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Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz, November 5, 2004

The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Friday, November 5, 2004
9:00am ET

Dish Network Hoping To Gain Subscribers As Comcast Negotiates W/ Altitude

MLB All-Stars Begin Japanese Tour This Morning Without Hideki Matsui

CBS Sports President Sean McManus Inks Multiyear Extension With Network

Dolphins Avoid Blackout As WSVN-Fox Agrees To Buy Remaining Tickets

In Case You Missed It: Pistons Show They Are The Champions – Wrestling Style

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


DISH NETWORK HOPING TO FEAST ON LACK OF ALTITUDE-COMCAST DEAL

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE reports that carriage deals between Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Dish Network and DirecTV “might be final Friday,” one day before the net is scheduled to air its first Bulls game (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/5).

Meanwhile, the DENVER POST reports that Dish Network this weekend is “capitalizing on the prolonged talks” between Altitude Sports & Entertainment and Comcast. The satellite provider will set up shop in the Pepsi Center parking lot outside Saturday’s Jazz-Nuggets game offering a one-day $499 special on 34-inch HD TV sets including a one-year contract for Dish Network at $39.98 per month. The TVs retail for approximately $1,000 (DENVER POST, 11/5).


MATSUI ABSENT FROM JAPANESE TOUR OVER SPONSORSHIP FLAP?

A group of MLB All-Stars began an eight-game Japanese tour this morning by defeating a team of Japanese All-Stars 7-2, and the BOSTON GLOBE reports that rights-holder Mainichi Shimbun newspaper group's sponsorship of the tour “may help to explain the absence of Yankees star Hideki Matsui from the tour. The Yankees share a working agreement with the Yomiuri Giants,” which is owned by rival media giant Yomiuri. The players will receive $120,000 each for their participation (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/5).


CONTEST WINNER CONTINUING BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT CELTICS

The BOSTON HERALD reports that Business Week’s “Fantasy Career Contest” winner, Robert Vila, began shadowing Celtics Exec Dir of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge yesterday and will attend his first Celtics game tonight against the Pacers at FleetCenter. Vila, who selected NBA team general manager has his fantasy job, spent yesterday in Celtics meetings, practices and scouting sessions (BOSTON HERALD, 11/5).


FEDERER, MARATHON WINNER DEBUTING YEAR OF SPORT & PHYS ED

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Special Advisor on Sport for Development and Peace Adolf Ogi, tennis player Roger Federer and defending ING NYC Marathon female champion Margaret Okayo will announce 2005 as the Int’l Year of Sport & Physical Education today at UN HQs. The UN will unveil its plans for a year-long push to highlight the power of sports to bridge cultural divides (ATP Tour).


MORNING BRIEFS

CBS Sports President Sean McManus has inked a multiyear extension with the network. Terms of the deal were not disclosed (THE DAILY).

Real estate developer Steve Hopkins “met with NFL executives Thursday in New York to discuss their potential plans for building a football stadium on the 157-acre plot he controls in Carson” (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 11/5).

Forstmann Little & Co. has completed its acquisition of IMG (Forstmann Little & Co.).

Sunday’s Cardinals-Dolphins game will be televised locally in the Miami market after WSVN-Fox agreed to purchase the approximately 1,500 tickets that were remaining as of 1:00pm ET on Thursday (MIAMI HERALD, 11/5).

Chicago City Hall yesterday asked the Cubs to “pay $3.3[M] for the right to transform city-owned land adjacent to Wrigley Field into a Fenway Park-style pedestrian promenade bustling with shops and restaurants” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/5).

The ‘08 Beijing Olympics will begin August 8 at 8:08pm local time. The number 8 is “the luckiest number in Chinese tradition” (AP, 11/4).

AHL Admirals Governor Francis Croak yesterday confirmed that talks have “ended with a potential ownership group led by Denver businessman Bill Stewart,” but indicated that a “local investor has made a preliminary inquiry” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 11/4).

The AFL BOD yesterday approved a new playoff format, with four teams from each conference making the playoffs instead of the eight teams with the best record, regardless of conference (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 11/5).

The PGA Tour EDS Byron Nelson Championship has increased its purse by $400,000 to $6.2M. The ‘05 winner will receive $1.116M. The event has boosted its purse for 11 consecutive years (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/5).

Though General Motors is pulling out of IRL at the end of the ’05 schedule, it “will debut a couple of GTOs in the Grand American Rolex sports car series by midsummer” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/5).


ATTENDANCE WATCH

The Heat defeated the Cavaliers last night in Shaquille O’Neal’s debut with the Miami team in front of a record home regular-season crowd of 20,235 at AmericanAirlines Arena (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 11/5). About 2,000 sales staff from Nike “were gathered this week in Miami,” and 22 of them, “mostly from South Africa, paid a ticket broker $45 each to sit four rows from the top” for last night’s game (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 11/5).

The NBA returned to Charlotte in front of a sellout crowd of 23,319 for last night’s Wizards-Bobcats game at Charlotte Coliseum (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/5).


A LIGHTER BUZZ

The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that during the NASCAR Nextel Cup Checker Auto Parts 500 winner’s press conference last year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was “exposed to a female fan, who appeared to be inebriated, lifting her shirt outside a pressroom window.” Earnhardt: “I recall that. Jimmie Johnson tells me all the time that he sees that kind of stuff in the grandstands. I’ve been looking really hard over the last year, and I haven’t seen anything like that since” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/5).


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

Red Sox DH David Ortiz today will appear on Ellen DeGenere’s daytime chat show “Ellen” (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/5).


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. This week, the Pistons begin the defense of their NBA title by letting everyone know they are the champs – wrestling style. As Ric Flair used to say, “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man!”


IN OTHER NEWS….

According to an SEC filing yesterday, Viacom “will bid on MarketWatch, operator of the CBS MarketWatch financial news site, to acquire the 77.7% it doesn’t already own.” News of Viacom’s intentions sent MarketWatch’s stock up $1.47, or 10%, to close at $16.06. Viacom shares rose $0.32 to $37.39 (USA TODAY, 11/5).

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Charter Communications yesterday posted a Q3 ’04 loss of $3.3B, down from a profit of $36M in the year-ago period. The loss came partially “because of a decrease in the value of its assets. The cable operator also said it might need extra funding to repay debt maturing in 2005 and 2006.” Revenue rose 3% to $1.25B (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 11/5).

XM Satellite Radio yesterday reported a Q3 ’04 loss of $118M, bettering the loss in the year-ago period by 13%. Revenue grew 23% to $65.4M as the company added 415,000 subscribers in the quarter, bringing its total to over 2.5 million (DAILY VARIETY, 11/5).


FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “U.S. Travel & Tourism.”

“Souvenirs sold at this attraction include 1962 World’s Fair glassware and mugs boasting ‘I made it to the top.’”


LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

CBS’ David Letterman: “Man we had a lousy audience last night. … They were so rough last night, they forced me to concede early. … Here’s why I’m glad the election is over: Mom was sneaking out at night defacing campaign lawn signs. … Here’s some interesting statistics about the election. Eleven states voted to ban gay marriage. Three states voted to ban men’s figure skating. … John Kerry is in big trouble now. He must win in Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri, or it’s over. It was a rough campaign. Now the Kerry daughters are drinking. … The rumor is Hillary Clinton is running for president in 2008, and here’s why people think that. Today, she was in Ohio duck hunting. She even bought a camouflage pant suit. … The guy who is really happy is Dick Cheney. He went crazy. He celebrated last night; took his daughter to a strip club” (“Late Show,” CBS, 11/4).

NBC’s Jay Leno: “Did you see how happy President Bush was yesterday when he found out he won? He couldn’t decide whether he should give a victory speech or announce the invasion of Iran. In fact, the GOP did so well, the only Republican without a mandate is Dick Cheney’s daughter. … President Bush received a very gracious concession call from John Kerry, and he got a very gracious collect call from Ralph Nader. … Do you know what the ironic thing is about this election? Do you know the Electoral College is the only college Bush has ever done well in? … Kentucky voters voted to ban gay marriages in Kentucky unless the two people are siblings. … It’s the birthday of the cash register, so that’s two days in a row Republicans are celebrating. … The Clippers won their first game of the season last night. Nice to see another 86-year-old curse being broken. … Kobe Bryant plans to renew his wedding vows with his wife Vanessa in Hawaii. Apparently, he wasn’t listening the first time around” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 11/4).

LATE NIGHT LAUGHS:

Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Ways George W. Bush Celebrated His Reelection” (“Late Show,” CBS, 11/4).

10) “Eliminated tax cut for 55 million Americans who voted for Kerry.”

9) “Went trippin’ on a handful of Cheney’s heart pills.”

8) “Thanked voters from all 59 states.”

7) “Splurged on the endless shrimp special at Red Lobster.”

6) “Pretended not to notice his father’s envious weeping.”

5) “Dug out tapes of some of his favorite Texas executions.”

4) “You know, the usual – watching wrasslin’ and eating Yodels.”

3) “Immediately started planning his 2008 reelection bid.”

2) “Told prison guards to give Saddam an extra tasering.”

1) “Asked for Laura’s help with a very different bulge under his suit.”


LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

Net

Show

Lead

Next Items

ESPN

“Around The Horn”

Terrell Owens-Ray Lewis feud

Steve Spurrier pulling out of UF coaching search; Lakers

ESPN

“PTI”

Steve Spurrier pulling out of UF coaching search

Terrell Owens-Ray Lewis feud; Heat and Lakers

ESPN

10:30pm ET “SportsCenter”

Cavaliers-Heat

Steve Spurrier pulling out of UF coaching search; Vikings WR Randy Moss

FSN

“I, Max”

Steve Spurrier pulling out of UF coaching search

Terrell Owens-Ray Lewis feud; T’Wolves

FSN

“BDSSP”

Terrell Owens-Ray Lewis feud

Steve Spurrier pulling out of UF coaching search; Eagles QB Donovan McNabb


FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What is the Space Needle?”


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.

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