DAVID BECKHAM arrived yesterday in Beijing as the country's "first global football ambasssador." Beckham began his four-day tour of the country and "played down reports" that he was earning sums of money from this and two future visits to China. Beckham's acceptance as an ambassador "follows a trail of revelations exposing Chinese football as riddled with corruption" (THETIMES.co.uk, 3/20).
THINKING GREEN: Orioles LF CHRIS DICKERSON co-founded Players for the Planet, a "coalition of nearly 90 professional athletes who partner to promote environmental awareness." The organization is "still grassroots -- there are just five people on staff." Dickerson said that he would "love to be behind a Major League Baseball 'Green Week'" (Baltimore SUN, 3/21)....Dodgers Chair MARK WALTER and wife KIMBRA have purchased the 7,400-acre White Oak Plantation and conservation center in Yulee, Fla., and "plan to continue operating it as a wildlife preserve" (JACKSONVILLE.com, 3/20).
REAL ESTATE: SERENA WILLIAMS has "sold her Westwood condo" for $1.76M (LATIMES.com, 3/20)....Baseball HOFer RYNE SANDBERG last week sold his 2,500-square-foot "vintage co-op unit" in the Streeterville area on the north side of Chicago for $580,000 (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 3/21).
BOOK SHELF: Hockey HOFer BOBBY ORR's famous "flying goal" in the '70 Stanley Cup Final is on the cover of his memoir, due out in October (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 3/20)....Author OLIVER HOROVITZ appeared on "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday to promote his new book, "An American Caddie in St. Andrews." Horovitz in the book "shares his adventures" of caddying at the course for seven summers. CBS' Gayle King said what was "fascinating" about the book is there is a "caddy structure, a hierarchy in being a caddy" ("CBS This Morning," 3/19)....Fox is developing a "tentpole event series" called "The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. SIMPSON," based on the book of the same name by CNN's JEFFREY TOOBIN (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 3/20).
NAMES: NASCAR driver LANDON CASSILL is suing BK Racing over what he "alleges is $205,000 in unpaid winnings and other fees owed to him for racing for the team last year." Cassill also is "asking for an unspecified amount of money for not being told until mid-January that he would not drive for the team in 2013" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 3/20)....NASCAR driver CLINT BOWYER bought Toyota dealer Davis-Moore Auto Group in his hometown of Emporia, Kan., a place where he "used to be employed" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 3/20)....NFL Jets Owner WOODY JOHNSON will host a luncheon fundraiser for the Republican National Committee at the Harvard Club on April 8 (POLITICO.com, 3/20)….Late boxer JOHNNY KILBANE will be featured in a documentary titled “A Fighting Heart” during next month’s Cleveland Int’l Film Festival (CLEVELAND.com, 3/18)….Giants QB ELI MANNING yesterday revealed his wife, ABBY, is “expecting their second child” (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 3/20)....The funeral yesterday for late Archbishop Molloy (N.Y.) high school basketball coach JACK CURRAN was attended by former Georgia Tech men's coach BOBBY CREMINS, Basketball HOFer LOU CARNESECCA and several former NBAers, including KENNY SMITH, KENNY ANDERSON, KEVIN JOYCE and BRIAN WINTERS (N.Y. POST, 3/21).
