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Names In The News

In Baltimore, Mike Klingaman writes JILLIAN UNITAS, granddaughter of Pro Football HOFer JOHNNY UNITAS, is “determined to blaze her own trail in the sports world.” She said, “I know my name opens doors, but I want to be judged not for what my grandfather did, but for the work I put forth.” Jillian Unitas is the Media Manager for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Baltimore and her job this week “runs the gamut from cranking out pre-race news releases, to posting updates on road closures, to managing social media sites.” She also will “usher drivers to on-site media interviews” after each race (Baltimore SUN, 8/27).

HELL HATH NO FURY: In N.Y., Gary Buiso wrote when “Magic/Bird” Producer TONY PONTURO separated from his wife of 34 years, "she didn’t sing the blues -- she created a tell-all musical inspired by her hubby, and sold jewelry he gave her to pay for it.” RUTHE PONTURO said that Tony left her for his producing partner FRAN KIRMSER, "19 years his junior.” Ruthe Ponturo said, “I couldn’t believe it. My parents were married almost 61 years, and I was positive we would be, too.” Her show, “Divorce -- The Musical,” is set to debut “on Sept. 28 at the Triad Theatre on the Upper West Side.” One of the lines from the song, called “Bitter Pill” says, “That brain behind your zipper/Made you a liar and pretty mean/You’d better get Viagra/To fill out those designer jeans” (N.Y. POST, 8/26).

NEW ADDITIONS: Gold Medal-winning British distance runner MO FARAH and his wife are new parents to twin girls (AP, 8/25)....MLS Red Bulls F THIERRY HENRY and Bosnian model girlfriend ANDREA RAJACIC on Thursday welcomed a baby boy (N.Y. TIMES, 8/26)....NFL Panthers C RYAN KALIL and his wife NATALIE welcomed their second daughter yesterday, CHANDLER KAROLINE KALIL (THE DAILY)

Ecclestone (l) and Flosi hold secret wedding
at ski chalet in Switzerland

NAMES: F1 Management Chair BERNIE ECCLESTONE "has secretly married for a third time in a ceremony at his ski chalet in Switzerland." The 81 year old married 35-year-old Brazilian Marketing Dir FABIANA FLOSI at Le Lion, his US$36.4M chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland (London DAILY MAIL, 8/25)....Rockets G JEREMY LIN, the first U.S.-born NBA player of Taiwanese descent, arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a nine-day visit. He will host a basketball camp for a group of 120 young players and on Friday he will hold a private charity event (Taiwan CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY, 8/26)....76ers coach DOUG COLLINS has been mentioned “as a prime candidate” to replace coach MIKE KRZYEWSKI as the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball coach. Collins said, “JERRY COLANGELO is a great leader, and see what he did with Coach K, putting him together, being the guy. Obviously if they would ask me to do it I would be thrilled to do it, but there are a lot of great candidates” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/26)....Gold Medal-winning U.S. gymnast ALY RAISMAN was greeted in her hometown of Needham, Mass., with a parade (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/26)....Front Row Motorsports was named No. 800 on Inc. Magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing, privately-held companies in the U.S. This marks the first time a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team has made the list (Front Row Motorsports)....The Reds on Saturday retired the No. 11 jersey of Baseball HOFer BARRY LARKIN, and “just as happened in Cooperstown, Larkin got emotional.” He had to “pause early in his speech” (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 8/26)….Former Braves manager BOBBY COX has been named Chair of Adairsville-based NorthSide Bank, and said that the Georgia bank “is close to raising $2.3 million in capital and expects to post a profit of between $600,000 and $700,000 this year” (AJC.com, 8/25)....U.S. Sen. SCOTT BROWN (R-Mass.) took the ceremonial first shot at yesterday’s Chesapeake Bayhawks-Denver Outlaws MLL Championship game at Harvard Stadium in Boston (THE DAILY).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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