In Boston, Peter Gammons reported that WAYNE HUIZENGA
paid $7.5M for a house in Nantucket, MA, more than the
payroll of his current Marlins team (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/23).
...A Redmond, WA, bookstore sold over 1,300 copies of ALEX
RODRIGUEZ's new children's book, "Hit a Grand Slam," before
10:30am at a book signing this weekend. The ratio of girls
to boys was "probably" 20-1. In Seattle, Steve Kelley wrote
that Rodriguez "is in the process of crossing the celebrity
threshold," entering the same "exclusive neighborhood" as
MICHAEL JORDAN, TIGER WOODS and KEN GRIFFEY, JR. (SEATTLE
TIMES, 8/23)....In N.Y., Phil Mushnick wonders how adidas
felt about Jets WR KEYSHAWN JOHNSON's outburst last week, in
which he told members of the Giants during a preseason game
that "he's a bona fide gangsta thug" and a member of the
L.A.-based gang the Bloods. Mushnick: "[G]iven the modern
marketing strategies of sneaker companies, we wonder if
Johnson wasn't merely following instructions" (N.Y. POST,
8/24)....Horse trainer WOODY STEPHENS died on Saturday of
emphysema. He was 84 (N.Y. POST, 8/23)....About 75 women
attended the MOTHERS OF PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYERS
convention this weekend in New Orleans, most of whom have
sons in the NBA. A "handful" of attendees have children in
the WNBA, ABL and the Harlem Globetrotters (N.Y. TIMES,
8/24)....Univ. of CA graduate student JACK SYLVAN did a
study that found that sports teams "have no significant
impact -- positive or negative -- on local economies."
Sylvan, who studied seven CA cities, said his study has
earned national attention: "I'm very surprised. I didn't
expect this much interest" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 8/23).
