Names In The News

Green will start her day Sunday around 4:30am

ESPNW.com's Amanda Rykoff conducted a Q&A with North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee VP & COO TARA GREEN, who is "probably the world's busiest woman this week" as she is "responsible for all operations involving the Super Bowl." Green: "The biggest challenge is figuring out your niche. Where does the NFL start and stop? Where does the host committee need to come in and exist? ... I think our greatest challenge is doing it for the first time, but that's a great opportunity too. We don't have any bad habits, I like to say." Green said her day "will start very early" on Sunday. Green: "Probably around 4:30 in the morning out here at Lone Star Park. The host committee has responsibilities to help get all of our volunteers credentialed, checked in and deployed on to their respective shuttles out to the Stadium. We'll assist with the NFL's employee check-in that goes on out here and then hopefully around 11:30 or 12 I can catch up with my family and head out to the stadium and enjoy the afternoon." She added on Monday, "I will meet up with the rest of our staff at noon that day and we will hopefully have a great staff photo taken somewhere out at the Stadium" (ESPNW.com, 2/2).

TAKE IT TO THE COURTS: Redskins Owner DANIEL SNYDER "filed suit late Wednesday" in New York state court against the Washington City Paper and its parent company, Atalaya Capital Management, alleging that the paper "libeled and defamed him in a series of articles dating to 2009." Snyder is seeking $2M in "general damages plus unspecified punitive damages and court costs." Before the suit was filed, Snyder's spokesperson, TONY WYLLIE, said that "any damages won would be contributed to a fund for the homeless" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/3).

BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER: Golfer TIGER WOODS' charity concert is "back on the calendar in Las Vegas this year." Woods said that his "2011 Tiger Jam" will be held April 30 at Mandalay Bay Events Center, featuring singers KEITH URBAN and JOHN MAYER in a concert that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. The concert was "not held last year," as Tiger Woods Foundation President GREG MCLAUGHLIN said that organizers "could not coordinate the schedules of artists and when Mandalay Bay was available" (AP, 2/2). The event will include "top-notch epicurean fare and exclusive live and silent auctions featuring one-of-a-kind luxury items." After the "private VIP donor dinner and auctions, the celebration moves to Mandalay Bay Events Center, where Tiger will be onstage to talk to fans and will welcome the music stars" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 2/3).

JUMPING INTO THE POOL: U.S. Gold Medal-winning swimmer CULLEN JONES was featured on NBC's "Today" show this morning, with NBC's Meredith Vieira saying Jones is "spreading his love of the pool." NBC's Amy Robach reported statistics "show that black children are three times more likely to die from drowning than white children, something that motivated Cullen to become part of the Make A Splash initiative." Jones: "A large part of it is cultural. We have been kind of beaten into our heads that black people don't swim. There is a cure: swim lessons. And that's what Make A Splash is really trying to push." Robach said Jones is "making a difference in his community and hoping that his legacy will not only be as an Olympic Gold Medalist, but also as a mentor" ("Today," NBC, 2/3).

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: A CHARLOTTE OBSERVER editorial states NASCAR Chair & CEO BRIAN FRANCE "has a lot of money and a big job," but "unfortunately for him ... this is America, and so the laws that apply to regular people apply to him, too." The N.C. Court of Appeals Tuesday ruled that France's divorce case "should play out in open court," and the editorial defends the newspaper's efforts to "keep the case open." The editorial: "It's not about fishing for dirty laundry; it's about protecting the public's right to open courts, ones that are blind to the stature of a plaintiff or defendant. ... The appeals court judges rightly ruled that France's position would 'render meaningless provisions of the Public Records Act.' If they sided with France, the judges recognized, any civil case could be closed from public view if it involves a contract with a confidentiality clause similar to the Frances' agreement" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/3).

NAMES: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Michael Rechtshaffen writes "DOWNHILL: THE BILL JOHNSON STORY," is a "lively and moving portrait of the former golden boy of alpine skiing." Johnson and his "dramatic rise-and-fall trajectory makes for compelling viewing." The 76-minute film was "produced for airing on The Ski Channel, complete with commercial break cues," but it "plays terrifically in front of a live audience, as demonstrated at its sold-out Santa Barbara International Film Festival premiere" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/3)....WNBA Seattle Storm President & CEO KAREN BRYANT and the team's Force 10 Hoops ownership group "will be honored as the Girl Scouts of Western Washington's 2011 Women of Distinction at a leadership luncheon" next Wednesday (SEATTLE TIMES, 2/3)....GMR Marketing has opened an office in Singapore, which "brings to 23 the number of offices the firm has worldwide" (JSONLINE.com, 2/2)....Nuggets G CHAUNCEY BILLUPS is teaming up with NBA Cares, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and Sanofi Pasteur as a spokesperson for the national "Vaccines for Teens" campaign. Billups will be featured in a new PSA that will air on NBA game broadcasts (NBA)....Procter & Gamble has partnered with NFL Play 60, and donated $300,000 to the campaign over the course of the season (P&G).