Names In The News

In DC, Jon Cohen cites a poll as showing that “more than half of all Americans” now say LANCE ARMSTRONG “should not get credit for his career accomplishments in cycling.” The poll shows “just 30 percent saying he should get credit and 51 percent saying no.” Armstrong has “lost support across the board, both among sports fans and non-fans” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 1/23). BLOOMBERG NEWS' Edvard Pettersson reports Armstrong was “sued by two California book buyers over claims he sold fiction as autobiography.” ROB STUTZMAN, a former communications adviser for former California Governor ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, said in a complaint filed Tuesday in Sacramento federal court that he “wouldn’t have bought ‘It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life’ had he known the truth about Armstrong’s misconduct” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/24). The AP’s Stephen Wilson reported UCI President PAT MCQUAID has been “replaced on a key” IOC panel “as he deals with the fallout" from Armstrong's doping scandal. McQuaid yesterday said that he was “too busy to attend all the meetings” of the Olympic commission evaluating bids for the ’20 Summer Games. McQuaid has been replaced by PATRICK BAUMANN, a Swiss IOC member and secretary general of FIBA (AP, 1/23).

CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY: Yankees SS DEREK JETER is attending the Davos World Economic Forum “hoping to discuss climate change.” Jeter said that he “hopes in the wake of Hurricane Sandy that climate change is addressed as global political and business leaders gather in Switzerland.” Jeter, who is “sponsored by Gatorade, was invited by Pepsi, which owns the brand” (N.Y. POST, 1/24).

AWARDS & RECOGNITION: CBS President & CEO LES MOONVES and NBC’s AL MICHAELS are among those to be inducted on March 11 into this year’s class of the TV Academy HOF (VARIETY.com, 1/23)….Former MLBer CHIPPER JONES will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Atlanta Sports Awards on March 5 (AJC.com, 1/23)….The Living Legends of Auto Racing will present longtime motorsports promoter HUMPY WHEELER with its Pioneer of Racing Award on Feb. 20 in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla. The award is “given annually to the person who has done the most in promoting auto racing” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/24).

REAL ESTATE REPORT: Tennis player SERENA WILLIAMS has listed a condo in the Westwood neighborhood of L.A. for sale at $1.85M (LATIMES.com, 1/22)....A home in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago owned by MLB Rangers C A.J. PIERZYNSKI has “gone under contract” for $1.75M “after just two weeks on the market.” Pierzynski paid $1.625M in ’06 “for the Victorian-style mansion” (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 1/23)....Derek Jeter “got walloped with a $265,000 tax bill for his Tampa mega-mansion -- a fourfold increase from what he paid a year ago” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/24).

CHARITY STRIPE: MLB Commissioner BUD SELIG announced yesterday that MLB is committing $1.5M to the development of the Reds MLB Urban Youth Academy (MLB)….Jaguars Owner SHAHID KHAN is “pledging up to” $1M in capital investment for “the ‘creators’ who present their technological innovations and artistic works” at the upcoming One Spark festival in downtown Jacksonville (JACKSONVILLE.com, 1/23).

NAMES: The Univ. of Louisville yesterday “approved a new eight-year contract” for football coach CHARLIE STRONG that will guarantee him $3.7M yearly “even before a slew of performance and retention bonuses.” Strong “ranks seventh” among the highest-paid college football coaches. Strong “gets bonuses if he stays” at the school “past certain points” (COURIER-JOURNAL.com, 1/23)….Tennis player SLOANE STEPHENS with a win over Serena Williams in the Australian Open saw her Twitter following for @sloanetweets go from “17,000 Tuesday afternoon to 46,700 by Wednesday afternoon” (MIAMI HERALD, 1/24)….Gold Medal-winning Canadian snowboarder ROSS REBAGLIATI “plans to open up a franchise of medical marijuana shops.” The company is called Ross’ Gold, a “play both on his gold medal and names for types of marijuana,” and “expects to set up a flagship store in Whistler this spring” (VANCOUVER SUN, 1/24)….Golfer TIGER WOODS “is seeing” skier LINDSEY VONN (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/24)….NHL Rangers Owner JAMES DOLAN on Saturday came to the TriBeCa bar in N.Y. co-owned by former NHLer SEAN AVERY and MATT ABRAMCYK “with some pals to watch the delayed opener” between the Rangers and Bruins (N.Y. POST, 1/22).