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Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz, April 19, 2004

The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Monday, April 19, 2004
9:00am ET

Boston Marathon To Be Run Today; ESPN2 Begins Coverage At 11:30am ET

NFL Lawyers As Early As Today To Appeal Decision In Maurice Clarett Case

New Orleans Fair Grounds To Submit Reorg Plan Today In Bankruptcy Court

NCAA Management Council Today To Pass Academic Assessment Framework

Robert Sarver Agrees To Pay $401M To Become Largest Investor In Suns

Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/Weekend Rap/Weekend Box Office


MORE THAN 20,000 EXPECTED FOR 108th BOSTON MARATHON TODAY

The 108th Boston Marathon will be run today fromHopkinton to Boston, and the BOSTON GLOBE reported that the race is “expectedto attract more than 20,000 runners, including about 50 elite marathoners. Half a million spectators and more than1,100 members of the media will be on the sidelines and at the finishline. The event is broadcast live ontwo local television networks and nationally on ESPN2, and airs in about 180countries” (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/18).

The BOSTON GLOBE also noted that the biggest change in therace will be the separate women’s start at 11:31am ET. The men’s race begins as usual at noon. ESPN2 will air coverage from 11:30am-2:30pmwith Sean McDonough and Larry Rawson calling the action (BOSTONGLOBE, 4/16).

The BOSTON HERALD reports that Reebok today will launch an “outdoor ad campaign in Boston and other bigcities, promoting its Premier Road Plus.” Meanwhile, official Marathon partner adidas “has its own outdoor adcampaign featuring” former Boston Marathon finishers (BOSTONHERALD, 4/19).

To see a complete Boston Marathon sponsor roster, please seetoday’s issue of The Daily.


NFL TO APPEAL MAURICE CLARETT DECISION AS EARLY AS TODAY

USA TODAY notes that NFL lawyers as early as today willappear in a N.Y. federal appeals court in a “last-ditch effort to block formerOhio State star Maurice Clarett and underclassmen and high schoolplayers from entering this weekend’s draft.” The case is “likely to turn on two questions: If as an amateur Clarettcan be bound by a rule a professional league made, and if the league can beexempt from the nation’s antitrust laws that would permit it to block Claretteven if it costs him earning power” (USA TODAY, 4/19).


NEW ORLEANS FAIR GROUNDS, CHURCHILL DOWNS FAIL TO REACH DEAL

The New Orleans Fair Grounds today must submit a Chapter 11 reorganization plan in bankruptcy court, andthe New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE reports that the track is “unwilling to give up its appeal of the Louisianahorsemen’s $89.9[M] judgment against the Fair Grounds,” which has “emerged as asticking point in Churchill Downs’ efforts to buy” the racetrack. If a deal is not reached, there could be ablind auction or an “auction in which Churchill would be ‘a stalkinghorse.’ In such a plan, Churchill’s bidwould be known beforehand, and Churchill would be given financial protections”(NewOrleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 4/19).


NCAA MANAGEMENT COUNCIL TO PASS ACADEMIC FRAMEWORK TODAY

The NCAA Div. IManagement Council will meet today in Indianapolis, and the INDIANAPOLIS STARreports that a “framework for assessing a team’s academic performance and thenassigning penalties for underperformers is expected to be passed.” The possible penalties include “loss ofscholarships and postseason eligibility. The first time a school could be penalized – with a scholarship loss –is fall 2005. The most severe penaltieswould not go into effect until fall 2009, and only for repeat offenders” (INDIANAPOLISSTAR, 4/19). View the framework.


MORNING BRIEFS

As noted in Friday’s Closing Bell, the ARIZONAREPUBLIC reported that San Diego entrepreneur Robert Sarver “agreed to pay $401[M], a record price for anNBA franchise, to become the largest investor and managing partner of theSuns.” Sarver, 42, said he would bringin about ten additional investors, including Charles Barkley, SteveKerr and Bryan Colangelo (ARIZONAREPUBLIC, 4/17).

SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that the Cowboys are “closeto signing sponsorship renewals with Pepsi and Dr Pepper.” Sources said that the Pepsi deal “was an11-year contract averaging $3[M] a year and was all but complete” (SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL, 4/19 issue).

The Bergen RECORDreported that the Newark City Council is “expected to give final approval May 5for the use of $210[M] in city funds for a sports and entertainment arena thatwould become the home” of the Devils in ’07 (BergenRECORD, 4/17).

The Nashville TENNESSEAN reported that the Univ. ofTennessee will begin “selling premium, courtside seating” for women’sbasketball games next season at Thompson-BolingArena. Front-row seats can be boughtfor a “one-time donation of $40,000 and a pair of second-row seats for $30,000”(NashvilleTENNESSEAN, 4/18).

The SAN ANTONIOEXPRESS-NEWS reported that Spurs Chair Peter Holt “was back in his usualcourtside chair” for Saturday’s Grizzlies-Spurs Game One “for the first timesince he entered an alcohol treatment center in January.” Holt had attended “a few games over the pastmonth, but watched each from a luxury suite” (SANANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 4/18).

The BOSTON HERALDreported that the Celtics, the only NBA team currently without cheerleaders,“may be ready to bring on the dancing girls.” The club also intends to “expand from eight to 16 the crew that overseeseverything from pre-game introductions to halftime basket-shooting contests” (BOSTONHERALD, 4/18).

The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reported that Jessica Simpsonwill sing the national anthem at the May 30 Indy 500 at Indianapolis MotorSpeedway (INDIANAPOLISSTAR, 4/18).

The CHARLOTTEOBSERVER noted that Tiger Woods’ visit to Fort Bragg Army base inFayetteville, NC, last week included “parachuting from planes, shootingbull’s-eyes in target practice and breezing through a four-mile run in 31minutes – five minutes faster than the Fort Bragg standard” (CHARLOTTEOBSERVER, 4/17).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

  • The Nashville TENNESSEAN reported that a crowd of 17,329 attended Saturday’s decisive Game Six of the Red Wings-Predators series, the “largest crowd to ever watch a hockey game” at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 4/18).
  • The ST. PETERSBURG TIMES reported that a crowd of 20,927 attended Saturday’s decisive Islanders-Lightning Game Five, the “third largest for the St. Pete Times Forum” (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 4/18).
  • The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reported that a crowd of 16,505, “nearly 2,000 short of a sellout,” attended Saturday’s Celtics-Pacers Game One at Conseco Fieldhouse. Last year’s playoff opener at the venue drew 16,380 (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 4/18).
  • The N.Y. TIMES reported that a crowd of 18,206 attended Saturday’s Knicks-Nets Game One at Continental Airlines Arena (N.Y. TIMES, 4/18). Meanwhile, at the same time, a crowd of 31,419 watched DC United F Freddy Adu score his first career goal, although the MetroStars defeated DC United at Giants Stadium. The crowd was the MetroStars’ “fourth largest” in history (N.Y. TIMES, 4/18).
  • USA TODAY reports that a crowd of approximately 92,000 attended yesterday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Advance Auto Parts 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, VA (USA TODAY, 4/19).
  • The L.A. TIMES reports that a crowd of about 78,000 attended yesterday’s Champ Car World Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (L.A. TIMES, 4/19).
  • The HARTFORD COURANT reports that a crowd of 250,000-300,000 attended UConn’s victory parade yesterday for the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball titles outside the state capital in Hartford (HARTFORD COURANT, 4/19).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The AP reported that NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon’sbreak over Easter was a “whirlwind, including a trip to the Bahamas on his boatfor some shark diving, a front-row seat to Phil Mickelson’s winning puttat The Masters and a job as a judge in the Miss USA pageant.” Gordon: “My goal in my off week was to havea great, wonderful, relaxing time and not end up in any gossip paper” (AP,4/18).

Meanwhile, fellow driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. was notso lucky, as the ORLANDO SENTINEL reported that National Enquirerpublished a story about him in a recent issue claiming he was “punched out during[a] booze-soaked weekend” in Panama City, FL. Citing security staff at a condo where Earnhardt, Jamie McMurrayand Elliott Sadler were staying, the story “trumpeted reports of ‘nakedpartying’ with ‘bunches of girls’ in the ‘pool and hot tubs.’” Earnhardt: “Everything in the story isfalse” (ORLANDOSENTINEL, 4/18).


WEEKEND RAP…

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

  • ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio, on the Maurice Clarett case: “Clarett has been cut adrift, an uncommon talent with nowhere to ply his trade. The NFL doesn’t want him because Clarett hasn’t finished the league-required three years of college. ... More and more, the NFL is drawn to youth and speed and [today] the league will argue against it’s own recent trends. It’s going to be a tough sell.”
  • N.Y. Times columnist William Rhoden: “After the attack on the World Trade Center, I made a promise to stop using war metaphors to describe athletic events or sports moments. Other writers made the same vow. ... Three years later, saber-rattling has crept back into the lexicon of sports journalists. The series between Boston and New York was described as war. ... This is play. Iraq is war and don’t ever forget it.”
  • K.C. Star columnist Jason Whitlock, on Giants LF Barry Bonds: “Forgive me, but I still love watching Barry Bonds work. It doesn’t bother me that he’s a jerk to the media. It doesn’t bother me that he doesn’t get along with his teammates. It doesn’t bother me that he may have used steroids or human-growth hormones.”
  • ESPN’s John Saunders, on the Univ. of Colorado football program: “(Coach Gary Barnett) says he accepts responsibility for his players’ off-field behavior, but added there’s only so much he can do, and with 100-plus players, how can any coach keep an eye on every player at all times? He can’t, but what he can do is make consequences control behavior. If every coach had a one strike, zero tolerance policy, even kids out of high school would get that message” ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 4/18).

THE BACK PAGES

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

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

TODAY’S EVENTS

The N.Y. TIMES reports that Fox today will announce itslineup of new shows, which it will begin introducing in June. The network has “basically announced thatbecause it has two pillars for its programming – baseball in the fall and‘American Idol’ in the winter – it no longer has a fall television season” (N.Y.TIMES, 4/19).

Churchill Downs will host a 10:00am ET media tour of its$95M renovated clubhouse.

Effective today, Rosecroft Raceway will no longer bepermitted to “offer wagering on thoroughbred simulcasts, a move that is part ofthe fallout following the death of the slot machine bill in the recentlegislative session in Annapolis” (WASHINGTONPOST, 4/18).

The U.S. Navy football team will visit President Bushat the White House. With victories overboth Air Force and Army in ’03, Navy captured the Commander-in-Chief’s trophyfor the first time since ’81 (WASHINGTON POST, 4/17).


THIS WEEK IN SISTER PUBLICATION SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL…

This week’s In-Depthexamines the 20 most influential sports agents, a list led by IMG’s PeterJohnson.

Also in this week’sissue:

AT&T Wireless inks deal with swimmer Michael Phelps.

Rookies Carmelo and LeBron boost NBA to highest level since Jordan.

NHL Panthers add to sales staff in face of labor uncertainty.

One-on-One with Monster Founder Jeff Taylor.

For these storiesand more, please see this week’s SportsBusinessJournal.


EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Below are thisweek’s confirmed earnings announcements for sports-business related companies (THEDAILY).

DATE TICKER COMPANY
QUARTER
4/20 KTO K2
Q1 2004
4/21 OO Oakley
Q1 2004
4/22 ELY Callaway Golf
Q1 2004
4/22 RBK Reebok
Q1 2004
4/22 SKX Skechers USA
Q1 2004
4/22 VIA Viacom
Q1 2004

IN OTHER NEWS….

This week’s cover of TIME offers “The Time 100 … People WhoShape Our World.” NEWSWEEK examines“Treating Back Pain” and BUSINESSWEEKoffers “Serious Business … Can the Red Sox Beat the Yankees and Finally Win ItAll?” (THE DAILY).

The AP reports that McDonald's Chair & CEO Jim Cantalupo died early this morning at the age of 60 from a "sudden, unexpected heart attack in Orlando" (AP, 4/19).

DAILY VARIETY reports that NBC’s Tom Brokaw willofficially “step down as anchor of ‘Nightly News’ on December 1.” Brokaw will be succeeded by NBC news anchor BrianWilliams (DAILYVARIETY, 4/19).


FINAL JEOPARDY!

Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “AmericanEntertainers.”

“‘Evita’s Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ was inspired by a 1969concert of hers in London; she left the stage after 15 minutes.”


LAUGH TRACK

THEMONOLOGUES:

CBS’ DavidLetterman: “I had a horrible day, and it was one of those things that Iknew immediately it was going to be a horrible day because I get into the cabcoming to work this morning, and right there on the dashboard was a Shiitecleric bobblehead doll. ... It’s the 100th anniversary of the NewYork subway system. To celebrate 100years, the city is adding some vintage subway cars on the subway lines allweekend and I was thinking, you know, if I want to ride in a 50-year old relic,I’ll hail a cab. ... It’s also the 100th anniversary of Times Squareand here’s an interesting fact. There’sonly one original hooker left” ("Late Show," CBS, 4/16).

NBC’s Jay Leno: “Did you all watch the big ‘TheApprentice’ finale last night? Congratulations to Bill Rancic. Bill is on our show tonight. He’s the big winner. I don’tthink Kwame took it too well. After being fired, he went to see the movie ‘Kill Bill.’ ... We got tothank President Bush. He made ita lot easier for people to do taxes this year. No job, no income tax. ... Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney hasfiled an emergency legislation to freeze a court order allowing gaymarriages. We have a gayemergency. We are Code Pink! ... PaulaJones is back. She’s written a bookabout sexual harassment titled, ‘I Said No,’ and since the book is about sexualharassment, if you touch it, you bought it. Coincidently, President Clinton has also written a book about hisencounter with Paula Jones. It’scalled, ‘Man, How Drunk Was I?’” ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 4/16).

LATENIGHT LAUGHS:

Phil Mickelson appeared on CBS’ “Late Show” Friday,where he said of Tiger Woods being in a perceived slump, “He’s a player,the more the media questions him the better he comes back, so let’s not pushhim too far. We don’t want to upsethim” ("Late Show," CBS, 4/16).


SUNDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

ESPN’s11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” led with Reds-Cubs, followed by Dodgers-Giants,highlighted by Barry Bonds’ 664th and 665th homeruns, and Maple Leafs-Senators.


WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the estimated box office total for the weekend’s top 12films of $86.7M was “down slightly from the corresponding strict calendarweekend in 2003, but that was Easter weekend. When weighed against the post-Easter frame, which fell a week later ayear ago but is a more germane comparison, this year proved 16% better.” The forecasted total for all films thisweekend is in “the low- to mid-$100[M] range, up from the $92[M] posted thefirst weekend after Easter in 2003” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 4/19).

Title

Weekend

Cumulative

“Kill Bill Vol. 2”

$25.6M

$25.6M

“The Punisher”

$14.0M

$14.0M

“Johnson Family Vacation”

$6.4M

$21.5M

“Hellboy”

$5.7M

$50.4M

“Home on the Range”

$5.4M

$37.7M

“Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”

$5.1M

$72.2M

“Walking Tall”

$4.6M

$36.6M

“Ella Enchanted”

$4.4M

$13.8M

“The Passion of The Christ”

$4.2M

$360.9M

“The Alamo”

$4.1M

$16.3M


FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“Who was Judy Garland?”


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

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

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