12 The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 30, 1999
WWF too lewd for Coke
Atlanta-based company will advertise with Turner's WCW
SEC: Officials may have.
botched Georgia call
Claim reminiscent of 1990 Michigan State game
ATLANTA (AP) - Coca-Cola has stopped
spending its advertising money on the World
Wrestling Federation's telecasts, citing often-
lewd language and story lines.
Coke's action follows a campaign against the
WWF by the conservative Parents Television
Council, but a company spokesman said yes-
terday that was not the only reason it pulled the
advertising.
The Atlanta-based company continues to
advertise with WWF's main rival, World
Championship Wrestling, a subsidiary of Time
Warner's Turner Broadcasting System, also
based in Atlanta.
Coke ended its two-year advertising rela-
tionship with the WWF the week of Oct. 18.
"It crossed the line in terms of content, par-
ticularly in terms of language and story lines,"
Coke spokesman Bob Bertini said yesterday,
refusing to discuss any specifics. "It's not
about wrestling. Specifically, it's about the
WWF's programming content."
WWF Chairman Vince McMahon blasted
Coke's decision as "discriminatory, hypocriti-
cal and an affront to free speech."
The WWF said the commercial time dropped
by Coke "was immediately replaced by adver-
tisers at premium rates."
Bertini would not say how much Coke spent
on its wrestling marketing.
On last night's WWF RAW is
The WAR, it was revealed that Vince
McMah n s daugner Stephanier
Triple-H, botching her scheduled
marriage to wrestler Test. The
elder McMahon called Coca
ola's decision to drop advertis-
;ing "discriminatory, hypocritical
McMahon and an affront to free speech."
The Parents Television Council, based in
Los Angeles, has been pressuring advertisers
to drop support of WWF programs, which are
seen in 124 countries in nine languages.
Bertini said Coke had received letters from
people affiliated wi t he council but that those
did not solely influence the decision on the
WWF.
And he said Coke did "not have the same
content issues with the WCW."
The WWF's Monday night cable television
program "RAW is WAR" draws about 6 million
viewers each week.
In August, the Stamford. Conn., company
listed profits of $56 million and revenues of
5251.5 million in fiscal year 1999. The WWF
said five million households purchased its pay-
per-view programs this year, bringing in rev-
enues of S150 million.
From wire reports
ATHENS, Ga. - A contros ersial
fumble call in last Saturday's
Georgia-Georgia Tech game looks
like a mistake, the supervisor for
Southeastern Conference football
officials said yesterday.
"It looks like they had a miss,"
Bobby Gaston said.
Gaston said Sunday he had not
reviewed the game tape nor had he
spoken to officials from Georgia. But
after watching several replays of the
play on television and speaking with
members of the officiating crew, he
said his officials messed up.
"It certainly appears from the cov-
erage on local stations that (Jasper
Sanks) was down," Gaston said.
"We're all sad today. It's not a happy
day for us."
No. 21 Georgia was 2 yards from
the Georgia Tech goal line in the
closing minute of Saturday's game.
Georgia, having rallied from a 17-
point deficit in the second half, sent
Sanks into a pile. The ball popped
loose.
Chris Young picked it up for th
17th-ranked Yellow Jackets with fisW
seconds left, preserving a 48-48 tie
and forcing overtime. Tech won 51-
48.
Television replays showed Sanks
had both knees down when the rest of
his body crashed to the ground, forc-
ing the ball to come loose. But, in
college football there is no instant
replay, so there was no chance for the
officiating crew to get another look
at the play.
The Monday morning admission i
reminiscent of Michigan's game %\ith
Michigan State in 1990, where a
failed two-point conversion resulted
in No. 1 Michigan falling to the
unranked Spartans, 28-27.
That following Monday, Big Ten
officials admitted on ABC's "Good
Morning America" that Desmond,
Howard was interfered with while
attempting the game-winning catch@
% Lid a
Saban may leave State
SABAN
Continued from Page 11
planned to talk with his family last night
to try to make a decision.
WLNS-TV reported that Louisiana
State is offering Saban about a million
dollars a year. At Michigan State, he has
a base salary of S203,530 and makes
$493,000 from other sources, including
his TV show. for a total of $697,330, The
Detroit News said in an apparently unre-
lated report Sunday.
"The going rate in that league is more
than SI million," said John
Lewandowski, Michigan State sports
information director.
Lewandowski said Louisiana State
officials contacted Michigan State yes-
terday morning to say they wanted to
speak with Saban about a job.
Lewandowski said he expected Saban to
make a decision quickly.
"I just know this is something that
coach would like to resolve quickly.
We've got a bowl game to prepare for"
Lewandowski said.
Saban has not been out of the state
and any negotiations have been conduct-
ed by telephone, Lewandowski said.
Louisiana State officials have said
they want a new coach in place by Dec.
10 to replace DiNardo, who was fired
two weeks ago after going 2-8 this sea-
son, and 4-7 in 1998 - the year
Louisiana State was expected to contend
for an SEC championship after three
winning seasons under DiNardo.
Louisiana State Chancellor Mark
Emmert met with Louisiana State play-
ers yesterday and told them a new coach
would be named "within 24-36 hours"
WAFB reported.
Saban guided No. 10 Michigan State
to a 9-2 record this season, a second-
place finish in the Big Ten and a berth in
the Florida Citrus Bowl, the Spartans"
first Jan. I bowl game since appearing iii
the Gator-Bowl 1989.
Saban's stops
A look at the coaching career of -
Nick Saban, who is reportedly being
considered for the head coaching
position at Louisiana State.
1995-99: head coach, Michigan State.
1991-94: defensive coordinator,
Cleveland Browns.
1990: head coach, Toledo.
1988-89: secondary coach, Houston
Oilers.
1983-87: defensive coordinator/sec-
ondary coach, Michigan State.
1982: secondary coach, Navy.
1980-81: secondary coach, Ohio State.
1978-79: secondary coach, West
Virginia.
1977: outside linebackers coach,
Syracuse.
1975-76: linebackers coach, Kent
State.
1973-74: graduate assistant coach,
Kent State.
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