In Birmingham, Jon Solomon reported if the ED O'BANNON antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA over use of college athletes’ names and likenesses “ever produces a payoff, there’s already a framework for players to collect NCAA revenue through a high-profile mediator.” Attorney KEN FEINBERG is “part of a registered organization” called the Former College Athletes Association (FCAA). Also on the FCAA BOD is former Nike, adidas and Reebok exec SONNY VACCARO and National College Players Association Founder & President RAMOGI HUMA. A former O’Bannon attorney “claims the FCAA is a potential ‘revenue stream’” for the DC law firm representing the plaintiffs. But Vaccaro and Huma said that “that’s not the case” (AL.com, 1/28).
ROSTER CUT: Athletes for Hope, a six-year-old charity co-founded by LANCE ARMSTRONG, said that it has “dropped" the former cyclist. The group “took down Armstrong’s photo from its website" after his Jan. 17 interview with OPRAH WINFREY “in which he admitted doping.” Athletes for Hope was launched in '07 as a collaboration between Armstrong, tennis HOFer ANDRE AGASSI and former soccer player MIA HAMM. The charity “wasn’t created to address any single problem, but to encourage professional and Olympic athletes to learn about and connect with existing charities rather than establishing their own foundations, which often carry wasteful overhead” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/28).
TAKING IT TO THE TOP: Bulls F LUOL DENG has written to U.K. Prime Minister DAVID CAMERON “pleading for UK Sport to restore” funding for British basketball. The sport “discovered last month it will receive zero funding in the run-up to” the ’16 Rio Olympics, a cut of US$13.4M “compared to the London 2012 cycle.” British basketball “will meet” with U.K. Sport tomorrow “to ask for it to reconsider" (PA, 1/28).
SHOWTIME: Lakers F METTA WORLD PEACE is “shopping a sports-themed hidden-camera prank series” called “Metta World Pranks.” The show will feature Metta World Peace and other pro athletes “playing pranks on one another -- including their family members, friends, spouses and fans” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 1/28)....Rockets G JEREMY LIN missed most of a showing of “Linsanity: The Movie” at the Sundance Film Festival when the Rockets’ charter flight to Salt Lake City on Sunday was “diverted” because of a snowstorm. Lin arrived “in time to see only the end of the documentary about his rise from obscurity to international celebrity and NBA success” (CHRON.com, 1/28)....Lions DT NDAMUKONG SUH “helped rescue” comedian LOUIE ANDERSON from a pool during filming for the celebrity diving reality show “Splash” (DETROITNEWS.com, 1/28).
NAMES: SportingNews.com named Colts GM RYAN GRIGSON its NFL Exec of the Year. He “edged” Broncos Exec VP/Football Operations JOHN ELWAY (INDYSTAR.com, 1/28)....Multichannel News named WWE Exec VP/Creative STEPHANIE MCMAHON and MLB Senior VP/Operations & Engineering SUSAN STONE as two of its “Women to Watch” (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 1/28, issue)….Golden Boy Promotions yesterday signed boxer LAMONT PETERSON to a contract (ESPN.com, 1/28)....DESTINY'S CHILD group member MICHELLE WILLIAMS "shot down rumors of a possible reunion" during the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show with featured performer BEYONCE (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/28)….Country group ZAC BROWN BAND will perform at the Daytona 500 pre-race on Feb. 24 (DIS)....Pro Football HOFer JOE MONTANA’s 1,067-square-foot, one bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom townhouse in S.F. is “up for rent for $5,000 a month” (SFGATE.com, 1/28).
