A truly goofy decision
Michael Eisner, in Hong Kong for Monday’s opening of a Disneyland theme park, was asked by The Associated Press to name his worst mistake during his reign as Walt Disney Co. chief executive.
Eisner called the signing of Mo Vaughn by the Disney-owned Anaheim Angels after the 1998 season “the worst personnel move I’ve ever made or approved, worse than the one you’re probably thinking about.”
He was referring to the naming of Michael Ovitz as Disney president in 1995. Ovitz was gone after 15 months, and he got a severance package estimated at $130 million.
The Angels signed Vaughn for $80 million over six years, and he was gone after three, traded to the New York Mets.
Sure-fire solution
On HBO’s “Costas Now,” Cris Collinsworth offered this suggestion for Philadelphia Eagles receiver Terrell Owens: “Probably more than anything else, he needs a wife. Honestly. If he had a wife, think about this. If he had a wife, the minute he takes after Donovan McNabb, his wife would have said, ‘What are you doing? Pick up the telephone and call him and apologize. You’re so out of line.’ But he doesn’t have a wife. He has an agent.”
Just his ‘Replay’
Owens has demanded that the Eagles renegotiate his seven-year, $48.97 million contract, prompting Jay Leno to crack: “The new version of John Madden’s football game came out – ‘Madden 2006.’ It’s amazing how realistic the players are. Like Terrell Owens. Every three minutes he tries to renegotiate his contract.”
You can’t be Sirius
A recent caller to a talk show with John Riggins and Adam Schein on Sirius Satellite Radio’s NFL channel, identifying himself as “Mike in Illinois,” abruptly hung up after saying, “Oh my gosh!”
Mike called back the next day to say that his wife, who was about to give birth to twin boys, said, “It’s time.” Mike told Schein they had named one of the twins Adam, after him.
A lot of capital in capital
Although they’ve had a losing record the last three seasons, the Washington Redskins are the NFL’s biggest winners when it comes to making money.
For the sixth straight year, the Redskins are atop Forbes magazine’s annual list of NFL franchise valuations at $1.26 billion. The value has increased 15 percent since last year, when Washington became the first American sports team to pass the $1 billion mark with a value of $1.1 billion.
This year, the Redskins have company. The Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots are each valued at just more than $1 billion.
The last word
Shaquille O’Neal, declining to pose holding New Balance sneakers at a media event, said, “I have my own line of shoes, so I’d be breaking my own contract. And then I’d have to sue myself.”