| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Friday, October 29, 2004
9:00am ET | |
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| • | Jacques Rogge Discussing ’08 Games This Weekend With Chinese President |
| • | DirecTV And Altitude Sports & Entertainment Today To Announce Carriage Deal |
| • | After Extension, Chargers Have Until 1:00pm PT To Sell Out Sunday’s Game |
| • | Molson To Announce Extension Of Title Sponsorship For Champ Car Event |
| • | Clippers Ink Ten-Year Extension Of Lease For Staples Center Through 2013-14 |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
JACQUES ROGGE MEETING WITH CHINESE PRESIDENT HU JINTAO
As the IOC Coordination Commission today completed its thirdvisit to Beijing,which is hosting the 2008 Games. AROUNDTHE RINGS reported that IOC President JacquesRogge will visit Beijingthis weekend to meet for the first time with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Rogge also will participate in the “officialtransfer of knowledge meeting between Athensorganizers and staff from the 2008 Games. ATHOC President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalakiwill lead the two dozen member team from Athens”(AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 10/27).
DIRECTVINKS DEAL TO CARRY ALTITUDE; COMCAST ON THE WAY?
The DENVER POST reports that DirecTV and Altitude Sports& Entertainment today will announce a carriage deal, leaving Comcast as the“only big TV provider locally not carrying the fledgling network.” Altitude also has a deal with satelliteprovider Dish Network, which combines with DirecTV to serve 459,000 satellitesubscribers in Colorado (DENVER POST, 10/29).
CHARGERS GRANTED EXTENSION TO SELL OUT RAIDERS GAME
After being granted a 24-hour extension by the NFL, theChargers have until 1:00pm PT today to sell the remaining 3,100 tickets toSunday’s game against the Raiders at Qualcomm Stadium to avoid a blackout. The Chargers are forcing buyers for theRaiders game to purchase a ticket to one of the team’s final four home games (Chargers).
The ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE reports that Sunday’sCardinals-Bills game at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York,will not be televised locally as the Bills had approximately 6,500 unsoldtickets as of 1:00pm ET yesterday. Thelast Bills game to be blacked out was in ‘02 (ROCHESTERDEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 10/29).
MOLSON EXTENDING DEAL TO TITLE SPONSOR CHAMP CAR EVENT
ESPN.com reported that Molson today is expected to announcea four-year extension to sponsor the Champ Car World Series event in Toronto, and “the ultimate fate of the Vancouver race could be revealed.” Champ Car yesterday released its 14-race ’05schedule, but series execs predicted that at least two more races are likely tobe added. If the Vancouverevent disappears, “expect Molson to sponsor but not promote the race in Edmonton” (ESPN.com, 10/28).
MOUNTAIN WEST AND ACC COULD MEET IN SECOND SAN DIEGO BOWL
The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE reports that Mountain WestConference Commissioner Craig Thompsonand Holiday Bowl execs will meet today in San Diego to “gauge each other’sinterest in a second bowl game” in the city. The new bowl would be played before Christmas and could begin as soon as’05. Yesterday, ACC Commissioner John Swofford said that his conferenceis “looking to add two bowl tie-ins and is ‘certainly interested’ in a San Diego bowl” (SANDIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/29).
MORNING BRIEFS
The Clippers have inked a ten-year lease extension tocontinue playing their home games at Staples Center through 2013-14. AEG President Tim Leiweke recently said that the arena “would make more moneyfrom five concerts than it would from a season of Clipper games” (L.A.TIMES, 10/29).
The Jacksonville Port Authority is “offering to sell namingrights” to cruise ship terminals during Super Bowl XXXIX week (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/28).
After hearing from nearly 40 of the scheduled 250 witnessesat yesterday’s DC City Council meeting about Mayor Anthony Williams’ ballpark proposal, the council members inattendance “appeared to be holding firm to their initial positions – four infavor of the plan, three against and three offering conditional support” (WASHINGTONPOST, 10/29).
Nextel today runs a full-page ad in the Charlotte Observerreading, “We extend our deepest condolences to the Hendrick, DuPont and TonyStewart Motorsports families” (THE DAILY).
U.S. District Court Judge N. Carlton Tilley Jr. has dismissed the six-year-old sexualharassment lawsuit filed by a former player against UNC women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance (RaleighNEWS & OBSERVER, 10/29).
Tour de France organizers yesterday unveiled the ’05 route,which “may give other riders their best chance to test Lance Armstrong,” as the “mountaintop finishes are less intense andthe time trials shorter, possibly cutting into Armstrong's strengths” (AP,10/28).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
The WALL STREET JOURNAL reportedthat Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger’sname is “showing up on restaurant menus all over the city. At Brentwood Express, the Ben Roethlis-burgeris a high-fat combination involving bacon and ranch dressing” (WALL STREETJOURNAL, 10/28).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sportscovers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:
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| N.Y. Post | N.Y. Daily News |
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| Philadelphia Daily News | Boston Herald |
TODAY’S EVENTS
The Bobcats will tip off “Operation Orange” with the team’sinaugural Tipoff Luncheon at 11:30am ET at the Ballantyne Resort & Hotel. “OperationOrange,” whichis presented by Reebok, Shoe Show, Shoe Department and the Charlotte Observer, isa series of interactive fan events. Theluncheon is presented by Mercedes-Benz and sponsored by Reebok, Shoe Show, ShoeDepartment and the Charlotte Observer.
Nets G Zoran Planinicand WNBA Mystics G Alana Beard willring the ASE opening bell at 9:30am ET, as part of the NBA’s “Trick or Treatfor UNICEF” program.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
Every Friday, the Morning Buzz highlights a video clip,chart or piece of information that might have fallen through the cracks. Thisweek, ESPN2’s Woody Paige dresses upas Red Sox P Curt Schilling, but hetakes the ankle injury a bit further, looking for a sponsor to buy the space onhis bloody sock (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the sexual harassmentlawsuit against Fox News’ Bill O’Reillyby an associate producer and his countersuit have been settled. Monetary terms of the settlement were notdisclosed (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/29).
The N.Y. TIMES reports that Lee Dungarees has purchasedthree six-minute sponsored segments on MTV2’s “Control Freak,” beginning withSunday’s 11:30pm ET telecast. Thesegments, “Buddy Lee, Guidance Counselor,” feature Lee’s brand character“dispensing droll advice to high schoolers about potential careers like trapezeartist, ventriloquist and acting in steamy, Spanish-language ‘telenovela’ soapoperas” (N.Y. TIMES,10/29).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “HistoricAreas.”
“In 1893, as it was disappearing, F.J. Turner wrote a famous essay on ‘the significance of’ it ‘inAmerican history.’”
LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | Red Sox winning the World Series | Curse of the Bambino; Who is the hero for the Red Sox? |
| ESPN | “PTI” | Red Sox winning the World Series | Curse of the Bambino; Red Sox GM Theo Epstein |
| ESPN | 10:30am ET “SportsCenter” | Steve Spurrier considering return to UF | Sox winning the World Series; 76ers-Nets |
| FSN | “I, Max” | Red Sox winning the World Series | Cardinals line-up struggling in the World Series; 2005 Red Sox |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“What was the frontier?”
If you haveany questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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