In Cleveland, Alison Grant reported Browns Owner JIMMY HASLAM III's Pilot Flying J "reached a settlement agreement" yesterday with eight trucking companies that sued Pilot "over claims of fuel rebate fraud -- a tentative deal that could halt a nationwide string of lawsuits against the family business." Haslam agreed to "pay firms that were shorted by his truck stop chain everything they're due, plus six percent annual interest." The agreement "doesn't spell out exactly what the settlement will cost" Pilot Flying J, but it "could total tens of millions of dollars" (CLEVELAND.com, 7/16). In Nashville, Walter Roche Jr. notes even with the settlement, there still are "13 other suits pending in state and federal courts" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 7/17).
LENDING A HAND: Billabong yesterday said that it will "replace its chief executive and announced that it had secured a financing package" from Altamont Capital Partners worth US$364M to help with "its working capital needs and to pay down debt." Billabong said that former Oakley CEO SCOTT OLIVET "would succeed" CEO LAUNA INMAN (NYTIMES.com, 7/16).
MAKING THINGS RIGHT: UFL Sacramento Mountain Lions Owner PAUL PELOSI yesterday said that he will "make good on the debts" he has to former coaches. Pelosi added that he "hopes the Mountain Lions can resume play, possibly next spring -- along with the other members of the moribund" UFL. He acknowledged that reviving the franchise "requires paying off old debts first" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 7/17)....Nets coach JASON KIDD yesterday pleaded “guilty to DWI in a crash that destroyed his SUV and a light pole last summer.” Kidd agreed to give “two lectures about the dangers of drunken driving at a pair of unidentified Suffolk County high schools as part of his plea deal.” If he “fulfills those obligations by Sept. 30, Kidd will see his current misdemeanor drunken-driving conviction knocked down to driving while ability impaired” (N.Y. POST, 7/17).
NAMES: Tennis player AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA has been "dropped from her role as ambassador for a Catholic youth movement after she posed nude in ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue" (ESPN.com, 7/16)....Boxing HOFer MIKE TYSON’s Iron Mike Productions will “put on a pair of title bouts at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y., on Aug. 23 as the ESPN2 'Friday Night Fights' season, due to end Aug. 16, is being extended by one week to accommodate the card.” Tyson plans to “attend the card and is expected to appear on the telecast” (ESPN.com, 7/16)….The Mets and MLB “donated $300,000 to renovate an interior courtyard for tots and elementary school kids at Public School 41 in Brownsville, Brooklyn” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/17)….Univ. of Kentucky men’s basketball coach JOHN CALIPARI has written a book, “PLAYERS FIRST: SUCCESS FROM THE INSIDE OUT.” The book, to be published by Penguin Press, tells the “story of just how Calipari built his national championship program at UK, as well as how he reloads each year.” N.Y. Times contributing writer MICHAEL SOKOLOVE “helped Calipari write the book” (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 7/17).
