The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Alan Cullison notes Nets Owner MIKHAIL PROKHOROV will “lead a heavily favored pro-business political party that oppositionists malign as a tool of the Kremlin.” Prokhorov yesterday announced that he “has offered to serve as head of the Right Cause party, which Moscow has tried unsuccessfully to mold into a magnet for Russia's entrepreneurial class.” Prokhorov said that the Kremlin “had no role in his decision and said he stepped forward at the urging of friends and family” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/17). Prokhorov said his decision to head the party was an “uneasy” one. The “establishing of the party is widely seen by critics as an attempt by the Kremlin to lure opposition-minded, pro-business votes, while creating an illusion of competition with the ruling United Russia party ahead of elections” (AP, 5/16).
POLITICAL SWAY? A Univ. of Western Ontario study by JOHN NATER and ROBERT MACIEL found that the CBC’s DON CHERRY is “the common link among hockey, soldiers and a bolder, more aggressive strain of Canadian identity.” The study, to be released today during the Canadian Political Science Association’s annual conference, found that Cherry “speaks of soldiers almost as much as he talks about hockey” on his “Coach’s Corner” segments on “HNIC.” In Toronto, Susan Delacourt notes some political scientists fear the results of the recent federal election "may be evidence that voters are more tuned in to Cherry’s Canada than they are to Parliament -- and that the newly elected Conservative majority could represent a setback in fixing what’s wrong with politics in Ottawa” (TORONTO STAR, 5/17).
DEVIL IN THE DETAILS: Duke men's basketball coach MIKE KRZYZEWSKI’s total compensation for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010 was listed as nearly $4.7M, including a “base salary of $2 million, more than $2.2 million in bonuses and incentives and $420,000 in retirement and other deferred compensation.” Duke football coach DAVID CUTCLIFFE made $1.7M, while Duke AD KEVIN WHITE’s total compensation was $908,000 (AP, 5/16).
ON THE MOVE: BUSINESS FIRST OF BUFFALO’s James Fink profiled Delaware North Co. VP/Facilities & Project Management ROY OLSEN, the “point man for its growing list of construction and development projects.” Olsen has been with the company for 11 years and recently spent “two days working with Baltimore Orioles staff as Delaware North prepared to start its first season running the concessions” at Camden Yards. He then flew to Chicago to meet with the White Sox organization on plans to "construct a bi-level, 13,000-square-foot retail center at U.S. Cellular Field." Olsen and his nine-person team “oversee 26 development projects” in a typical year. The “long list of projects has exceeded more than $100 million in capital investments by the company” (BUSINESS FIRST OF BUFFALO, 5/13 issue).
NAMES: ISC Vice Chair & CEO LESA FRANCE KENNEDY last weekend joined 2,500 cyclists in South Florida to participate in the 150-mile Zimmerman MS Ride to raise funds for and awareness of the fight against multiple sclerosis (ISC)….The NHL is “demanding $89,000” from Montreal restaurant owner FADL ISSA for “putting up a sign in one of his downtown restaurants showing a Middle Eastern man in a red-and-white Canadiens jersey slicing up shawarma.” The poster in one of Issa's restaurants near the Bell Centre also “had the logo ‘Go Habs Go,’ emblazoned near the fez-wearing character with a large handlebar moustache” (CP, 5/16)…. Milwaukee Repertory Theater said that it will bring “LOMBARDI” to town this fall. The play’s run on Broadway ends this Sunday. It will run in Milwaukee from Oct. 11-Nov. 13 (AP, 5/16)….Red Sox P TIM WAKEFIELD and Looney Tunes characters are featured in “KNUCKLED UNDER BY WAKEFIELD,” a Warner Bros. animation art tribute signed by Wakefield. The limited-edition release will raise funds for at-risk children through the Pitching in for Kids charity (THE DAILY)….Eagles QB MICHAEL VICK will address graduates of the Camelot Schools, an “alternative high school program in Philadelphia that serves at-risk youth” (AP, 5/16)….U.S. Supreme Court Justice SAMUEL ALITO attended last night’s Phillies-Cardinals game at Busch Stadium and was "escorted around" the Cardinals clubhouse by team investor DAVID PRATT (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/17).
