports that attorneys for former JetsOL Greg Lotysz, who was forced to retire three years ago after injuringhis left knee, today will appeal his case against the team physicians in NYappellate court. The case “has drawn the interest of playersfrom every other major sport. Unionofficials from the NFL, [MLB], the NBA and the NHL have all signed on to a‘friends of the court’ brief, arguing that Lotysz should be able to reinstatehis $10[M] malpractice lawsuit that was dismissed in December.” One major question in the case “is whetherteam doctors are outside contractors, or employees of the clubs and thereforeprotected from lawsuits” (N.Y.DAILY NEWS, 10/1).
TALKS ON DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP FUTURE BEGIN TODAY
The BOSTON HERALD reported that discussions on the future ofthe PGA Tour Deutsche Bank Championship at the TPC of Boston “will begin inearnest” today, as Tournament Dir Jay Monahan will meet in N.Y. withDeutsche Bank Americas CEO Seth Waugh. Deutsche Bank is “committed as title sponsor for three more years withthe TPC Boston location guaranteed, at this point, only for next year.” Monahan: “We haven’t had our post-mortemyet. We’ll do that and then talk aboutthe future” (BOSTON HERALD, 9/28).
MORNING BRIEFS
The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports that the N.Y. City Councilyesterday voted 42-1 to approve a bill “imposing the toughest penalties in thecountry against unruly fans who trespass on playing areas at professionalsporting events,” and the bill will be “signed into law soon” by MayorBloomberg. Under the bill,trespassing on the field carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and a yearin prison (N.Y.DAILY NEWS, 10/1).
The L.A. TIMES reports that following the USOC’sconfirmation of his positive drug test, the IOC yesterday “opened ‘disciplinaryproceedings’ involving U.S. sprinter Jerome Young’s positive 1999 testfor a banned steroid, a move that intensified prospects that the U.S. men’s1,600-meter team could be stripped of the gold medals it won” at the ’00 Games(L.A.TIMES, 10/1).
The WASHINGTON POST reports that the ADs of the nine ACCschools, and Virginia Tech and Miami, today “should reach a decision on aschedule for football, and possibly men’s basketball” (WASHINGTONPOST, 10/1).
Asics yesterday announced that it has changed its corporatename from Asics Tiger Corp. to Asics America Corp. (Asics).
The BOSTON GLOBE reports that doing their bit to “generateexcitement about the upcoming season, Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck,managing partner Robert Epstein, former player Jo Jo White,and Tony Battie stopped by Boston University yesterday, handing out freetickets, posters, and Pepsi products” (BOSTONGLOBE, 10/1).
The ORLANDO SENTINELreports that the Mid-American Conference as soon as today will offer theUniv. of Central Florida full admission into the conference. The schoolis currently a member in football (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 10/1).
The Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL reports that before the U.S.Supreme Court was petitioned Monday to “decide whether Florida’s autopsy photolaw should be repealed,” Teresa Earnhardt filed a brief “months ago”with the court to “prevent the release of sealed autopsy photos of VincentFoster, the former White House Deputy Counsel to the Clintons whocommitted suicide” (DaytonaBeach NEWS-JOURNAL, 10/1).
The ECHL and its players’ union have reached agreement on aCBA, ending the strike. The agreementnow needs to be finalized by the counsel of both the ECHL and the ProfessionalHockey Players’ Association (ECHL).
ATTENDANCE WATCH:
- The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that a crowd of 52,043 attended last night’s Cubs-Braves NLDS Game One, “the largest for a division series game” at Turner Field (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/1). The FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM notes that the venue “looked like a neutral site, … split evenly between Cubs and Braves paraphernalia” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 10/1).
- The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports that a crowd of 56,292 attended yesterday’s Twins-Yankees ALDS Game One at Yankee Stadium (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/1).
- The S.F. CHRONICLE reports that a Pac Bell Park “record crowd of 43,704” attended yesterday’s Marlins-Giants NLDS Game One (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/1).
- The Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL reports that the Marlins have sold more than 53,000 tickets for Friday’s Game 3 of their NLDS with the Giants, “guaranteeing the largest Marlins crowd since the 1997 playoffs.” More than 42,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday’s potential Game 4 (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 10/1).
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. Daily News | N.Y. Daily News |
| | |
| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Post |
| | |
| N.Y. Post | Philadelphia Daily News |
TODAY’S EVENTS
Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis will answer questionsabout the club at 1:00pm ET on the Washington Post’s Web site.
AEG CMO ShawnHunter, Bank of America WTA Tour Championships Tournament Dir JohnArrix and Justine Henin-Hardenne will conduct a2:00pm ET conference call to discuss Henin-Hardenne’s upcoming participationin the Bank of America WTA Tour Championships, the announcement of Bank ofAmerica as the title sponsor and ESPN as the television broadcaster.
Time Warner Cabletoday adds NBA TV and extreme sports channel Fuel to its digital lineup forDigital Sports Package subscribers (MILWAUKEEJOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/30).
With anti-tobacco laws preventing them from using theirusual paint scheme in the final three CART races of the ’03 season, the TORONTOSUN reported that the Player’s Tobacco/Forsythe cars of Paul Tracy and PatrickCarpentier will be “covered with the names of race fans who register at www.lastlap.com starting [today] – the datethe tobacco legislation takes effect.” The first 1,200 fans – 600 per car – will have their names on the cars (TORONTOSUN, 9/30).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that aggregate householdprimetime ratings for the seven broadcast nets were “down in the third quarterin contrast to the gains made by the combined might of at least 60 ad-supportedcable channels.” The broadcastersdropped 3.6% from July-September, while cable rose 4.5% (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 10/1).
The SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER reports that Safeco “plans toslash at least 500 jobs by next year, mostly in the Seattle area, and sell itslife insurance and investment businesses, in a continuing drive to cut costs,boost profits and focus on a few key businesses” (SEATTLEPOST-INTELLIGENCER, 9/30).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “SportsSponsorship.”
“In 2002 the Houston Astros bought back the naming rights totheir ballpark from this company.”
LAUGH TRACK
THEMONOLOGUES:
CBS’ DavidLetterman: “Do you have Yankees playoff fever? Everywhere you go, everybody has Yankees playoff fever, althoughthey lost earlier today, but still. I’ll give you an example. My cabdriver this morning was wearing his pinstripe turban. ... Yankee playoff gametickets: $80. Hot dog and beer:$20. Urinating on the Twins bullpen:priceless. ... Over the weekend, General Wesley Clark is at a Democraticfundraiser, and he’s explaining how he believes in time travel. ‘Paging Al Gore! Paging Al Gore!’ ... Everybody thought Arnoldwas a joke and kind of a lunkhead. Inot only thought he was a lunkhead, on this show I’ve called him alunkhead. Honestly, if you get a lookat the guy, he is too beefy to be a governor. That’s why Janet Reno didn’t win in Florida” ("LateShow," CBS, 9/30).
NBC’sJay Leno: “One week from today the next recall begins. I want to warn Californians you have lessthan a week to learn how to poke a hole in a paper ballot. ... Reports say AriannaHuffington is threatening to drop out. Isn’t that like Saddam Hussein threatening to commit suicide? ...It’s now being reported that when Cruz Bustamante finally got hiscollege degree in 2003, it turns out he received credit for a class he neverattended. I had no idea he playedfootball for Ohio State. ... Bad news and good news on the economic fronttoday: The bad news is the unemployment rate is expected to increase next monthby a million people, but the good news is they’re all telemarketers. Yeah! ... Researchers in China have fused humancells with rabbit eggs. They hope toone day develop a human with a lucky foot” ("Tonight Show," NBC,9/30).
LATENIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Things Going Through LauraBush’s Mind At This Moment” ("Late Show," CBS, 9/30).
| 10) “This guy’s as drunk as my husband.” |
| 9) “Enjoying the view there, buddy?” |
| 8) “What the hell are we paying those Secret Service guys for?” |
| 7) “Maybe I’ll leak him the names of a few CIA agents.” |
| 6) “Good thing George never reads the newspaper.” |
| 5) “He just called me ‘Mrs. Schwarzenegger.’” |
| 4) “Dang, momma’s in love!” |
| 3) “Hey, where’s my wedding ring?” |
| 2) “This is more embarrassing than when my husband dropped the dog.” |
| 1) “He wants to show me his Eiffel Tower.” |
TUESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN2 | “Around The Horn” | Kurt Warner | Cubs; Terrell Owens |
| ESPN2 | “PTI” | Twins-Yankees | George Steinbrenner; Kurt Warner |
| ESPN | 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” | Twins-Yankees | Marlins-Giants; Mariners GM Pat Gillick resigning |
| FSN | “BDSSP” | Twins-Yankees | Kurt Warner; Terrell Owens |
| FSN | “Southern Sports Report” | Thrashers players in car crash | Tenn-Auburn NCAA Football |
| FSN | “Midwest Sports Report” | Blues D Chris Pronger | Blues G Brent Johnson; Blues |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What was Enron?”
If you haveany questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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