In London, John Lichfield reported DAVID BECKHAM's US$13.4M per year contract with Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain "will be given to a children's charity" in the French capital. Beckham said, "It's always for me about playing football. But one of the reasons why I agreed to come to Paris is that I won't receive any salary." Lichfield: "Cynics might suggest that this is a neat way of avoiding the punitive new taxes on the super-rich which are to be introduced in France later this year" (INDEPENDENTco.uk, 1/31). Also in London, Ben Rumsby reports PSG will "pay accommodation and security expenses for Beckham and his family while they are in Paris but he will be paid nothing else" (London TELEGRAPH, 2/1). Meanwhile, in London, Oliver Kay writes the move "will only strengthen Brand Beckham" (LONDON TIMES, 2/1).
MAN OF THE HOUR: SI's Michael Bamberger profiles PGA of America President TED BISHOP and writes the recent ban on anchoring putters "would have been a big issue without Bishop, but he has made it much bigger and he has been comfortable through it all." The debate is "probably the most important issue the PGA has faced since the breakaway, not counting the 1990 Shoal Creek debacle." But Bishop looks as if he has "stood in front of rolling cameras all his life." Golfer DAVIS LOVE III said, "He's comfortable because he's prepared." Bamberger writes Bishop "refuses to look at his term as a ceremonial, same-old, same-old stint with a rubber stamp in hand." Bamberger: "He's an analytical man, a jocky wonk" (SI GOLF, 2/'13 issue).
ON ROCKY TOP: If the Univ. of Tennessee football team makes a bowl game, "every coach will receive" an 8.33% bonus. Coaches will receive a 12% bonus for "making an upper-tier SEC bowl -- the Capital One, Outback, Cotton or Chick-fil-A bowls -- and 16 percent for an appearance in a BCS bowl or the new four-team playoff." An SEC title-game appearance or a BCS title win are "worth an extra 4 percent each." The coaches also will "receive $5,000 annually from camp revenues" (KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL, 1/31).
NAMES: The NFLPA on Thursday awarded Steelers QB CHARLIE BATCH with the Byron "Whizzer" White Award. The award comes with a $100,000 donation to the Best of the Batch Foundation, which was founded in '00 (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 2/1)....Warriors F DAVID LEE will donate $250 to the Us Against Cancer charity for every win the team amasses during the ’12-13 season (Warriors)….T’Wolves F DERRICK WILLIAMS, along a close friend, will open a streetwear store for men in downtown Tucson, Ariz., which is “scheduled to open Feb. 15” (ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 1/31)….The PGA Tour named The Players Championship Sales & Marketing Dir JARED RICE as its top sales person for ’12 (PGA Tour)….NASCAR driver BRAD KESELOWSKI on Thursday was honored at the Michigan State Capitol. The governor’s office also “proclaimed Saturday as ‘Brad Keselowski Day’ around the state” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 2/1)….Former MLBer MARK GRACE on Thursday in a Scottsdale, Ariz. court pleaded "guilty to endangerment and DUI," and by doing so avoided “what could have been a lengthy prison sentence.” A judge imposed a sentence that includes "work-release jail time as well as three years of supervised probation" (AZCENTRAL.com, 1/31)….Pro Football HOFer THURMAN THOMAS' new sports bar inside the Batavia Downs Casino will be called "34 Rush" (THEDAILYNEWSONLINE.com, 1/31).
