TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET 60-minute edition of FSN's "National Sports Report" led with a 12:41 report on the death of Dale Earnhardt, followed by Spurs-Bucks. "NSR" had 26:01 of total NASCAR/Earnhardt coverage. Last night's 11:00pm ET 60-minute edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" led with a 7:54 report on NASCAR/Earnhardt, followed by Spurs-Bucks. "SportsCenter" had 17:44 of total NASCAR/Earnhardt coverage. Last night's 11:00pm ET 30-minute edition of CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight" dedicated the entire show to Earnhardt, and former driver Benny Parsons spoke with CNN/SI's John Giannone about Earnhardt (THE DAILY).
NOTES: PGA Tour golfer Paul Stankowski "took the media to task" after the Bob Hope Classic in CA for "focusing too much" on Tiger Woods. Woods did not play in the event. Stankowski, who finished second, said: "You want to showcase the superstar, and that's great. ... But it's also hurting the Tour." Stankowski said there are "great players on Tour, and just because they aren't Tiger Woods doesn't mean they shouldn't get any recognition" (USA TODAY, 2/20)....In Toronto, Diana Zlomislic reports Headline Media Group and the Blue Jays have "reached a confidential settlement on the team's disputed radio rights" (TORONTO SUN, 2/20)....Elsa Benitez, the wife of former NBAer Rony Seikaly, will appear on the cover of SI's swimsuit issue, due to hit newsstands tomorrow. A preview of the issue will featured tonight on MTV at 9:00pm ET (FREE PRESS, 2/20). ET's Mary Hart: "It's hard to believe but the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition just got a little racier. ... The 37th annual edition out Wednesday promises to be the sexiest ever" ("ET," 2/19).
