The NBA and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital have partnered through the "NBA Cares" program to raise funds during "Hoops for St. Jude Week," which began on Sunday and runs through March 4. Grizzlies C MARC GASOL, an NBA ambassador for St. Jude's, said, "We have the same worries and the same things that go in everybody's minds. Everybody wants their kids healthy, and if for some reason anything goes wrong, St. Jude's is the place to be" ("NBA Gametime," NBA TV, 2/27).
NEW VENTURES: Rays 3B EVAN LONGORIA has "invested his money" with a new boutique sports bar, Ducky's Sports Lounge, set to open this spring in Tampa. He is "one of three main investors, and seven overall owners" in the $850,000 project near the Univ. of Tampa (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 2/28)....Red Sox Chair TOM WERNER is among a group of investors to put $3M into "what they consider the next great fast-casual dining brand: Blaze Pizza." The restaurant has two locations, in Irvine and Pasadena, Calif. (N.Y. POST, 3/1)....Jamba Juice and 49ers TE VERNON DAVIS announced the signing of a store development agreement. Davis plans to open two new Jamba Juice stores in the Santa Clara area over the next two years, with an option to open two more stores in the same area over the following two years (Jamba Juice).
ON THE BIG SCREEN: Madison, Wis.-based filmmaker MICHAEL NEELSEN has produced a new documentary entitled, “Last Day at Lambeau.” He started filming a week before former NFLer BRETT FAVRE's final game at Lambeau Field, playing against his former team as the Vikings visited the Packers on Oct. 24, 2010. Favre “doesn’t appear in the documentary, though Neelsen tried to contact him through his agent, BUS COOK.” However, Neelsen said that it actually was “sort of [a] blessing” Favre did not appear in the film (THENORTHWESTERN.com, 2/28).
NAMES: The owners of JJ's Restaurant in K.C. have established a trust fund to "oversee donations to take care of the needs of injured staff members" affected by an explosion last week. AEG President & CEO TIM LEIWEKE, whose company manages the Sprint Center and the Sprint Center Foundation, will contribute $50,000 to the fund (K.C. STAR, 3/1)....Blackstone Group co-Founder, Chair & CEO STEPHEN SCHWARZMAN has donated $500,000 to the USATF Foundation (Blackstone)....Actor WILLIAM SHATNER will appear as a homeplate umpire at Fenway Park in an upcoming music video for singer BRIAN EVANS (USA TODAY, 3/1)....Longtime Ft. Worth Star-Telegram columnist and ESPN Radio host RANDY GALLOWAY will be honored at the ’13 Bobby Bragan Lifetime Achievement Award Gala in November (STAR-TELEGRAM.com, 2/28)….Oracle Founder & CEO LARRY ELLISON has purchased Island Air airlines, which services much of Hawaii, less than a year after buying the Hawaiian island of Lenai (CNBC.com, 2/27)....Fortune magazine ranked Nike No. 18 on its list of the world's most admired companies (MONEY.CNN.com, 2/28).
