CBS, NFL GET THRILLING FINISH IN SUPER BOWL XXXVIII

The Patriots defeated the Panthers 32-29 last night to win Super Bowl XXXVIII before 71,525 at Reliant Stadium, and the HOUSTON CHRONICLE notes that the game “might be the Super Bowl all others are measured against, at least as long as grit and a heart-stopping finish are among the measuring sticks.” Steelers Chair Dan Rooney: “I think Houston has done a marvelous job. Everything has worked great. I’ve never seen a stadium decorated so nicely. Everything I’ve heard from the teams and the league has been great” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/2).

The HOUSTON CHRONICLE notes that despite the potential for terrorism, “many fans were upset with the resulting delays caused by the additional safeguards.” Some Super Bowl attendees “waited in the security line for an hour and said getting into the stadium was the worst part of their trip to Houston” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/2).

The HOUSTON CHRONICLE notes that because of the “threat of rain in the Houston area, the Reliant Stadium roof was closed” for the game (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/2).

Bank of America, the Panthers’ official bank, runs a full-page ad in today’s Charlotte Observer with the text, “Hey, New England. Double or nothing?” (THE DAILY).

HALFTIME SHOW: USA TODAY reports that after singer Janet Jackson’s breast “was exposed on national TV during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, the unhappy NFL announced it was ‘unlikely’ MTV would ever produce another Super Bowl halftime” (USA TODAY, 2/2).

The HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports that Houston Police Department Chief PR Officer Robert Hurst indicated that “several callers wanted charges brought against Jackson. But he said HPD officials conferred with the city attorney’s office and determined that no charges will be filed” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/2).

STREAKER: The HOUSTON CHRONICLE notes that Mark Francis Roberts “was arrested on criminal trespassing charges Sunday night after running onto the Reliant Stadium field during Super Bowl XXXVIII, clad only in an athletic supporter, before the second-half kickoff.” GoldenPalace.com confirmed that it sponsored the streaker, who had the words GoldenPalace.com and “Super Bowel” written on his body (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/2).

COCA-COLA’S BRIAN GALLAGHER WINS THE SUPER BOWL PICK ‘EM

Coca-Cola Marketing Manager Brian Gallagher is the winner of The Sports Business Daily/SportsBusiness Journal Super Bowl Pick ‘Em. Gallagher, who selected Patriots QB Tom Brady as the game’s MVP, nearly predicted the exact final score of 32-29. His guess: 31-28. Congratulations Brian.

JURY SELECTION BEGINS TODAY IN BRONCOS OWNERSHIP TRIAL

The ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS reported that jury selection begins today for a three-week trial in Denver federal court involving Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen and former Owner Edgar Kaiser. Kaiser claims Bowlen “cheated him out of the chance to buy back stakes in the team” years after his sale in ’84. The trial’s witness list includes former Broncos QB John Elway, various local sportswriters, tax attorneys and NFL execs. Even if Kaiser “prevails – which would trigger a separate trial to determine damages – earlier rulings on the case by U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch have dramatically reduced potential ownership impact to the team, now valued at $600[M], or roughly 10 times what Bowlen paid” (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 1/31).

DALLAS COUNTY TO HOLD FIRST PUBLIC COWBOYS STADIUM MEETING

The DALLAS MORNING NEWS reports that Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher and county commissioners today will “hold their first public meeting about the Cowboys [stadium] project” at 12:30pm CT. Keliher said that the stadium “would be a public-private partnership between county taxpayers and the Cowboys, but the details will require much analysis.” Commissioners said that they “would not make any decisions at today’s meeting” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/2).

STADIUMS ON AGENDA AS MINNESOTA LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS

The Minnesota Legislative session begins today, and the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reported that public funding for new stadiums will be on the agenda. A group of “two dozen opponents of public funding for stadiums gathered Saturday” to discuss their lobbying efforts (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/1).

Twins President Dave St. Peter: “In the past, things have always been geared at whether or not we need new facilities. Now the mission for this group is not if, but how. We’re very encouraged by that” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/2 issue).

TIGERS TO ANNOUNCE FOUR-YEAR, $40M DEAL FOR PUDGE TODAY

The DETROIT NEWS reported that the Tigers today will announce the signing of free agent C Pudge Rodriguez to a four-year, $40M contract. The contract includes “clauses written into it that serve as protection for the Tigers and provide them with an avenue to terminate the contract in case Rodriguez spends five weeks or more on the disabled list during the 2004 or 2005 seasons because of a lower-back injury” (DETROIT NEWS, 2/1).

The N.Y. DAILY NEWS noted that the voidable nature of the contract “is unprecedented in baseball” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/31).

TWO-DAY PRETRIAL HEARING IN KOBE BRYANT CASE BEGINS TODAY

The L.A. TIMES reports that the outcome of two “fierce pretrial battles should be determined during a two-day hearing in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case beginning today, although much of the proceeding will be closed to the public.” The first matter to be taken up is “a closed hearing on whether Bryant’s accuser waived her medical and mental health privilege by discussing her treatment with others” (L.A. TIMES, 2/2).

The DENVER POST reported that U.S. District Court Judge Terry Ruckriegle Friday ruled that Bryant’s defense team “will not have access to a contested single line of notes written by a sexual-assault victim’s advocate.” The note referred to the “mannerisms of the accuser in making statements to investigators” (DENVER POST, 2/1).

MORNING BRIEFS

USA TODAY reports that Tony Kornheiser “will be leaving his show on ESPN Radio at the end of March to concentrate” on ESPN’s “PTI,” other ESPN assignments and his Washington Post column (USA TODAY, 2/2).

The MIAMI HERALD reports that Dolphins VP/Football Operations Dan Marino “denied an ESPN report that he is reconsidering the post he accepted less than a month ago” (MIAMI HERALD, 2/2).

ESPN.com reported that out of “respect for the Maurice Clarett case,” in which a ruling could come this week, the NFL is delaying an announcement on Univ. of Pittsburgh WR Larry Fitzgerald’s draft status (ESPN.com, 2/1).

The WASHINGTON POST reports that the Redskins are likely to face the Broncos in the HOF Game August 9 in Canton, OH (WASHINGTON POST, 2/2).

The AFL runs a full-page ad in USA Today promoting the beginning of its season, with the text, “Watch Out! More Football’s Coming At You This Sunday!” (THE DAILY).

USA TODAY reports that New Hampshire Int’l Speedway Owner Bob Bahre “remained hospitalized Sunday with injuries sustained when his [SUV] went off the road in Maine” (USA TODAY, 2/2).

The FINANCIAL TIMES reported that English Premier League club Leeds United was granted a one-week extension to continue talks “with its bondholders in the hope of winning another extension until the end of the football season in May. Leeds owes more than [US$155M], including [US$109.4M] to bondholders, who hold security over ticket revenues and the ground” (FINANCIAL TIMES, 1/31).

The Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL reported that a deal is “still possible to bring University of Memphis basketball to FedExForum when it opens next season, despite the passing of the Grizzlies’ Saturday deadline.” Grizzlies Majority Owner Michael Heisley: “If we feel that we’re making significant progress toward getting a deal, obviously we’re going to continue to negotiate” (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 2/1).

The AP reported that Suwanee, GA-based Firearms Training Systems has signed a $429,000 contract for Greek police to use the company’s computer simulation in its security training for the ’04 Athens Olympics (AP, 1/31).

The WINNIPEG SUN noted that True North Sports & Entertainment has “made a deal to purchase the assets” of Winnipeg Enterprises’ Select-A-Seat ticketing service, effective September 1 (WINNIPEG SUN, 1/31).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• The EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE reports that 90,678 people attended the final round of the PGA Tour’s FBR Open yesterday at the TPC of Scottsdale (EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE, 2/2). Total attendance for the seven-day event was 503,564 (THE DAILY).

• The N.Y. POST reported that a Toyota Center record crowd of 18,332 attended Saturday’s Nets-Rockets game (N.Y. POST, 2/1).

• The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that a crowd of 20,116, the “biggest this season” and the third largest to see an NBA game in Air Canada Centre history attended yesterday’s Lakers-Raptors game (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 2/2).

• The K.C. STAR notes that a “legitimate capacity crowd of 4,800” attended Friday night’s ABA Long Beach Jam-K.C. Knights game at Hale Arena, where Jam F Dennis Rodman was expected to play, but did not show because of a calf injury. When the fans in attendance were told of Rodman’s absence, “nobody booed” (K.C. STAR, 1/31).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reported that although Indiana Univ. men’s basketball coach Mike Davis “had said during the week that he would wear a red sports coat, plaid pants, stacked heels and an afro as part of ESPN’s ‘Turn Back the Clock’ game Saturday night” against Michigan State at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, he “opted not to participate.” Davis: “I didn’t want to be a distraction to the team.” The retro clothes provided by ESPN “were not what Davis had in mind. Part of what the cable network offered was what he termed ‘cheesy’ plaid pants” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/1).

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, on the November 30 Patriots-Colts game: “If (Edgerrin James) had scored, the Colts would have won and the AFC Championship Game would have been played inside the RCA Dome. And if the Colts had won that, the quarterback glamour boy would have been Peyton Manning, not Tom Brady.”

• N.Y. Daily News columnist Mike Lupica, on Panthers QB Jake Delhomme: “(If Delhomme) helps win the game for the Panthers tonight, if he’s even one of the stars of a Panthers victory, he will be the unlikeliest star in Super Bowl history.”

• Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom, on Panthers QB Rodney Peete: “In the course of his career, he was let go by Detroit – and that hurts – and by Dallas and by Philly and Washington and Oakland. He was teetering on retirement when the Panthers summoned him and all he did was start this little winning thing they have going now, quarterbacking all seven of last season’s victories to give Carolina the feel of something more than a joke.”

• ESPN’s John Saunders, on former Raiders head coach Art Shell: “Since being fired after the ‘94 season, 67 head coaches have been hired in the NFL and only eleven of them had won as many games as Shell. Coaching is the profession of second chances. ... Two years ago, I asked Shell how many head coaching calls he had since the Raiders. None was the reply, not a single one” ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 2/1).

Heard elsewhere over the weekend:

• Albom, on NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue announcing the league will crack down on end zone celebrations: “He is way out of touch with the fan base” ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 2/1).

• Buccaneers LB Derrick Brooks, when asked if he wagered on the Super Bowl: “I think if I bet, I’d get in trouble” (MTV, 1/31).

• CBS’ Lee Cowan, on Super Bowl security: “If an invisible sense of security is really what (Houston) was going for, either they’ve succeeded or we’ve just gotten very used to it all” ("Evening News," CBS, 1/31).

• SMG-Reliant Park President & GM Shea Guinn, on Super Bowl preparations: “You can never have enough beer” ("Sunday Morning," CBS, 2/1).

• NFL groundskeeper George Toma, who was responsible for replacing the Reliant Stadium turf: “I can grow grass in your pocket” ("Sunday Morning," CBS, 2/1).

• NBC’s Bob Faw, on the popularity of poker: “The biggest reason for surging popularity is television. The World Poker Tournament ... gives television viewers front row seats” ("Nightly News," NBC, 1/31).

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

TODAY’S EVENTS

The L.A. TIMES reported that a U.S. District Court judge’s order to move the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of former Northwestern Univ. football player Rashidi Wheeler to NJ will be discussed by attorneys for the school and Wheeler’s family in a Cook County, IL, hearing (L.A. TIMES, 1/29).

NASCAR begins its Fan Days at Wal-Mart promotion at more than 2,900 Wal-Mart stores nationwide, where more than 600,000 fans are expected to participate in remote control car races. The promotion lasts through February 22. Participating sponsors include Gillette, Duracell, Oral B, Coca-Cola, Nabisco, Kraft, Levi’s Strauss Signature, Kodak, ConAgra Foods, Prilosec OTC, Martha White, Hungry Jack, The Wiggles, Springs Industries, Dan River, Wincraft and the Northwest Company.

The National Independent Concessionaires Association annual conference begins at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Tampa.

THIS WEEK IN SISTER PUBLICATION SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL…

This week’s In-Depth focuses on the best professional team Web sites with rankings based on content, design, commerce and fan interaction.

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 “What Kind of President Would John Kerry Be?” Meanwhile, NEWSWEEK examines weapons of mass destruction in Iraq with “We Were All Wrong” (THE DAILY).

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Hughes Electronics will “cut 50 positions at its corporate headquarters and relocate about 30 others to its DirecTV unit in the first major restructuring since Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. took control of the company” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/2).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Presidential Families.”

“The Time Almanac lists only the children from his 1772 marriage, but says there’s DNA evidence of more.”

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

NBC’s Jay Leno: “I want to thank you for being here because I know you’d rather be home watching the Super Bowl pregame show which started about 20 minutes ago. ... I feel great. I’m on the new Joe Lieberman diet. No matter what I do, I just keep losing and losing and losing. ... Howard Dean announced this week that his staff is leaner and meaner. Leaner because he’s letting some of them go and meaner because he’s not paying them anymore. ... Vice President Dick Cheney is 63, but in heart-attack years that’s 190. They had a pretty wild party. I understand a registered nurse jumped out of a giant bran muffin. ... It looks like the L.A. Dodgers will be sold for $430[M] and a gay porn star to be named later. ... Indians pitcher Kazuhito Tadano appeared in a gay porn film. He is now insisting the whole thing was a mistake. Shouldn’t he have realized it was a mistake when he read the script? ... Is Japanese porn like regular Japanese movies here? You see the sex act and then the mouth moves” ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 1/30).

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

Last Friday’s edition of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” featured clips from comedian Mitch Fatel’s Super Bowl media day visit. Fatel asked Patriots WR Bethel Johnson, “Do you think that on a cold day players should be allowed to wear a scarf?” Johnson, wearing a scarf said, “It’s nice and warm. I like this. Mr. Tagliabue, we need to talk to Reebok and get these incorporated into the NFL” ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 1/30).

SUNDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

Last night’s 11:30pm ET 90-minute edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” led with 40:50 of Super Bowl XXXVIII coverage, followed by Cavaliers-Wizards and Lakers-Raptors.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that it was a “disappointing weekend in North America as the estimated total for the top 12 films was $75.6[M], down nearly 6% from the Super Bowl session last year, which fell a week earlier on the calendar.” The total for all films this weekend is forecasted to be in the high-$80M to low-$90M area, “down from last year’s $100.4[M] take during the Super Bowl weekend” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/2).

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“Who was Thomas Jefferson?”

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

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