Morning Buzz, December 6, 2004

STEROIDS MAY TAKE CENTER STAGE AT MLBPA’S ANNUAL MEETING

The MLBPA will begin its annual executive board meeting today in Phoenix, and MLB.com reported that the use of steroids will be on the agenda, “but it is unlikely that will lead to significant immediate movement on the issue.” MLB Exec VP/Labor Relations Rob Manfred, on drug testing: “We’ve had ongoing discussions with the union. We feel a great sense of urgency to complete the discussions, and we hope the union has the same sense” (MLB.com, 12/5).

MLBPA Exec Dir Don Fehr, on steroids being discussed at the meeting: “This was always supposed to be a topic at this meeting. We've had ongoing discussions with the commissioner's office, and it was always going to be a topic here, hopefully with a resolution coming out of it” (USA TODAY, 12/6).

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who has threatened to introduce legislation if a new drug testing system is not in place by January, this morning on NBC’s “Today” was asked whether MLB players and owners really want a stronger testing policy. McCain: “I hope so. I would like to point out that the owners are culpable here too because they did not insist in their last bargaining agreement that they have a strong testing regiment. They just gave up because they said it was the last item. They didn’t want to address it” (“Today,” NBC, 12/6).

NHLPA’S NEW PROPOSAL LOOKS TO INCLUDE MORE CONCESSIONS

The WASHINGTON TIMES reported that the NHLPA today will offer a new CBA proposal to the league. The plan “includes a stronger luxury tax with a lower spending limit and an increase on the penalties for violating the limit. It is believed the union also will propose a salary rollback of 10[%], double its last offer; and a plan to lower the rookie salary cap to $800,000.” The rookie salary cap is presently $1.1M (WASHINGTON TIMES, 12/4).

In a survey by THE HOCKEY NEWS of more than 120 NHL players, 87% said that they “would not accept a $40[M] per-team salary cap, even if player contracts continued to be guaranteed” (THE HOCKEY NEWS, 12/14 issue).

COCA-COLA EXTENDS SPONSORSHIP OF WORLD CHAMPION RED SOX

SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Coca-Cola today will announce an eight-year extension of its sponsorship of the Red Sox. Financial terms of the deal were not released, but Red Sox COO Mike Dee said, “It is a deal that is commensurate with the attendance and the market size of Boston. And our recent success helped us get the deal to a place we were comfortable with” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/6 issue).

PACERS PLAYERS COULD BE INDICTED FOR ROLE IN PALACE MELEE

The INDIANAPOLIS STAR noted that Auburn Hills police today will present their investigation of the Pacers-Pistons brawl to Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca. Players and fans involved in the brawl “could be charged with misdemeanor assault and battery” as early as today. The players believed to be under scrutiny are Pacers Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, David Harrison and Fred Jones (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 12/4).

The NBA yesterday informed the NBPA that it “will not seek a temporary restraining order in federal court, clearing the way for a grievance hearing over suspensions for the Pacers-Pistons brawl” Thursday in N.Y. (AP, 12/5).

MORNING BRIEFS

Suns Chair & NBA BOG Chair Jerry Colangelo has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He is scheduled to have his prostate removed December 30 at the Sloan-Kettering cancer institute in N.Y. (EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE, 12/6).

The Celtics gave away approximately 4,000 free tickets to season-ticket holders for Friday’s game against the Raptors, “as the team scrambles to fill FleetCenter seats amid a mercurial season” (BOSTON HERALD, 12/4).

The BCS runs a full-page ad in USA Today featuring its bowl schedule:  Texas-Michigan in the Rose Bowl, Utah-Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl, Auburn-Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl and USC-Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl (THE DAILY).

Dolphins WR David Boston is “facing a four-game suspension from the NFL for violating the league’s no-tolerance policy on steroids” (MIAMI HERALD, 12/6).

ATTENDANCE WATCH

The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE reports that a “throng of Steelers fans estimated to be more than 20,000 helped the Jaguars” set their single-game attendance record as a crowd of 76,877 attended last night’s game at Alltel Stadium. The Jaguars “sold about 15,000 tickets to the game to people with Pennsylvania addresses.” It was only the second sellout for the Jaguars this season (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 12/6).

The FLORIDA TIMES-UNION reports that the record crowd “came with an asterisk: NFL teams now disclose only tickets distributed instead of the actual attendance. The change was instituted for all teams this season.” The Jaguars’ previous regular-season attendance record was 74,143 against the Steelers in ‘98 (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 12/6).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

ESPN’s Jill Arrington reported the Univ. of Miami “gave an opportunity for their fans to go on eBay and bid for the opportunity to run through the smoke of the Hurricanes as they charge the field to take on” Virginia Tech this past weekend. The winning bid was $1,275, with all proceeds going to Miami’s athletic department. Arrington: “However, Miami found out that winning bidder is a Virginia Tech fan. … They’re denying him the opportunity to run through their tunnel.” ESPN’s Chris Fowler: “He probably had something cooked up, running out in a Hokies jersey” (“College Gameday,” ESPN, 12/4).

WEEKEND RAP

The following are excerpts from the panelists’ “parting shots” on Sunday’s edition of ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters”:

• N.Y. Times columnist William Rhoden, on Notre Dame firing head coach Tyrone Willingham: “Notre Dame pulled the plug. The first black head coach became the first to be fired before his contract expired. That’s too bad, but it just goes to show that extraordinary progress requires extraordinary people.”

• N.Y. Daily News columnist Mike Lupica, on steroids in baseball: “Bud Selig should go right after them now. He should go after (Fehr and MLBPA COO Gene Orza). … Selig has already gotten more off this union than any modern commissioner. Now comes the moment for which he will be remembered when he finally gets baseball the drug policy it needs, and if Fehr and Orza – drunk with their own power for so long – fight him on drug-testing, the commissioner ought to test the limits of his best interests of the game power and implement year-round testing.”

• Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom, on the fan who threw the beer on Pacers F Ron Artest, igniting the Pacers-Pistons fight: “(John Green) was banned for life from The Palace of Auburn Hills. So what? He already did ‘Good Morning America’ and other talk shows. He’s more famous now than he ever would have been had he kept his hands at his side. Will banning him now from future events really dissuade the next John Green who wants his 15 minutes? No. The fact is we won’t fix this deal until we redefine the ‘R’ word: respect.”

• ESPN’s John Saunders: “Should we call this the year of the quarterback in the (NFL)? It’s hard to remember a time when so many stars were behind center” (“The Sports Reporters,” ESPN, 12/5).

Heard elsewhere over the weekend:

• NBC’s Roger O’Neil, on the development of performance-enhancing substances for athletes: “The search for a genetic shortcut is a big worry for international athletic organizations. The lure of money and fame is a powerful incentive for cheaters and outlaw labs may already be at work” (“Nightly News,” NBC, 12/4).

• ESPN’s Lee Corso, on the BCS: “Changing the BCS is like changing and trying to turn the Titanic around. It takes a long time and it’s really slow” (“College GameDay,” ESPN, 12/4).

• Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw, on 49ers co-Owner John York being responsible for the demise of the team: “You’ve got to be proud. Everything’s in the black and everything’s good in San Francisco. You don’t have a stadium, you don’t have a team. … He’ll probably call me later tonight and chew me out for saying it” (“Fox NFL Sunday,” Fox, 12/5).

• Big 12 Commissioner and BCS Coordinator Kevin Weiberg, on having an eight-team playoff: “Unless there’s a … change from the collegiate community in terms of a willingness to add games to the postseason, we’re going to try to continue to focus on doing the very best we can through the bowl system. Will that system evolve over time? Perhaps so. … Presidents and chancellors of these colleges and universities have been adamant about the idea of no NFL-style playoff” (“BCS Selection Show,” ABC, 12/5).

• Weiberg, saying the BCS worked this year, “This happens to be the year in which not only do we have a consensus in the human polls, but we also have all six of the computer rankings having these teams at 1-2 as well. And that really is the limited objective that we set out to try to achieve through the BCS” (N.Y. TIMES, 12/6).

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

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and Nationwide Insurance CEO Jerry Jurgensen, whose company sponsors the Nationwide Tour, will ring the NYSE opening bell at 9:30am ET.

THIS WEEK IN SISTER PUBLICATION SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL…..

This week’s cover story puts NCAA President Myles Brand atop the list of the 20 most influential people in college sports.

IN OTHER NEWS….

The ORLANDO SENTINEL reported that former Disney BOD members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold on Friday “withdrew their repeated threat to put up a rival slate of directors at the annual meeting in spring 2005.” In a letter to the Disney BOD, Disney and Gold said that they are “encouraged by its pledge to conduct a ‘thorough and bona fide search’ to select a new CEO by June 2005” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 12/4).

The N.Y. TIMES reported that law firms Piper Rudnick and London-based DLA merged yesterday, marking the largest int’l merger of two law firms. The new firm, with 2,700 attorneys, will be called DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary (N.Y. TIMES, 12/5).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “U.S. Cities.”

“Of the USA’s ten most populous cities, one of the two that dropped in population from 1990 to 2000.”

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

CBS’ David Letterman: “I am very excited because tonight is the night I conduct my annual tradition. When it’s the holidays, this is the day every year right after the show I go into Central Park and chop down my own Christmas tree. … On my lunch hour today, I went up to Central Park, and I was just wandering around, and I happened to see a squirrel putting tinsel on his nuts. … It’s a beautiful tree in Rockefeller Plaza, and they’ve done this every year for 72 years, and they expect a half a million people a day will trip over the extension cord. It was exciting because they threw the big switch and the tree lights up and out fell 75 electrocuted rats. … Beloved news anchorman Tom Brokaw retired on Wednesday night. It was his last show after 21 years of anchoring the ‘NBC Nightly News.’ He left NBC because they wouldn’t give him ‘The Tonight Show’” (“Late Show,” CBS, 12/3).

NBC’s Jay Leno: “It’s freezing. This weather is really affecting L.A. On the freeway today, I was cut off by a herd of caribou. It was so cold today, Scott Peterson said he was actually looking forward to going to hell. … San Diego’s Petco Park has announced they’re going to start selling natural, organic hot dogs. So now when we go to baseball games, the hot dogs are clean, it’s just the players that are packed with artificial fillers. … Jason Giambi has admitted to taking steroids. Boy, I was shocked. I thought he looked like The Hulk from eating Wheaties. … Barry Bonds has admitted he used steroids, but he said he didn’t know they were steroids, and today, in a related story, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston said, ‘That was cocaine!?’ Experts say as many as 20% of all the players take steroids. Do you know what you call players who take steroids? The All-Star team. … Did you see the new Lakers? Do you know who they are? They’re the old Clippers, that’s who they are! They lost to the Chicago Bulls. That’s like losing to Jessica Simpson in ‘Jeopardy!’” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 12/3).

SUNDAY NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

ESPN’s 2:00am ET edition of “SportsCenter” led with Steelers-Jaguars, followed by Broncos-Chargers and Packers-Eagles.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Buena Vista’s “National Treasure” took in an estimated $17.1M this weekend, good enough to become only the third film this year to hold the top spot for three consecutive weekends. The estimated box office total for the top 12 films is $80.3M, down about 10% from the comparable session last year. The total for all films is forecast to be in the mid- to high-$80M range, down from last year’s $97M take (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 12/6).

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What are Detroit and Philadelphia?”

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
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