Morning Buzz, January 29, 2004

MLB TEAM OWNERS TO VOTE TODAY ON DODGERS DEAL VIA PHONE

The BOSTON HERALD reports that MLB team owners today “are poised to approve” Frank McCourt’s$430M deal to buy the Dodgers from News Corp. during an afternoon conferencecall.  The pending approval comes afterthe MLB ownership committee voted Tuesday to endorse the deal (BOSTONHERALD, 1/29).  The Dodgers havescheduled a 2:30pm PT press conference at Dodger Stadium to discuss the vote (THEDAILY).

The L.A. TIMES notes that with today’s expected approval,the tenure of Dodgers Chair & CEO Bob Daly “is about to come to anend.”  Bob Graziano, who has beenwith the club for 18 years, “will be ousted or resign as team president, aposition he has held for six years, [GM] Dan Evans’ status is tenuous,at best, and manager Jim Tracy’s days could be numbered.”  Former MLB Giants Exec VP Corey Busch,“who served as McCourt’s point man in negotiations to buy the team, is expectedto have a prominent role in a restructured Dodger front office, most likely aspresident or the head of business operations” (L.A.TIMES, 1/29).

MINNESOTA STADIUM SCREENING COMMITTEE TO FINALIZE PLANS TODAY

The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reported that Minnesota Gov. TimPawlenty’s Stadium Screening Committee today will finalize recommendationson “such hot-button topics as gambling to help fund stadiums, whetherreferendums should be required to approve stadium plans and whether to establisha stadium-deal schedule that could give priority to the Twins over theVikings.”  The committee will recommendthat Pawlenty “back one piece of legislation that includes new stadiums for theTwins and Vikings.”  It will alsorecommend the creation of a new sports authority, which “will forge stadiumdeals between host communities and the teams” (Minneapolis STARTRIBUNE, 1/27).

Committee Chair Dan McElroy hinted that the fullagenda means “there might be more work to do Friday” (ST.PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/27).

PGA TOUR’S FBR OPEN BEGINS TODAY AT TPC OF SCOTTSDALE

The PGA Tour’s FBR Open begins today at TPC of Scottsdale,and the ARIZONA REPUBLIC reported that anew title sponsor, “record skybox sales and another projected crowd of ahalf-million at the [TPC] could push total revenue to more than $16[M],matching or topping the $16.1[M] record set last year.”  VA-based investment bank Friedman, Billings,Ramsey Group is paying roughly $30M over five years as the new titlesponsor.  Six more companies “havebought places in the corporate village, where the 33 tents range from $30,000to $100,000 … and 15 companies are paying $28,500 to $45,000 each for the 97skyboxes” (ARIZONAREPUBLIC, 1/27).

USA TODAY notes that the tournament attracts 100,000 peoplefor each of four rounds at TPC of Scottsdale, a “big golf course that canhandle as many as 10,000 on some holes.” USA Network will air first-round coverage beginning at 4:00pm ET (USA TODAY, 1/29).

NFL FILMS TODAY CONTINUES TESTING OF 3-D FOOTBALL FILMMAKING

The N.Y. TIMESreports that NFL Films and Cobalt Entertainment filmmakers “are scheduled tostart shooting interviews in 3-D today before recording” Super Bowl XXXVIII onSunday.  Cobalt CEO Steve Schklair and NFL FilmsVP/Cinematography Steve Andrich are attempting to produce a film nextyear tentatively titled, “In the Trenches: The NFL 3-D Imax Experience.” NFL Films hopes that the league will use a trailer over the summerto “interest corporate sponsors and mainstream film studios in theproject, with an eye toward shooting” more of the film next season (N.Y.TIMES, 1/29).

FORMER PRESIDENT BUSH VISITS NFL NETWORK’S HOUSTON SET

The DALLAS MORNING NEWS’ Barry Horn writes of former PresidentGeorge Bush arriving yesterday on NFL Network’s Houston set.  When former President Bush “was en route foran interview with the network, no one was allowed to enter or exit thearea.”  Texans Owner Bob McNairasked a security guard, “May we get in?” The security guard, not knowing McNair, twice responded, “Can’t.”  Horn stepped in and suggested, “I’d let himin.  He owns the Houston Texans.”  Acknowledging Horn’s assistance, McNairsaid, “Well, at least our security is working” (DALLASMORNING NEWS, 1/29).

McNair and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue alsoappeared on NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access” with host Rich Eisen.  Eisen to Tagliabue: “Not that I’m lookingfor anything extra in my paycheck Commissioner, but when former President Bushwas here, I told him to call his son and have him call his local cable operatorand request NFL Network.”  Tagliabue:“That would be a positive thing, but you might have overreached on thatsuggestion” (“NFL Total Access,” NFL Network, 1/28).

MORNING BRIEFS

The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that U.S. Bankruptcy CourtJudge Frank Otte yesterday rejected IRL Founder Tony George’s$13.5M bid for CART and accepted OWRS’ $3.2M cash bid.  Otte based his ruling on OWRS’ “intent tohonor existing contracts by continuing the series” (INDIANAPOLISSTAR, 1/29).

The N.Y. TIMES reports that N.Y.-based investor StuartSternberg “has agreed to buy 77[%] of the Devil Rays,” but an MLB officialsaid that he “does not have an option to buy out” Devil Rays Managing Partner VincentNaimoli and become the team’s managing partner.  Naimoli owns 15% of the team (N.Y.TIMES, 1/29).

The WASHINGTON POST reports that Capitals Owner Ted Leonsiswas “fined $100,000 and suspended for a week for an altercation he had with afan at MCI Center on Sunday night, a rare disciplinary action for an incidentbetween an owner and a patron” (WASHINGTONPOST, 1/29).

FSN Arizona and the AFL Arizona Rattlers yesterday announcedan agreement that allows the net to televise four Rattlers games during the ’04AFL season (FSN Arizona).

The WASHINGTON POST reports that Maryland Senate President ThomasMiller “vowed yesterday to muscle Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’sproposal to legalize slot machine gambling through his chamber before the endof February and predicted with confidence that the measure will get ‘as many votesas it needs to pass’” (WASHINGTONPOST, 1/29).

Pro Football HOFer Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirschdied yesterday of natural causes at the age of 80 in Madison, WI, and the CHICAGOTRIBUNE notes that Hirsch “helpedrevolutionize the pro game,” later serving as Wisconsin AD “for nearly twodecades, lifting the program from turmoil” (CHICAGOTRIBUNE, 1/29).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The result of last night’s annual “Game Before The Game” on989 Sports’ “NFL GameDay 2004” for PlayStation2 bodes well for Panthers fans,as Panthers WR Steve Smith defeated Patriots WR Troy Brown29-21.  The winning player’s team hasgone on to win the Super Bowl in each of the event’s eight years (989 Sports).

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 Iraqi National Olympic Committee will hold itselections, and Around The Rings Editor-in-Chief Ed Hula has been invitedto attend by the Iraqi Ministry of Youth and Sport.  Hula is the only Western journalist specifically invited to coverwhat are believed to be the first free elections in the country in more than 30years.

The PGA Merchandise Show opens in Orlando and will run through Sunday at the Orange County Convention Center.

IN OTHER NEWS….

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER cites the FCC’s tenth annualcompetition report released yesterday, which reports that cable rates have“risen more than twice asfast as the rate of inflation during the past decade despite the rise ofcompetition from other multichannel outlets like direct-broadcast satelliteservices.”  Rates have increased 53%from ’93-‘03, while the consumer price index climbed 25.5%.  From June ’02-June ’03, cable prices rose5.1% compared with a 2.1% increase in the CPI (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 1/29).

MULTICHANNEL NEWS notes that the FCC report also shows the cable industry’s “grip on the pay TVmarket remains firm at 75% subscriber penetration despite a decade of robustcompetition from satellite providers” DirecTV and EchoStar Communications (MULTICHANNELNEWS, 1/29).

The L.A.TIMES reports that Coca-Cola is “planning a joint promotion with SanDiego-based MusicMatch, becoming the fifth beverage company seeking to fizz upits brands with a partnership that taps the popularity of online music.”  PepsiCo will be the “first out of the gate,offering as many as 100 million songs from Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Storein a promotion that kicks off with a flashy commercial” during Super BowlXXXVIII (L.A.TIMES, 1/29).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

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

“This three-word phrase familiar in the U.S. originated inan ancient poem and described assembling foods to make salad.”

LAUGH TRACK

THEMONOLOGUES:

NBC’s Jay Leno: “Senator John Edwards of NorthCarolina made a pretty good showing in the New Hampshire primary.  A lot of people say that John Edwards may betoo good-looking to be taken seriously and boy, do I know how that feels. ... Liebermandid well in the exit polls.  Every pollsaid he should exit. ... Dennis Kucinich got 1% of the vote in NewHampshire and the sad part is there’s a 3% margin of error. ... Howard Deanannounced today he will campaign in seven states.  The states are rage, frenzy, fury, wrath, fever, agitation anddelirium. ... They have another one of those NFL Experiences going on inHouston.  This is great.  This is for the average fan.  You go to the tent, pay like $10 orsomething and you get to pretend you’re an NFL player and it’s veryrealistic.  First you fail a drug test,then you get in a fight in a strip club and then you get arrested forpossession of a stolen handgun. ... (Indians minor leaguer Kazuhito Tadano)admitted yesterday that three years ago he was an actor in a gay porn film, buthe said he only did it because he needed the money and then he said, ‘Hey, I’mnot gay.’  Well, what better way toconvince people you’re not gay than to appear in a gay porn film? ... What isJapanese gay porn like?  Is it smallerand more efficient?”  Leno, on a sextape featuring Julius Erving and a female companion: “You know it’s Dr.J because he turns right to the camera and says, ‘I love this game!’” ("TheTonight Show," NBC, 1/28).

LATENIGHT LAUGHS:

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, on upbeat speeches by various Democratic presidential candidates, despite losing the New Hampshire primary: "When did our elections become the Special Olympics? You're not all winners. Not everybody gets a hug. You guys got crushed." After Sen. Lieberman said on tape that he is now in a "three-way split decision for third place," Stewart added, "So you are excited that you came in third for the race for third. Gee, you won the bronze medal for the bronze medal. That's not even bronze, that's probably zinc" ("The Daily Show," Comedy Central, 1/28).

CBS’s Craig Kilborn: “I don’t know if you heard aboutthis yesterday at the Vatican.  The Popemet with Dick Cheney, and then President Bush asked Cheney tosend his regards to Mrs. Pope and the kids. … You know what?  It’s weird seeing President Bush strugglemaking excuses for why we went to war. As he struggles, it reminds us all what a terrific liar Bill Clintonwas. … By the way, President Clinton is putting the finishing touches on hisbook.  President Clinton writing a book,which includes the names of all of his lovers. Look for it in the forklift section” (“The Late Late Show,” CBS, 1/28).

WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What is ‘E pluribus unum?’”

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

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