Morning Buzz, October 14, 2003

THOUGH DODGERS DEAL NEEDS MLB APPROVAL, TRANSITION TO BEGIN

The L.A. TIMES reports that the transition of Dodgersownership from News Corp. to Boston real estate developer Frank McCourt“will begin this week in meetings at Dodger Stadium.” Although the proposed $430M deal must be approved by MLB owners,Commissioner Bud Selig’s office “has permitted the Dodgers’ prospectivebuyer to move forward.” Corey Busch,a former MLB exec who is now a member of McCourt’s group, will oversee thetransition, while Dodgers President Bob Graziano will be the team’spoint man (L.A.TIMES, 10/14).

BIG EAST SUIT TO NAME BOSTON COLLEGE, ITS AD, ACC OFFICIALS

The HARTFORD COURANT reports that the Big East Conferencewill return to Rockville (CT) Superior Court today, “filing a lawsuit against Boston College athletic director GeneDeFilippo in addition to introducing legal action against BC and officers”of the ACC, as Boston College accepted an invitation to join the ACC onSunday. DeFilippo “will be sued notonly as Boston College’s AD, but for misusing his role” as Big East AthleticDirectors Committee Chair, a position he has held throughout the ACC expansionprocess. Boston College “was named inthe original lawsuit filed in June but was dropped after the ACC rejected BCand Syracuse” (HARTFORDCOURANT, 10/14).

SUMMONS MAY BE SERVED TO TWO YANKEES AS EARLY AS TODAY

The BOSTON GLOBE reports that Yankees P Jeff Nelsonand OF Karim Garcia may “have to answer a summons as early as today oncharges they assaulted a Red Sox grounds crew employee in the Yankee bullpen”during ALCS Game Three Saturday night. Nelson has “vehemently proclaimed his innocence – saying he’d take a liedetector test if necessary” (BOSTONGLOBE, 10/14). One lawenforcement official said that charges “would probably be brought after theseries is over” (BOSTONGLOBE, 10/14).

ATHENS ORGANIZERS TO ANNOUNCE OLYMPIC TORCH ROUTE TODAY

The AP reports that the route for the Olympic torch relaywill be announced today, and Athens organizers “want to send the torch relay onits first global journey with stops in Africa and South America.” The flame is expected to “pass through allformer summer Olympic cities from Berlin, which first used the relay in 1936,to Sydney, the 2000 host. Beijing, site of the 2008 Games, is on theglobe-trotting route that will end in Athens” on August 13, 2004 (AP, 10/11).

NFL PLAYERS IN N.Y. AREA TODAY TO SHOOT CHAMPS/REEBOK SPOT

The K.C. STAR reports that Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalezwill be in the N.Y. metro area today “shooting a television commercial in a Champs sporting goods store,promoting NFL team jackets made by Reebok.” Colts QB Peyton Manning, Buccaneers S Ronde Barber andGiants RB Tiki Barber are also scheduled to participate (K.C.STAR, 10/14).

THE SPORTS AUTHORITY INCREASES FORECAST DUE TO GART MERGER

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES reports that The Sports Authority“increased its fiscal [Q3 ‘03] earnings forecast because of same-store salesgrowth and positive results from its merger” with Gart Sports, which will bethe “first time the companies report combined results.” The Sports Authority now forecasts earningsof $0.13-0.15 per share on sales of roughly $550M. Previously, the company forecast earnings of $0.03-0.05 per shareon revenue of $530M (DOWJONES NEWSWIRES, 10/14).

MORNING BRIEFS

A N.Y. DAILY NEWS gossip column cites an L.A. radio reportas saying that Nike is “finally readyto drop” Kobe Bryant as an endorser. After months of negotiations, Nike “is said to have slipped out of itsfive-year, $45[M] endorsement deal,” with Bryant settling for a $1.5M buyout (N.Y. DAILYNEWS, 10/14).

The L.A. TIMES reports that NHL VP/Operations Mike Murphywill “work out of Southern California one week a month to better keep an eye onwhat’s happening west of the traditional Toronto-New York power axis.” Many Western Conference execs have said thatthey feel “neglected and believe the distance between them and the NHL’s mainoffices creates delays in resolving problems” (L.A.TIMES, 10/14).

The Fulton County (GA) DA’s office said that it could be“weeks before a grand jury gets evidence to consider whether to indict AtlantaThrasher Dany Heatley on a felony vehicular homicide charge” (ATLANTACONSTITUTION, 10/14).

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES reports that Nike repurchasedapproximately 1.7 million shares of Class B common stock for $89.5M duringfiscal Q1 ’04 ended August 31. Underits current program, the company “has repurchased 14 million shares for$675.2[M]” (DOWJONES NEWSWIRES, 10/10).

ADWEEK reported that Dailey & Associates, L.A.; J.Brown, Stamford; and Margeotes|Fertitta + Partners, N.Y. will makepresentations this week for the AFL’s upcoming branding project. The league “spent about $4[M] on advertisinglast year” (ADWEEK, 10/13).

PowerBar yesterday announced that it is partnering withCarmichael Training Systems and training coach Chris Carmichael tointroduce the PowerBar Beverage System, which will be available in Spring ’04 (PowerBar).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• A crowd of 25,253 attended Saturday’s Canada-U.S. Women’s World Cup consolation match at The Home Depot Center, while a crowd of 26,137 attended Sunday’s Germany-Sweden final at The Home Depot Center. Total attendance for the tournament was 361,176 (THE DAILY).

• The Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL reported that though Sunday’s Cubs-Marlins NLCS Game Five was “sold out, with attendance recorded at 65,279, there were empty seats aplenty throughout the stadium and it wasn’t Cubs fans staying away” (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 10/13).

• The MIAMI HERALD reported that for Friday night’s Cubs-Marlins NLCS Game Four, Cubs fans “appeared to make up about 20[%] of the 65,115 fans” in attendance (MIAMI HERALD, 10/11).

• The S.F. CHRONICLE reported that the Seahawks Stadium crowd of 66,347 for 49ers-Seahawks on Sunday “was the largest in team history, bettering last year’s Monday night game against the 49ers by 17 people” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/13).

• The FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM reported that nearly all of the 63,648 fans at Texas Stadium for Eagles-Cowboys “stuck around for the halftime ceremony, cheering loudly for the former inductees and enjoying the moment” when Tex Schramm’s name was unveiled (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 10/13).

• The ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH reported that the paid crowd for Sunday’s Ravens-Cardinals game was “announced as 24,193, but there were fewer than that in 73,000-seat Sun Devil Stadium” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/13).

• The ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER reported the Mighty Ducks raised the Western Conference championship banner before a “sellout crowd of 17,174” at Arrowhead Pond Sunday night against the Coyotes (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 10/13).

• USA TODAY reports that a crowd of 16,354 attended last night’s Bucks-Cavaliers preseason game at 20,562-seat Gund Arena, LeBron James’ first home game (USA TODAY, 10/14). Gund Arena officials “issued more than 120media credentials” for the game (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 10/14).

• The HOUSTON CHRONICLE reported that the Rockets officially opened the Toyota Center Sunday before a crowd of 10,068 for a preseason game against the Hornets (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/13).

• The TORONTO STAR reports that a crowd of 17,749 attended Friday night’s Greek side Panathinaikos-Raptors exhibition game at Air Canada Centre, the “largest ever to watch an exhibition game in the arena” (TORONTO STAR, 10/11).

• The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reported that an event-record crowd of approximately 163,000 attended Saturday night’s NASCAR Winston Cup UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, up 15% from ’02. Lowe’s Motor Speedway President Humpy Wheeler: “Switching to Saturday night has totally rejuvenated this event” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/12).

• USA TODAY reports that this past weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix “set a three-day CART attendance record of 402,413, breaking the previous mark of 351,970 set last year at the event.” A crowd of 221,011 attended the race Sunday (USA TODAY, 10/14).

• The IL DAILY HERALD reported that an announced crowd of 30,845 attended Friday night’s MLS Crew-Fire game, the home team’s first game at the renovated Soldier Field, making it the “fourth-largest crowd in Fire history, and the fourth-largest crowd in MLS play this season” (IL DAILY HERALD, 10/11).

• The ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS reported that a crowd of 62,274 attended Friday night’s Michigan-Minnesota Big Ten football game at the Metrodome, which was moved to a Friday night because of a potential scheduling conflict with the Twins (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 10/12).

• The Baltimore SUN reported that a crowd of about 8,125 attended Saturday’s Holy Cross-Towson college football game, a day on which the home team’s stadium was renamed Unitas Stadium in honor of late Colts QB Johnny Unitas (Baltimore SUN, 10/12).

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	N.Y. Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News	Philadelphia Daily News

TODAY’S EVENTS

The Spurs will visit President Bush at the WhiteHouse at 11:00am ET in a Rose Garden Ceremony to honor their ’02-03 NBA Championship.

ESPN will host a 2:30pm ET conference call to discussESPN2’s new morning show, “Cold Pizza.” Coordinating Producer Brian Donlon and co-hosts Jay Crawfordand Kit Hoover will participate.

The Rugby World Cup begins in Australia, and USA TODAY notesthat the U.S. team “faces a tough opener today as it begins play in one of theworld’s largest sports events. America’s opponent: Fiji” (USA TODAY,10/14).

49ers WR Terrell Owens continues his efforts withSharpie on the “Sharpie Metallic Autographs for Education” program at 10:30amET at 49ers Academy in East Palo Alto. Owens will arrive in a custom-designed Sharpie Metallic Silver HummerH2.

The SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS reports that the WNBA Selectteam begins play in the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Samara, Russia, againstKorean club Wooribank Hansae. The WNBASelect team features first, second and third-year players (SANANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 10/14).

IN OTHER NEWS….

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER noted that the FCC has “halted itsreview of the proposed takeover of satellite TV giant Hughes Electronics by RupertMurdoch’s News Corp., saying it needs more time and additionalinformation.” The FCC said that it isstopping its 180-day clock, which “marks an informal, self-imposed benchmarkfor the merger review” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 10/13).

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES reports that the Federal TradeCommission will review GE’s $14B purchase of Vivendi Universal’s entertainmentassets (DOWJONES NEWSWIRES, 10/10).

MULTICHANNEL NEWS reported that Discovery Networks,“partnering with fitness impresario Jake Steinfeld, plans to relaunchThe Health Network next January, returning the channel to its old name – FitTV– and in its former format.” Discoveryplans return the net a “destination for exercise and fitness programming,” thelatest chapter in the “convoluted history of the service, which now reachesmore than 31.3 million homes” (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 10/13).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

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

“A catering hall called Aphrodite’s Palace is featured inthis 2002 film.”

LAUGH TRACK

THEMONOLOGUES:

CBS’ DavidLetterman: “I have some good news: my mom did a great deal of soulsearching, and she has decided to stand by Rush. … Maybe you folks don’trealize this, but the annual cat show was last week at Madison SquareGarden. It ended the way it does everyyear, the finalists were heckled by a bunch of rats. … Earlier tonight was gamefour of American League Smackdown, and Pedro Martinez threw out thefirst punch. … At one point, it got so nuts, Ted Williams’ head rolledonto the field. … Jennifer and Bennifer were going to getmarried, and everybody was excited and thought maybe we’d get a three-dayholiday. And mysteriously it fellapart, and now we find out why. Benhated the fact that Jennifer always had this huge entourage with her. But Jennifer said, ‘This isn’t an entourage,these are my ex-husbands.’” … Congratulations to our old friends, formerpresident Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton, it’s their 28^thanniversary. Bill celebrated by goingout and getting laid” (“Late Show,” CBS, 10/13).

NBC’sJay Leno: “Happy Columbus Day, and to celebrate Columbus Day and to commemorate the holiday, our Governor, GrayDavis, gave a drivers license to everyone named Nina, Pinta or SantaMaria. I was thinking about Columbus,that first voyage he came over on a very small, overcrowded boat. Everyone was seasick. There was horrible disease. It was like the very first Carnival Cruisebasically. Do you know how Columbusdiscovered America? He was drawn by thelights from the Indian casinos. … On all the Sunday morning news shows the talkwas: ‘How do we control Don Rumsfeld?’ And all the people are saying: ‘We can’t even control Don Zimmer.’… What’s a 72-year-old guy doing in a fight? What, is everyone on steroids now in baseball? I think the last time an old guy hit the ground that fast, he wasmarried to Anna Nicole Smith. And you know the fourth Red Sox-Yankees game Sunday was rained out. This was God’s way of saying, ‘Guys, itsonly a game.’ … President Bush said he wanted to increase the number ofCubans allowed into the U.S. He saidhe’s willing to help Cubans find safer routes to enter the country. I believe the first two routes are theAmerican League and the National League. … According to a new report, the CArecall election cost the state $66M, but ended up bringing in $107M inrevenue. It actually made money. So, you know what that means, if we canrecall the governor every two months, in a year, we’re fine. The A&E Network announced that they aremaking a movie about the CA recall. Iguess Gary Coleman auditioned for the part of Gary Coleman, but theygave it to Emmanuel Lewis. … Kobe Bryant in the news, Kobe hadhis right arm tattooed with religious symbols as a tribute to his wife. Even had the inscription, ‘JC will saveme.’ JC, of course, Johnny Cochran”(“Tonight Show,” NBC, 10/13).

MONDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER noted that it was a “record for the Columbus Day weekend as the totalbox office for the top 12 films was $98.8[M] – up nearly 6% from the firstthree days of the holiday frame in 2002” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 10/13).

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What is ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding?’”

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

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