In Austin, Suzanne Halliburton reports the USADA "has filed drug conspiracy charges against LANCE ARMSTRONG, putting his seven Tour de France titles in jeopardy and at least temporarily ending his recent re-emergence in triathlons" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 6/14). Armstrong said, "I have never doped." The AP's Jim Vertuno notes the move by USADA "immediately bans him from competing in triathlons, which he turned to after he retired from cycling last year" (AP, 6/13).
HONORING A LEGEND: The USGA announced that the U.S. Open medal given to the tournament winner "will be called the JACK NICKLAUS Medal." The group also announced that they were "adding a room in Nicklaus' honor, filled with Nicklaus memorabilia, at the USGA Museum in Fair Hills, N.J., and that they had partnered in a documentary, to be shown before the start of Sunday's telecast, about Nicklaus' first major victory" (L.A. TIMES, 6/14). In West Palm Beach, Greg Stoda notes the Jack Nicklaus Medal will include "his likeness in silhouette on one side" (PALM BEACH POST, 6/14).
FLYING SOUTH: The Vinik Asset Management group, a Boston-based hedge fund and investment firm founded and controlled by Lightning Owner JEFF VINIK, "will relocate to downtown Tampa." The company has "signed a long-term lease to take the 31st floor of the SunTrust Financial Centre building," and is expected to begin operating out of the new space "this summer with about 25 employees" (TAMPABAY.com, 6/13).
YOU CAN PLAY: In Winnipeg, Paul Friesen reports NHL Jets LW TANNER GLASS and D DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN have joined the "You Can Play" campaign, designed to make gay hockey players "feel safe in coming out." Glass said, "No hesitation, whatsoever. It's a cause I feel is a good one." The campaign might "land its biggest star yet," as Kings RW DUSTIN BROWN and D ALEC MARTINEZ "have expressed interest in getting on board." Flyers scout PATRICK BURKE, who is also involved in the campaign, said, "We're hoping if we can swing it, have it include Lord Stanley, if at all possible" (WINNIPEG SUN, 6/14).
NAMES: A crew from HBO's "REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL" yesterday was trailing Dodgers CF MATT KEMP to film an upcoming episode (DAILYNEWS.com, 6/13)....WNBA Sun C TINA CHARLES received the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award in recognition of her outstanding work in the community in '11 (WNBA)....Patriots QB TOM BRADY, TE ROB GRONKOWSKI and Owner ROBERT KRAFT appeared yesterday at Gillette Stadium to give $100,000 to the '12 Myra Kraft Community MVP award winners (BOSTON HERALD, 6/14)....NFLPA Exec Dir DEMAURICE SMITH attended Patriots mini-camp with NFLPA Assistant Exec Dir of External Affairs GEORGE ATALLAH in Foxboro, Mass. (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/14)....RBS Citizens, better known as Citizens Bank, has sued former MLBer CURT SCHILLING to recover $2.4M in loans it made to Schilling's video game company, 38 Studios LLC, which filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection last week (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/14).
