| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | IOC Coordination Commission Today To Resume Daily Meetings In Athens |
| • | Athens Olympics Judging Controversies Continue To Dominate Media Headlines |
| • | Anti-NYC2012 Group Moves Forward, Mails Letter To IOC President Rogge |
| • | MLB Relocation Committee Finishing DC-Area Visit Today In Northern Virginia |
| • | NCAA Reinstatement Committee Officially Ends Jeremy Bloom’s Football Career |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
THE ATHENS SUMMER GAMES, DAY 13: TODAY’S HEADLINES
The Kathimerini (Greek English-language newspaper):
More Headlines:
Quotes From Athens:
"I don't feel that my medal is tainted, but I guess I have to explain that myself
because USA Gymnastics let me down. I don't know what Bob Colarossi's motivations
are for the things he does. He said to some reporters that I should give
my medal back. On TV, he said I should definitely
keep it. That's the problem: I don't know where he stands."
U.S. Gold Medalist Paul Hamm (N.Y. TIMES, 8/25).
“Well, along with some of the popular, good elements that Major League Baseball
has spread internationally comes some of the ugly, soft white underbelly of
Major League Baseball and at the top of the list is the ‘YMCA.’”
Bravo’s Matt Vasgersian, on the energetic crowd at
the Australia-Japan baseball game (Bravo, 8/24).
“It goes without saying that too often we undervalue bronze and silver in our
infatuation with the magic of gold. Clearly, Youngs and McPeak don’t care what
color their medal is. Gold, silver, bronze: they are all built to endure.”
NBC’s Jim Lampley, on U.S. beach volleyball players Holly McPeak
and Elaine Youngs winning the bronze medal (NBC, 8/24).
“What’s with a sport where the referee wears a jacket and tie?
Did this guy get lost on his way to the dog show?”
NBC’s Bob Costas, on the Olympic wrestling referees (NBC, 8/24).
“The Iraqis were not swifter, higher or stronger on this evening,
but they stood tall for the Olympic ideals here. They gave
hope and happiness to a beleaguered homeland.”
MSNBC’s Pat O’Brien, on the Iraqi soccer team’s loss to Paraguay (MSNBC, 8/24).
“Can you imagine waking up late at night having a late night pickle craving?
You stumble to the refrigerator. It’s a grisly scene.”
Costas, on U.S. wrestler Rulon Gardner keeping his amputated frostbitten toe in a jar in his refrigerator (NBC, 8/24).
Athens Blog Highlight Of The Day:
Several athletes, media outlets and other people are filing blogs in Athens. The following is an excerpt from today’s featured blog:
The Detroit News’ Jennifer Brooks: “Apparently it falls to me to defend the honor of beach volleyball. It was my turn to play in the sandbox today. … Tonight was the last night, alas, of beach volleyball at the 2004 Games. No more cheerleaders in tangerine bikinis and silver short-shorts. No more dudes dressed like Spiderman, bouncing around the stands. … I didn’t want to like beach volleyball. The playing-in-bikinis thing alone made me want to bang my head through a wall. But after interviewing the gold and bronze medalists, I developed a certain grudging respect for the sport, or at least for the players.”
View Other Athens Blogs (May require registration)
NEWS FROM ATHENS SUMMER GAMES: RATINGS, DAILY MEETINGS
Through Monday, Day 11 of the Athens Games, NBC’s primetime broadcast average rating stands at 15.8/28, up 7% from the 14.8/26 earned in ’00. The following presents a day-by-day Nielsen ratings trend for the Athens Games:
| | ‘04 | ‘00 | +/- % |
| Opening Ceremony | 14.4/26 | 16.2/29 | -11.1% |
| 2nd Day | 11.7/23 | 13.1/25 | -10.7% |
| 3rd Day | 15.4/26 | 14.4/26 | 5% |
| 4th Day | 16.6/27 | 13.8/23 | 20% |
| 5th Day | 18.3/30 | 15.5/26 | 18% |
| 6th Day | 17.3/29 | 14.6/25 | 18% |
| 7th Day | 19.3/32 | 14.9/26 | 30% |
| 8th Day | 14.4/26 | 14.9/27 | -3% |
| 9th Day | 13.6/26 | 13.3/25 | 2% |
| 10th Day | 15.8/28 | 16.0/26 | -1% |
| 11th Day | 16.4/28 | 15.8/26 | 4% |
|
| Cumulative | 15.8/28 | 14.8/26 | 7% |
AROUND THE RINGS reports that today will “see the resumption of the formerly daily meetings of the IOC Coordination Commission.” The meetings have “taken a couple of breaks due to the absence of any issues to resolve.” Additionally, new IOC Marketing Dir Timo Lumme “has arrived in Athens for his first meetings with sponsors and the media” (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 8/25).
During yesterday’s women’s beach volleyball finals and Bronze-Medal match, NBA Commissioner David Stern sat with AVP Commissioner Leonard Armato, who is also the husband of Bronze Medalist Holly McPeak (USA TODAY, 8/25). NBC’s cameras on Monday night caught Armato sitting next to Mark Spitz at the beach volleyball venue.
GROUP CONTINUES TO ATTACK NYC2012 WITH LETTER TO ROGGE
NEWSDAY reports that a group consisting of local politicians and Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn reps today will send a letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge objecting to N.Y.’s bid for the 2012 Olympics. The letter states that the proposed Jets Stadium and downtown Brooklyn arena are “opposed by neighborhood groups, would circumvent local reviews and ‘are being promoted as ‘essential’ to New York’s Olympic bid’” (NEWSDAY, 8/25).
The N.Y. POST reports that the New York Board of Electric Generation Siting and the Environment was expected to make a final ruling today on TransGas Energy’s application to build a power facility in Brooklyn where NYC2012 planners aim to place an aquatics center, but the vote has been put off over a scheduling conflict (N.Y. POST, 8/25).
NFL DEBUTING “EXTRA POINTS” CREDIT CARD IN MBNA PARTNERSHIP
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that the NFL today will introduce the “Extra Points” credit card in partnership with MBNA, “making good on a promise last year to revamp the league’s card program. The league and card company described the initiative as the first-ever sports rewards credit card.” The card earns users points, which can be “turned in for gifts ranging from dinners with a coach to Super Bowl tickets” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/19).
Former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this morning to promote the rewards program (CNBC, 8/25).
AT LEAST SIX FIRMS VYING TO BE DODGERS’ AD AGENCY OF RECORD
ADWEEK reports that the Dodgers “will hear presentations starting this week from at least” six firms vying to become the team’s ad agency of record. The contenders include Cimarron Group, Grey Global Group’s Grey, McCann Erickson, Dailey & Associates, Publicis Groupe’s Team One and Ballpark Advertising. Billings are estimated at $3M (ADWEEK, 8/23 issue).
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have inked a two-year extension of their affiliation with the PCL Las Vegas 51s through ‘06, but “unresolved stadium issues kept the major league franchise from retaining their Triple-A affiliate for any longer” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 8/25).
MLB RELOCATION COMMITTEE MEETING WITH VIRGINIA GROUP
The WASHINGTON POST reports that the MLB relocation committee will meet today with the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority, which is “trying to bring the Expos to a planned development in Loudoun County.” League officials and some team owners said MLB “would prefer to move the Expos to Loudoun County, which would allow the league to take advantage of the Washington market at minimum injury to the Orioles” (WASHINGTON POST, 8/25).
MORNING BRIEFS
Jeremy Bloom’s football career officially ended yesterday as the NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee ruled against his appeal (Boulder DAILY CAMERA, 8/25).
In conjunction with ESPN, Maxim will air “The 2004 All Maxim Team,” a September 5 special “billed as a hip, sexy, testosterone-filled” preview of the ‘04 NFL season. Actress Shannon Elizabeth will host (DAILY VARIETY, 8/25).
The MLB Cardinals yesterday agreed to purchase the Double-A Texas League El Paso Diablos, previously owned by the D’Backs, and relocate the franchise to Springfield, MO. The deal is awaiting approval from the Texas League BOD (Cardinals).
Darlington Raceway last night unveiled its new lighting system by having Jeff Gordon, Bobby Hamilton, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough drive 10 laps in front of an estimated 15,000 fans (AP, 8/24).
Former ESPN anchor Brett Haber “soon will join [WUSA-CBS] as chief sportscaster, completing … the affiliate’s overhaul of its main anchor team.” Haber will replace Frank Herzog on three daily newscasts (WASHINGTON TIMES, 8/25).
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
The USTA will hold the ’04 U.S. Open Draw Ceremony at 11:00am ET at the United Nations in N.Y.
Former Dodgers VP & GM Fred Claire today will debut “The GM Corner” on MLB.com Radio. The show will air Wednesdays at 1:00pm ET.
Mavericks Owner & HDNet Founder Mark Cuban will deliver the keynote address at the second day of the HDTV Forum 2004 at the Westin Century Plaza in L.A.
IN OTHER NEWS….
The N.Y. POST reports that Viacom “has its eye on the pricey Electronic Arts as a possible acquisition target.” Viacom is “less likely to pursue a purchase of Midway Games — which is controlled by Viacom chief Sumner Redstone — despite disclosing last week in a regulatory filing that Midway could be a possible target.” Electronic Arts has an estimated market value of $15B (N.Y. POST, 8/25).
Nielsen Media Research late yesterday reported that the total number of U.S. TV households has increased by 1.2 million from the ’03-04 season to 109,600,000. The new estimates mean that one national rating point will now represent 1,096,000 TV households, or 1% of the total (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/25).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Geographic Terms.”
“Florida is one of these, Michigan is made up of several and Alaska is the biggest one in the Americas.”
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS’ David Letterman: “A woman in New York City goes into a restaurant and orders a salad, and in her salad she finds the tip of a finger. New York City is a tough town. Even your appetizers give you the finger. … Presidential nominee John Kerry was in town today and it really is a tough town. He got two more Purple Hearts. … Laura Bush turned down an opportunity to appear in a photograph with P Diddy. Do you think politically that’s a problem? Now I understand why she’d be reluctant to have her picture taken with P Diddy. Of course, we all know at one time they were married … They captured Osama bin Laden’s cook. I believe his name is Sheik Boyardee. … John Kerry and George Bush also have Olympic fever. They got into the spirit. They have their own event: synchronized lying. … Scientists in Virginia are using computers and forensic devices to figure out exactly what George Washington looked like, and they have all kinds of specialists, and if this works on George Washington, they’re going to try the same thing on Cher” (“Late Show,” CBS, 8/24).
LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:
Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Signs You’re Not Going To Win A Gold Medal In Olympic Softball,” read by the U.S. softball team via satellite in Athens (“Late Show,” CBS, 8/24).
| 10) “Your religion forbids you from hitting anything with a bat.” |
| 9) “You could hit .400 and still not be hitting your weight.” |
| 8) “Only three players show up for your final game because Oprah’s on.” |
| 7) “Because of your travel agent, the earliest you can get to Greece is November.” |
| 6) “Your starting lineup includes six players from the Montreal Expos.” |
| 5) “Every time there’s a popup the outfielder yells, ‘Run for your lives!’” |
| 4) “Your starting shortstop – the frozen head of Ted Williams.” |
| 3) “Won’t go to third base because you’re ‘just not that kind of girl.’” |
| 2) “Your pitcher leaves in the fifth inning to ‘beat traffic.’” |
| 1) “You got nine players, one uniform.” |
LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | Yankees RF Gary Sheffield | Rams; Stanley Cup or Gold Medal? |
| ESPN | “PTI” | Rams QB Marc Bulger | Chargers sign Philip Rivers; Jeremy Wariner winning the 400m |
| ESPN | 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” | Giants-Marlins | Padres-Mets; NL Wild Card race |
HOT TOPIC: Last night’s edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” first reported on the Olympics at 11:55 into the broadcast, with a report on the U.S. dive team not having won a medal. The broadcast had 5:23 of total Olympic coverage.
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What is a peninsula?”
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