| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
9:00am ET | |
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| • | Tagliabue Cancels NFL Kickoff Live Concert; Senate To Raise Indecency Fines |
| • | Speedo Today To Launch New Swimsuit, Fastskin FSII, In Three Cities |
| • | NHL Trade Deadline Looms Today As Non-Playoff Teams Look To Dump Payroll |
| • | Tony George Says May Schedule At IMS Could Be Shortened For ‘05 |
| • | Barry Bonds’ Trainer To Seek Plea Bargain To Keep Athletes Off Witness Stand |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE CANCELS NFL KICKOFF LIVE CONCERT
The CHICAGO TRIBUNE reports that NFL Commissioner PaulTagliabue has “called off the league-sanctioned rock concert in conjunctionwith the Thursday night season opener.” Sources said that a “football-oriented” production, such as “a Wednesdaynight banquet, could be substituted for the concert and televised” during thepregame show (CHICAGOTRIBUNE, 3/9).
Meanwhile, the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the Senate Commerce Committee is“expected to approve legislation today raising fines for racy materialbroadcast on TV and radio,” but Senators “appear to be less inclined to raisethe fees up to the half-million-dollar mark approved by the House CommerceCommittee.” The legislation “increasesthe fine for broadcasting indecent material from $27,500 to $275,000” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 3/9).
Finally, the AP reports that Janet Jackson offers herfirst interview since the Super Bowl halftime show incident in the April issueof Ebony. Jackson: “It was not intentional. It was a costume accident” (AP,3/9).
SPEEDO TO HOST 11:00am ET EVENT IN N.Y. TO LAUNCH FASTSKIN II
Speedo today will host simultaneous product launches inN.Y., London and Sydney, with U.S. swimmers Michael Phelps, JennyThompson, Lenny Krayzelburg and Amanda Beard attending the11:00am ET event in N.Y. USA TODAYreports that the company will launch the Fastskin FSII, which it terms the“world’s fastest swimsuit.” Theswimsuit, expected to be “worn by most of the top swimmers on the U.S. Olympicteam” at the Athens Games, “increases a swimmer’s speed in the water byreducing drag by 4%” (USA TODAY, 3/9).
TEAMS DUMPING PAYROLL AS NHL TRADE DEADLINE LOOMS TODAY
The NHL trade deadline looms today at 3:00pm ET, and USATODAY notes that with several players already traded, the deadline “could beanti-climatic. Regardless, this will beconsidered the wildest in-season trading period the league has known. More than a dozen players making more than$3[M] have been moved because non-playoff teams were looking to shed payroll” (USATODAY, 3/9).
MORNING BRIEFS
Suns Owner Jerry Colangelo, released the following inresponse to areport in sister publication SportsBusiness Journal that he has retainedLehman Brothers to seek minority investors, “At 64 years of age, I want to make sure that thefuture of the Suns is secure. For sometime, I have expressed a desire to find the right ownership that could purchasea minority interest in the Suns now, and at some point, many years from now,have the right to purchase the balance of the team when I'm ready to step outof my current role” (Suns).
IRL Founder & IMS President Tony George said thatthe May schedule at IMS “could be shortened for 2005 and the number of carsallowed to start future [Indy 500s] also might be reduced” (INDIANAPOLISSTAR, 3/9).
NBPA Dir of Communications Dan Wasserman said that he“anticipates union officials will discuss” the drug test taken by Trail BlazersG Damon Stoudamire at the request of Portland Oregonian columnist JohnCanzano. Wasserman: “In general wedon’t think it’s a good idea for players to engage in freelance drugtesting. We have procedures in placethat should be adhered to” (WASHINGTONPOST, 3/9).
The N.Y. TIMES reports that J. Tony Serra, theattorney for Barry Bonds’ personal trainer Greg Anderson, saidthat Anderson “would seek a plea bargain in an effort to keep Bonds and othertop athletes from appearing as witnesses in a federal trial” (N.Y. TIMES,3/9).
The WASHINGTON POST reports that the NFLPA “initiated aspecial-master proceeding yesterday, seeking to rescind last week’s trade thatsent” Terrell Owens from the 49ers to the Ravens and have Owens declareda free agent. The NFL “maintains thatthe trade is valid and Owens is under contract to the Ravens” (WASHINGTONPOST, 3/9).
The L.A. TIMES reports that MLS co-Founder AlanRothenberg has created First Century Bank, which will officially opentoday. Rothenberg “set out to raise upto $22[M] in late December and won permission from regulators to increase theamount by 20%, to $26.4[M], because of strong demand.” The bank has “raised more capital than anystart-up bank in Los Angeles County history” (L.A.TIMES, 3/9).
According to a TNS Media Intelligence/CMR study, U.S. adspending rose 6.1% in ’03 to $128B. Online ad spending jumped 15.7% to $6.4B, cable TV spending grew 15.6%and Spanish-language TV spending climbed 12.8% (Mult., 3/9).
The N.Y. POST reports that according to a study conducted byNY Sen. Frank Padavan, a “staggering $35[B] will be spent this year onlegal gambling in New York, wagered on everything from lottery games tovideo-slot machines and horse racing” (N.Y. POST, 3/9).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that as the defendingMasters champion hosts the annual dinner preceding the April tournament, MikeWeir has chosen to serve “appetizers made with oat-crusted arctic char andan entrée of roasted rack of caribou. Drinks and dessert will be all-Canadian as well.” Weir: “I definitely want to have a Canadiantheme. … We’re having Canadian wine and Canadian beer – we’ve got everything” (TorontoGLOBE & MAIL, 3/9).
The AP reported that the CHL Indianapolis Ice, which hiredformer NBAer Manute Bol for a one-game stint in ’02, have signed TonyaHarding for Friday’s game against the Colorado Eagles (AP, 3/9).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sportscovers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
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| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Daily News |
TODAY’S EVENTS
CBS Sports will host a 1:00pm ET media event to discuss itscoverage of the ’04 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. CBS Sports President Sean McManus, Exec Producer TonyPetitti, Senior VP/Programming Mike Aresco, as well as collegebasketball talent Jim Nantz, Greg Gumbel, Dick Enberg, BillyPacker, Bill Raftery, Clark Kellogg and Matt Guokaswill participate.
Colts representatives are scheduled to visit the campus ofEastern Illinois Univ. in Charleston as they have been assessing alternativetraining camp locations. Colts Owner JimIrsay said recently that it “was his desire to hold training camp inIndiana but left open the possibility of going out of state” (INDIANAPOLISSTAR, 3/9).
Swiss postal services General Dir Ulrich Gygi willpresent FIFA President Sepp Blatter with a stamp commemorating FIFA’sCentennial at a noon local time ceremony at the Fraumunster post office inZurich.
IN OTHER NEWS….
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts “insists he’s not going toboost his $66[B] offer to buy Walt Disney and is prepared to walk away from thedeal.” Roberts: “If it happens,great. If it doesn’t, life goes on” (Mult., 3/9).
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that EchoStar Communications“dropped all Viacom-owned channels, including CBS O&Os in 16 major markets,from its Dish Network satellite service as of 12:01am today, leaving its 9million subscribers without access to MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central andother widely distributed channels.” Thechannels have been replaced by text explaining, “Viacom has demanded rateincreases which are unreasonable and would contribute to a higher monthly billfor you” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 3/9).
The HOUSTON CHRONICLE reports that federal prosecutors inCalifornia “intend to seek criminal indictment” against Reliant Resourcessubsidiary Reliant Energy Services, claiming the firm “engaged in pricemanipulation on two days in June 2000 by curtailing power plant generation inCalifornia” (HOUSTONCHRONICLE, 3/9).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Bodies ofWater.”
“The Rush-Bagot agreement of 1817 between the U.S. and GreatBritain limited naval power on these bodies of water.”
LAUGH TRACK
THEMONOLOGUES:
NBC’sJay Leno: “As you know, the jury found Martha guilty on allcounts. No one expected that. In fact, they not only found her guilty ofobstruction of justice and making false statements, they also got her forbetting on baseball and taking steroids. ... Most likely she’ll get one tothree years. Isn’t that unbelievable? Unfortunately, the judge did have to tellher today there’s no such thing as time off for absolutely perfectbehavior. The good news is Martha got anew TV show: ‘Oz.’ ... President Bush says he has just one question forthe American voters: Is the rich person you’re working for better off now thanthey were four years ago? ... Two people in L.A. have been charged with grandtheft for allegedly stealing corpses and cadaver body parts. They say this is the most embarrassing thingto happen to UCLA, I guess since last year’s football team. ... Kobe Bryantinjured his shoulder, could be out of action for a month. It’s his right shoulder, so ladies, ifyou’re trying to get away, fake left, then go right” ("The TonightShow," NBC, 3/8).
MONDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | Stanford losing to Washington | Ravens WR Terrell Owens; Trail Blazers G Damon Stoudamire |
| ESPN | “PTI” | NCAA Tournament favorite | Terrell Owens; Yankees-Red Sox |
| ESPN | 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” | Niagara-Manhattan | George Mason-VCU; Lakers-Jazz |
FSN’s “BDSSP” is airing “Best of” editions this week.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What are the Great Lakes and/or Lake Champlain?”
If you haveany questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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