Names In The News

FREDDY ADU, who recently agreed to transfer from Real Salt Lake to Portuguese soccer club Benfica, on whether he faced unrealistic expectations during his MLS career: “Definitely. I had my own expectations, but everyone else had theirs. When I signed with the league, every article written about me compared me to PELE. It’s tough. I don’t think anyone could have lived up to that” (N.Y. TIMES, 8/3). The day Adu arrived in Lisbon to negotiate his new contract with Benfica, the local sports daily put him on the front page with the headline "Son of Pelé" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/31). Adu sat for a Q&A with SI.com’s Grant Wahl (SI.com, 8/2).

WRESTLING WITH IT: WWE CEO LINDA MCMAHON addressed the possibility of Congressional hearings over steroid use in professional wrestling. McMahon: “We have received their request and will respond appropriately. Unfortunately, the tragedy with CHRIS (BENOIT) kind of notched things up a bit, for sure, but ... our drug policy has been in place long before this tragedy and we just can’t seem to make that known very well” (“Fast Money,” CNBC, 8/2). WWE on Thursday reported Q2 earnings fell 52% from the year-ago quarter (Mult., 8/3).

Steinbrenner Profile Making Front-Page News In N.Y.

NAMES: The latest issue of Conde Nast Portfolio, which hits newsstands August 15, features a profile of Yankees Owner GEORGE STEINBRENNER that describes him as looking “dreadful.” It states his “body is bloated” and “his skin looks as if a dry-cleaner bag has been stretched over it” (CONDE NAST PORTFOLIO, 9/ ’07 issue)....Golden Boy Entertainment tentatively agreed to buy the landmark Sears, Roebuck & Co. building in L.A. The complex, which contains a 14-story Art Deco tower, “was one of the largest buildings completed in [L.A] in the 1920s and has long been a symbol of the Eastside neighborhood” where Golden Boy co-Founder OSCAR DE LA HOYA grew up (L.A. TIMES, 8/3)....Red Sox Owner JOHN HENRY recently filed for divorce from his wife, PEGGY SUE, after 14 years of marriage (PALM BEACH POST, 8/3).