Names In The News

COURTHOUSE NEWS reported golfer PHIL MICKELSON has “sued an Internet service provider, seeking the identity of a person who posted what the golfer calls ‘vicious’ statements about him and his wife.” Mickelson sued Videotron S.E.N.C. in Quebec Superior Court, seeking the "identity of the author of ‘several highly defamatory statements posted by one or more individual on the Internet, in particular on a Yahoo! website, under the pseudonyms of 'Fogroller' and 'Longitude.'” Mickelson said his “reputation is extremely important considering his status” (COURTHOUSENEWS.com, 2/1).

AN UNPLEASANT SITUATION: In N.Y., Waldstein & Buettner report a Manhattan woman “was arraigned Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of stalking” Yankees GM BRIAN CASHMAN. She was “also charged with grand larceny and aggravated harassment after she was accused of extorting $6,000 from Cashman for a medical procedure.” Court documents reveal that she “threatened to reveal embarrassing information to the news media and to Cashman’s family if he did not comply” (N.Y. TIMES, 2/3).

Nadal said taxes are up to date after report he set up companies to trim taxes

EVERYTHING'S ON THE UP AND UP: Tennis player RAFAEL NADAL said that his tax obligations “are up to date" after a Spanish website reported he had "set up several companies to trim his tax bill.” Spanish website Primeran reported that Nadal “created companies in the Basque region to take advantage of a local tax rule to drop the amount of income tax he would have to pay from image rights.” Spanish media Thursday reported that “Basque tax authorities were investigating.” Nadal issued a statement “acknowledging the existence of the companies, which had been transferred to his home residence of the Balearic Islands.” Nadal said he gained "no benefit," while the companies mentioned "are up to date with the payment of all tax obligations" (ESPN.com, 2/2).

BURNIN' IN ME: St. Elmo Steak House in downtown Indianapolis this week has “hosted rock stars, professional athletes, famous journalists and more.” The list of those who have dined there this past week includes Giants QB ELI MANNING, Giants President & CEO JOHN MARA, singer STEVEN TYLER, sportscaster DAN PATRICK and comedian JIMMY FALLON (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/3). Syndicated radio host JIM ROME, Pro Football HOFer MIKE DITKA, Cardinals WR LARRY FITZGERALD and former NFLer KURT WARNER ate at the restaurant Wednesday night ("The Jim Rome Show," 2/2).

NAMES: Patriots Owner ROBERT KRAFT and Giants Treasurer JONATHAN TISCH each donated $5,000 to President BARACK OBAMA’s re-election campaign (USA TODAY, 2/3)....Magna Int'l honorary Chair & Dir FRANK STRONACH is “selling stock in six new racehorse investment companies.” Documents filed for the IPO indicated that for $10 per share, investors can own “a piece of thoroughbreds that would be trained and raced around the country before they are sold off" (Baltimore SUN, 1/28)....To help raise funds for The Garden of Dreams Foundation and Allan Houston Legacy Foundation, CharityBuzz.com “has some auction packages that allow fans to meet” Knicks Fs CARMELO ANTHONY and AMAR’E STOUDEMIRE, as well as former NBAer ALLAN HOUSTON (NEWSDAY.com, 2/2)….N.Y. Mayor MICHAEL BLOOMBERG and the TISCH family members are “expected to board flights to Indianapolis” for Sunday’s game (N.Y. POST, 2/3)….Property records show that Chargers CB QUENTIN JAMMER and his wife have “listed two homes for sale for a combined asking price of roughly $2.4 million” (UTSANDIEGO.com, 2/2).

IN MEMORY: Sports exec ROBERT DALE MORGAN died Saturday at age 50 from complications of glioblastoma. Morgan in '90 was Exec Dir of the Atlanta Sports Council, and was involved with the “planning of Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 and the 1996 Summer Olympics.” In ’98, he was “hired away by the Atlanta 2000 Super Bowl Host Committee as its executive director.” After leaving Atlanta in ’01 to serve as PGA Tour VP/Championship Management, Morgan was “offered a job in Houston as president of the 2004 Houston Super Bowl Host Committee” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/3).