Morning Buzz, November 10, 2003

MLB GM MEETINGS BEGIN TODAY AT ARIZONA BILTMORE IN PHOENIX

MLB GMs gather this week at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix beginning today. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will discuss the ‘03 season and the game’s future. Selig said his speech “will be extemporaneous, depending what I feel needs to be addressed. But I will tell you that I was excited about this season and am very encouraged about the direction we are heading” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/9).

The HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports that teams will be limited to bringing a GM and an assistant GM “in hopes of keeping the media, agents, and to an extent, scouts away.” Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker: “Hopefully the GM meeting format will go back more to the traditional format. We'll be spending three or four days discussing the pertinent issues confronting the industry” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/10).

The L.A. TIMES reported that today “more than 200 free agents can begin receiving offers from teams besides their own. … It’s basically a buyer’s market, with the clubs having learned to inflate the supply to such an overwhelming extent that the demand is diluted, holding down salaries” (L.A. TIMES, 11/9).

Baseball agent Barry Axelrod, on the 60-40 debt-equity rule “I think it had a huge effect last year, and nobody really talked about it. Everybody talked about revenue sharing and the luxury tax. But I think that rule had as much to do with the rollback in salaries as anything” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/9). View a complete list of free agents.

CBS TO ANNOUNCE FOUR-YEAR EXTENSION OF U.S. OPEN COVERAGE

CBS today is expected to announce that it has signed a four-year, $120M extension to televise tennis' U.S. Open through '08, and SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that the deal includes airtime for the "proposed U.S. Open Series, a collection of tennis tournaments preceding the Open each summer."  The new deal calls for CBS to pay $33.75M for the '04 event, the final year of the old contract (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/10 issue).

SECOND ROUND OF BIDS FROM NETS SUITORS DUE BY MIDNIGHT

The N.Y. TIMES reports that the three Nets bidders by midnight tonight “must submit a new round of offers to YankeeNets.” The bidders – real estate developer Bruce Ratner, real estate developer Charles Kushner and U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ), and Islanders co-Owner Charles Wang – have “interviewed management and examined the team’s financial records.” Once the bids are submitted, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs “will present them to the YankeeNets [BOD]. The board could then decide to negotiate the price upward with one, two or all three of the suitors” (N.Y. TIMES, 11/8).

SUPER BOWL XLII HOST COMMITTEE TO BEGIN FORMING THIS WEEK

The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that with Glendale, AZ, hosting Super Bowl XLII, “local organizers this week will start putting together a host committee for the 2008 event that is projected to pump $400[M] into the Valley. Once formed, the committee's tasks include raising up to $12[M], recruiting more than 10,000 volunteers and planning the 100-plus special [NFL] events in conjunction with the game in Glendale.” At a minimum, $4M of the operating budget will “come from corporate sponsors” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/9).

MORNING BRIEFS

Following Mexico’s upset of the U.S. in Friday’s baseball Olympic qualifying tournament in Panama, the N.Y. TIMES reported that MLB Exec VP/Baseball Administration Sandy Alderson “expects that participation of [MLB] stars will be a topic of discussion among his league, the [IOC] and the International Baseball Federation.” Alderson: “The IOC will have to understand that MLB will simply not shut down its season to accommodate an Olympic tournament” (N.Y. TIMES, 11/9).

The SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS reported that San Antonio staffers “plan to ask the City Council this week to consider a financing option that would fix up the [Alamodome] at virtually no cost to local taxpayers” (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 11/9).

The CINCINNATI ENQUIRER reported that the Baseball Writers Association of America is “waiting to hear from the commissioner’s office on whether some sort of probationary reinstatement might be hammered out that would allow Pete Rose to be placed on the [HOF] ballot by November 15” (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 11/8).

CSTV announced that SportsTicker will provide in-progress score updates, breaking news, standings, statistics, schedules and other information for CSTV’s day-to-day operations (CSTV).

THOROUGHBRED TIMES reports that Delaware North “has landed contracts to install or operate video lottery terminals” at Saratoga Harness Track and Buffalo Raceway, “in addition to the 1,000 gaming machines it will install at Finger Lakes at a cost of $10[M]” (THOROUGHBRED TIMES, 11/9).

The WASHINGTON POST notes that the Redskins “took another beating during the Sunday morning pregame shows, as one talking head after another questioned Steve Spurrier’s protection schemes while offering condolences to a battered Patrick Ramsey and advice to Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder” (WASHINGTON POST, 11/10).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that the crowd of 45,037 at yesterday’s Colts-Jaguars game at Alltel Stadium was the “smallest for a Jacksonville home game since the Jaguars came into the league in 1995” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 11/10).

• The L.A. DAILY NEWS reports that a crowd of 8,825 attended yesterday’s Bank of America WTA Championships semifinals, “bigger than the crowd on the corresponding day of the tournament’s L.A. debut last year, but still Staples Center was half-empty as four of the world’s top six players” were in action (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 11/10).

• The K.C. STAR reported that a crowd of 10,712 attended Saturday’s MLS Rapids-Wizards playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium (K.C. STAR, 11/9).

• The BOSTON GLOBE reports that a crowd of 14,823 attended yesterday’s MLS MetroStars-Revolution playoff game at Gillette Stadium (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/10).

• The WASHINGTON POST reports that a crowd of 15,312 attended yesterday’s MLS DC United-Fire playoff game at Soldier Field (WASHINGTON POST, 11/10).

• A crowd of 14,145 attended yesterday’s MLS Galaxy-Earthquakes MLS playoff game at Spartan Stadium in San Jose (MLS).

• Chris Shivers won the $1M bonus for being the series '03 champion at yesterday's final round of the Professional Bull Riders World Finals at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas in front of 16,500 spectators (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/10).

• The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that a crowd of 60,007 attended yesterday’s Toronto Argonauts-Montreal Alouettes CFL East Division final at Olympic Stadium (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 11/10).

• The EDMONTON SUN reports that a crowd of 40,081 attended yesterday’s Saskatchewan Roughriders-Edmonton Eskimos CFL West Division final at Commonwealth Stadium (EDMONTON SUN, 11/10).

• The LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL reported that a crowd of 8,794 attended Saturday night’s Roy Jones Jr.-Antonio Tarver WBC light heavyweight championship bout at Mandalay Bay (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/9).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The Bergen RECORD reported that Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters” hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage on Friday “tackled the legend of [Jimmy] Hoffa.” The pair “wagged a magnetometer over the [Giants Stadium] end zones, to detect ‘anomalies’ beneath the artificial turf. They swept Section 107 - long whispered to be Hoffa's final resting place - with ground-penetrating radar, to collect visual data on what lay beneath. They found nothing” (Bergen RECORD, 11/8).

WEEKEND RAP…

The following are excerpts from the panelists’ “parting shots” on Sunday’s edition of ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters”:

• Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan: "The first-place Patriots are enjoying their bye week at 7-2. How? This is not the same Bill Belichick who failed People 101 in Cleveland. He's not Dr. Phil but he is smiling a little these days. He even celebrates victories on the field. But he's still the smartest kid in the class."

• N.Y. Daily News columnist Mike Lupica: "I don't know when Texas A&M will get even with Oklahoma for what happened between those two teams, but someday the Aggies will, and I hope it's a big game and hope they knock Oklahoma out a national championship shot. There hasn't been a single time since I've been following college football when I didn't hear lofty responses from coaches like Bob Stoops and hometown media and boosters about why a game had to come out 77-0, but these aren't lofty responses ever."

• N.Y. Times columnist William Rhoden, on Penn State football coach Joe Paterno: "Critics say he can no longer compete with a new generation of college football coaches. That may be true but Paterno has something that most Division I coaches don't have: job security. Paterno has tenure."

• ESPN's John Saunders, on Rutgers Univ. being 8-0-1 against the point spread: "Now I don't gamble – it would take too much away from my other bad habits – but if you knew you have to take notice. Las Vegas experts say this never happens" ("Sports Reporters," ESPN, 11/9).

Heard elsewhere over the weekend:

• Former MLBer Eric Davis, on what a new NFL franchise's name would be in L.A.: "It'd be the L.A. Whatchamacallits because they don't know what they got going on" ("Maad Sports," BET, 11/8).

• Grizzlies assistant coach Brendan Brown, on whether his father, and Grizzlies head coach, Hubie Brown, can handle the NBA lifestyle: "As a son you look at that but then you say I'd rather have him doing that than knitting. This is what he loves to do" ("OTL," ESPN, 11/9).

• ESPN's Chris Mortensen, on Raiders head coach Bill Callahan: "There also was little support for the coach during a players only meeting on Wednesday when veteran Tim Brown advised everyone to shut up and play. Word is the players agreed to play for themselves and said, 'Forget Callahan' or something like that" ("Sunday NFL Countdown," ESPN, 11/9).

• ESPN's Peter Gammons, on Expos GM Omar Minaya: "He does not think that he could even discuss trading any of his guys until he gets his budget which would probably be after the first of December" (ESPNews, 11/7).

• T'Wolves F Kevin Garnett, on the jealously directed at Cavaliers G/F LeBron James and his $100M Nike contract: "I hate people that hate on somebody else because they got an opportunity. The majority of the NBA thinks they're better than what they are anyway" ("Kia Shootaround," ESPN, 11/7).

• CBS Sports' Boomer Esiason, on Cardinals RB Emmitt Smith: "The only reason Emmitt Smith is actually in Arizona is because every team actually has to spend a minimum amount of money for their roster and the Arizona Cardinals needed that extra $2[M] on their roster to meet that minimum and that's why he's there" (CBS, 11/9).

THE BACK PAGES

The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sports covers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:

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

TODAY’S EVENTS

ESPN will film a Winter X Games VIII commercial in Aspen at 6:30am MT, featuring snowboarder Shaun White (ASPEN DAILY NEWS, 11/9).

“Lambeau Field: Green Bay’s National Treasure,” a 160-page book chronicling the pictorial history of the venue hits retail. Proceeds will benefit the Packers Foundation and the Newspapers in Education Fund of Greater Green Bay Community Foundation (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 11/9).

THIS WEEK IN SISTER PUBLICATION SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL…

This week’s issue presents the annual "Forty Under 40" Awards, a collection of influential, innovative and creative young players in the industry.

For these stories and more, see this week’s issue of SportsBusiness Journal.

EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Below are this week’s confirmed earnings announcements for sports-business related companies (THE DAILY).

IN OTHER NEWS….

This week’s cover of TIME offers “The Real Story Of Jessica Lynch.” Meanwhile, NEWSWEEK examines “How Dick Cheney Sold The War” (THE DAILY).

The London TELEGRAPH reported that BSkyB CEO James Murdoch’s decision to “quit his directorship of News Corporation – his family’s main company – was strongly resisted by his father,” News Corp Chair & CEO Rupert Murdoch. The elder Murdoch emailed his reservations in a memo to News Corp. directors, which reads in part: “James informed me that he thought it appropriate to step down as a director of News Corp. I do not agree with James's decision but have reluctantly agreed to go along with it” (London TELEGRAPH, 11/9).

The SEATTLE TIMES reports that RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser is scheduled to ring the Nasdaq Stock Market opening bell today and “make several company announcements, including a new partnership with Comcast to offer RealNetworks’ Rhapsody digital-music service to Comcast’s broadband Internet customers.” The two companies are “planning to roll out a [TV] and online campaign to advertise the offering but aren’t saying how much money they will spend” (SEATTLE TIMES, 11/10).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Friday's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "The Bible."

"It's the first city mentioned in the first of Paul's epistles to appear in the New Testament."

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

CBS' David Letterman: "I forgot to mention this. On Sunday, I ran my first marathon. 4 hours, 20 minutes. ... Here's what I'll be doing this weekend. I'll be putting childproof caps on the Lipitor. It's great being a father. I can hardly wait until I beat up my first hockey coach. ... The important thing with a child is to give him love and attention. So, I'm going to have to hire somebody for that. ... Former New York City Mayor Giuliani is thinking about running for Governor. Isn't that exciting? Apparently, he's serious about this because he's already posing naked and having group sex. ... Residents of Los Angeles voted to bring back lap dancing. Finally, things are getting back to normal in California. ... Former President Clinton went on some kind of diet and he has lost 30 pounds. That's amazing, isn't it? So now, his pants fall around his ankles when he's not having sex. ... He lost the weight on that South beach diet. It's the low carb, high intern diet" ("Late Show," CBS, 11/7).

NBC's Jay Leno: "You might notice that Burbank has gone very upscale. We have a lot of landmarks named after celebrities here in Burbank. Johnny Carson Park right across street. The Burbank Airport is being renamed the Bob Hope Airport. Of course, the pilots will hang out at the Nick Nolte Lounge. ... Howard Dean told a group of voters in Tallahassee, Florida, this week that Southerners need to quit basing their votes on race, guns, God and gays. Sounds like the redneck version of 'Jeopardy.' ... More and more California students are studying a foreign language. The bad news is, the foreign language is English. ... Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he is hiring a private investigator to look into the allegations that he groped these women. He's hiring the private investigator. You know Kobe's going, 'Why didn't I think of that?'" ("Tonight Show," NBC, 11/7)

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

Bills LB Takeo Spikes appeared on Saturday's edition of BET's "Maad Sports" where he visited a Buffalo-area Taco Bell and KFC. Spikes: "It's lunchtime. We're here at KFC/Taco Bell, some of my best sponsors since I've been up here in Buffalo, and this is what I like to do on my day off. Like to come and get some good grub." The restaurants had posters of Spikes in the windows, with Spikes saying, "This (poster) is definitely a winner" ("Maad Sports," BET, 11/8).

SUNDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

Last night's 11:30pm ET 90-minute edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" (late due to Ravens-Rams) led with Bucs-Panthers, followed by Vikings-Chargers, and Colts-Jaguars. The first non-NFL report, at 23:43 into the broadcast, was Matt Kenseth winning the Winston Cup Championship. The first report on the PGA Tour Tour Championship was at 35:19.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the “aggregate boxoffice for the top 12 films this weekend was a stellar $147[M] – up 13% from the comparable frame last year.” The forecast for all films this weekend is “in the high $150[M] to low $160[M] range, up from last year’s $144.8[M]” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 11/10).

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"What is Rome?"

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

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