Their goal was to find how the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee determined the 34 at-large teams--those teams that make the tournament without getting an automatic bid from winning their conference tournament.
Mr de Villepin approved the deal only after it became clear that Suez was vulnerable to a hostile Italian bid, holding a press conference on a Saturday to make the surprise announcement.
North Carolina Treasurer Richard Moore held a press conference Friday in a bid to limit damage after a Forbes story (see "Pensions, Pols, Payola") garnered a lot of unwanted scrutiny.