Names In The News

Samson Sets Personal Best In Boston Marathon

Marlins President DAVID SAMSON ran yesterday's Boston Marathon in a personal best 4:02:57, his fastest time by 12 minutes. Samson has run sixth marathons, but "isn't sure when he will do another." Also, Marlins equipment manager JOHN SILVERMAN, running his first marathon, finished in just under five hours, while Senior VP/Communications & Broadcasting P.J. LOYELLO ran his second marathon and GM MICHAEL HILL finished his second with a personal best of about 4:30 (MIAMI HERALD, 4/21). Celtics CEO & Managing Partner WYC GROUSBECK completed yesterday's marathon with a time of 4:16:49 (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/21). Meanwhile, Red Sox Owner JOHN HENRY, Chair TOM WERNER and Reebok VP/Government & Community Relations PAUL FOSTER attended yesterday's Boston Marathon party at the Mandarin Oriental (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/21). BWD Group General Counsel ALBERT TURI ran the race in 3:22:45 (THE DAILY).

MEET THE PRESIDENT: About 30 members of the White Sox organization yesterday met with PRESIDENT OBAMA at the White House. The team presented Obama, a White Sox fan, with a jersey with his name on the back, as well as autographed baseballs, T-shirts and caps (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/21). The team took several photographs with Obama, including one with "everyone in the traveling party and one with the players" (MLB.com, 4/20). Meanwhile, TIGER WOODS yesterday also met with Obama in the Oval Office and got a tour of the White House from an Obama assistant (AP, 4/20).

A STACKED LINEUP: Actor and comedian DEMETRI MARTIN will play Padres Exec VP PAUL DEPODESTA in the upcoming film "MONEYBALL," based on the book by MICHAEL LEWIS. Also, former MLBers DAVID JUSTICE and SCOTT HATTEBERG will play themselves in the film, while former MLBers DARYL STRAWBERRY and LENNY DYKSTRA are among those "who will be seen on camera being interviewed" (DAILY VARIETY, 4/21).

HONORS & AWARDS: The Indiana Sports Corp. and Indiana Black Expo on June 28 will present a Pathfinder Award to NCAA President MYLES BRAND for his "contributions and dedication to youth" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 4/21)....MLB Rangers President NOLAN RYAN Saturday night was honored at the Western Heritage Awards banquet for his involvement in the cattle industry (AP, 4/18)....ESPN's RICK REILLY Friday night accepted the Denver Press Club's Damon Runyon Award at the Denver Marriott City Center (DENVER POST, 4/21).

NAMES: Pittsburgh-based SMaSH Technologies Inc. has raised nearly $1.4M from investors, including Mavericks Owner MARK CUBAN, a Pittsburgh native. Cuban "wouldn't say how much" of the total investment he contributed, but noted that "one of the requirements of his investment was that all hiring and offices for the company must be in Pittsburgh" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 4/21)....Red Sox Ps JOSH BECKETT, BRAD PENNY and JON LESTER and President & CEO LARRY LUCCHINO, as well as Patriots Owner BOB KRAFT, attended last night's Bulls-Celtics Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game Two at TD Banknorth Garden (BOSTON HERALD, 4/21)....Baseball HOFer and Dodgers Special Advisor to the Chair TOMMY LASORDA will travel overseas on a USO tour with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Admiral MIKE MULLEN, former NBAer DAVID ROBINSON and four cast members from CBS' "The Unit" (Dodgers)....N.Y. Daily News investigative team members TERI THOMPSON, NATHANIEL VINTON, MICHAEL O'KEEFFE and CHRISTIAN RED have collaborated to write, "AMERICAN ICON: THE FALL OF ROGER CLEMENS AND THE RISE OF STEROIDS IN AMERICA'S PASTIME." The book, to be published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc. on May 12, explores Clemens' use of banned substances and his dalliances with women (Random House).