Morning Buzz, January 28, 2005

NHL, NHLPA CONCLUDE MEETINGS WITH NO REAL PROGRESS

The NHL and NHLPA continued talks yesterday in N.Y. without NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Exec Dir Bob Goodenow, and the NATIONAL POST reports that the NHL as early as today could present a new CBA proposal to the union.  Several reports yesterday “suggested a proposal from the league could combine a strong luxury tax that kicks in when team payrolls hit approximately $32[M], with a hard salary cap at about $50[M]” (NATIONAL POST, 1/28).

The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports that yesterday’s negotiations “left today as the day that could well witness the end of a 2004-05 season that never began or the beginning of the end of the lockout that has shut down the NHL for four months” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/28).

Following yesterday’s meeting, NHLPA Senior Dir of Business Affairs Ted Saskin said in a statement: “We continue to have significant philosophical differences. No meetings are scheduled and we will not make further comment at this time” (THE DAILY). NHL VP & CLO Bill Daly said, “I’m not going to comment on the discussions we had at the meeting. Nothing more is scheduled” (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/28).

MONTREAL TO ONCE AGAIN TRY AND LAND FINA CHAMPIONSHIPS

FINA set today as a deadline for cities to bid to host the ’05 World Championships, which were pulled from Montreal earlier this month due to financial problems. The Toronto GLOBE & MAIL reports that FINA has heard from Athens; the German swim federation, which will nominate Berlin or Munich; Moscow; Cali, Colombia; Guayaquil, Ecuador; and Croatia.  Additionally, FINA “has agreed to hear a new financial proposal from Montreal” (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/28).

GOVERNORS TO ANNOUNCE SUPER BOWL WAGER ON ESPN2’S “COLD PIZZA”

The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER reports that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell today will announce their Super Bowl XXXIX wager on ESPN’s “Cold Pizza.” If the Eagles win, Romney will sing the national anthem at a Celtics-76ers game at the Wachovia Center wearing an Eagles jersey. If the Patriots win, Rendell will go to a Celtics game at FleetCenter in a Patriots jersey, and his wife Midge will sing the national anthem (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 1/28).

MORNING BRIEFS

Eli Lilly’s Cialis will return as a Super Bowl advertiser this year “despite complaints last year that the subject of erectile dysfunction is too risqué for the family-friendly television event” (N.Y. POST, 1/28).

Marlins President David Samson yesterday said that the team is “very close to finalizing a stadium deal with Miami-Dade County” (MIAMI HERALD, 1/28).

General Mills yesterday unveiled Spurs F Tim Duncan’s new Wheaties box during halftime of the Kings-Spurs game. Duncan’s only previous Wheaties appearance was as part of the ’03 Spurs NBA championship package (General Mills).

The German Olympic Committee has “decided to wait before deciding whether to nominate Munich as a candidate for the 2014 Winter Olympics – or possibly the 2016 Summer Games” (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 1/27).

Jacksonville police Wednesday arrested Albert Strickland in connection to a “chilling Super Bowl bomb threat found on the voice mail of City Council President Elaine Brown” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/28).

The woman accusing Kobe Bryant of rape “has allegedly reached a financial settlement with the owners of The Globe and other tabloids that printed her picture and stories about her hotel encounter with the NBA star” (AP, 1/28).

MLB interviewed nearly 200 people auditioning for a role in the league’s “I Live for This” campaign yesterday at Minute Maid Park (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/28).

A LIGHTER BUZZ

The Wisconsin STATE JOURNAL reported that an anonymous business has paid at least $16,000 to mock Vikings WR Randy Moss in series of four billboards in Madison, Wisconsin. The billboards read: “No. 1, ‘Squirting an Official With a Water Bottle $25,000;’ No. 2, ‘Ramming a Meter Maid $1,200 and Probation;’ No. 3, ‘Mooning Pack Fans $10,000;’ and No. 4, ‘Zero Rings for Randy Moss. PRICELESS’” (Wisconsin STATE JOURNAL, 1/27).

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	Newsday

TODAY’S EVENTS

Office Depot will host a private tailgate party at its Delray HQs to celebrate its NASCAR sponsorship. Carl Edwards, driver of the No.99 Office Depot Ford will attend (PALM BEACH POST, 1/28).

IN OTHER NEWS….

USA TODAY notes that in a $57B stock deal that will “marry two consumer-product global giants, Procter & Gamble announced today that it will buy Gillette in its largest-ever acquisition” (USA TODAY, 1/28).

The N.Y. TIMES reports that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday named a joint venture of Octagon Worldwide and Civic Entertainment Group as the “sponsorship agent that will sell companies the rights to promote their brand on the subways, buses, commuter railroads, stations, bridges and tunnels” (N.Y. TIMES, 1/28).

The WALL STREET JOURNAL notes that DirecTV yesterday reported a Q4 ’04 loss of $283.3M, compared to a loss of $309.5M in the same frame a year earlier.  Revenue in the quarter climbed 22%, from $2.75B to $3.36B.  The company also added 444,000 net new subscribers to finish the year with 13.94 million subscribers, up 14% from 12.21 million a year earlier (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/28).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night's "Final Jeopardy!" category was "Mountains."

“To trek through its Khumbu Icefall, Lhotse Face and South Col, your team needs a $70,000 permit from Nepal’s government.”

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

NBC’s Jay Leno: “In honor of Terrell Owens, Kentucky Fried Chicken has a new Eagles Super Bowl meal. It’s two wings and a broken leg for $2.99. Owens says even though he has a broken bone in his ankle, he’s not listening to his doctor. He’s going to listen to his trainer, and today, Barry Bonds said, ‘Great advice.’ ... According to a new book, female officers at Guantanamo Bay would sometimes wear just a thong when they interrogated these Iraqi prisoners in order to make them uncomfortable. Is that the best way to get at the truth? Usually, when a guy sees a woman in a thong he starts lying. ‘I’m not married, I’m just hanging out.’ ... A group of lawyers here in California are petitioning the California legislature to make it legal for women to sunbathe topless. Finally, lawyers who are doing good for society” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/27).

LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“What is Mount Everest?”

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