Women’s achievements valued ■ Some of the big names in the sports industry will be in Eugene today to discuss the role of women’s sports By Mindi Rice for the Emerald Lee Ann Daly, ESPN’s Senior Vice President for Marketing, will discuss integrating the sports in dustry into the entertainment in dustry in her keynote address at the Women in Sports Business Sympo sium, beginning tonight at 7 p.m. in the EMU Ballroom. The annual symposium, in its sixth year, is organized by graduate students of the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. The free one-day event begins at 1 p.m. with panel discussions and wraps-up with Daly’s keynote address this evening. “We now have a national repu tation that draws the biggest names in the industry, as well as regional leaders and our alumni,” said Rick Burton, director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. “I believe this is the best free one day sports marketing conference in America.” Coinciding with the symposium is the third annual Sports Award Program, sponsored by the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center and the Women in Sports Network. The Sports Awards Program recognizes the achievements of local girls and women who demonstrate a com mitment to athletics, social service and activities outside of sports. The winners will be honored at the keynote address. “Girls and women who are active in sports and recreational activities achieve greater confidence, self-es teem and pride,” said event organ izer Kathryn Bayha. “Girls will be more likely to remain involved in sports when they know that their achievements are valued.” The symposium also features two panel discussions including representatives from companies such as the Women’s National Bas ketball Association, the Los Ange les Dodgers, Action Sports Cable Network and the International Skating Union. The first panel will talk about their careers, while the second will discuss the future of sports as entertainment. “This symposium, which is run largely by our students, combines the best elements of a University of Oregon business school experi ence,” said Phil Romero, dean of the business college. “Our students can learn and network with sports industry leaders while applying classroom knowledge in areas such as sponsorship, event marketing, accounting and finance.” Ex-FL folds after forgettable year By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press NEW YORK — X-it, stage left. The XFL folded Thursday after one season that was a critical and TV ratings disappointment for the football league founded by the World Wrestling Federation and jointly owned by NBC. The WWF said its share of after tax losses will be about $35 million. NBC’s loss should be similar. “Despite where our heart was, we just couldn’t make it work from a financial standpoint,” WWF chairman Vince McMahon said. Even with many adjustments during the season, very little worked for the XFL between the much-hyped and well-rated season opener and the April 21 champi onship game, which was watched by about 75 percent fewer people than the debut on NBC. The final game’s national rating was a 2.1, tying for 93rd place among prime-time shows that week and lower than anything else on the four major networks. “It was a risk we all thought was a smart one in this wildly escalat ing TV rights scene,” NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said. NBC hoped to parlay McMahon’s promotional skills to draw the young male viewers that advertis ers crave and air games on Satur days, which generally have poor TV ratings. In the end, the XFL lasted two years fewer than another outdoor spring football league — the USFL, which started airing on ABC in 1983 and folded after three seasons. “We knew it wasn’t going to work (in prime time) from early March on,” Ebersol said. “The launch worked, the people were there, and we didn’t answer their expectations, I guess.” In addition to Saturday nights on NBC, XFL games were shown on UPN and TNN. The XFL, though, didn’t seem to be able to decide whether it want ed to be more about sport or spec tacle. Early games had lascivious cheerleader shots, anti-NFL bluster from WWF types, sophomoric dou ble entendres and screaming an nouncers — including Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a former WWF wrestler — who sounded more like shills than analysts. Ventura, asked for his reaction as he left a speech in Minneapolis, said: “I don’t care. I don’t work for them anymore.” Reward Yourself w/ $70 instant rebate