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Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz, April 20, 2004

The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
9:00am ET

USTA Today To Announce Summer Series That Will Lead Up To U.S. Open

With His Own Suit, Mike Williams Hoping For Hearing Today On Draft Eligibility

Bears Today To Re-Launch Official Web Site With Two Fan-Oriented Sections

HBO, ESPN/ESPN2 Take Home Seven Awards Apiece At Sports Emmy Awards

Yanks-Red Sox Series Draws 140,224; Second-Highest Fenway Series Since ‘67

Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy!


USTA TODAY TO UNVEIL U.S. OPEN SERIES; ESPN, CBS, NBC ON BOARD

The Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL reports that the USTA todayin N.Y. will announce it has “linkedsix men’s and four women’s tournaments with the U.S. Open, strapping thepackage together alongside a landmark television deal with ESPN, CBS and NBCthat will produce 100 hours of live tennis even before the players get to thefinal Grand Slam of the season.”  Theprogram will be called the U.S. Open Series. Coupled with the “140 hours of TV at the U.S. Open, tennis on AmericanTV will command 240 hours” from July 12 through September 12 (Ft.Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 4/20).

Today’s announcement was reported in thisweek’s issue of sister publication SportsBusiness Journal.


MIKE WILLIAMS FILES FEDERAL LAWSUIT SEEKING INJUNCTION

The N.Y. TIMES reports that the agent for NFL prospect MikeWilliams said that he “hoped the federal court would grant Williams ahearing date today” after the former USC WR yesterday filed a federal lawsuitin N.Y. seeking an “an injunction that would allow him to be in the NFLdraft.”  Williams’ lawsuit “asserts thatthe NFL made conflicting statements about its age requirements as a result ofthe district court’s ruling, causing Williams to forfeit his collegeeligibility” (N.Y.TIMES, 4/20).

ESPN.com reported that Williams “could lose up to $400,000 in marketing deals if his entryinto the NFL is postponed, according to Steve Rosner, a partner in 16WMarketing, which was retained by Williams’ agent Mike Azzarelli” (ESPN.com,4/19).

NFL ExecVP Jeff Pash, on the stay in the Maurice Clarett suit: “We arepleased that the court has issued a stay. As the court order says, we have ‘demonstrated a likelihood of successon the merits.’  We are grateful for theprompt attention the court has given to this matter and we await its decisionon the merits” (NFL).


BEARS TODAY TO RE-LAUNCH OFFICIAL WEB SITE WITH NEW SECTIONS

The Bears today will re-launch their official Web site with two new sections allowingfans to have an increased role in shaping the content of the site.  The “Fans First – Live It” section featuresfan quotes and message boards, while the “Chalk Talk” section offers regularQ&A sessions with Bears Web writer Larry Mayer.  A weekly Web TV show with Bears players and coacheswill also be available.  The Web site ishosted by Epic Cycle Interactive, which hosts five other official NFL teamsites (Bears).


MORNING BRIEFS

The 25th annual Sports Emmy Awards were distributed last night. HBO won eight statuettes, while ESPN/ESPN2 won seven.  NBC led all broadcast nets with five, while Fox and ABC won three each (THE DAILY).

Fox Sports President Ed Goren, on the 3.6 nationalNielsen rating for Friday’s Yankees-Red Sox broadcast being lower thanexpected: “We didn’t have an advantage of exclusivity.  That definitely was part of the equation.”  On if the rating was below advertiserprojections: “It was insignificant.  Itcould be made up later in the season” (USATODAY, 4/20).

The NCAA Div. I Management Council yesterday votedunanimously to “repeal a rule on scholarship limits in basketball and replaceit with one that rewards teams for overall academic performance.”  NCAA President Myles Brand: “If youhave a very high performing academic team that graduated almost everyone, thatteam’s not going to be affected.  But ifit turns out they haven’t had a good graduation rate – and we haven’t set thatnumber yet – then that school will be affected” (AP, 4/19).

WNBA.com set a record for daily traffic with 1.3 millionpage views on April 17, the day of the WNBA Draft.  The mark eclipsed the previous record of 1 million page viewsestablished during last year’s draft (WNBA).

The L.A. TIMES reports that the MLS Galaxy have cancelednext week’s match against the Iranian national team at the Rose Bowl.  The game could “be rescheduled for thesummer or fall if various roadblocks can be cleared.”  An estimated 10,000 tickets had been sold for the match and acrowd of 20,000-35,000 was expected (L.A.TIMES, 4/20).

The WASHINGTON POST reports that Iraqi Olympic CommitteePresident Ahmed Samarrai “met with a host of business leaders yesterdayin Washington to discuss sponsorship opportunities with the country’s resurgentOlympic movement.”  The effort is Iraq’s“first foray into sports marketing” (WASHINGTONPOST, 4/20).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

  • MLB announced that through 181 games, average attendance is 31,223, the highest figure since detailed attendance data was first recorded in ’80.  The other season in which average attendance surpassed 30,000 was ’93 with 30,436 (MLB).
  • The BOSTON GLOBE reports that total attendance of 140,224 for the Yankees-Red Sox four-game series was the “second-highest for a four-game series at Fenway since 1967.  The Sox and Yankees drew 140,743” during a four-game set in ’88 (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/20).
  • The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES reports that the Cubs “set a Wrigley Field attendance record for a four-game series, drawing 159,461” from Friday-Monday against the Reds.  With 210 new premium seats, the record “could be rewritten this season” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/20).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The L.A. TIMES’ T.J. Simers writes, “A representative for Beyoncecalled the Lakers and wanted a courtside seat for the game with theRockets.  When told there were noneavailable, the rep said, ‘We’re talking Beyonce here.’  Let me just say this, at no time did theLakers think of asking Jack Nicholson to give his seat toBeyonce” (L.A.TIMES, 4/20).


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

ESPN2’s “Cold Pizza” celebrates its six-month anniversaryon the air.

Twins Owner CarlPohlad will attend the Welcome Home Twins Luncheon at the RadissonRiverfront in St. Paul (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 4/20).

The six-day Dodge Tour de Georgia begins in Macon, with LanceArmstrong among the competitors.

A special-edition two-disc DVD of “A League Of Their Own”hits retail for $25 (USA TODAY, 4/20).

Maxim hits newsstands today, in which Yankees 1B JasonGiambi responds to the question, “If you could endorse any product, whatwould you choose?”  Giambi: “JackDaniels would save me a lot of money.” Others in the issue include agent Scott Boras and Yankees SS Derek Jeter (N.Y. POST, 4/18).


IN OTHER NEWS….

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that 72.5% of members of WaltDisney’s 401(k) plan “withheld their votes for Michael Eisner for theboard.”  Former BOD members RoyDisney and Stanley Gold called the withheld votes a “meaningfulbarometer of employee dissatisfaction” with management (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 4/20).

The N.Y. POST reports that nine employees in LongIsland-based Computer Associates’ legal and finance department “were firedafter an internal investigation of [the company’s] accounting practices.  The dismissals were related to financialfilings made in 2000, when the company prematurely recognized $1.4[B] inrevenue to hit quarterly targets.”  Thecompany’s BOD will “meet this week, perhaps as early as today, to discuss” CEO SanjayKumar’s “position with the company.” Kumar is an Islanders co-Owner (N.Y. POST, 4/20).  


FINAL JEOPARDY!

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

“From 1894 to 1896 this committee was headed by DimitriosVikelas.”


LAUGH TRACK

THEMONOLOGUES:

NBC’sJay Leno: “Slow weekend here in Los Angeles.  It rained on Saturday. The Dodgers are away.  The pornindustry has been totally shutdown. It’s a ghost town! ... According to the Los Angeles Daily News, expertsare now saying the porn industry might need government regulation.  Finally, a job for Bill Clinton. ...Prime Minister Tony Blair was at the White House last week and PresidentBush said, ‘You know, for someone not from this country, his English waspretty good.’ ... McDonald’s is now rolling out a new marketing campaignpromoting all the healthy choices a customer can make at McDonald’s.  A healthy choice at McDonald’s?  That’s pretty much the exit, isn’t it? ...Texas consumes more beer than any other state. You know what that means?  Texansare the least likely to remember ‘The Alamo.’ ... I don’t want to say ‘TheAlamo’ is a bomb, but they’re already calling it Fort Gigli. ... The world’soldest worker retired at the age of 104. He lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and worked as a scientist andteacher.  He didn’t want to retire, butapparently they found a 103-year-old guy in India who would work cheaper” ("TheTonight Show," NBC, 4/19).

LATENIGHT LAUGHS:

Comedy Central’s JonStewart: “Let’s begin tonight in the Middle East, where astonishingly, anact of violence has occurred.  If yourecall, about four weeks ago, Israeli helicopters fired a missile that killed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leaderof Hamas.  And as you may know, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi was named hissuccessor.  And on Saturday, they killedhim too, sparking fresh outrage amongst Palestinians, which is good because theoutrage was getting a little stale there. The outrage was almost a month old and it’s good to get some freshoutrage in a situation when the outrage is looking moldy” (“The Daily Show,” Comedy Central, 4/19).


MONDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

Net

Show

Lead

Next Items

ESPN

“Around The Horn”

Yankees-Red Sox

NBA playoffs; Pacers F Ron Artest

ESPN

“PTI”

Stay in Maurice Clarett case

Yankees-Red Sox; Pacers F Ron Artest

ESPN

11:00pm ET “SportsCenter”

Stay in Maurice Clarett case

Padres-Giants; Canadiens-Bruins

FSN

“BDSSP”

Stay in Maurice Clarett case

Film director Penny Marshall; Univ. of Iowa T Robert Gallery

FSN

“New England Sports Tonight”

Canadiens-Bruins

Yankees-Red Sox; Bengals-Patriots trade

FSN

“Southwest Sports Report”

Grizzlies-Spurs

Mavericks-Kings; NFL Draft


FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What is the International Olympic Committee?”


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

TheMorning Buzz provides an early update of the news and headlines each Mondaythrough Friday at approximately 9:00am ET. If you would like to sign up for ane-mail alert to the Morning Buzz, go to My Account and personalize your e-mail alert options.

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