Morning Buzz, Febuary 4, 2004

INDIANAPOLIS TO HOST MEN’S FINAL FOUR ONCE EVERY FIVE YEARS

The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that the NCAA today willannounce a guarantee that Indianapolis “will host the men’s Final Four anaverage of once every five years through 2039. The NCAA not only broke from its conventional bidding process, it alsopromised the Indiana Sports Corp. an additional event in each of theintervening years between men’s Final Fours.” The long-term guarantee “could help Mayor Bart Peterson buildsupport for a stadium deal, which he wants to help keep” the Colts from moving(INDIANAPOLISSTAR, 2/4).

HHC’S FIRST STEP IN LANDING NHL CLUB IS COPPS COLISEUM CONTROL

The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that Richard Rodier,who represents HHC Acquisition, will appear today before a Hamilton (Ontario)City Council committee “with a proposal to take over the management of CoppsColiseum.”  Rodier’s plan is to “acquirean NHL team, move it to the Coliseum and then take over operation of thearena.”  Last year, HHC considered a bidto buy the Senators out of bankruptcy protection and move the team to Hamilton(TorontoGLOBE & MAIL, 2/4).

ALLTEL STADIUM ENTERTAINMENT ZONE TO BE PROPOSED TODAY

The FLORIDA TIMES-UNION reports that The Haskell Co. today will present a project to theDowntown Development Authority Design Review Committee to transform thepractice fields south of Alltel Stadium into an entertainment area.  The “Entertainment Zone” project has“previously been estimated at about $5[M] and is part of Alltel’s overall $47[M]renovation.”  The area will offer“several permanent features, such as a stage for music and entertainment aswell as tailgate tents with televisions and parking spaces at the tent.”  The space will also “host temporarycorporate tents for pre- and post-game activities.”  Alltel Stadium will host Super Bowl XXXIX next year (FLORIDATIMES-UNION, 2/4).

MORNING BRIEFS

USA TODAY reports that CBS took steps yesterday to “avoidfuture flashes of embarrassment, announcing plans to delay the broadcast ofSunday’s Grammy Awards – and possibly other live entertainment events – by asmuch as five minutes ‘to safeguard against any unexpected and inappropriatecontent’” (USATODAY, 2/4).

The WASHINGTON POST reports that the FCC has “asked CBS fora tape of its heavily criticized Sunday Super Bowl halftime show and is movingwith unusual speed,” as Chair Michael Powell has “taken the rare step ofpersonally directing the probe” (WASHINGTONPOST, 2/4).

Dolphins Senior VP/Football Operations Dan Marinoresigned yesterday, three weeks after accepting the position (Dolphins).

The L.A. DAILY NEWS notes that Dodgers Owners Frankand Jamie McCourt yesterday “introduced themselves to local officials”with ceremonies before the L.A. City Council and county Board of Supervisors (L.A.DAILY NEWS, 2/4).

The Bengals yesterday sent a letter to Hamilton County tomake known their intention to upgrade the playing field at Paul Brown Stadiumto a synthetic in-fill playing surface (Bengals).

LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw, on the tour possiblyusing the pendulum tester: “We’re looking at it.  The odds are pretty good we’ll see it at some point” (AP, 2/3).

USA TODAY notes that USA Basketball is working with Athensorganizers and USOC officials to determine if the ’04 Olympic Men’s Basketballteam “should stay on a luxury liner that will be used for athletes’ housing” (USATODAY, 2/4).

The DENVER POST reports that the National Brotherhood ofSkiers – an organization that promotes and supports minority skiers – todaywill decide between Vail and Keystone to host its ’05 summit, an event “thatdraws as many as 5,000 big-spending skiers.” Vail Resorts owns both resorts (DENVERPOST, 2/4).

The L.A. TIMES reports that synchronized swimmer TammyCrow, who had qualified for the ’04 U.S. Olympic team, “was sentencedJanuary 23 to 90 days in the Tuolomne County (CA) jail after pleading nocontest to two counts of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.”  The judge said that Crow does not “have toreport to jail until October,” after the Olympics conclude (L.A.TIMES, 2/4).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

• The BOSTON GLOBE reports that the crowd size for yesterday’s Super Bowl parade for the Patriots “exceeded the 1.25 million who lined the Super Bowl parade route and City Hall Plaza on a bitterly cold day in 2002.  Like that celebration, yesterday’s festivities were notable for the generally good behavior of the fans.  Boston police reported seven arrests: six for disorderly conduct and one for public drinking” (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/4).

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

Today marks the 18^th annual National Girls &Women In Sports Day, which was chartered by the U.S. Congress in ’86 to honorfemale athletic achievement and recognize the importance of sports and fitnessparticipation for all girls and women.

Former WUSA player Brandi Chastain will be thekeynote speaker at the annual WIN for K.C. Women’s Sports Awards Celebrationpresented by Galyan’s at the Westin Crown Center at 11:30am CT (K.C. STAR,1/17).

The K.C. STAR reported that amid “complaints by Democrats ofRepublican stalling, a Missouri Senate committee will conduct confirmationhearings” for Democrat Bill Carson and Republican Richard Berkleyto the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, which oversees Arrowhead andKauffman Stadiums (K.C.STAR, 2/3).

IN OTHER NEWS….

The N.Y. TIMES reports that former GE Chair & CEO JackWelch yesterday sold the rights “for a how-to business manual toHarperCollins,” a unit of News Corp., for an estimated $4M.  The book, titled “Winning,” did not “quitefetch the advance of ‘Jack: Straight From the Gut,’ which he sold in 2000without any written proposal for an extraordinary advance” of $7.1M.  Welch’s fiancée Suzy Wetlaufer, theformer Harvard Business Review Editor, will “help him write the book” (N.Y. TIMES,2/4).

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the Grammy Awards “willnot have a main host this year, opting instead for a slew of personalities, including Ellen DeGeneresand Jack Black, to introduce segments.” Other segment hosts include Beck, Cuba Gooding Jr., SamuelL. Jackson and Madonna (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 2/4).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

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

“Of the genus phascolarctos, it’s 21-33 inches tall with astout gray or brown body, a big round nose and strong claws.”

LAUGH TRACK

THEMONOLOGUES:

CBS’ DavidLetterman: “There are like seven big Primaries going on – Presidentialelections – which means now at any minute, we may have to cut away for ascreaming Howard Dean concession speech. … This is important.  Janet Jackson is being very contrite.  She’s pretending to apologize to everybodywho is pretending to be offended.  So Ithink that works out” (“Late Show,” CBS, 2/3).

NBC’sJay Leno: “Hey did you hear about this? Janet Jackson’s right breast came out, saw its shadow, six moreweeks ‘til winter. … Do you know who was really mad about that wholeincident?  President Bush.  He was very upset.  In fact, today he accused Janet Jackson of having weapons of massarousal. … What a country!  This iscrazy.  We don’t have a cure for canceryet, but God bless if we don’t have 11 new ways to give men an erection. …Earlier today, President Bush admitted that his pre-war intelligence wasn’twhat it should have been.  We knew thatwhen we elected him.  Duh! … Here’s asign of the times.  For between $50 and$100 on eBay, now you can get what’s being called an imaginary girlfriend.  Have you heard about this?  These women promise to send you a romanticor a naughty letter every week for two months plus emails and digitalphotos.  How pathetic is that?  How desperate do you have to be to dosomething like that?”  “The TonightShow” bandleader Kevin Eubanks responded, “It’s $100 man” (“TheTonight Show,” NBC, 2/4).

LATENIGHT LAUGHS:

CBS’ Craig Kilborn: “That Super Bowl halftime showscandal is out of hand.  I was watchingVH1 today, and Janet Jackson’s right breast was on ‘Where Are They Now.’  I don’t think President Bush is getting thesituation.  He said, ‘If we don’t setstandards of decency, the nipples have won.’ The incident was so crass and so sleazy that Fox television is launchingits own investigation (as to) why they didn’t do it first.  The other big story, President Bush hasappointed a commission to answer one big question about pre-war Iraq:  How did our oil get under their sand?  This Iraqi intelligence scandal isgrowing.  Americans are asking what didPresident Bush not know and when did he mispronounce it?” (“The Late LateShow,” CBS, 2/3).

TUESDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What is a koala?”

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dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com

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