ESPN's JESSE PALMER "went above and beyond the call of duty on Saturday evening" while announcing the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. During halftime of the Notre Dame-Rutgers game, ESPN’s CHRIS FOWLER, who was in the booth with Palmer, "ate a chicken sandwich that caused some issues." Fowler said that the "dry chicken sandwich caused him to choke, but luckily Palmer was there to swoop in and perform the Heimlich maneuver" (NESN.com, 12/28).
BUSINESS & PLEASURE: Mavericks Owner MARK CUBAN was profiled in the WALL STREET JOURNAL's Weekend Confidential feature. Most of Cuban's "energy goes into AXS TV and the Mavericks." Cuban finds sports "more competitive" than his other business ventures. Cuban said, "There's one winner and 29 losers. You get do-overs, and you get trades; it's not like you get a whole new season in regular business." Cuban "doesn't associate himself" with either major U.S. political party and "considers himself 'apolitical'" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/28).
WORDS OF WISDOM: A WALL STREET JOURNAL survey asked business leaders for "The Best Financial Advice I Ever Got." MLB agent SCOTT BORAS said, "My labor-law professor once told me: Business and money don't breed warm feelings." Yankees Managing General Partner HAL STEINBRENNER said, "The one thing about money that my dad always instilled in us was to just be straightforward, upfront and honest. Don't play games with people's finances. Some deals are going to happen because of that, and some deals aren't." Cuban said, "Pay off your debt first. Freedom from debt is worth more than any amount you can earn" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/28).
NAMES: SI.com is "expected to unveil its redesign early next year" (N.Y. POST, 12/27)....Saints and Pelicans Owner TOM BENSON is among the eight-member '14 class of the Louisiana Sports HOF to be inducted in June (Louisiana Sports Writers Association)....Former NFLer TIKI BARBER and his wife, TRACI LYNN JOHNSON, welcomed their first child together last Friday, daughter BROOKLYN (USMAGAZINE.com, 12/28)....Patriots TE ROB GRONKOWSKI sold his Tampa house for $2M (BOSTON HERALD, 12/30)....Odenton, Md.-based Weyer’s Floor Service has become the company “many teams in the Mid-Atlantic region turn to for their athletic flooring needs,” including the Wizards (WASHINGTON POST, 12/29)....Dodgers RF YASIEL PUIG was “charged with reckless driving, after his arrest Saturday.” Puig allegedly was “traveling 110 mph in a 70-mph zone.” He has now been “clocked at least 40 mph over the speed limit twice this year” (L.A. TIMES, 12/30)....Jacksonville-based Sports Technologies LLC is “looking to develop an ‘intelligent helmet’ that could use technology to improve the way football helmets respond to traumatic blows in order to drive down the number of head injuries.” Former NFLer MARK BRUNELL is “an unpaid consultant for the company” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 12/28)….The Patriots for the fourth consecutive season have been recognized by Team Coalition as the top team in the NFL for driver pledges. Nearly 20,000 fans in the stands at Gillette Stadium pledged to be designated drivers (Patriots).
IN MEMORY: Former STP CEO and motorsports entrepreneur ANDY GRANATELLI died on Sunday in Santa Barbara, Calif., at the age of 90. Granatelli built racecars “that won the Indianapolis 500" in '69 and '73. He entered cars in the Indy 500 from ’61-65 (N.Y. TIMES, 12/30). Granatelli is a member of the Int’l Motorsports HOF, the Motorsports HOF of America and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway HOF (AP, 12/29).
