MNF TOPS AMONG BLACKS... SUPER BOWL TV BOOSTS RESUMES

The 2000 NFL season may be over, but not the news about the NFL’s vast television audience. A recently-released study by TN Media for the fourth quarter of the 2000 TV season confirms that ABC’s NFL Monday Night Football ranked No. 1 in black households (the only show among the top five in that category from one of the four major broadcast networks), and No. 2 in Hispanic households (behind FOX’ The Simpsons). At the end of 2000, Monday Night was the seventh-ranked program in all TV households……and one final Super Bowl XXXV TV note: the day after its Super Bowl advertising appeared, HotJobs.com, the job-placement site, received 24,496 résumés – 112 percent above its average of the four previous Mondays.

READY FOR SOME (FLAG) FOOTBALL? PALM BEACH COUNTY IS!

Wait a minute – the football season isn’t over! At least in Palm Beach County, Florida. The third season of the girls’ high school flag football program has just kicked off, and it looks like Spanish River is as powerful as ever. They aim for their third county flag Super Bowl title in a row, and like the NFL’s Super Bowl XXXV-champion Baltimore Ravens, boast a dominating defense. The Sharks have surrendered three touchdowns in two seasons. Flag football has taken off among the Palm Beach girls. "We’re divided into four divisions now because there’s been so much interest, and the girls are really coming out for the sport," says Spanish River coach STEVE SAGGS. Sixty girls tried out this season, and the team roster has expanded from 16 to 25. Plus, the school has a junior varsity of 30 girls. "Not every school has a J.V. program," says Saggs, "but if the growth of the varsity is any indication, it won’t be long before they do."

TAGLIABUE NAMED "SPORTS INDUSTRIALIST OF YEAR"

NFL Commissioner PAUL TAGLIABUE has been named the 2000 "Sports Industrialist of the Year" by the Sports Business Daily, which covers the business of sports. Tagliabue heads "the nation’s largest and most popular professional league," said the Daily. He was recognized for "continuing to cement labor peace, encouraging the development of new facilities through a public/private partnership, and taking an active, hands-on role with the NFL’s new-media policy." ABRAHAM MADKOUR, editor-in-chief of the Daily, wrote that "Paul Tagliabue has proven that he richly deserves our honor of Sports Industrialist of the Year. He has carried out his vision for the NFL with undeniable skill and has quietly secured his place as one of the true sports leaders of the modern era."