ESPN's ROY FIRESTONE was M.C. of the NRA convention's
opening on Friday in Charlotte (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/20).
...Dodgers play-by-play announcer VIN SCULLY, a Fordham
Univ. graduate, received an honorary Doctorate of Humane
Letters and "gave a stirring commencement address" on
Saturday (NEWSDAY, 5/21)....The Orlando Sentinel began a
three-part series Sunday of excerpts from sports columnist
LARRY GUEST's book titled, "THE PAYNE STEWART STORY." The
book retails for $24.95 (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/21)....In
Lexington, Billy Reed, on Magna Int'l Chair FRANK STRONACH:
"He has been [horse racing's] most under-reported story.
Nobody is quite sure what the enigmatic Stronach's long-
range strategy is. How many more tracks might he buy? How
many more major races might he win? And how will he change
and shape the game's future? ... Racing people aren't sure
what to make of him. On one hand, he has been a godsend,
investing untold millions in the sport. On the other,
however, he's not part of the good ol' boy network that has
run racing for decades" (HERALD-LEADER, 5/22)....BUSINESS
WEEK's Mark Hyman profiles Braves/Thrashers/Hawks President
STAN KASTEN under the header, "And You Thought You Were
Busy." Hyman: "Take the day-to-day trials of your average
pro sports franchise, multiply by three and a half (Kasten
also runs baseball's Turner Field and Philips Arena), and
you have an inkling of the schedule the longtime Turner
lieutenant keeps." Kasten, on Time Warner Vice Chair TED
TURNER: "No matter where he is in the world, he always knows
what the latest score is. It makes a huge difference in his
mood" (BUSINESS WEEK, 5/29 issue)....AmEx Blue for Business
will host a cybercast tonight with MAGIC JOHNSON to assist
small business owners. The cybercast takes place tonight
from 7:00-8:00pm ET, and can be accessed at
www.americanexpress.com/blue for business (THE DAILY).
TV TIME: An interview with Stars C MIKE MODANO aired
during the first intermission of yesterday's Stars-Avalanche
playoff game on ABC. Modano, on his recent photo shoot in
Cosmopolitan: "It's been fun, I enjoyed doing [the photo
shoot], ... but I'm glad I don't do this for a living" (ABC,
5/21)....U.S. Women's National Soccer team member JULIE
FOUDY appeared on NBC's "Today" show on Sunday to discuss
"The Top Soccer Program," which encourages disabled kids'
participation in soccer. Foudy: "It's been around since
1992, and this is the first year that a national sponsor has
come onboard, so Uniroyal Tires came in and said, 'Look,
let's do this program, let's do it on a national scale.'"
Foudy commented on the new WUSA and said it consists of "a
great group of investors that have this great media platform
to promote the league and are very passionate about it"
("Today," 5/20). ...Celtics President & coach RICK PITINO
appeared on "Business Unusual" to discuss his new book,
"LEAD TO SUCCEED." Pitino, on the state of the Celtics: "I
think for years the NBA ... took for granted their customer
base, which is the fans, and then after the recent lockout,
... we realized that, in order to get the fans back, they
have to be treated like customers, and we have to go out and
bring them back in. We've ... catered all our efforts
toward doing that" (CNNfn, 5/19)....Raptors coach BUTCH
CARTER and Vikings WR CRIS CARTER appeared this morning on
CBS' "The Early Show" with Bryant Gumbel to discuss their
new book, "BORN TO BELIEVE," which details their growing up
in a single-parent, low-income household (CBS, 5/22).
