Names In The News

Gammons Continues To Recover From Surgery

ESPN’s PETER GAMMONS “continues to recover from surgery” following a brain aneurysm suffered June 27. His wife, GLORIA, said that Gammons, “who remains in a Boston hospital, is conscious, conversational, and increasingly mobile” (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/9).

ENERGY SOURCE: Attorneys of S.F. Chronicle reporters LANCE WILLIAMS and MARK FAINARU-WADA “accused the federal government Friday of trying to mislead a federal judge into concluding that BALCO Founder VICTOR CONTE was the source of grand jury testimony leaked to the reporters regarding star athletes’ use of performance-enhancing drugs.” The lawyers argued that subpoenas issued to the newspaper and the two reporters, “demanding their confidential sources, should be dismissed” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/8).

COUNTER TOPPS: Pembridge Capital Management President TIMOTHY BROG, who has been “waging a year-long battle to split up Topps or sell the whole company outright,” this month “hopes to oust three board members at the annual meeting.” Topps CEO ARTHUR SHORIN said that Brog and his supporters “don’t know the first thing about running a complex candy-and-cards empire.” Shorin: “Shareholders need to be protected from them” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/8).

KIM POSSIBLE: Dodgers Assistant GM KIM NG, who was profiled on Saturday’s edition of CBS’ “Evening News,” said she wants to be a GM and is “willing to wait as long as it takes.” Ng, who could become the first female GM in any of the big four leagues, said she thinks of herself as a pioneer “only when people remind me.” CBS’ Anthony Mason: “The argument had always been you had to have played on a pro team to run a pro team. But the recent success of young general managers, like [the Red Sox’] THEO EPSTEIN, who never played professionally, has sparked demand for gifted minds regardless of gender” (“Evening News,” CBS, 7/8).

SECURITY GUARD: Officials said that VANOC “seriously underestimated the cost of providing security” for the 2010 Olympic Games, “which will likely be more than double the [C$175M] budgeted.” Canada Senator COLIN KENNY (ON) said that it is “inconceivable that police will be able to secure the 17-day Olympics in an urban setting like Vancouver for less than” C$350-400M (CANWEST NEWS SERVICE, 7/8).

KIDS BEAT: Relatives of notable public figures attending this year’s Nike All-American Camp for high school basketball players include MUSTAPHA FARRAKHAN, grandson of Nation of Islam leader LOUIS FARRAKHAN; JEFFREY JORDAN, son of MICHAEL JORDAN; MIKE SINGLETARY, son of Pro Football HOFer MIKE SINGLETARY; and RALPH SAMPSON III, son of former NBAer RALPH SAMPSON (USA TODAY, 7/10).

AWARDS & RECOGNITION: L.A. Times writer MARK HEISLER was selected as the ’06 recipient of the CURT GOWDY MEDIA AWARD, given annually by the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF to a print journalist and an electronic media figure for “significant contributions to the game.” A ceremony will be held September 7 in Springfield, Massachusetts (L.A. TIMES, 7/8)....Charlotte Bobcats Arena consultant ADONIS JERALDS was honored by the Univ. of Massachusetts for “excellence in the sports industry.” Jeralds earned his master’s degree in sports management from the school (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/8).