Notebook: Hornets launch Chris Paul Web site

Published: March 21, 2008

•Busy day for Web site: "NCAA March Madness on Demand” at ncaasports.com featured heavy traffic Thursday during the first day of its coverage of all the men's tournament games. Even some users with a VIP pass had to spend time in the waiting room before accessing the service. The service also provided Westwood One's audio coverage of the games. Other features included game highlights, tournament leaders and highlights of past championship games, including Kansas' victory over Oklahoma in 1988.

•Don't call him a journalist: Former Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight, appearing as a guest this week on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period,” on his new role as a college basketball studio analyst for ESPN: "I stepped down as a coach and I have not joined the media. I had to give myself a designated moniker. I'm not a journalist, not a broadcaster, I'm a basketball consultant.”

•Hornets launch CP3 site: The Hornets launched CP3MVP.com this week, a Web site that will serve as part of the team's Most Valuable Player campaign for guard Chris Paul.

CP3MVP.com is an interactive site where visitors can link to the CP3 for MVP Myspace page also created to promote Paul. From there, fans can upload short videos explaining why they think Paul should be named MVP. Paul is averaging 21.6 points and 11.3 assists through 64 games.

•Frosty relationship: Sunday's "Outside the Lines” (8:30 a.m. on ESPN; 11 a.m., ESPNEWS) will look at the frosty relationship between Tennessee coach Pat Summitt and Connecticut coach Gino Auriemma. Shelley Smith's piece shows how the feud between Auriemma and Summitt, which resulted in the schools not playing this season, began 13 years ago when the Lady Vols visited upstart UConn.

"I remember coming out for warm-ups and Tennessee was on our half of the court,” UConn center Rebecca Lobo said. "We asked them to move and they wouldn't move, and it just fired some of our players up.” Auriemma and Summitt declined on-air interview requests.

•Record for documentary: Sunday's first part of ESPN's critically acclaimed "Black Magic,” which aired commercial free in two parts, was watched by an average of 1,211,000 households (based on a 1.3 rating), making it ESPN's most-watched documentary. The film tells the story of the injustice which characterized the civil rights movement in America, as told through the lives of African American basketball players and coaches. The second part had an average of 948,000 homes (1,182,000 viewers), based on a 1.0 rating.

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