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American Morning

Sports Talk

Aired September 30, 2003 - 06:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Atlanta Thrasher's star Danny Heatley is lucky to be alive after police say his Ferrari hit a wall at 80 miles per hour. The car was cut in half. Take a look. Heatley broke his jaw. His passenger, teammate Dan Snyder, is now in critical condition.
And Chris Cotter is here with me now.

Both great guys and I guess Heatley just got this Ferrari.

CHRIS COTTER, RADIO 790 "THE ZONE": Yes, he did, actually. This was a pretty new car for him and one of his teammates, Ilya Kovalchuk, another one of these bright young stars in the league, got a brand new orange Lamborghini. And I was at a golf outing with him last week and kind of kidding around with their head coach, Bob Hartley about his two young stars, you know, the future, a big part of the future of the NHL driving around in these fast cars all around Atlanta. And, you know, I feel horrible about it, less than a week later we see an incident like this. It's really tragic.

COSTELLO: And you say there was no evidence of alcohol involved?

COTTER: No, no evidence of alcohol at all. And they were actually coming before from an official team function. They had a function here at the Philips Arena with the season ticket holders last night and that's what they were going home from. And it's just a shame.

COSTELLO: Yes. Well, we hope for the best for both of them.

COTTER: We really do.

COSTELLO: Definitely.

COTTER: They're good guys, two really good guys.

COSTELLO: You're here, actually, though, to talk about baseball, because everyone has a bad case of pennant fever on DAYBREAK this morning.

COTTER: I'm sure they do, and I'm excited about it, too. And why wouldn't you? I mean even the first four divisional series, there's something existing about each one.

You've got the Braves and the Cubs, right? The Cubs, I mean...

COSTELLO: Oh, the Cubs. COTTER: ... just the fact that the Cubs are here is exciting enough, against the Braves, a team that they've won 12 straight division titles. And they've done it with pitching every year. This year, they're going to do it with hitting. They have one of the best hitting clubs in all of baseball. And the Cubs have one of the best pitching teams.

COSTELLO: Whoa.

COTTER: So it's kind of a reversal for the Braves. They're going to have to do it with hitting and the Cubs are going to have do it with pitching. I'd love to see the Cubs win it. I think the Braves will win it, though.

COSTELLO: You think so?

COTTER: But I'm rooting for the Cubs hard. Any baseball fan would be.

COSTELLO: Yes, the Cubs and the Red Sox.

COTTER: Because of what would potentially be on the other side.

COSTELLO: Exactly. That's right. We have to talk about Barry Bonds and San Francisco, because he could finally get that World Series ring, as well.

COTTER: He could, and Jack McKeon, the manager for Florida, is a wily veteran and the big thing here is whether he's going to even pitch to Barry Bonds. Last year, remember, we were sitting here talking about Benito Santiago, Barry Bonds' teammate, and how well he was playing, and that was helping Barry Bonds.

Bonds is going to need someone to protect him in the lineup. Otherwise there's no way Florida pitches to him.

COSTELLO: OK, let's talk about the Yankees. You know, I'm sorry, Yankees fans, but I want the Cubs and the Red Sox.

COTTER: And the Red Sox. Well, the Yankees and Twins is interesting, because you have the ultimate big market teams spending all the money and George Steinbrenner and the Yankees and the ultimate small market team, where Governor Jesse Ventura had to come in a couple of years ago and save the team.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's right.

COTTER: And here they've made the playoffs two years in a row and that's a huge accomplishment for them. You know, it's not a fluke. Last year wasn't. To get back this year, that's huge. The Yankees also appear vulnerable this year, even though that might signal the year that they come back and win it all. But they don't appear as dominant as they have in the past.

COSTELLO: Although the Twins just lost twice to the Tigers. COTTER: They did, but they finished really strong. And speaking of finishing strong, Red Sox, As, that's the last one in the American League, the Red Sox have the best hitting lineup in all of baseball. I would love to see -- this series, I think, is one of the best going. But I'd love to see the Red Sox and the Yankees and Red Sox beating the Yankees; and the Cubs and Giants, with Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa, and the Cubs advancing. If you get a Cubs-Red Sox World Series, I mean Katie bar the door. It's, this whole country -- I mean you thought that Sosa and McGwire were going at it in '98 for the home run crown like electrified the country? It'll be nothing compared to this series if these two teams make it.

COSTELLO: And let's -- that's right. And let's face it, baseball itself needs that.

COTTER: Oh, they benefit tremendously from it.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes.

COTTER: And somebody would have to...

COSTELLO: Oh, we've got to go...

COTTER: ... win.

COSTELLO: We've got to go, Chris. I know you're excited about this, but we have to go. We have to take a break.

COTTER: All right.

COSTELLO: We'll be right back.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 30, 2003 - 06:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Atlanta Thrasher's star Danny Heatley is lucky to be alive after police say his Ferrari hit a wall at 80 miles per hour. The car was cut in half. Take a look. Heatley broke his jaw. His passenger, teammate Dan Snyder, is now in critical condition.
And Chris Cotter is here with me now.

Both great guys and I guess Heatley just got this Ferrari.

CHRIS COTTER, RADIO 790 "THE ZONE": Yes, he did, actually. This was a pretty new car for him and one of his teammates, Ilya Kovalchuk, another one of these bright young stars in the league, got a brand new orange Lamborghini. And I was at a golf outing with him last week and kind of kidding around with their head coach, Bob Hartley about his two young stars, you know, the future, a big part of the future of the NHL driving around in these fast cars all around Atlanta. And, you know, I feel horrible about it, less than a week later we see an incident like this. It's really tragic.

COSTELLO: And you say there was no evidence of alcohol involved?

COTTER: No, no evidence of alcohol at all. And they were actually coming before from an official team function. They had a function here at the Philips Arena with the season ticket holders last night and that's what they were going home from. And it's just a shame.

COSTELLO: Yes. Well, we hope for the best for both of them.

COTTER: We really do.

COSTELLO: Definitely.

COTTER: They're good guys, two really good guys.

COSTELLO: You're here, actually, though, to talk about baseball, because everyone has a bad case of pennant fever on DAYBREAK this morning.

COTTER: I'm sure they do, and I'm excited about it, too. And why wouldn't you? I mean even the first four divisional series, there's something existing about each one.

You've got the Braves and the Cubs, right? The Cubs, I mean...

COSTELLO: Oh, the Cubs. COTTER: ... just the fact that the Cubs are here is exciting enough, against the Braves, a team that they've won 12 straight division titles. And they've done it with pitching every year. This year, they're going to do it with hitting. They have one of the best hitting clubs in all of baseball. And the Cubs have one of the best pitching teams.

COSTELLO: Whoa.

COTTER: So it's kind of a reversal for the Braves. They're going to have to do it with hitting and the Cubs are going to have do it with pitching. I'd love to see the Cubs win it. I think the Braves will win it, though.

COSTELLO: You think so?

COTTER: But I'm rooting for the Cubs hard. Any baseball fan would be.

COSTELLO: Yes, the Cubs and the Red Sox.

COTTER: Because of what would potentially be on the other side.

COSTELLO: Exactly. That's right. We have to talk about Barry Bonds and San Francisco, because he could finally get that World Series ring, as well.

COTTER: He could, and Jack McKeon, the manager for Florida, is a wily veteran and the big thing here is whether he's going to even pitch to Barry Bonds. Last year, remember, we were sitting here talking about Benito Santiago, Barry Bonds' teammate, and how well he was playing, and that was helping Barry Bonds.

Bonds is going to need someone to protect him in the lineup. Otherwise there's no way Florida pitches to him.

COSTELLO: OK, let's talk about the Yankees. You know, I'm sorry, Yankees fans, but I want the Cubs and the Red Sox.

COTTER: And the Red Sox. Well, the Yankees and Twins is interesting, because you have the ultimate big market teams spending all the money and George Steinbrenner and the Yankees and the ultimate small market team, where Governor Jesse Ventura had to come in a couple of years ago and save the team.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's right.

COTTER: And here they've made the playoffs two years in a row and that's a huge accomplishment for them. You know, it's not a fluke. Last year wasn't. To get back this year, that's huge. The Yankees also appear vulnerable this year, even though that might signal the year that they come back and win it all. But they don't appear as dominant as they have in the past.

COSTELLO: Although the Twins just lost twice to the Tigers. COTTER: They did, but they finished really strong. And speaking of finishing strong, Red Sox, As, that's the last one in the American League, the Red Sox have the best hitting lineup in all of baseball. I would love to see -- this series, I think, is one of the best going. But I'd love to see the Red Sox and the Yankees and Red Sox beating the Yankees; and the Cubs and Giants, with Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa, and the Cubs advancing. If you get a Cubs-Red Sox World Series, I mean Katie bar the door. It's, this whole country -- I mean you thought that Sosa and McGwire were going at it in '98 for the home run crown like electrified the country? It'll be nothing compared to this series if these two teams make it.

COSTELLO: And let's -- that's right. And let's face it, baseball itself needs that.

COTTER: Oh, they benefit tremendously from it.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes.

COTTER: And somebody would have to...

COSTELLO: Oh, we've got to go...

COTTER: ... win.

COSTELLO: We've got to go, Chris. I know you're excited about this, but we have to go. We have to take a break.

COTTER: All right.

COSTELLO: We'll be right back.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com