AMERICAN CENTURY CELEBRITY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 7, 2005

Charles Barkley

Mark Killen

Dan Marino

Don Marrandino

Jon Miller

Alison Singer

MARK KILLEN: Good afternoon and on behalf of American Century Investments, thank you for joining us today. I have a number of people to introduce, but first I'd like to take an opportunity to provide you with a little background on our company and a very special cause we are supporting in this year's tournament. It is a leading investment management company with nearly five decides of experience. Our company is guided by the core belief that the ultimate measure of our performance is the success of our clients. This relentless pursuit of performance on behalf of our clients is supported by a culture of strong values and principles; simply put, we believe there is more to performance than just the numbers, and that's why we are so proud to sponsor a tournament that blends great performances, an opportunity to raise funds and awareness for a worthy cause. We are happy to support an organization that addresses the challenges of autism. This year's beneficiary Autism Speaks is an organization committed to funding the acceleration of biomedical and applied research into the cause of autism in hopes of finding a cure. Now for those introductions that I promised, joining me on this call today, our host in Lake Tahoe, our new host, the president of Harrah's Northern Nevada, Don Marrandino. One of the creators of this great event, NBC Sports senior vice president Jon Miller. And it is our pleasure to have Alison Singer, senior vice president of Autism Speaks joining us, as well. Now I have the pleasure of introducing two very special guests. We are very fortunate to have with us two superstar athletes who have epitomized excellence in their respected sports and continue to do so today in the many charitable and goodwill endeavors that they pursue, joining us on this call are former Miami Dolphin quarterback and soon to be Hall of Famer, Dan Marino, and Philadelphia 76er, Phoenix Sun, Houston Rocket, current TNT studio analyst and author of recently published, "Who is Afraid of a Large Black Man," Charles Barkley. Both will be attending the American Century Championship next week at Lake Tahoe. So at this point I would like to ask Alison to explain the genesis of the Autism Speaks' involvement with a championship before opening up it up for questions. Alison?

ALISON SINGER: Thank you, Mark, and thank you, Steve. As Mark mentioned, Autism Speaks is committed to raising awareness of the autism epidemic, educating parents about the importance of early diagnosis and early intervention, and also to raising funds to help find a cure for autism. Autism Speaks was launched only four months ago in February, by Bob and Suzanne Wright. Bob is the CEO and chairman of NBC Universal. It was launched after their grandson was diagnosed with autism. As many of you may know autism now strikes one in 166 children. Twenty years ago, that number was 1 in 10,000. So autism is truly reaching epidemic proportions. Every 20 minutes, another set of parents receives the devastating news that their child is autistic, and as the mother of an autistic child, I know that that was the very worst moment of my life. But I also know that this is a time for hope and autism, because more researchers are working on autism now than ever before. Ten years ago, there were only 12 researchers in the field of autism science and now there are over 400. The only thing slowing down their critical work is money to fund their research. And so we are very grateful for American Century investment and the support of people like Dan Marino and Charles Barkley, because for Autism Speaks it is an incredibly important opportunity for us not only to raise critical funds, but also to increase awareness of the autism epidemic.

DAN MARINO: First of all, I'm glad to be on this call and to be affiliated with a golf tournament like Tahoe and also mainly because of my affiliation with Dan Marino Foundation and Autism Speaks. Basically, our affiliation is one that we're going to work in partnership from now until from whenever continual relationship we have to continues awareness of autism and research and funding. I had an opportunity a couple of months ago to meet with Bob Wright and talk about some of the ideas that he has and some of the ideas our foundation has in helping create awareness, helping create research and fundraising and basically I'm excited about that opportunity. Our foundation has raised a bunch of money over the years and was established over 1992, and right now we probably, I want to say, we put into the system of research and development, and in our developmental disability programs in Miami and throughout Florida and other areas of probably over a million dollars a year. We have a facility that sees about 6,000 kids a month, and it's been expanding and so that's why we're real excited about our affiliation with Autism Speaks and excited about the golf tournament and to create awareness. With that said, I'm going to let Charles take over. Go ahead, Charles.

CHARLES BARKLEY: No. 1, appreciate you guys giving me an opportunity to be on the conference call. I think normally we go in these tournaments, I get a little uncomfortable always being the favorite going in, but I've just got to adjust to it and get used to it. I feel like Tiger now. Hey, I look forward to this tournament every year. It's probably the first thing I put on my schedule. Obviously the Autism Speaks is a great cause. I really appreciate American Century putting their support behind the tournament year after year, like I say I'm not a very good golfer, but I have a blast, and the reason I play on the Celebrity Tour in general is they raised great money for a lot of great causes. One of these years, I'm going to come in dead last. My goal is to come in dead last and I thank God that Chris Webber is going to be there this year, because if I can't beat Chris Webber, I really am going to have to give this game up. But I'm really looking forward, I look toward to it every year and Jon has been a friend a long time. I appreciate all of the support NBC puts behind this tournament, and hopefully the weather will be perfect and I'm just looking forward to it.

DAN MARINO: Well, I'm not a scientist obviously, but I have a son who was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old; he's 17 now and he's doing really well. If I had to say, I think it has to do with awareness through the community of, you know, the medical field and scientists putting good information out there for families and for people to understand what to look for. Basically early intervention is a key component to treating any child with neurological disabilities and specifically dealing with autism and I know that was the case for my son, Michael, and he's doing terrific right now. But I think it's awareness and more information, a younger age with children, doctors and knowing what to look for. When it first happened to my son, Michael, I didn't even know what autism was. We had to look it up in the dictionary basically and from that standpoint, which was 15 years ago, until now, the information has developed and we know what to look for. Now everybody has been more aware of children and the things that can happen with this disability.

ALISON SINGER: What we know about autism is there's some genetic component. There's actually a strong genetic component and we think that autism may be triggered by some environmental factors. At Autism Speaks we are committed to supporting and funding research that investigates all theories about what causes autism. Right now there's no clear understanding but we are looking to fund -- to cast a wide net in terms of autism research.

MARK KILLEN: Well, we sure hope to exceed $100,000 in funds raised for autism, but as important is to raise awareness. Our hope is we would exceed $100,000 or more for Autism Speaks at the tournament. We can do that in a number of different ways. Obviously the players that are not professional players can choose to donate any proceeds from their winnings towards charity. In addition, what we have done is we want to help raise awareness for Autism Speaks, and so we have donated a number of our commercial shots that we would normally use for product placements about American Century Investments in an effort to raise awareness for Autism Speaks. So you'll see Autism Speaks commercials during the tournament to help raise awareness.

JON MILLER: This is Jon Miller. One of the things you mentioned about how much American Century has raised, the past several years, American Century, this events, has donated almost $2 million to different charities from the FDNY Fund and the Fallen Patriot Fund, and this year it's Autism Speaks. It continues to grow but the past several years; I think the number is in excess of $2 million that's been raised.

DAN MARINO: Well, first of all, I think that any athlete that has been in the community like I've been in the community for over 17 years and had great success and relationships, built in business and friendships and, you try to use your celebrity to help and raise funds. That's something I always felt was very important. I think the fact that my son, Michael, was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old, it kind of -- it flips on the switch to make me think, what can I do to help to make it better for other families that might not be in the same place that I was in where I had the resources to help Michael at an early age, and he's doing terrific right now. From that standpoint it's the first thing I can think of; how can I help, help other families and other children the. For me, we have a center where we see, like I said, 6,000 kids each month. When I go over there and a mother or dad comes up to me and he says, "Hey, Dan this facility has really helped and it's made a difference in our family's life and our son or daughter's life," that's everything you dream of as far as being able to raise funds and make a difference. That's what gets me excited about the project and what we've done.

DAN MARINO: Well, you know, I think it's for everybody, not necessarily me; anybody who understands what children are going through no matter what the circumstances are or the needs that they might be dealing with. It's always difficult, and it's a concern when you know that you're doing the best that you can, and it is working and it is helping and families tell you it's working, then that makes all the difference in the world.

DAN MARINO: Well, I'll say this: That I will beat Charles. But my golf game is okay. I'm not going to be one of the guys in the lead, but I'm good enough to finish somewhere in the middle and I enjoy playing golf a lot and I enjoy the crowds out there and the people. It's a way for us to compete on a different level where we're not competing anymore in our sports. That's something I really enjoy and basically, you know, it's playing the course and I enjoy that part of it more than anything, it's okay, I would say, but it's not great.

CHARLES BARKLEY: No, it don't get serious for me. If I was any good I'd be over in Scotland getting ready for the British Open. I mean, I play golf because it's great camaraderie. I get to play with somebody who I really admire, whether it's Dan Marino, Emmitt Smith, Michael Jordan, Mario Lemieux. You get to play golf with one of those guys, I consider it an honor to play with those guys. I'm not trying to beat them on the golf course. They are good golfers, they are solid golfers, but like I say, all the really good golfers are over in Scotland right now. We just do it for fun. I don't think we're competing for the money. And I go out, I'm probably going to go -- I'm going to go out on a limb --

CHARLES BARKLEY: I always say every year they put the ratings out, who is going to win the championship in every sport, and I thought one year when the team is like a billion to one, all of the players should rig it and put a couple dollars on the worst place team and rig it. So I think everybody should bet on me, it's going to be hard now, find a way for me to win this thing and make some real big money.

DAN MARINO: I'll bet a hundred on you, Charles.

CHARLES BARKLEY: There you go, man.

DAN MARINO: I've already mentioned that, I think with the Hall of Fame, they have already mentioned that, and my oldest boy, Daniel, is going to present me. I've always felt like I've seen some of their guys have their sons do it in the past and I think he'll do a real good job. I just love the fact that you can have a family member be there for you, and it's part of the family and knows you off the field and also on the field and I'm real excited about that. It's my oldest son, Daniel, who is 18 years old and he is going to do it.

DAN MARINO: I would say it's divisional because it's so important as far as, you know, getting into the playoffs and getting into a championship. For me when I played, playing against Buffalo or playing against the Jets, New England, big rivalries and you play them twice a year, you get to know those teams better and how important it is to win those games and have the opportunity to achieve your goal and get in the playoffs and win the championship. I think it's extremely important for any league or any team to have those kind of rivalries. You can look at the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees, that's something that's been going on forever and people get real excited about those games. I think you look at the Dolphins and the Jets, Dolphins and Buffalo, that's a big part of the sport.

CHARLES BARKLEY: First of all, Tom Tolbert is a coward. He is totally ducking me. It's embarrassing because we have played together one time and I beat him like a drum. Actually, the name you mentioned, your name, Dennis Miller, I have had probably the most fun I've ever had playing in a tournament was with him a couple years ago. He doesn't come back, which really disappoints me. I had a great time playing with Craig T. Nelson a couple of years ago. If I could play with Dennis Miller and Tom, that would be my ideal threesome.

CHARLES BARKLEY: I hate to account for the show, I think Dennis is one of the funniest people in the world, I might add, and I hope he plays. I tell you who else, I played with Kevin Neale, I had a great time playing with him also. Actually all of the guys have been fantastic to play with. That's the thing, the camaraderie out there is fantastic, and that's one of the reasons I enjoy playing with all of the guys, but Dennis Miller, and I want to play with C-Webb again so I don't come in dead last.

CHARLES BARKLEY: That is embarrassing, that is totally embarrassing that they have me the same as that man, he shot like 130 and we gave him like 50 shots. That's just embarrassing.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Cheryl is going to be there? I'm not going to worry about the girl, but I can beat Kevin and C-Webb, that's my goal to beat Kevin and C-Webb, that's my only goal for this trip.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Y'all really screwed your coach, didn't you? Why y'all didn't give that boy a long-time deal sooner? Now you don't have a coach.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Obviously Seattle just dropped the ball. Nate, they should have signed Nate midway through the season and I thought obviously, they just drug their feet and he got a better deal from Portland. Not sure it's a better team but he may have gotten a better deal from what I read. Seattle just really dropped the ball, it's are unfortunate, should have had this thing done, said something about it during the season but they should have had -- been like the day the season ended they should have showed the organization they was serious about winning and say, you know what we are going to re-sign Ray and we are going to re-sign Nate. They should have did that right away. To leave Nate dangling in the wind for this long, I thought was unfortunate. But it sounds like from the numbers I saw and the years I say, Portland offered him a better deal.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, I think I am surprised, but you can understand Nate, they should have had Nate locked up a long time ago. He did a fantastic job. I thought once they signed Ray, it was for sure he was going to come back. When I saw that blurb last night, I was really surprised because he's a Seattle lifer.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, you know, that's the only thing that really sucks. I used to be a good, solid player, and then I developed, as Tiger says, my speech impediment swing, and you know, I can't even explain it now. My mind is fried right now when I'm trying to play golf. People forget I never was a great player, but I used to be a legit 10-handicapper at one time and now I've got the yips, all types of things going on. I'm just not any good anymore. Used to be a good solid player. That used to be the things that frustrates me the most.

CHARLES BARKLEY: If you want to caddie for me, I think I'm playing in a Pro-Am Thursday. It you want to do that, then I would love for you to do that.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Okay. No problem.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Who is this.

CHARLES BARKLEY: I wish I knew. I told you I got hypnotized last year and all I got out of being hypnotized was a good nap. I have no idea what happened to be honest with you. I just developed a nervous tick, and it's frustrating, but I'm not going to let it drive me crazy. But it is very frustrating because like I said I used to be a solid player. I could go out, I broke 80 every now and then, I would always shoot 82, 83, 84. I would kill to get back to that number again, I might add.

CHARLES BARKLEY: No. One of the reasons that I turned down Monday Night Football is, trust me, there's enough jackasses on television, Jay Mariotti, Skip Bailey, there's enough jackasses on television who think they know about every sport. I'm going to stick to basketball. I was flattered by that offer, but if you don't play the sport, you just are a guy voicing your opinion. Dan Marino would be great on Monday Night Football. I don't want him calling NBA, either. But guys should stick to the sport they know. But there's enough jackasses on television talking about other sports, and I want to make sure, you know, I said Jay Mariotti and Skip Bailey. Them are the two I want to get into celebrity boxing with.

DAN MARINO: Well, from my standpoint, there's no doubt that you follow other guys careers. I used to follow Charles. We played kind of at the same time and I was always a big fan. A guy like Mario Lemieux, Michael Jordan, just always really enjoyed how they played, their style when they played their game. As far as the field is concerned, I don't think you can really match any field as far as celebrities and entertainers as you will next week in Lake Tahoe because they get the best out there. It's a great event. They call it like our major championship in the Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament, golf tournaments, so I don't think you can match from that standpoint and it's going to be real enjoyable.

CHARLES BARKLEY: I'm a sports junkie. I'm just a sports junkie. I love every sport. I just love watching sports. I love football, I love baseball, I love basketball, I enjoy watching Roger Federer, I wish A-Rod could get this one, but Roger Federer is just the man right now. Right now, everybody wants to play in this tournament because it's kind of like Dan said, it's a major championship and the guys all look forward to it. I'm not sure if it's he golf or the gambling they look forward to, but I know I look forward to. And it's just a fun event, man. I think the thing that's fun is all of these guys, you watch and admire in their sport, when you get to be around these guys, you're like, man, these guys are such nice guys, they are fun to be around, there are a couple of guys out there who get to be a pain because they are out there competing like it's a major, real major championships, and they can be a pain sometimes. But most of the guys just come and they want to go hit the ball solid and have a good time.

CHARLES BARKLEY: I don't want to call their names, but there's a couple of guys who, you know, are out there acting like they are at Augusta National. But the majority of guys out there, they want to play well, that's it. They just want to play well because there's probably ten or so of these tournaments that are unbelievable golf course. I played in Mario Lemieux's a couple of weeks ago and it's a beautiful golf course. I played at Michael's in the Bahamas. I know Ahmad has one coming up in a couple of weeks, so it's a lot of nice guys who do these tournaments and it's a fun event.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Whatever C-Webb want to bet, I'll go get my bank account and everything squared away. Whatever C-Webb want to bet, he can make it right on his self. That's one bet that I'm not going to run from.

DAN MARINO: I do. We there's a lot of Dolphin players, past players that play, Nat Moore is one of them, Dick Anderson, guys I played with, we do play in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area a lot. I haven't played with Dick in a while, but I have in the past and that's always fun. It's always fun to do that because, you know, they are good guys, and like Charles said, there's always good people to get out there, it's camaraderie, it's friendship and you just have a good time. So I do do that.

DAN MARINO: Well, I love the competition and to compare yourself against the other guys and to play the golf course and to see how you finish in the tournament, it's always fun if you do well. And Charles mentioned earlier, you're out there trying to have fun with good people and people you respect. You want to hit good shots and you want to put on a show for the fans and for the people that show up. You want to play the best golf you possibly can play. It definitely brings out a competitive side of you because you don't want to be embarrassed. You don't want to screw up in front of other people and you want to have fun doing it. I go out there with attitude, try to play the best I can and enjoy it and not get too frustrated. I do want to do well.

CHARLES BARKLEY: I just want to survive but not hit anybody. My goals are a little bit different than Dan's. Dan is a hell of a golfer. I'm just trying not to kill anybody. I want to have a good time. And I want to win some money in the casino. Those are pretty much my goals. Let me rephrase that. My No. 1 goal is to win money in the casino. My second goal is not to hit anybody.

CHARLES BARKLEY: I tell you what, the fans up there have been fantastic. They make it fun and worthwhile, also.

CHARLES BARKLEY: First of all, I'm against high school kids going in the draft, first of all, let me say that. But I think the kid has got a bright future. He's first got to learn to play the point because he's too small to play the two in the NBA. He's only about 6'2. It's funny, I let him last night at dinner, we just happened to be having dinner at the same restaurant last night. He seems like a nice kid. The hardest thing he's going to have to learn is to play the point. He was one of the top two guards in the country, obviously to leave high school to go directly to the NBA and I think the main thing, he's just got to learn to play the point because he's only about 6'2, he's a little light in the cakes right now. He probably only ways about 180. That's too light to play in the NBA right now. But I think once he learns to play the point, I want him to be successful. I want Maurice Cheeks to do well, first of all, but I want all of these kids to do well. I just don't like when high school kids come to the NBA. They should go to college.

CHARLES BARKLEY: It was in Philly. I live in Philly during the summer.

CHARLES BARKLEY: A played called Chops.

CHARLES BARKLEY: He's a very nice I had kid. All these kids are nice. But I hope he can -- he's got to learn to play the point guard. He's played two his hole life, and that's not easy.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, I don't think he's going to be ready to play right now. I think the 76ers are better than people give them credit for. I think C-Webb is going to do better next year but he's not going to get to play right now. I think if he just gets bigger a little stronger and work harder and learn to play the point, he's going to be fine.

CHARLES BARKLEY: We might as well come to grips with it. I'm retired and Dan's retired, so ain't nothing we can do about it. Hey, listen, I've been telling people for years and for some reason when I say stuff they don't believe it. They think they are right all the time. If Dan or myself need a championship to say everything we've accomplished is good, hey, that's just funny to me. People can't accept what I accomplished or what he accomplished, it would have been great to win a championship, but that's the only thing. We accomplished everything single thing else, but if that's going to be people's criteria of whether they say we were great or not. I know I was a heck of a basketball player and I know Dan was a heck of a quarterback and I know a lot of guys who can't play who got Super Bowl rings or and a lot of guys who can't play who have NBA championships. I actually think it's a pretty good list to be on to be honest with you. In the beginning it used to drive me crazy, but then I'm like, damn, there's some good guys on this list. Because they have a think about, unless you're really good, seriously, if you think about it, they don't say that about everybody. They say that about a certain group of guys who were really damn good. And when they put me on a list with Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Dick Butkus, Warren Moon, Barry Sanders, every time I see the list, Karl Malone, John Stockton, I say, damn, that's a good list to be on. They must have thought I was really damn good. So I just kind of laugh at it now.

DAN MARINO: As far as I'm concerned, I agree with Charles. And for me, I'm the one that's got to deal with the fact that, you know, I did not win a championship and I would love to have that feeling and know what it felt like to walk off the field and to win a Super Bowl. But you do have to come with grips with it, because like Charles said, we are retired and we are not going to have that opportunity again. But I do not think it takes away from anything that I was able to accomplish in my career. I do know that I would not trade a Super Bowl ring for 17 years in playing for the Dolphins and the success I had there. To trade it for one or two years and say that I won a Super Bowl, there's no way that I would do that. Like Charles said, there's a lot of great players that's never happened, that has not won a championship. You know, I could deal with it, but the one thing I would have loved know what that felt like, to win a Super Bowl. But I've just got to accept it.

DON MARRANDINO: We are excited to show off a little bit, we are proud of our hotels. Our staffs are excited to have the guys out here and we are looking forward it a great week. For those of you not in Tahoe, the weather is great, it's about 70 degrees today, the course is in fabulous shape and the whole town rallies behind it, like Charles said. And Charles, we have a hypnotist on duty ready to take care of you.

CHARLES BARKLEY: I need another good nap. I was mad as hell when I woke up. I wasn't any better when I went to the golf course the next day but I did get a good afternoon sleep.

JON MILLER: Roger Maltbie thinks he's at fault for this. He thinks he screwed you up. He told me he screwed you up when you were on the range.

CHARLES BARKLEY: I love Roger. He's fantastic, I love having fun with him, but he's not the problem. I'm the problem. Never blame other people for your problems.

DAN MARINO: Well, definitely, there's the anticipation of it, you know, is there, because it only happens once in your life, and I wouldn't say I'm nervous but I'm real excited about that opportunity to be inducted in the Hall of Fame is so special. When you think, you know, for me when I think about it all growing up and all the guys I loved watching play and guys that I grew up, like Joe Namath and Terry Bradshaw, Steelers fan, those of those guys are in the Hall of Fame, I'm going to be one of them. You know, you feel humbled and really, that's how I feel now. I'm excited and I'm humbled by it and really looking forward to the opportunity.

DAN MARINO: Well, I actually wanted my dad to do it. My dad is probably the best coach I ever had in my life, life coach, football coach, whatever it may be. He rather would sit back and enjoy the moment rather than getting up and speaking. So my second choice would be my son. I always wanted, you know, if I got this opportunity, I wanted to keep it in the family and I think my son will do a great job. My first choice was my dad actually.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Dan, what place did I come in?

DAN MARINO: Where?

CHARLES BARKLEY: When you were discussing who was going to introduce you.

DAN MARINO: You were like fifth.

CHARLES BARKLEY: Okay. Well, as long as I'm in the Top-10, I'm good with that.