Names In The News

New Michigan AD Dave Brandon Was Domino's Pizza Chair & CEO

In N.Y., Katie Thomas notes ADs at major collegiate programs are "now viewed as chief executives, responsible for overseeing multimillion-dollar budgets, negotiating lucrative licensing deals and raising millions from private donors." Former NCAA President CEDRIC DEMPSEY said that university officials "now look for candidates with business degrees or management and budget experience ... not teaching or coaching backgrounds." Univ. of Michigan President MARY SUE COLEMAN: "It's hard for me to imagine a successful athletic director these days that doesn't have a deep understanding and skills for the financial side of an athletic department." Ohio State Univ. AD GENE SMITH said that "as many as 200 candidates applied for some openings in his department." Smith: "The majority of them will have sports administration backgrounds and bachelor's degrees, and they'll have master's in that or something else." Smith said that when young people seek career advice, he "encourages them to get some seasoning in the corporate world." Smith: "Intern in the private sector so you can learn business skills" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/2).

END OF THE ROAD: Former cyclist GREG LEMOND has "reached an out-of-court settlement" with Trek. The bicycle company has "agreed to make a contribution to a charitable organization with which LeMond is affiliated" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/2). The settlement "ends a nearly two-year legal dispute ... over use of LeMond's name for a line of Trek bikes" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/2).

GIVING BACK: Former NFLer ZACH THOMAS is "among 19 active or retired NFL players who agreed to donate their brains, upon their death," to the Boston Univ. School of Medicine Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which is studying the "effects of repeated head trauma on the nervous system" (PALM BEACH POST, 2/2)....The Celtics have raised $100,000 through the team's "Hope for Haiti" UNICEF PSA, which is "playing on the team's Web site as well as the Jumbotron" at home games. The Celtics will "present UNICEF with a check" during tomorrow's Heat-Celtics game (BOSTON HERALD, 2/2)....A St. Louis-based group going to Haiti to aid relief efforts will fly down on a private jet owned by Hornets Owner GEORGE SHINN (STLTODAY.com, 2/2).

NAMES: Spike TV currently is filming for “HALF PINT BRAWLERS,” a six-episode series of 30-minute episodes that will “examine the world of little-person wrestling and its increasing popularity as an underground sport.” The Idea Factory and Lumberjack Crew are set to produce (DAILY VARIETY, 2/2)….Capitals LW ALEX OVECHKIN Sunday night dined with his parents and girlfriend at the Palm in downtown DC, eating a “big lobster and a big steak” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 2/2)....49ers S DASHON GOLDSON has switched agents from All Pro Sports & Entertainment Principal PETER SCHAFFER to Rosenhaus Sports President DREW ROSENHAUS, "sending a message to the 49ers that he'll be looking for a contract significantly richer" than his current deal (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/2)....Golf course architect PETE DYE has "received the ING Industry Honors Award for Golf Course Designer of the Year" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/2)....Globe & Mail sports columnist and former Winnipeg Free Press reporter JEFF BLAIR was "inducted into the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association media roll of honour" Sunday night (GLOBE & MAIL, 2/1)....Women's Sports Foundation President Jessica Mendoza will join leaders from the National Girls and Women in Sport coalition in DC today and tomorrow in celebration of the 24th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day (THE DAILY).