Morning Buzz, August 3, 2004

FIRST ROAD COURSE RACES IN HISTORY HIGHLIGHT ’05 IRL SKED

The IRL today will release its ’05 schedule, and the INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that the first two road course races in IRL history – at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma and Watkins Glen Int’l – “highlight the series’ 16-race schedule.” Indy cars have not raced at Infineon since ’70 and “last were at Watkins Glen in ’81 – both prior to the formation of the IRL in ’96.” It is also “possible that the IRL will add a street race to the schedule,” possibly in St. Petersburg, FL (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/3).

NASCAR EXPECTED TO FINE JIMMIE JOHNSON FOR SPONSOR BLOCKING

KNIGHT RIDDER reports that NASCAR as early as today is expected to fine Nextel Cup driver Jimmie Johnson upwards of $15,000 for “obscuring the view” of NASCAR sponsor PowerAde’s oversized bottle with a sign of his primary sponsor, Lowe’s, after winning Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500. Johnson: “It’s weird that the driver – in Victory Lane – has to worry about defending and honoring your sponsor because relationships that exist outside of your control” (KNIGHT RIDDER, 8/3).

ABC EXPECTED TO RENEW ROSE BOWL DEAL FOR FOUR OR EIGHT YEARS

USA TODAY reports that with its “exclusive negotiating period to renew the Rose Bowl contract likely expiring today, ABC appears set to agree on a four- or eight-year extension,” starting after the ’06 season. The deal may increase the average annual rights fee from $25.5M to more than $30M. Rose Bowl consultant Neal Pilson: “We are in the final stages, but negotiations continue” (USA TODAY, 8/3).

DOWNTOWN K.C. ARENA REFERENDUM GOES BEFORE VOTERS TODAY

K.C. residents today will vote on Question 1 which, if approved, will increase hotel and rental car taxes to help pay for the city’s proposed downtown arena. Coalition Against Arena Taxes Campaign Treasurer Russ Purvis and K.C. Mayor Kay Barnes wrote separate op-eds in the K.C. Star pleading their cases:

Purvis: “The proposal is long on benefits to [AEG], which will receive up to 16[%] return on its investment. … What we still don’t know about this flawed proposal can hurt us. And what we do know is just as bad” (K.C. STAR, 8/1).

Barnes: “Approval of Question 1 will not raise the property, earnings or any other general tax, now or ever. Anyone who claims this issue will raise general taxes is simply lying. … The new arena will allow the city to compete once again for major conventions, meetings, top name concerts and events” (K.C. STAR, 8/1).

MORNING BRIEFS

Yankees and Red Sox execs are “exploring a plan to merge the YES Network and the Red Sox-owned [NESN]” (N.Y. POST, 8/3).

Callaway Golf Chair & CEO Ron Drapeau yesterday resigned after three years at the helm. BOD member William Baker will replace Drapeau on an interim basis(SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/3).

The Univ. of Pittsburgh has entered into a five-year deal with adidas that will outfit all of the school’s varsity teams head-to-toe. The deal is worth more than $5M in cash and apparel. Previously, the school’s football team had a deal with Nike, while both hoops programs had adidas deals (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/3).

The Bengals yesterday extended coach Marvin Lewis’ contract through the ’07 season for an estimated $2M annually (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 8/3).

Titans & AFL Nashville Kats Owner Bud Adams has agreed on a one-year lease with two three-year options for the Kats to begin play at the Gaylord Entertainment Center next season (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 8/3).

Colorado District Judge Terry Ruckriegle yesterday complied with the Colorado and U.S. Supreme Courts by releasing transcripts from closed-door hearings in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case (DENVER POST, 8/3).

The Pac-10 yesterday signed two-year agreements to send its No. 6 team to the Emerald Bowl and its No. 7 team to the Silicon Valley Football Classic (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 8/3).

THE BACK PAGES

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

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

TODAY’S EVENTS

CBS will host its annual NFL media day on the set of “The NFL Today” at noon ET. CBS Sports President Sean McManus, Exec Producer Tony Petitti, CBS Sales President JoAnn Ross, Lead Game Producer Lance Barrow, Lead Game Dir Mike Arnold and “The NFL Today” Coordinating Producer Eric Mann will be joined by CBS talent including Jim Nantz, Greg Gumbel, Shannon Sharpe, Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason.

The Masie Center President & Clarke House Stables Owner Elliott Masie presents HorseTechnology 2004 at Saratoga Race Course. The seminar will explore the current and future uses of computers in various aspects of the equine business.

The Washington Post will announce the winner of “Fantasy Job” for the Redskins August 14 preseason game against the Panthers. The sweeps allows winners to “get an insider’s view of what it takes to put on a Redskins game each week” (Columbia STATE, 8/1).

The ABA Kentucky Colonels will sign a two-year lease with Louisville Gardens. The expansion franchise has agreed to spend nearly $100,000 on upgrades for the building (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 8/2).

Bobcats Assistant GM Karl Hicks, assistant coach Jeff Capel and NBDL Fayetteville Patriots President Todd DeMoss will hold a 1:00 pm ET joint press conference at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC.

IN OTHER NEWS….

DAILY VARIETY reports that in one of the “biggest basic-cable deals ever, Comedy Central will end up shelling out an eight-figure sum to keep Dave Chappelle and his “Chappelle’s Show” on [the net] through 2006” (DAILY VARIETY, 8/3). Under the deal, Chappelle “will get a hefty cut of [the show’s] DVD sales. Total: at least $35[M]” (USA TODAY, 8/3).

The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that DirecTV is acquiring Pegasus Communications for $875M. The acquisition will not directly add to DirecTV’s subscriber count, as one million Pegasus customers were already included (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/3).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

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

“Officially added as a medal event in 1996, it’s one of the few team events where shoes are not worn.”

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

CBS’ David Letterman: “Wow, what an ovation! Thank you. That lasted about as long as a John Kerry convention bounce. … Let me give you an idea how hot it is in New York City today. Earlier today on my lunch hour, to take a break I’m walking through Central Park, and I saw a squirrel blowing on his nuts. … Congratulations, you got here just in time for Terror Alert Monday. Good to have you here. … They’re shooting a big Hollywood movie for the first time ever at the United Nations, and you know what I was thinking. Sadly, it’s probably the most important work the U.N. has done in years. … According to his daughter, John Kerry once gave CPR to a drowning hamster. So you see, he does have a health care plan” (“Late Show,” CBS, 8/2).

NBC’s Jay Leno: “That’s what John Kerry was yelling all weekend. ‘Help is on the way.’ No, I’m sorry. That was Mike Tyson’s trainer trying to get him off the canvas. … Unknown British heavyweight Danny Williams knocked out Mike Tyson in the fourth round. He got Brit-slapped. I think Robin Givens put up a bigger fight the last time. In fact, during the fight, Williams was penalized for hitting Tyson below the belt. Man, how high is voice going to be now? … Now that the convention is over, things are getting back to normal in Boston, which of course is bad news for the Red Sox. … Bush and Cheney have a new campaign theme, ‘Heart and soul.’ It sounded a lot better than their first choice, ‘Oil and gas.’ … Today, President Bush said he is working hard to cut off al Qaeda’s finances. He wants to bankrupt them and believe me, he’s the man to do it. … Ricky Williams told the Miami Herald one of the reasons he retired from the NFL at the age of 27 is because he wanted to continue smoking marijuana. Isn’t that unbelievable? You can’t possibly have a job that pays you millions of dollars and let’s you smoke marijuana, right Kevin [Eubanks]?” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 8/2).

LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

HOT TOPIC: Last night’s edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” first reported on the “Battle at The Bridges” at 17:04 into the broadcast, with 2:51 of total coverage.

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What is beach volleyball?”

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