NFL Panthers Owner JERRY RICHARDSON yesterday made his first training camp appearance this season and his "first since July 16 when his son, JON, died after a long fight with cancer." Also joining Richardson were Basketball HOFer JERRY WEST and broadcaster JIM GRAY (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/30).
HEALTHY HABITS: Former NBAer ALONZO MOURNING, who received a kidney transplant in '03, wrote a special piece for the Miami Herald on behalf of the Mourning Family Foundation. He wrote, "Under a new proposal out of Washington, D.C., Medicare reimbursement for dialysis care will be cut 12 percent." If Medicare funding cuts "go through as proposed," the "health and wellbeing of patients will be negatively affected." Budget cuts are "occurring everywhere you look these days, and I'm a believer in prudent budgeting." But individuals "with kidney failure should not be put at risk simply to try to save money" (MIAMI HERALD, 7/29).
THE MILLION DOLLAR MAN: ESPN's Marcellus Wiley noted 49ers coach JIM HARBAUGH "is working on a solution to give" CB TARELL BROWN the bonus he missed when he did not attend off-season workouts because his agent, BRIAN OVERSTREET, did not inform him he had to attend to collect the bonus. ESPN's Max Kellerman said, "I love the fact that coach came out and defended his guy, like, 'Come on man, don't play him cheap like that.' Obviously, he'd have been there if he knew $2 million was on the line. Don't be pennywise and pound foolish." Wiley said Brown "should have read every clause in his contract," but this example is "another way that coach Harbaugh gains equity with his players" ("SportsNation," ESPN2, 7/29).
PAVING THE WAY: Dodgers trainer SUE FALSONE is profiled by USA TODAY's David Leon Moore in a sports section cover story, and he notes Falsone is the "first and only female head trainer of a major professional sports team." She is a "role model and takes that seriously." Falsone: "I've heard from numerous young women who say, 'I want to have a job like yours. I never thought I could do that, and now I can'" (USA TODAY, 7/30).
NAMES: Blackhawks Chair ROCKY WIRTZ yesterday traveled to Las Vegas to share the Stanley Cup "with Wirtz Beverage Nevada employees, military personnel at Nellis Air Force Base and industry contacts at the Bellagio" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 7/30)....The Giants yesterday celebrated their ’12 World Series win with PRESIDENT OBAMA “during a short ceremony" at the White House. Obama said, “You guys are a second-half team. I expect you to be a second-half team this time around” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/30)….ESPN NFL analyst TEDY BRUSCHI and retired Patriots broadcaster GIL SANTOS yesterday were inducted into the team’s HOF. Coach BILL BELICHICK “in a surprise appearance, his first” at such a ceremony, “saved his most candid words” for Bruschi (BOSTON HERALD, 7/30)….The JACKIE ROBINSON biopic “42” “scored the top spot on the DVD and Blu-ray sales chart” in its first week of release (LATIMES.com, 7/29).
