Names In The News

Several ESPN employees on Thursday received an e-mail stating that PETER GAMMONS, who suffered a brain aneurysm on June 27, “will leave the hospital Monday and transfer to a rehabilitation center on Cape Cod, closer to his home. He will be doing primarily physical rehabilitation, such as improving strength.” The e-mail said, “Doctors believe there has been no permanent damage to his brain and are optimistic he will make a full recovery” (MIAMI HERALD, 7/14).

SNAP JUDGMENT: In a front-page N.Y. TIMES report, Pete Thamel reports that “many Auburn athletes were receiving high grades” from professor THOMAS PETEE for sociology and criminology courses “that required no attendance and little work.” Petee’s classes “helped athletes in several sports improve their [GPAs] and preserve their athletic eligibility.” Eighteen members of the school’s ’04 football team, including RB CARNELL WILLIAMS -– who now plays for the Buccaneers — “took a combined 97 hours of the courses during their careers.” In an NCAA study of student-athletes’ academic progress, that team ranked fourth among all Division I-A football programs (N.Y. TIMES, 7/14).

Childress Leading Pack Of North Carolina Wineries

ALTERNATOR WINE: NASCAR team owner RICHARD CHILDRESS’ winery and 72-acre vineyard in North Carolina has “emerged as a focal point of the state’s reinvigorated wine industry.” The $8M vineyard is a “mecca for NASCAR fans, for wine fans and for a growing number of people who reside in both camps.” It drew an estimated 50,000 visitors last year, a number that “likely will swell” when a hotel and shopping complex near the winery is completed and the NASCAR HOF opens in Charlotte in ’09 (USA TODAY, 7/14).

TAXI SERVICE: NBC’s Kevin Tibbles reported UNITED AIRLINES is sending 1,200 ground crew employees to NASCAR’s Pit Crew Univ. to “sharpen their efficiency skills to make their airline more competitive.” The ground crew members are “racing to shave a precious four to five minutes off the time each plane sits on the ground. If it works, the airline could add up to 100 flights a day without having to add any more planes” (“Nightly News,” NBC, 7/13).

SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT: Bobcats Owner and BET Founder ROBERT JOHNSON and The Weinstein Co. Founders and former Miramax co-Chairs HARVEY and BOB WEINSTEIN announced a joint venture to create an L.A.-based film company named OUR STORIES FILMS that will develop entertainment aimed at the African-American community. JPMorgan Chase has committed to financing the venture with up to $175M (RLJ Companies).

PLAYING SPADES: Tennis player VINCE SPADEA has written “BREAK POINT: THE SECRET DIARY OF A PRO TENNIS PLAYER” with author DAN MARKOWITZ. In the “tell-all” book, Spadea “dishes on other players and tells PG-13 stories about the women he meets on tour” (Westchester JOURNAL NEWS, 7/14).

DASH OF TIME: Sprinter JUSTIN GATLIN, the co-world record holder in the 100-meters, cited a leg injury in withdrawing from the Norwich Union London Grand Prix on July 28, where he was to race against co-world record holder ASAFA POWELL (Mult., 7/14).