Women in Sports & Events (WISE) announced the recipients of the '13 WISE Women of the Year Awards. This year's honorees include: Coca-Cola North America Senior VP/Sports & Entertainment Marketing SHARON BYERS, StubHub Global Head of Business Development & Partnerships DANIELLE MAGED and espnW VP/Content Program & Inspiration CAROL STIFF. WISE also announced former NBC Sports Group Chair DICK EBERSOL as the recipient of the '13 Champion Award. The individuals will be honored at a luncheon on June 18 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in N.Y. The event will be emceed by ESPN's LINDSAY CZARNIAK (WISE).
A MOMENT LIKE THIS: CHARLIE EBERSOL Friday appeared on NBC's "Today" discussed the new USA Network show "THE MOMENT," which is form his production company, The Hochberg Ebersol Company. NBC's Willie Geist noted the '04 plane crash that killed Ebersol's brother, TEDDY, and left Ebersol and his father, former NBC Sports Group Chair DICK EBERSOL, injured "served as some inspiration" for the show. Charlie Ebersol: "I was successful in business and yet I was doing things that didn't make me happy. So when the plane settled and I got my father off, the first thing my mom said was, ‘You can be sad, but not mad sad. You have to make a purpose. You have to take control of your life.’ So I sold my company, I gave up all the things that I had been doing and I started focusing only on the things I love. And this show became kind of the penultimate example of that” ("Today," NBC, 4/12).
COURT REPORT: In DC, Dina ElBoghdady reports a complaint issued Wednesday by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority alleges that Success Trade Securites and its founder FUAD AHMED "misrepresented or omitted key facts when it borrowed more than" $18M from 58 investors starting in March '09. The complaint "did not name the investors but said most were current or former NFL and NBA players" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/12)....WILLIE AMENDOLA, the father of Patriots WR DANNY AMENDOLA and head football coach at Spring Dekaney High School, is suing Cowboys Stadium for $1M "over an incident with a runaway golf cart after" the Texas 5A Division I state championship game in '11. The suit claims "personal injury to Amendola, as well as 'great personal anguish and embarrassment' to Amendola and his wife with the media attention the incident received" (CSNHOUSTON.com, 4/11).
MIND OVER MATTER: The GLOBE & MAIL's Rachel Brady reports RYAN VANDENBUSSCHE is "one of about 25 retired NHL players taking part in a brain study at Toronto's Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, one of the leading groups studying the aging mind." The researchers are "about 15 months into their study involving NHL alumni and other men from the general population, who serves as a control group." The study involves "brain scans and cognitive tests," and the participants' lifestyles are examined "from health conditions to concussion history, drug and alcohol use and genetics." It is all part of a "thorough study that's tracking the brain of retired NHL players over several years to identify factors that could lead to cognitive decline as they age" (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/12).
NAMES: The S.F. Super Bowl Bid Committee added "star power to its May 21st bid to host" the '16 game by introducing former coach GEORGE SEIFERT and Pro Football HOFer STEVE YOUNG (SFGATE.com, 4/11)....A statue of Baseball HOFer BOB GIBSON will "greet fans attending games at Werner Park," the home of the Triple-A PCL Omaha Storm Chasers. Those in attendance for the statue's unveiling on Thursday included MLB Commissioner BUD SELIG, Omaha investor WARREN BUFFETT and MLB Cardinals Chair BILL DEWITT JR. (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 4/12)....Patriots Owner ROBERT KRAFT will speak at the Suffolk Univ. commencement ceremony on May 19-20 in Boston (THE DAILY)….Roush Fenway Racing Owner JACK ROUSH on Thursday was inducted into the Texas Motorsports HOF (STAR-TELEGRAM.com, 4/11)….The Oklahoma Venture Forum awarded the Thunder with its Chairman’s Award For Economic Impact for “helping raise the city’s profile and boosting local business” (NEWSOK.com, 4/11).
