In N.Y., Noam Cohen reports Simon & Schuster Publisher JONATHAN KARP has “decided to move up” the publication date of a biography on former Penn State Univ. football coach JOE PATERNO to late summer, “in time for the start of football season, from Father’s Day 2013.” Simon & Schuster paid former SI columnist JOE POSNANSKI a reported $750,000 "advance to produce the biography.” Posnanski was “faced with one of the more remarkable late-project twists to reckon with.” He had to decide between whether to "halt the project, or recalibrating its timetable to allow him to trace the fuller meaning, if there was fuller meaning, to the revelations and accusations” concerning the child sex abuse allegations against former PSU assistant coach JERRY SANDUSKY (N.Y. TIMES, 4/30).
OFF THE COURT: ESPN.com in a Q&A with tennis player SERENA WILLIAMS noted she is promoting Sleep Sheets, a “dissolvable tongue strip that helps people fall asleep.” Williams: “I’ve started several new companies. With Sleep Sheets I’ve been part of the whole company from the beginning, and before that Energy Sheets, and I have another company -- Mission -- and my clothing company, which I relaunched and I’m the full designer on it now because I didn’t like the designs.” Williams, who is also a Dolphins investor, said that she “is going to keep calling” team Owner STEPHEN ROSS with her ideas. Williams: “I'll tell him, ‘We should get this guy. What do you think?’ He says, ‘Yeah, that’d be a good idea.’ But we haven’t gotten anybody that I’ve suggested yet. But they’re winning and doing so well at the end of last year” (ESPN.com, 4/28).
LET'S BE FRANK: Baseball HOFer FRANK ROBINSON Saturday “became the first player to have his likeness replicated in a life-size bronze statue” located in Garden of the Greats picnic area behind center field at Camden Yards. Those attending the event included HOFers HANK AARON, JIM PALMER, EARL WEAVER and EDDIE MURRAY; D'Backs Special Assistant to the President & CEO ROLAND HEMOND; MLB Exec VP/Baseball Operations JOE TORRE; RACHEL ROBINSON, the widow of JACKIE ROBINSON; Orioles Exec VP/Baseball Operations DAN DUQUETTE; Orioles VP/Planning & Development JANET MARIE SMITH, and LOUIS ANGELOS, son of team Owner PETER ANGELOS (BALTIMORE SUN, 4/28).
COMING BACK: In Phoenix, Craig Harris profiled Fiesta Bowl Exec Dir ROBERT SHELTON under the headline, “New Fiesta Bowl Chief Wows BCS Executives.” BCS Exec Dir BILL HANCOCK said that Shelton is “exactly” what the bowl game needs as it “continues to rebound from the damaging independent investigative report released last spring." In working to restore the Fiesta Bowl’s image, Shelton has “met with numerous university presidents.” Pac-12 Commissioner LARRY SCOTT said, “He always elevates the conversation in a good way” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/28).
A UNITED FRONT: Ravens LB RAY LEWIS appeared on CNBC’s “Fast Money Halftime Report” Friday afternoon to “raise awareness for the non-profit organization United Athletes Foundation.” Lewis said the organization has “partnered with some great people to really bring financial literacy back to the athletics and to really get them to understand ... how important education really is.” The “numbers are so staggering” that 78% of players “are broke, divorced or just bottom line confused after two years out of the league.” CNBC’s Scott Wapner added, “It’s one thing as an athlete to have a lot of money, it’s another thing to understand the power of that money” (“Fast Money Halftime Report,” CNBC, 4/27).
NAMES: IndyCar fined Panther Racing Owner JOHN BARNES $25,000 and placed him on probation until Dec. 31 after posting on his Twitter account Thursday, “Today is the day to resolve TURBOGATE! I hope @indycar gets their act together. It has to be embarrassing.” Barnes was referring to a hearing “to decide whether Honda would be allowed to make changes to its turbochargers, which eventually happened” (AP, 4/28)....Former Magic GM JOHN GABRIEL recently revealed publicly for the first time that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in December ’10 (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/29)….In K.C., Blair Kerkhoff reported “several names have been floated” to fill the Big 12 Conference commissioner position, including West Virginia AD OLIVER LUCK. Luck “knocked down his candidacy in an interview Thursday” (K.C. STAR, 4/28)….Broncos QB PEYTON MANNING, who played at the Univ. of Tennessee with Rockies 1B TODD HELTON, attended the Mets-Rockies game. Manning also “visited both the Mets and Rockies clubhouses before the game” (N.Y. POST, 4/30)….Yankees Senior VP & GM BRIAN CASHMAN and his son, TEDDY, yesterday sat in the outfield stands and took part in the Yankee Stadium tradition of the roll call in the top of the first inning. Cashman “wore a disguise” consisting of a spiked wig, blue visor and sunglasses to make his way to the bleachers. He walked through the crowd unnoticed (ESPNNY.com, 4/29)….Cowboys QB TONY ROMO and his wife, CANDICE, Saturday attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in DC (STAR-TELEGRAM.com, 4/29).
