In Charlotte, Jim Utter reports NASCAR team owner and former Redskins coach JOE GIBBS has "lived as an insulin-dependent, Type II diabetic" since '91. Gibbs by sharing his story "hopes to educate people with diabetes, and those who don’t have it." He "wants everyone to know that the lifestyle-changing diagnosis doesn’t have to be a prescription for limitations." Gibbs oversees a NASCAR operation with "upwards of 450 employees, works with his ministry and enjoys time with his eight grandchildren." And he does so with "no outward signs of his illness" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/17).
STILL IN THE DOG HOUSE: Browns Owner and Pilot Flying J CEO JIMMY HASLAM III told trucking execs Thursday that he "estimates that 250 trucking firms may be owed money in the wake of an FBI investigation into allegations of a rebate skimming scam." Haslam said that he "personally was not aware of the scam prior to the April 15 raid on his company headquarters in Knoxville by FBI and IRS agents." Haslam: "I take responsibility for what happens at PFJ as the guy at the top of the shop, but I was absolutely not aware of any of this" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 5/17). Haslam: "I want to look everyone in the eye and say we'll do everything we can to make things right." Haslam speaking Thursday at a truckers conference in Indianapolis "answered questions screened by his lawyers" (CLEVELAND.com, 5/16).
FIGHT ON: USC AD PAT HADEN from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012 earned about $2.2M "in total compensation." Haden earned a base salary of $1,203,888, an additional $800,000 in bonuses and incentives, $204,585 in other reportable income, $24,500 in retirement and other deferred compensation and $14,705 in nontaxable benefits (L.A. TIMES, 5/17). A Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER editorial states while large salaries for college coaches may be OK for them, it is "not OK for the colleges and universities who keep throwing millions of dollars at their coaches even as their professors are pinched and their students sink deeper into student loan debt." The "gulf grows between professors’ and coaches’ pay and the contrast becomes ever starker between millionaire coaches and their unpaid players" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 5/17).
CHARITY STRIPE: Broncos QB PEYTON MANNING's PeyBack Foundation is "donating $581,000 that will be distributed to more than 90 youth-based community organizations" in Colorado, Indiana, Tennessee and Louisiana in '13 (DENVERPOST.com, 5/16)....WWE said that it is "making a gift" of $1.2M over three years for research into treatment for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (USA TODAY, 5/17)....ESPN analyst and former NFLer JASON TAYLOR has been selected to serve on the NFL Foundation's BOD and will "direct the NFL's charitable ventures." The post was formed for retired Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year winners (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 5/17)....The Phillies on Thursday "raised thousands of dollars to support the fight against ALS" during the 24th annual Phillies Phestival at Citizens Bank Park (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 5/17).
NAMES: Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation Chair and former Blue Jays President & CEO PAUL GODFREY "was let go" on Thursday (TORONTO STAR, 5/17)....Warriors radio play-by-play announcer TIM ROYE has been inducted into the Utica College Pioneer Athletic HOF (Warriors)....Texas A&M QB JOHNNY MANZIEL attended Thursday’s Nationals-Padres game (WASHINGTON POST, 5/17)….Redskins QB ROBERT GRIFFIN III will serve as an honorary grand marshal for the National Memorial Day parade in DC (WASHINGTONPOST.com. 5/16).
