Dan Moriarty: October 2007 Archives
After writing the back page column with Sports Illustrated for the last 22 years, Rick Reilly has decided to leave and go to ESPN. Reilly is one of the most popular sports columnists in the United States today. He will be leaving SI when his contract expires at the end of October. This news comes one day after SI announced that they had signed ex ESPN anchor Dan Patrick.________________________________
New York Times reports:
Rick Reilly, who has written for Sports Illustrated for 22 years and whose "Life of Reilly" column is in the final page of the magazine each week, is leaving to join ESPN.
ESPN would not offer details about what Reilly would do. The company spokesman Mike Soltys and Reilly's agent, Janet Pawson, said discussions were continuing. "There's nothing to announce," Soltys said.
Reilly's departure comes one day after Sports Illustrated announced a deal with Dan Patrick, the former ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor and radio host. Patrick will write a column for the magazine and have his new radio program simulcast on SI.com.
Reilly's humorous and sometimes poignant columns have been a high-profile part of the magazine, and he also contributes "Riffs of Reilly" on SI.com, in which he appears in animated form offering funny commentary.
The Buffalo Bills are hopeful to expand their fan base into Canada by playing a preseason and regular season game in Toronto. Most of the Bills fans are located in Central and Western New York and this would be an attempt to capitalize on the close proximity to Toronto. There is a chance that the Bills could play a preseason game in Toronto next season and a regular season game there the year after. This comes a year after Willis McGahee said that the Bills should move to Toronto because he didn't like the city of Buffalo. The Bills have said that this is to expand the fan base and not a first step in relocation. ____________________________________
SI.com Reports:
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- The Buffalo Bills intend to play a few games in Canada, eh?
That's the plan after the Bills, on Thursday, announced they are seeking approval to play a preseason and at least one regular-season game in Toronto as part of the franchise's attempt to expand its market base beyond western New York.
"The team hopes to capitalize on the increasing interest of fans in the Canadian market by playing a regular season game in Toronto," the Bills announced in a release.
The Bills hope to play a preseason game at Toronto next summer with plans to play a regular-season game as early as 2009. The games would be played at Rogers Center, a downtown stadium with a retractable roof that serves as home to baseball's Blue Jays and the Canadian Football League Argonauts.
PepsiCo Inc. announced today that Gatorade and Tiger Woods will be releasing a new product called "Gatorade Tiger." This new Gatorade product will be introduced in March 2008. The flavors Woods' picked are cherry blend, citrus blend and grape. Woods will join Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning and Mia Hamm as an endorser of Gatorade products. _______________________________________
FOX Sports reports:
Tiger Woods will have his own brand of sports drink next year under an endorsement deal announced Tuesday with Gatorade that marks a couple of firsts for the world's No. 1 golfer -- his first U.S. deal with a beverage company and his first licensing agreement.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Golfweek magazine reported last month it was for five years and could pay Woods as much as $100 million, moving him closer to the $1 billion mark in career endorsements.
"There have been some licensing elements to things we've done," said Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, who cited video games produced by EA Sports as an example. "But everything he does with Gatorade is going to be creating new products. It's something Tiger and I and our licensing business has been looking at for some time."
The 2006 Tour de France has a new winner and it's Oscar Pereiro. Pereiro was given his yellow jersey today in Spain's Sport Ministry. Floyd Landis was stripped of his title when he lost his appeal on September 20th. Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone during the 2006 race and has been fighting this positive test ever since. Pereiro was named the winner on September 21st by the International Cycling Union. Landis has decided to appeal the decision but at least for now Oscar Pereiro is the 2006 Tour de France winner.________________________________________
ESPN.com reports:
"Finally, we have a winner and it's Oscar," Tour director
Christian Prudhomme said. "Oscar, you have won the Tour out on the
road."
At a podium in offices of
The Spaniard moved up from second to first after the disqualification of
Floyd Landis for doping.
"I have the feeling of arriving at the end of a thriller, after having
spent 14 months thinking about it and not being able to concentrate as I should
have on my job," Pereiro said. "It is essentially a kind of
release."
The International Cycling Union formally declared Pereiro the winner on
Sept. 21, one day after a
It's the first time in the 105-year history of the race that a winner has been stripped of the title.
According to Ricky Williams' agent, Leigh Steinberg, Ricky has applied for NFL reinstatement Monday. Williams played 12 games in 2005 and his last full season was in 2003. Ricky Williams has been out of the league because of retirement and his suspensions for testing positive for marijuana. The now 30 year old running back led the league in rushing back in 2002 with 1853 yards. This would be Williams' second attempt at a comeback after retiring in 2004.
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ESPN Reports: MIAMI -- Suspended running back Ricky Williams applied for NFL reinstatement Monday, his agent said.
"Ricky is extremely excited about the prospect of playing in the NFL again and hopeful for a positive response," his agent Leigh Steinberg said.
Williams has played in only 12 NFL games since the start of the 2004 season, but rushed for 3,225 yards in 2002-03. His current suspension began in April 2006 after he violated the league's drug policy for the fourth time. He tested positive for marijuana this April, again delaying his return.
Williams remains under contract with Miami, where he won the NFL rushing title in 2002. But new coach Cam Cameron has not indicated whether he wants Williams to stay with the Dolphins, who fell to 0-4 Sunday.
"That's ultimately their decision," Steinberg said. "We've had no contact with them."
ESPN The Magazine and BusinessWeek have compiled a list of the Top 100 most powerful people in all of sports. The list includes athletes, coaches, owners, agents and other executives. NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, is number 1 on their list.
"Who wields power in sports? In a special project with BusinessWeek, ESPN The Magazine spotlights many of the people -- from the suits to the jocks -- influencing the games you love."
