| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Thursday, October 28, 2004
9:00am ET | |
| |
| • | Red Sox Sweep Away Curse Of The Bambino With World Series Win |
| • | Oakland Coliseum Authority Exec Dir Ann Haley Wins The Daily’s WS Contest |
| • | NFL Owners To Receive Update Today On L.A. Stadium Sites During Meeting |
| • | Cablevision Slaps The Mets With Lawsuit After Team Announces Plans For RSN |
| • | Chargers Again In Danger Of Blackout For Sunday’s Game Against The Raiders |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
RED SOX SWEEP AWAY CURSE OF THE BAMBINO WITH WORLD SERIES WIN
The Red Sox last night completed a World Series sweep of the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, burying the Curse of the Bambino after 86 years of frustration. The historic win took the lead in newspapers around the country:
FOREVER CHANGED: USA TODAY notes that Red Sox Owner John Henry asked Red Sox President & CEO Larry Lucchino prior to Game Four,“If this were to happen, is there anything bigger to happen in New England since the Revolutionary War?” Henry: “He couldn’t think of something. That’s how big it would be” (USA TODAY, 10/28).
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig: “There’s a uniqueness around the Red Sox that you can just feel. Their story has been a regional or even a national catharsis” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/28).
SHINING BEACON: Beacon Capital Partners is celebrating the World Series victory by switching the Hancock tower weather beacon to constant red and blue flashing, the first ever change to the color scheme. The change will be in place until Boston’s victory parade concludes (Beacon). Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said this morning on WBZ-AM that a victory parade for the Red Sox will most likely be held on Saturday. An official announcement will be made early this afternoon (BOSTON.com, 10/28).
PARTY TIME: USA TODAY notes that a crowd of nearly 100,000 “swarmed the streets outside Fenway Park” following the Red Sox’ victory. Unlike last week’s partying after the Sox beat the Yankees in the ALCS, “there was a larger number of police, and the crowd was more controlled” (USA TODAY, 10/28).
TICKETS: The BOSTON GLOBE reports that Cardinals fans “might have bailed and sold tickets after the disheartening loss to the Sox in Game 3,” as “there were a lot of Sox fans in the stands last night who lingered 
long after the final out” (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/28).
COVER BOY: Wheaties last night unveiled a special-edition package featuring Red Sox DH/1B David Ortiz on the front. The package will be available nationally in mid-November (General Mills).
TOP O’ THE MORNING: CBS’ “The Early Show,” NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America” all led with the Red Sox winning the World Series. “The Early Show” interviewed Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, while “Today” talked with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and P Curt Schilling. “Good Morning America” interviewed Schilling and his wife (THE DAILY).
Epstein, on where the team goes from here: “Everyone likes to talk about 1918 is the last time we won, but go back a little further. From 1903 to 1918, the Red Sox won five World Series titles. We set the standard for excellence in all of baseball. We have great ownership, tremendous revenues, terrific nucleus of players. There’s no reason why we can’t get back to setting the standard in all of baseball” (“Today,” NBC, 10/28).
ANN HALEY WINS THE DAILY’S WORLD SERIES CONTEST
Despite 34 people in The Daily’s World Series contest picking the Red Sox over the Cardinals, none correctly guessed a series sweep and Red Sox LF Manny Ramirez as the MVP. However, kudos to Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority Exec Dir Ann Haley, who picked Ramirez and the Red Sox in five games, while five people picked Ramirez and the Sox in six games and two tabbed Ramirez and the Sox in seven games.
NFL’S RETURN TO L.A. THIRD ON LEAGUE’S LIST OF PRIORITIES
The NFL will conclude its fall owners’ meetings today in Dearborn, Michigan, and the L.A. TIMES reports that the league will brief the owners “on the progress of the four competing [L.A.-area] stadium sites. A few of those owners, the members of a stadium committee, got a preview of the presentation Wednesday … and seemed pleased by what they heard.” Steelers Chair Dan Rooney: “I didn’t feel this way going in, but after this meeting, I think that they’ve got things in pretty good order.” Patriots Owner Robert Kraft said that bringing a team back to L.A. “was No. 3 on the league’s list of priorities, behind extending the television contracts and labor agreement” (L.A. TIMES, 10/28).
DC CITY COUNCIL MAY THROW CHANGEUP AT BALLPARK PROPOSAL
The DC City Council will hold a public hearing today on Mayor Anthony Williams’ ballpark financing proposal, and the WASHINGTON POST reports that DC CFO Natwar Gandhi last night released an analysis showing that the total cost of the ballpark could reach $486.2M, not the $395M stated in the agreement between DC and MLB (WASHINGTON POST, 10/28).
The WASHINGTON TIMES reports that Williams yesterday announced the “creation of a community benefit fund that would be tied to the ballpark and generate up to $400[M] for city schools, libraries and recreation programs” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/28).
CHARGERS LINKING RAIDERS TICKETS TO FINAL FOUR HOME GAMES
The NFL’s blackout deadline looms at 1:00pm local time, and the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE reports that the Chargers still need to sell approximately 3,500 tickets to Sunday’s game against the Raiders at Qualcomm Stadium. The Chargers are forcing buyers for the Raiders game to purchase a ticket to one of the team’s final four home games (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/28).
GORDIE HOWE’S TAVERN & GRILL OPENING UNDER NEW NAME
The DETROIT FREE PRESS reports that Gordie and Gary Kosch today will open the Hockey Heroes Museum & Restaurant in Traverse City, Michigan. The restaurant “used to be known as Gordie Howe’s Tavern & Grill. But the brothers had a falling out with Red Wings legend Howe and his management team about royalties and other payments.” The Koschs have spent nearly $500,000 to “collect hockey artifacts and redesign the restaurant to include interactive displays talking about hockey lore and any memorabilia in a display case” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/27).
THE DAILY GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH…
Two political commentators – one from each side of the spectrum – share their thoughts on the meeting point for sports and politics. To find out who we talked to, read today’s Sports Industrialists section of The Daily.
MORNING BRIEFS
Cablevision sued the Mets yesterday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, “accusing the team of breaking its existing contract by announcing it will start a new network in 2006 with Comcast and Time Warner” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/28).
NHL Exec VP & CLO Bill Daly and NHLPA Senior Dir of Business Affairs Ted Saskin yesterday met in N.Y., but “it was more of a conversation as opposed to a negotiation.” The pair discussed “last month’s World Cup of Hockey tournament. … The ongoing labor dispute was also discussed but just in a passing fashion” (AP, 10/27).
MLB VP/On-Field Operations Bob Watson yesterday “turned down the chance to become” Expos GM (WASHINGTON POST, 10/28).
The Marlins on Tuesday sent Miami-Dade County a proposal that “offered to increase their contribution toward a proposed retractable-roof stadium” from $157M to $192M (MIAMI HERALD, 10/28).
Paul Azinger yesterday confirmed that he is “going to the broadcast booth for ABC Sports.” The AP reported Tuesday that Azinger and Nick Faldo would replace Curtis Strange, who resigned in June (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 10/28).
Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi yesterday said “cooperation in the national interest” is needed to solve the US$228M shortfall that has struck the Turin Organizing Committee for the ’06 Winter Games. Meanwhile, Turin Mayor Sergio Chiamparino is “still considering resigning from the TOROC Board in protest over efforts by the national government to take control of the 2006 Games” (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 10/28).
Prince George’s County’s Board of Administrative Appeals last night lifted restrictions on pedestrian access around FedEx Field (WASHINGTON POST, 10/28).
Former agent William Black’s lawsuit against Raptors F Vince Carter began yesterday, and the questioning of Black “lasted all day, pushing Carter’s testimony back a day and likely delaying the end of the trial until tomorrow” (AP, 10/28).
An NFL official said that as of Tuesday, the league had yet to receive an expeditious request seeking Ricky Williams’ reinstatement from Williams’ attorney David Cornwell (ESPN.com, 10/27).
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 | Boston Herald |
TODAY’S EVENTS
Attorneys representing various interest groups will argue before the Wisconsin Supreme Court the lawsuit that spawned from the deaths of three ironworkers at Miller Park in ’99 (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/25).
NBA Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik will conduct a 2:00pm ET conference call to preview the upcoming season.
NBC Sports will conduct a 2:00pm ET conference call to discuss its coverage of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup at Lone Star Park. NBC Sports Producer David Michaels, host Tom Hammond, analysts Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier and racecaller Tom Durkin will participate.
IN OTHER NEWS….
Sirius Satellite Radio yesterday reported a Q3 ’04 loss of $169.4M, 58.8% greater than the loss of $106.7M in the year earlier period. The company pointed to programming and marketing costs related to its NFL partnership, as higher expenses more than offset a 349% year-over-year increase in revenue. Meanwhile, the company added 181,948 net subscribers in the quarter, a 41% increase from the previous quarter (Sirius).
The AP reports that the Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News “collectively cut more than 300 jobs Wednesday as part of cost-saving measures. The Chronicle cut 243 jobs … through voluntary buyouts, elimination of open positions and layoffs.” The Morning News “laid off dozens of employees, but the company did not provide an exact number. Managing Editor George Rodrigue told employees about 60 newsroom employees had been laid off and about 20 other news positions cut” (AP, 10/28).
A Center for Public Integrity study released yesterday reported that communications companies spent $957M in their efforts to “lobby Congress and the FCC from 1998 through June. By comparison, the oil and gas industry spent $396[M] over the same period” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/28).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Populations.”
“With only about 425,000 people, it’s South America’s least populous independent mainland country.”
LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | World Series | Will Red Sox will sweep the Cardinals?; Eagles RB Brian Westbrook injured |
| ESPN | “PTI” | World Series | Cardinals’ struggles; Red Sox P Pedro Martinez’ free agent stock |
| ESPN | 2:00am ET “SportsCenter” | Red Sox win World Series | |
| FSN | “I, Max” | World Series | Red Sox sweep?; Steelers-Patriots |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What is Suriname?”
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
The Morning Buzz provides an early update of the news and headlines each Monday through Friday at approximately 9:00am ET. If you would like to sign up for an e-mail alert to the Morning Buzz, go to My Account and personalize your e-mail alert options.
