NBA.com's John Denton noted Magic CEO ALEX MARTINS tops Orlando Magazine's "50 Most Powerful People In Orlando" list. Martins is the "first private person ever to rank at the top of the list." As the day-to-day leader of the Magic and a person who "serves on 10 different Board of Directors in the community, Martins is a man of action who specializes in getting things accomplished" (NBA.com, 6/12).
GRANTING A WISH: In Baltimore, Pat van den Beemt notes Under Armour Dir of Brand Content JED JECELIN agreed to create a basketball shoe "to pay tribute" to RILEY DAVIS, who "died in December at age 13, after four years of fighting leukemia." Jecelin received a letter from Davis' friend, DAVID SERRA, which said that Davis "had always dreamed of creating a basketball shoe." UA produced two pairs of Davis' shoe and presented one pair to Serra and the other to Davis' parents "at a May 17 company celebration." Jecelin said, "Our purpose was never to commercialize [the shoes]." Serra brought the shoes to school and said, "Everybody said they wanted to buy a pair. I think Under Armour would sell a lot of these if they wanted to" (Baltimore SUN, 6/13).
LUCK O' THE IRISH: Golfer RORY MCILROY threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Astros-Giants game last night (DAILYMAIL.co.uk, 6/13). In S.F., Gwen Knapp writes McIlroy appeared for the Giants' Irish Heritage Night and "earned the ultimate honor from the team -- a bobblehead doll." McIlroy was greeted in the office of Clubhouse Manager MIKE MURPHY by Baseball HOFer WILLIE MAYS and said, "I don't know a lot about baseball, but I know who he is" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/13).
NAMES: Former NBA referee TIM DONAGHY is suing the publisher of his book, "PERSONAL FOUL," claiming that SHAWNA VERCHER "failed to turn over any of the estimated $200,000 in sales revenue" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 6/13)....Bills QB VINCE YOUNG on Monday sued his former agent MAJOR ADAMS II as well as financial advisor RONNIE PEOPLES and his company, Peoples Financial Services, for "fraud, unjust enrichment, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, usury and breach of contract among other allegations" (CHRON.com, 6/12)....Cowboys Owner JERRY JONES said yesterday that he will appear in an episode of TNT's reboot of "DALLAS," which debuts tonight. Jones said, "I did enjoy having it shot out at the stadium, having it shot there in the suite" (FOXSPORTSSOUTHWEST.com, 6/12)....Patriots QB TOM BRADY, WR WES WELKER and several teammates and coaches on Monday attended the annual Executive Combine at Gillette Stadium, which raises money for the team's charitable foundation. Meanwhile, Sporting News President & Publisher JEFF PRICE and Red Sox Senior Advisor Dr. CHARLES STEINBERG dined at Boston's McGreevy's restaurant, where the publication donated team images from the Charles Conlon Red Sox Heritage Collection to the club and the Jimmy Fund (BOSTON HERALD, 6/13)....Browns Coach PAT SHURMUR, QB BRANDON WEEDEN, RB TRENT RICHARDSON, CB JOE HADEN and OL JOE THOMAS Monday played in the 13th annual Browns Foundation Golf Tournament (CLEVELAND.com, 6/12).
IN MEMORY: Former Mariners VP & Special Assistant to the GM ROGER JONGEWAARD, 76, passed away Monday of a heart attack. Jongewaard presided over the drafting of former MLBer KEN GRIFFEY JR. and Yankees 3B ALEX RODRIGUEZ, and received Baseball America's Roland Hemond Award for lifetime achievement in '04 (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/13)....Olympic Gold Medalist boxer TEOFILO STEVENSON died on Monday at the age of 60 from a heart attack (N.Y. TIMES, 6/13).
