Morning Buzz, December 8, 2004

MLBPA AUTHORIZES DON FEHR TO NEGOTIATE NEW DRUG-TESTING POLICY

The MLBPA’s annual meeting of its executive board continues today in Phoenix, and MLB.com reported that the board yesterday “authorized its representatives to move forward ‘to attempt to conclude’ a more stringent drug policy with the Commissioner’s office.” MLBPA Exec Dir Don Fehr did not “get into details about changes to the current testing program,” but he hopes that discussions with MLB Exec VP/Labor Relations Rob Manfred will “resume as early as next week.” Fehr: “I'm not going to categorize those discussions. I think everybody knows the kinds of issues we're talking about. They have to do with the substances involved, the frequency of testing, penalties, and so on” (MLB.com, 12/7).

MLB PLACES PLANS TO MARKET BARRY BONDS’ HOME RUN CHASE ON HOLD

The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS reports that MLB has placed “on hold” its plans to market Barry Bonds’ pursuit of the career home-run record. The league “has been developing a Bonds-related sponsorship proposal for MasterCard,” but MLB canceled a meeting on the project (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 12/8).

PROSECUTOR EXPECTED TO FILE CHARGES AGAINST PACERS PLAYERS

The DETROIT NEWS reports that Oakland County (MI) Prosecutor David Gorcyca today is expected to charge Pacers Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, David Harrison and Anthony Johnson, as well as five Pistons fans, for their roles in the November 19 brawl at The Palace of Auburn Hills. O’Neal will be charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault and battery, while the other four players will be charged one count each of misdemeanor assault and battery. The assault and battery charges carry a maximum penalty of 93 days in jail and up to a $500 fine (DETROIT NEWS, 12/8).

Gorcyca said last week, “I’m not gonna treat the players any differently than the fans” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 12/8).

NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “Good Morning America” and CBS’ “The Early Show” this morning all mentioned the pending action in their first news reports (THE DAILY).

ESPN TO LAUNCH NEW COLLEGE-SPORTS INITIATIVE, ESPNU, MARCH 4

ESPN today will announce at Street & Smith’s Sports Group’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum that ESPNU, the company’s multi-media college sports initiative including a 24-hour TV net, will launch March 4. The “03-04-05” launch date will tip off ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage of Championship Week, where the nets cover men’s and women’s college basketball conference tournaments. ESPNU’s first week of programming will include additional conference tournament action (ESPN).

CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT CRITICIZED FOR SOLDIER FIELD SHORTFALL

The Chicago Park District will hold a budget hearing today, and the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES reports that the Friends of the Parks group is “criticizing a proposed tax increase for city parks, blaming, in part, the failure of Soldier Field to reach its projected revenue goals.” According to the proposed budget, Soldier Field will be $1.2M short of the projected income (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 12/8).

FIRST HORIZON ACQUIRES NAMING RIGHTS TO MINOR LEAGUE PARK

The Greensboro NEWS & RECORD reports that the Single-A South Atlantic League Greensboro Grasshoppers today will host a news conference to announce that First Horizon National has acquired naming rights to the club’s new ballpark in a ten-year deal worth approximately $3M. The park will be known as First Horizon Park (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 12/8).

MORNING BRIEFS

New York state lawmakers yesterday approved a $1.4B expansion of the Javits Convention Center, but the legislation “ignores Mayor Bloomberg's call for a West Side stadium for the Jets” (N.Y. POST, 12/8).

Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that NFL owners this week in Atlanta will ratify Fox and CBS’ TV rights deal with the league.  Glazer: “There’s also going to be an update on what’s going to happen with the Sunday night, Monday night and Thursday night packages” (“Totally Football,” FSN, 12/7).

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday met with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment employees. MLSE Senior VP Tom Anselmi said Bettman “walked them through what the league is attempting to accomplish and how the NHL’s agenda is just as important for the [Maple Leafs] as it is for any team” (TORONTO SUN, 12/8).

Fox will not make any changes to its NASCAR broadcasting team next season. Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip will continue to provide commentary while Mike Joy handles play-by-play. Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond will continue to provide pre-race coverage (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 12/8).

Utah’s BCS appearance this year brings a $14.4M payout for the Mountain West Conference, the largest in league history. The conference totaled $3.8M in post-season revenue last year (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 12/8).

The NBA suspended T’Wolves G Latrell Sprewell for last night’s game without pay for issuing “sexually suggestive epithets to a heckler” during Saturday’s game against the Clippers at Staples Center. The suspension cost Sprewell $178,048 in salary (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 12/8).

The Sporting News has named Patriots QB Tom Brady its ’04 Sportsman of the Year (The Sporting News).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

According to a fan poll on dilbert.com, Kobe Bryant has been elected as the Weaseliest Sports Person of 2004. Bryant is followed by MLB Rangers P Frank Francisco, who threw a chair into the stands earlier this year, Barry Bonds, George Steinbrenner and Shaquille O’Neal. Bryant’s 15,231 votes were nearly double Francisco’s 8,309 (THE DAILY).

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

Street & Smith’s Sports Group’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum began this morning at the Westin N.Y. in Times Square. Prior to Rubenstein Associates President Howard Rubenstein’s keynote address, “Crisis Management: Tackling Scandals in the Public Eye,” a panel including NCAA Exec VP Tom Jernstedt, Univ. of Maryland AD Debbie Yow, Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delany, Coca-Cola CMO Chuck Fruit and CLC President & COO Pat Battle will discuss the state of intercollegiate athletics. NCAA President Myles Brand will participate in the panel discussion, “The Business of Intercollegiate Athletics: The Chancellor/President Perspective.” Other session topics include “Getting The Most Out of an Athletic Budget,” “How to Attract Fans and Keep Them Coming Back For More” and “Media and Universities Exchange Opinions on Intercollegiate Athletics.” View today’s full agenda.

DC United F Freddy Adu, Nike Dir of U.S. Community Affairs Molly White, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona and U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will participate in the 3:45pm ET launch of the first NikeGO Afterschool Program at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington’s Mary & Daniel Loughran Clubhouse.

The hockey summit hosted by Red Wings F Brendan Shanahan continues in Toronto, and the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL notes that after yesterday’s opening day, there “really wasn’t any news to report, no revolutionary new ideas on how to fix a game that is at one of the lowest points in its history” (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 12/8).

ESPN will conduct an 11:30am ET conference call to discuss college football post-season awards.  College football host Chris Fowler and analyst Kirk Herbstreit will participate.

The Symposium on Racing, sponsored by the Race Track Industry Program at the Univ. of Arizona, begins in Tucson and will continue through Friday (THOROUGHBRED TIMES, 12/6).

IN OTHER NEWS….

The L.A. TIMES reports that CBS yesterday named actor Craig Ferguson to replace Craig Kilborn as host of “The Late Late Show.” Ferguson, who is best known for his role as Drew Carey’s boss on “The Drew Carey Show,” won the job over comedian D.L. Hughley, MTV’s Damien Fahey and VH1’s Michael Ian Black. Ferguson will make his debut on Monday, January 3 (L.A. TIMES, 12/8).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Playwrights.”

“His 1840s romance with an older housemaid in Grimstad may have inspired his later themes of guilt and social hypocrisy.”

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

NBC’s Jay Leno: “I was in Circuit City today and I was looking at these amazing high-definition TVs. Have you seen these things? They are unbelievable. When you watch a baseball game, you can actually see the needle marks on the players’ forearms. … Barry Bonds’ personal trainer was named MVP today: Most Valuable Pharmacist. … According to the New York Times, due to steroid use, some players have actually seen their heads balloon four hat sizes. These guys are turning into their own bobbleheads. … David Boston has been suspended after he tested positive for steroids. The Miami Dolphins are using steroids? What, did they win two games this year? How bad would they be without them? … You know who this steroid thing is really tough on: kids because kids see their heroes on steroids. That’s got to be the worst thing for a young boy. Actually, I think the worst thing for a young boy is seeing Michael Jackson on steroids” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 12/7)

LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“Who was Henry Ibsen?”

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