| | The Daily Insider
Morning News & Headlines
Tuesday, February 1, 2005
9:00am ET | |
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| • | NHL Today To Make Formal CBA Proposal To NHLPA In Last-Ditch Effort |
| • | On The Back Of Higher Ad Revenue At ESPN, Disney Profits Jump 5.1% |
| • | Emmitt Smith Retiring Today To Join Fowler’s Group Trying To Buy Vikings |
| • | ECHL Team Partly Owned By Jerry Colangelo Coming To Phoenix This Fall |
| • | Goodyear Tire Pays Pistons G Richard Hamilton To Put Its Tread In His Hair |
| • | Morning Briefs/In Other News/Laugh Track/TV Monitor/Final Jeopardy! |
NHL’S PROPOSAL MAY BE LAST CHANCE TO SAVE REST OF SEASON
The N.Y. DAILY NEWS reports that the NHL today is expected to make a formal CBA proposal to the NHLPA, which will include “a salary cap with a minimum of $32[M] and a ceiling of $42[M]. An individual salary cap of $6[M] is not expected to be part of the package.” The proposal also is expected to include team profit-sharing, but no luxury tax. Additionally, the league is “seeking the right to take a player to salary arbitration” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/1).
The TORONTO STAR notes that former Canucks President & GM and TSN analyst Brian Burke is reporting that the two sides “will discuss a luxury tax – something [the NHL] steadfastly refused in the past – and a profit-sharing provision that would see the two sides split money 50-50 after the league reached a certain profit threshold.” Burke believes that if the “sides reach a deal, it will be for six years.” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Exec Dir Bob Goodenow are expected to return to the talks (TORONTO STAR, 2/1).
TODAY FROM JACKSONVILLE: ROUND-UP OF SUPER BOWL HEADLINES
With the Eagles and Patriots in Jacksonville for this weekend’s Super Bowl XXXIX, The Daily offers a round-up of headlines from Philadelphia, Boston and the host city:
The Florida Times-Union:
The Philadelphia Daily News:
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
The Boston Globe:
The Boston Herald:
Have you submitted your picks in our annual Super Bowl Pick ‘Em contest yet? If not, be sure to do so by Friday, February 4 at 5:00pm ET. Defeating your fellow readers will result in an award second in prestige to the Vince Lombardi Trophy itself – recognition in The Daily and SportsBusiness Journal.
EMMITT SMITH RETIRING TO JOIN GROUP TRYING TO BUY VIKINGS
The ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS reports that Cardinals RB Emmitt Smith will announce his retirement today and plans to “join Reggie Fowler’s investment group that is trying to buy the Vikings." Fowler’s group also includes Minneapolis-area automobile dealer Denny Hecker (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 2/1).
ON BACK OF ESPN AD REVENUE, DISNEY BEATS ANALYSTS’ EXPECTATIONS
USA TODAY reports that as Disney Chair George Mitchell today is expected to address the company’s search for a CEO to replace the outgoing Michael Eisner as the company finishes its annual two-day analyst conference in Orlando. Mitchell, on the notion that Robert Iger is a "shoo-in" to replace Eisner: “The board is conducting the search in good faith, with open minds, and without any prior determinations or preconditions.” Other names that have been mentioned as possible replacements include News Corp. President & COO Peter Chernin, Viacom co-Presidents & co-COOs Leslie Moonves and Tom Freston, eBay CEO Meg Whitman and Yahoo Chair & CEO Terry Semel.
Meanwhile, the company reported a Q1 ’05 profit of $723M, a 5.1% increase over the $688M profit in the same frame a year ago. Revenue grew 1.4%, from $8.6B to $8.7B. Driven by “higher ad revenue at ESPN, the company’s TV networks group led the growth with a 36% increase in operating income” (USA TODAY, 2/1).
ECHL TEAM CO-OWNED BY JERRY COLANGELO COMING TO PHOENIX
The ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that the ECHL and Suns Chair & CEO Jerry Colangelo today will announce plans to bring an expansion team that was originally scheduled to play in Bloomington, Illinois, to Phoenix. Colangelo owns a share in the team, which will play 36 home games at America West Arena, beginning in October. (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/1).
MORNING BRIEFS
FINA yesterday announced that Athens, Moscow and Berlin are the final candidates to host the ’05 World Championships, with the final selection taking place February 15 (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 2/1).
Redskins coach Joe Gibbs yesterday clarified his “my time in football will be short” comment from last week by saying, “My commitment with the Redskins is I want to do every single thing I can to restore the Redskins to winning football games. I’d say that my commitment is a minimum of five years” (WASHINGTON POST, 2/1).
The Lions are expected to announce this week that WKRK-FM will remain the team’s flagship station. The team will not keep WXYT-AM as a simulcast partner (DETROIT NEWS, 2/1).
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has paid Pistons G Richard Hamilton “to wear his hair in the style of the tread pattern of the company’s Assurance TripleTred product.” Hamilton debuted the hairstyle during the January 29 game against the Knicks and plans to keep it for about a week (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/31).
Former Synetics CEO Bahar Uttam is revitalizing the World Team Tennis Boston Lobsters, who will play at Harvard’s Bright Hockey Center (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/1).
ATTENDANCE WATCH
The crowd of 8,193 at last night’s Serving for Tsunami Relief exhibition at the Toyota Center raised more than $500,000 for the cause (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/1).
THE BACK PAGES
The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sports covers 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 | Newsday |
TODAY’S EVENTS
’06 FIFA World Cup tickets went on sale today as 812,000 ducats were released for general sale.
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and Wilma McNabb will participate in the Chunky Chili Bowl I at 3:30pm ET at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Jacksonville (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/29).
MLB will host an open casting call from 12:00-8:00pm PT at Angel Stadium for its “I Live for This” ad campaign. The winners will be flown to Miami in mid-February to shoot a new spot.
The World Poker Tour will launch WPT Poker Corner on XM Satellite Radio and AudioFeast.com. Poker Corner is a 60-second audio feature that includes general poker information as well as player interviews and commentary.
The California League Lancaster JetHawks and Clear Channel will conduct an 11:00am PT press conference to announce an agreement to sell the naming rights to Lancaster Municipal Stadium. The deal still requires approval from Lancaster City Council to be finalized (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 1/29).
Kentucky State Rep. Tom Burch will detail his proposed legislation that would expand gambling at Kentucky racetracks and create four stand-alone casinos (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 2/1).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The N.Y. TIMES reports that Viacom CFO Richard Bressler is leaving the company, but will stay until a replacement is found (N.Y. TIMES, 2/1).
The WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that The Home Depot is “linking up with reality show producer Mark Burnett Productions in a loosely structured, multiprogram deal.” Burnett, who is behind “The Apprentice” and “Survivor,” will “develop story ideas and program concepts” for the company to consider (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/1).
The WASHINGTON POST notes that the Washington Examiner, a free tabloid newspaper owned by AEG Chair Phil Anschutz, “plans to launch today in the District and in the Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs, replacing the Journal Newspapers and entering head-to-head competition with the Washington Post, the Washington Times and other publications.” The paper is "aimed at upscale readers" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/1).
FINAL JEOPARDY!
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Astronauts.”
“Born Edwin in 1930, this Apollo astronaut legally changed his name in 1982 to his popular nickname.”
LAUGH TRACK
THE MONOLOGUES:
CBS’ David Letterman: “Here in New York City, the basic cab fare has gone up from $2.00 to $2.50, or as any cab driver in New York City can tell you, that’s a 22-rupee increase. ... Paris Hilton has a dog named Tinkerbell, and Tinkerbell was missing for a while. Don’t worry, they found Tinkerbell. They found the dog. Tinkerbell was with the Taco Bell chihuahua making a sex video. ... Everything is low-carb now. They have the low-carb beer, they have low-carb pizza, low-carb ice cream, and earlier today, I was reading in the New York Times something that makes no sense to me. You can now actually buy low-carb condoms. It makes no sense. ... John Kerry was criticized for throwing away his military service medals back in the ‘70s. So not to be outdone today, President Bush threw away his National Guard Spotty Attendance Ribbon” (“Late Show,” CBS, 1/31). Letterman revealed later in the show that all of his monologue jokes were provided by the late Johnny Carson (THE DAILY).
NBC’s Jay Leno: “Yesterday was Election Day in Iraq, and I thought this was odd. Out of force of habit, John Kerry gave a concession speech. ... The turnout was very high. In some places, 90% of the population voted. They say it will take about ten days to finalize the results, which is pretty good when you consider that’s still twice as fast as they do it in Florida. ... President Bush said today he wants another $80[B] in military funding, so when he said Iraq isn’t free yet, he’s not kidding. ... A lot of people are buying this new projection TV that lets you project a huge, eight-foot picture on a blank wall, and it’s great for watching the Super Bowl because once the Patriots are up by 30 you can do shadow puppets to entertain your friends. ... I don’t want to say the Eagles are a long-shot, but the new Iraqi leader has a better chance of not getting killed this Sunday” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/31).
LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR
| Net | Show | Lead | Next Items |
| ESPN | “Around The Horn” | Eagles WR Freddie Mitchell talking trash | Cubs trading Sammy Sosa to the Orioles; Heat |
| ESPN | “PTI” | Freddie Mitchell | Sammy Sosa; Colts RB Edgerrin James wants to play for Dolphins |
| ESPN | 11:00pm ET “SportsCenter” | Super Bowl XXXIX preview | Rockets-Celtics; Pacers-76ers |
| FSN | “I, Max” | Freddie Mitchell | Super Bowl QB comparison; Sammy Sosa |
FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER
“Who is Buzz Aldrin?”
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