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Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz, June 23, 2004

The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
9:00am ET

Wheaties Today To Unveil Boxes Featuring Carl Lewis And Joyner-Kersee

MLB All-Star FanFest Spot Featuring Roger Clemens Breaks Today In Houston

IOC Concludes Two-Day Crisis Management Exercise Today In Athens

Jaguars Tonight To Host Hard-Hat Party To Unveil Club Seat Area Renovations

Carmelo Anthony Reportedly Joins U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team

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


WHEATIES TO UNVEIL BOXES FEATURING CARL LEWIS &JOYNER-KERSEE

By Terry Lefton,Editor-at-Large, The Sports BusinessDaily

Wheaties this morning will unveil cereal boxes carrying thelikenesses of Carl Lewis and Jackie Joyner-Kersee at a pressconference in N.Y.  Other track &field stars to appear on the Wheaties package through the years include Jim Thorpe, Bruce Jenner, Bob Richards,Babe Didrikson, Michael Johnson, Dan O’Brienand Stacy Dragila.



ROGER CLEMENS FEATURED IN NEW MLB ALL-STAR FANFEST SPOT

By Terry Lefton,Editor-at-Large, The Sports BusinessDaily

A 10-second TV ad pumping the John Hancock MLBAll-Star FanFest featuring Astros P RogerClemens and family breaks on Houston’sairwaves today.  The ad will run locallyon CBS, ESPN, FSN and ClearChannel Cable. Hispanic-targeted ads will runlocally on Univision and ESPN Deportes. Additional ad support for FanFest comesfrom radio spots using former Astros P NolanRyan.  MLB Senior VP/Advertising Jacqueline Parkes: “As a new hometownhero, we’re hoping Clemens can push awareness and attendance.”


IOC CONCLUDING TWO-DAY CRISIS MANAGEMENT EXERCISE

The AP reports that IOC staff and organizers, led byOlympics Exec Dir Gilbert Felli,today conclude a two-day exercise in crisis management for the Athens Games.  The test is “designed to prepare for possiblescenarios, including security threats and traffic problems.”  The period being tested is August 24-25, the11th and 12th days of the Athens Games (AP, 6/23).


JAGUARS LOWER TICKET PRICES FOR APPROXIMATELY 2,000CLUB SEATS

The FLORIDA TIMES-UNION reports that the Jaguars Owner Wayne Weaver will host a hard-hat partytonight from 6:00-8:00pm ET at Alltel Stadium to “display the progress [theteam has] made renovating the club seat area.” The club yesterday lowered club seat season-ticket prices from $1,925 to$1,200 per seat for roughly 900 seats, while 1,100 seats have been reduced from$1,925 to $1,500.  Jaguars Exec Dir ofTicket Sales & Services Scott Loft:“We’ve done a lot of surveying of the fans – from the club seat food to the atmosphereto ticket pricing – and the public told us the seats were overpriced” (FLORIDATIMES-UNION, 6/23).


NEW UPPER DECK EXQUISITE CARD SELLS FOR $62,100 ON EBAY

USATODAY notes that an Upper Deck Exquisite card featuring the game-worn NBA logopatches from LeBron James and Kobe Bryant recently sold on eBay for$62,100, the highest price for a modern-era card.  Shreveport’s Kerry Bird bought the card from Fresno’s RickMirigan, who found the card inside a pack of the $500-per-pack Upper Deckcollection (USA TODAY, 6/23).

Meanwhile, SportsCards Plus announced that it will host theOctober 2-4 auction, “The Babe Comes Home – A Celebration of New YorkBaseball,” at the N.Y. Marriott Marquis in Manhattan. The auction will include the bat BabeRuth used to hit his first home run in the new Yankee Stadium on April 18,1923 (SportsCards Plus).


MORNING BRIEFS

The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION reports that the Hawks will not“change individual-game ticket prices next season.”  The club also “restructured season-ticketdiscounts so that some buyers will pay slightly more and a small number ofbuyers slightly less than last season” (ATLANTACONSTITUTION, 6/23).

The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that theNFL Cardinals and Arizona State Univ. have reached a settlement in theirdispute over sign revenue at Sun Devil Stadium. The team dropped its $12M demand, filed in November '00, in exchange for the right to sellsignage and receive all net revenues from their games (ARIZONAREPUBLIC, 6/23).

The AP reports that Nuggets F Carmelo Anthony has accepted an invitation to play on the U.S.Olympic men’s basketball team.  The spotbecame available when Pistons C BenWallace and G Richard Hamilton declinedinvitations because of security concerns (AP,6/23).

The New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE reports Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has signed a bill thatrequires an agent to “contact a school’s coach or athletic director at least aweek before approaching a player.”  Thebill also prohibits agents from using others to contact athletes (NewOrleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 6/23).

The CP reports that the ABA Vancouver expansion franchiseyesterday hired Jim Harrick as headcoach, “more than a year after being forced to resign” amid accusations ofacademic fraud and paying players as the Univ. of Georgia’s men’s basketballcoach (CP, 6/23).

USATODAY notes that BCS officials “hope to reveal details of an altered computerformula by late July.”  Big 12 Commissioner& new BCS Coordinator Kevin Weibergpreviously said that he “had hoped to unveil a formula this week” (USATODAY, 6/23).

ATTENDANCE WATCH:

  • The Orioles drew an Oriole Park at Camden Yards record crowd of 49,696 for last night’s game against the Yankees, eclipsing the previous record of 49,549 set last June against the Phillies (Orioles).
  • The CHARLOTTE OBSERVER reports that a crowd of roughly 550 attended the Bobcats Expansion Draft event at Founders Hall in Charlotte (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 6/23).
  • The NCAA yesterday revealed ’03-04 men’s basketball attendance figures.  The Big Ten led the nation in attendance, with 12,779 per game.  The following details the top ten schools based on average attendance (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 6/23):

RK

SCHOOL

AVG. ATTENDANCE

1)

Univ. of Kentucky

22,710

2)

Syracuse Univ.

21,825

3)

Univ. of North Carolina

20,802

4)

Univ. of Louisville

19,443

5)

Univ. of Maryland

17,950

6)

Univ. of Wisconsin

17,142

7)

Indiana Univ.

16,487

8)

Univ. of Kansas

16,300

9)

Univ. of Illinois

16,072

10)

Univ. of Memphis

15,432


ESPN RANKS THE WORST 25 TEAMS OF THE LAST 25 YEARS

Last night ESPN ranked the 25 worst teams over the last 25years on its telecast of "ESPN25: Who's #1? Worst Teams" (ESPN, 6/22):

RK

TEAM

RK

TEAM

1)

’91 Prairie View A&M football

14)

’92-93 Mavericks

2)

’81 Northwestern Univ. football

15)

’97 Rutgers Univ. football

3)

’85 Columbia Univ. football

16)

’02 Devil Rays

4)

’86-87 Clippers

17)

’81-82 Cavaliers

5)

’97-98 Nuggets

18)

’80 Saints

6)

’92-93 Sharks

19)

’96 Jets

7)

’98 Marlins

20)

’01 Univ. of Houston football

8)

’91-92 Prairie View A&M basketball

21)

’95-96 Grizzlies

9)

’96 Tigers

22)

’90 Patriots

10)

’88 Orioles

23)

’00 Duke Univ. football

11)

’92-93 Senators

24)

’89 Cowboys

12)

’99-00 Clippers

25)

’82-83 Rockets

13)

’88 Kansas State Univ. football


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
Newsday

TODAY’S EVENTS

FoxSports TV Group Chair & CEO DavidHill will receive the “Good Scout” award, presented by the Boy Scouts ofAmerica’s Greater N.Y. Councils, at a noon ET luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoriain N.Y.  NFL Exec VP & COO Roger Goodell and A-B VP/Global Media& Sports Advertising Tony Ponturowill attend.

ThePromotion Marketing Association will host Star Power 2004 at the N.Y. Hilton& Towers, where The Sports Business Daily/SportsBusiness JournalEditor-at-Large Terry Lefton willmoderate a 3:00pm ET panel discussion, “The Power of Sports.”  Panelists include WWE VP/Marketing Dan Levi, MLB Senior VP/Advertising Jacqueline Parkes and SFX Sports GroupExec VP Rob Urbach.

Representativesfrom NYC2012, the N.Y. Road Runners Foundation, Time Warner and the N.Y.Department of Education will join nine-time NYC Marathon winner Grete Waitz in celebrating Olympic Dayat 11:45am ET in Central Park.

NBCSports will conduct a noon ET conference call to discuss its coverage of Wimbledon with play-by-play announcer Ted Robinson and analysts John McEnroe and Mary Carillo.

NBCSports also will conduct a 2:00pm ET conference call to preview the net’scoverage of Sunday’s ArenaBowl XVIII. NBC Sports President Ken Schanzer,“AFL on NBC” producer David Gibson,play-by-play announcer Tom Hammondand analyst Ray Bentley willparticipate.

Northeastern Univ. will announce its move to theColonial Athletic Association during a 3:30pm ET news conference.  The school will remain in the America EastConference for two more seasons before moving to the CAA in ’06.  The CAA also will add GeorgiaState in ’06, bringing the conferenceto 12 members (BOSTONGLOBE, 6/23).

TheMISL Chicago Storm will conduct their expansion draft at 3:00pm ET viaconference call, and the DAILY SOUTHTOWN notes that Storm will draft 16players.  Each of the other nine MISLfranchises was allowed to protect 11 members of its roster (DAILYSOUTHTOWN, 6/23).

Monica Seles will discuss herparticipation in World TeamTennis in a 1:00pm ET conference call.  Seles plays for the N.Y. Sportimes.


IN OTHER NEWS….

The American Film Institute last night unveiled its top 100movie songs of all time during CBS’ three-hour “AFI’s 100 Years 100 Songs”broadcast.  The following details the topten: (AFI) View the entire list.

RK

SONG

MOVIE

1)

Over the Rainbow

“The Wizard of Oz”

2)

As Time Goes By

Casablanca

3)

Singin' in the Rain

“Singin’ in the Rain”

4)

Moon River

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s”

5)

White Christmas

“Holiday Inn”

6)

Mrs. Robinson

“The Graduate”

7)

When You Wish Upon A Star

“Pinocchio”

8)

The Way We Were

“The Way We Were”

9)

Stayin' Alive

“Saturday Night Fever”

10)

The Sound of Music

“The Sound of Music”

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Fox Entertainment Groupyesterday appointed Fox Networks VP RichBattista to the newly created position of Exec VP/Business Development& Strategy.  He will report to FoxEntertainment Group President & COO PeterChernin and Fox Networks Group President & CEO Tony Vinciquerra (HOLLYWOODREPORTER, 6/23).

NEWSDAY reports that Universal McCann Senior VP & Dir ofForecasting Robert Coen yesterdayincreased his estimate for ’04 ad spending, predicting a 7.3% increase over‘03’s figures, higher than his December prediction of a 6.9% increase.  Coen cited the “growth of network televisionad sales so far this year and the projected gains from Summer Olympics andNovember elections spending” (NEWSDAY,6/23).


FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was"Historic Partnerships." 

"The almost four-decade collaboration of these twoGermans began in Parisin 1844." 


LAUGH TRACK

THEMONOLOGUES:

CBS' David Letterman: "Yesterday wasthe summer solstice.  You know what thatis?  That's the longest day of theyear.  In fact, it's still yesterday. ...Already you can tell it's summer. ... Coming to work today, my cab driver waswearing a flypaper turban. ... Hold onto something.  Brace yourselves ladies and gentlemen,because you're not going to believe this. Are you ready for this story? According to certain gossip columnists, Jennifer Lopez is still married. ... At halftime of the Super Bowlsome guy runs out onto the field, and takes off all his clothes, and goesrunning around.  Well, this guy wassentenced to six months in prison.  Meanwhile,still roaming the streets free: JanetJackson. ... President Bill Clinton'sautobiography was in bookstores today, and it was a great day for Bill.  They published the book, and the first dayout, he sold 1,500 books at a book signing, and got six phone numbers. ... Ibelieve the last time Clintondid a media blitz likes this, it was to deny all the stuff that's in hisbook" ("Late Show," CBS,6/22).

NBC'sJay Leno: "It seems a Northwestpilot, while trying to land at an airport in South Dakota, got confused and landed at anair force base instead.  Didn't even knowhe was at the wrong airport.  Well, goodto see our Homeland Security thing is up and running!  Here's the most embarrassing part of thiswhole incident.  This happened just asNorthwest pilots are fighting to get more pay. This should help their case! ... Bill Clinton's autobiography came outtoday, and I understand it's based on a true story. ... Clinton was on '60 Minutes' on Sunday, andyesterday he was on 'Elimidate.' ... Today, Bill Clinton was on 'Oprah' talkingabout the book.  I guess tomorrow he's on'Maury Povich' doing one of those paternity test shows. ... Presidentialcandidate Ralph Nader has finallypicked a running mate.  Why?  You know why? He's guaranteed of getting at least two votes. ... This guy has all thequalifications Ralph Nader is looking for in a candidate.  He said yes" ("The Tonight Show," NBC, 6/22).

LATENIGHT LAUGHS:

Last night's Top Ten list was "Top Ten Thoughts ThatWent Through Ken Griffey Jr.'s MindAs He Hit His 500th Home Run," read by Reds CF Ken Griffey Jr. viasatellite.  ("Late Show," CBS, 6/22).

10) "500 home runs!  That entitles me to one free pizza at any participating Pizza Hut."

9) "I owe it all to Dr. Phil."

8) "This is the time to debut my pants-less home run trot." 

7) "Hey, maybe this'll help me land an invitation to Commissioner Selig's Fourth of July party." 

6) "I'm five percent of the way to 10,000 home runs!" 

5) "Now I've gotta go on eBay to buy the ball back." 

4) "What a coincidence – today's also the 500th time I took a leak in Sean Casey's locker." 

3) "Maybe with this I'll be named Cincinnati Reds Employee of the Week." 

2) "C'mon, hurry up!  I wanna make the 7:20 showing of 'Dodgeball.'" 

1) "Anyone dumps Gatorade on me, I'm gonna pound 'em with a fungo bat."

CBS’ Craig Kilborn: “I just read Bill Clinton’s book. Hundreds of affairs, thousands oflies, lawsuits, subpoenas. Then I got to page two. Experts say Bill Clinton’sbook could earn $100M. Hillary wants to burn it. George Bush wants to color it. And JohnKerry wants to marry it. Very, verypopular book. A thousand people waited in line for an autographed copy of BillClinton’s book. There was pushing, there was shoving. There was groping. Andthat’s just when Bill signs your book. … Lord of the Rings star, Liv Tyler, is pregnant. So after all these years of looking like a grandfather, Steven Tyler finally is one. … Speaking of music, in the middle of a concert, David Bowie was hit in the face with a lollipop. Or, as Michael Jackson callsit, ‘no sex tonight’” (“The Late, Late Show,” CBS, 6/23).


LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

Net

Show

Lead

Next Items

ESPN

“Around The Horn”

Possible Rockets-Magic trade

MLB Giants; Rudy Tomjanovich next Lakers coach?

ESPN

“PTI”

Possible Rockets-Magic trade

Possible Lakers-Clippers trade; Bobcats’ expansion draft

ESPN

11:00pm ET “SportsCenter”

Possible Rockets-Magic trade

Devil Rays-Blue Jays; Cubs-Cardinals

FSN

“I, Max”

Possible Rockets-Magic trade

Lakers trading Shaquille O'Neal?; Angels RF Vladimir Guerrero

FSN

“BDSSP”

Possible Rockets-Magic trade

Actress Christine Taylor; Warriors F Mike Dunleavy Jr.

FSN

“Southern Sports Report”

Myrtle Beach Pelicans OF Jeff Francouer

College World Series; Bobcats’ expansion draft

MSG

“SportsDesk”

Reds-Mets

Braves-Marlins; Phillies-Expo


FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

"Who are KarlMarx and Friedrich Engels?"


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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