Names In The News

ESPN’s PETER GAMMONS attended Yankees-Red Sox on Saturday, his first visit to an MLB ballpark since suffering a brain aneurysm on June 27. He visited both clubhouses and watched the game with his wife, GLORIA, in Red Sox Owner JOHN HENRY’s box (Mult., 8/20).

PETER OUT: Baltimore SUN columnist and Baseball Writers’ Association of America President PETER SCHMUCK announced his retirement in yesterday’s column. Schmuck: “I’d like to go on doing this forever, but Father Time eventually catches up with everyone. ... This just seemed like the right time, though I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if I changed my mind and was right back at work tomorrow” (Baltimore SUN, 8/20).

GENIE IN A BOTTLE: Sources said that MIKE TYSON will fight a series of up to ten exhibition matches in the next several months. Tyson will train at a ring in the Aladdin Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, where he “will work out in a public area for an hour a day.” An Aladdin spokesperson said that “talks are ongoing and declined further comment” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 8/19).

POWER HITTER: Georgia State Univ. law professor JACK WILLIAMS in an L.A. Times Op/Ed writes of MLB’s and MLBAM’s legal pursuit over fantasy rights, “The MLB power play was doomed from the start. Aside from questionable legal merits, baseball’s actions were bad for business. Professional sports leagues should recognize that the value they add is not the game itself; it is the fan’s experience with the game” (L.A. TIMES, 8/21).

White Receives Accolades At Teen Choice Awards

TEEN DREAM: Snowboarder and skateboarder SHAUN WHITE received the ’06 Teen Choice award for male action sports athlete. JASON MCELWAIN, the autistic student manager for his school’s basketball team that scored 20 points in four minutes during a game in February, received the courage award and a videotaped tribute from Cavaliers F LEBRON JAMES, Nuggets F CARMELO ANTHONY, Heat C SHAQUILLE O’NEAL and Heat G DWYANE WADE (Fox, 8/20).

NAMES: Bobcats Owner ROBERT JOHNSON’s RLJ Lodging Fund II paid almost $100M to Etkin-Johnson Group for eight Marriott hotels in Colorado and another $55M for three hotels in Michigan (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 8/19)....Marlins President DAVID SAMSON discussed training for the Ironman World Championship in October with the SUN-SENTINEL’s Sarah Talalay. Samson said he completes “about 10 workouts a week,” between “an hour and a half and eight hours” each day (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 8/20)....ANDY WASIF and RICK D’ELIA have written a Red Sox fan guidebook titled “HOW TO TALK TO A YANKEE FAN” (BOSTON HERALD, 8/21).

IN MEMORY: Skiing pioneer ALEXANDER CUSHING, who helped bring the ’60 Winter Olympics to Squaw Valley, died Saturday from pneumonia at the age of 92 (AP, 8/20).