| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Friday, October 31, 2003
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | Opening Statements To Be Delivered Today In Salt Lake City Olympic Bid Trial |
| • | David Stern To Deliver His State Of The League Address Today In Japan |
| • | First 20 Minutes Of Rockets Game Wrongly Blacked Out In Houston Last Night |
| • | MLB Cardinals To Hold The Line On Ticket Prices After Fans’ Past Reaction |
| • | Monterrey Re-Emerges As Possibility To Host About A Quarter Of Expos’ Games |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
SLOC BRIBERY TRIAL TO BEGIN TODAY WITH OPENING STATEMENTS
The SALT LAKE TRIBUNE reports that the trial of former SLOCPresident Tom Welch and Senior VP Dave Johnson begins today at 8:30amMT “with a nine-man, five-woman jury deciding whether the Olympic bid leadersbroke the law in bringing the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City.” The government will outline in an hour-longopening statement its case “for a 15-count felony indictment that accuses Welchand Johnson of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and violations of the TravelAct in dispensing bribes” worth $1M to IOC members voting on the city’s bid (SALT LAKETRIBUNE, 10/31).
The L.A. TIMES notes that the witness list includes U.S. IOCmember Anita DeFrantz, IOC VP Jim Easton, former ACOG co-Chair AndrewYoung, former ACOG CEO Billy Payne and UT Gov. Michael Leavitt. Also on the witness list is John Kim,son of South Korean IOC VP Kim Un Yong (L.A.TIMES, 10/31).
STERN TO DELIVER STATE OF THE LEAGUE ADDRESS TODAY IN JAPAN
The SEATTLE TIMES reported that NBA Commissioner DavidStern will deliver a State of the League address today at the ForeignCorrespondents’ Club of Japan. Stern’saddress is “highly anticipated amongthe international press and potential investors, who need convincing that theNBA’s Japanese venture is still a profitable effort” (SEATTLETIMES, 10/30).
TIME WARNER-TURNER SPORTS MIX-UP CAUSES ROCKETS BLACKOUT
The HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports that officials with theRockets, the NBA, Turner Sports and Time Warner “likely will spend some time onthe phone today, hashing out what went wrong,” after the first 20 minutes oflast night’s Nuggets-Rockets game, the Toyota Center opener, was blacked out byTime Warner Cable. Since Turner“designated the game as a network exclusive,” TNT’s signal should not have beenblacked out (HOUSTONCHRONICLE, 10/31).
SEASON-TICKET PRICES FOR MLB CARDINALS TO REMAIN UNCHANGED
The ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH reports that the MLB Cardinalstoday will announce season-ticket prices willremain unchanged for the ‘04 season, “despite suffering an estimated $10[M]loss.” The Cardinals “remain especiallysensitive to their season-ticket base, which reacted harshly to last year’saverage increase of $2.85. The base ofmore than 20,000 fell approximately 5[%] to a little more than 19,000.” The team will also release its ’04 scheduletoday (ST.LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/31).
The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE reports that the Pirates cut ’04ticket prices “by $3 per ticket for full season tickets, $1 per ticket onpartial plans and by $1 to $5 on 10,000 other seats purchased on an individualbasis.” Approximately 500 season-ticketholders attended the announcement yesterday (PITTSBURGHPOST-GAZETTE, 10/31).
MORNING BRIEFS
MLB.com reported that Monterrey, Mexico, “has re-emerged as a possibilityagain” to host about a quarter of the Expos’ games next season after MLBofficials decided to re-evaluate the Mexican offer (MLB.com,10/30). MLBPA Associate General Counsel Gene Orza said that San Jaun "remains the favorite" to host games in '04 (AP, 10/30),
ABC Sports late yesterday announced that JustinTimberlake will write the theme music for the net’s NBA coverage and willstar in ABC’s NBA promotional campaign, “Can’t Get Enough.” Timberlake will also serve as a special NBAcorrespondent (ABC Sports).
The AP noted that CART reported Q3 ’03 losses of $34.4M, andsaid that if its proposed sale to OWRS falls through, “it probably wouldliquidate its remaining assets and go out of business” (AP, 10/30).
ESPN.com reported that with Vikings-Chargers scheduled forNovember 9 at Qualcomm Stadium, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue andChargers President Dean Spanos said that while they “hope the situationimproves in the next few days, they must prepare contingencies.” As was the case with Monday’sDolphins-Chargers game, Phoenix, S.F. and Oakland are being considered asalternate sites (ESPN.com,10/30).
The AP reports that U.S. track & field athletes ReginaJacobs and Kevin Toth yesterday “were among the first group ofathletes to testify before a grand jury probing” BALCO (AP,10/31).
USA TODAY reports that the World Anti-Doping Agency“believes a test for banned, but so far undetectable, human growth hormone(hGh) could be ready for the 2004 Athens Olympics” (USA TODAY, 10/31).
ATTENDANCE WATCH:
- The HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports that a crowd of 18,189, “207 above capacity,” attended last night’s Nuggets-Rockets game at the opening of the Toyota Center (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/31). Previous reports placed the venue’s capacity at 18,500 (THE DAILY).
- The ORLANDO SENTINEL reports that there were “more than 1,300 empty seats” as a crowd of 15,911 attended last night’s Hornets-Magic game at TD Waterhouse Centre (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 10/31). The game was preceded by a 5:00pm Fanfest celebrating the team’s 15th anniversary (THE DAILY).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM notes that Cowboys Owner JerryJones once interrupted a telephone conversation between TX Tech basketballcoach Bobby Knight and Cowboys coach Bill Parcells. Jones asked Parcells “who was on the otherend of the phone. Informed it wasKnight, Jones told Parcells to ask Knight to convince Parcells to give up hissalary as Knight did at Texas Tech.” Knight replied, “Tell him [TX Tech AD] Gerald Myers leaves mealone.” Parcells relayed Knight’sresponse to Jones, “who paused before saying, ‘Well, what are we gonna do atpractice today?’” (FT. WORTHSTAR-TELEGRAM, 10/31).
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 |
TODAY’S EVENTS
The Hills Country Club in Austin, TX, will host the AustinNFL Alumni & KB Home Golf Classic beginning with an 8:30am CT shotgunstart.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…..
Every Friday, the MorningBuzz highlights a video clip, chart or piece of information that might havefallen through the cracks. This week, whileChiefs KR Dante Hall tries to pass around the credit for his phenomenalkick returns on CBS’ “Late Show,” David Letterman will have none of it(THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The AP notes that Comcast, “buoyed by the recent sale of itsmajority stake in the QVC channel, reported [Q3 ‘03] net income yesterday of$3.18[B] and stronger-than-expected demand for premium services includinghigh-speed Internet access.” Comcastadded more than 472,000 new high-speed Internet customers in the quarter and“expects to end this year with 1.7 million additional high-speed customers” (AP,10/31).
The N.Y. TIMES reports that N.Y. Comptroller WilliamThompson Jr. “urged the Bloomberg administration yesterday to cancel a dealgiving Snapple exclusive rights to sell drinks and snacks on city property,saying the bidding process was flawed and tainted by ethical conflicts” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/31).
The WASHINGTON POST reports that Fox has “pulled half of‘Joe Millionaire’ for the duration of the November sweeps,” and will airrepeats of “24,” “That ‘70s Show” and “The Simpsons” in its place. The second edition of the reality show was“scheduled to air on Monday and Tuesday nights during the ratings derby” (WASHINGTONPOST, 10/31).
DAILY VARIETY reports that CNBC and NBC Studios have “signedcomedian Dennis Miller to an exclusive, multiyear deal to host and execproduce a nightly primetime talkshow” (DAILYVARIETY, 10/31).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Latin Lingo.”
“From the Latin for ‘how much,’ it’s an indivisible physicalamount.”
LAUGH TRACK
THEMONOLOGUES:
CBS’ David Letterman: “Are you prepared and excitedfor Halloween? If you’re like me, I’malways looking for shortcuts in life, ways to make things easier. ... I justgot sick and tired of going and buying candy for Halloween, because no matterhow much you buy, it never lasts from year to year. So here’s what I do. Allyear long, I save those breath mints that they pass out when you leave theOlive Garden. It’s a wonderful treatfor the kids. ... Sunday is the annual New York City Marathon. Anybody here running? Everybody in New York City is running themarathon this year. For example, my cabdriver had a sweatband around his turban. ... This year I’m told along themarathon route there are 400 portable toilets, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘So,suddenly doorways aren’t good enough.’ ... Governor-elect ArnoldSchwarzenegger is in Washington, DC, today. He and Ted Kennedy went to lunch. Yeah, your state’s on fire and what do youdo? A three-martini lunch with TedKennedy. ... This is the first time a former Mr. Universe has been to CapitalHill since Janet Reno” ("Late Show," CBS, 10/30).
NBC’s Jay Leno: “Welcome to L.A. or as we call it,Fire Island. ... California, where every Chevy is a Blazer. ... The city’s onfire, the earth is shaking. If you’renot familiar with this sequence of events, I think the next one islocusts. You might want to check yourbible. ... Because of these fires, they’re now warning the elderly to restricttheir outdoor activities. You know whatthat means. Raiders won’t be playingthis weekend. ... Earlier today in Washington, our Governor-elect ArnoldSchwarzenegger met with Vice President Dick Cheney. So the Terminator met the Defibrillator. ...I understand Donald Rumsfeld is dressing up (for Halloween) as a guy whothinks the war in Iraq is going well. That should be interesting. CourtneyLove is going as Rush Limbaugh” ("Tonight Show," NBC,10/30).
LATENIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Things Never BeforeSaid By Wolf Blitzer,” read by Wolf Blitzer on the streets of N.Y. ("LateShow," CBS, 10/30).
| 10) “For a hundred dollars, I’ll mention your name on CNN tonight.” |
| 9) “Have you seen Peter Jennings around here? That sum bitch owes me money.” |
| 8) “It’s a really slow news day today – you wanna knock over a 7-Eleven?” |
| 7) “Saddam Hussein is in that Starbucks over there – just keep it quiet.” |
| 6) “Once I got drunk at the CNN Christmas party and let’s put it this way, the next day I woke up wearing Larry King’s suspenders.” |
| 5) “Would you like to be the one hundredth person today to touch my beard?” |
| 4) “You didn’t hear it from me, but next week we’re attacking Sweden.” |
| 3) “In case you missed last night’s CNN newscast, let me give you the headlines. There’s a major dispute between the hawks in the Bush administration, Don Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, versus the doves, the Secretary of State Colin Powell. Let’s review all the factual issues right now in this dispute.” |
| 2) “I’m going on CNN in five minutes – what’s the Vice President’s name again?” |
| 1) “The wolf is on the prowl, ladies.” |
THURSDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | LeBron James | Manny Ramirez; OK State-OK football |
| ESPN | “PTI” | LeBron James | Michael Vick; Manny Ramirez |
| ESPN | 10:30pm ET “SportsCenter” | Cavaliers-Suns | Nuggets-Rockets; Manny Ramirez |
| FSN | “BDSSP” | LeBron James | Manny Ramirez; Interview w/ rapper Ludacris |
| Comcast Mid-Atlantic | “SportsNite” | Wizards Owner Abe Pollin | ’08 Super Bowl; Redskins-Cowboys |
| FSN | “Midwest Sports Report” | 49ers QB Jeff Garcia | Rams-49ers; Rams RB Marshall Faulk |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What is quantum?”
If you haveany questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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