Marlins President DAVID SAMSON is starring in the upcoming season of "SURVIVOR: CAGAYAN" and the show posted a short bio of Samson on its website with this item: "Personal Claim to Fame: Got local government in Miami to contribute over 350 million dollars to a new baseball park during the recession." Samson on Thursday said that he "doubted he said the exact words quoted in the Survivor bio, which reads like excerpts from an interview." But he "didn’t back off the substance of the quote" (MIAMI HERALD, 1/24).
A-BOMBSHELL: A proposal reportedly has "has gone out to Hollywood producers and Manhattan publishers for an exposé" on Yankees 3B ALEX RODRIGUEZ. A source said that the book project, entitled "BAD BLOOD," has been acquired by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin. The proposal is written by Miami New Times reporter TIM ELFRINK, who "broke the story about A-Rod’s relationship" with Biogenesis Founder ANTHONY BOSCH, along with Newsday's GUS GARCIA-ROBERTS (NYPOST.com, 1/22).
BUSS TOUR: Lakers Exec VP/Player Personnel JIM BUSS has listed for sale in Orange County his four-bedroom, six-bathroom "ocean-view home in the Monarch Bay area of Dana Point." The 3,808-square-foot home is listed at $4.795M. Buss also recently paid $4.05M for a three-bedroom, 4,299-square-foot "condo in a high-rise building near Staples Center." He also has spent more than $13.5M on "four properties at the Strand at Headlands, a development of custom homes and sites above the beach in Dana Point" (LATIMES.com, 1/23).
ON CAMPUS: Illinois AD MIKE THOMAS on Thursday "received a contract extension and salary raise." His deal now runs through '19 with an annual base salary of $554,320, an increase of $50,392 per year (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/24)....The Wayne Densch Charitable Trust donated $4M "toward the construction of the Wayne Densch Center for Student Athlete Leadership Council" at UCF. The donation is "the largest charitable gift in UCF Athletics history" (CENTRAL FLORIDA FUTURE, 1/24).
NAMES: LUCIA EVELIA CALLAHAN, the mother of Padres Manager of Latino Affairs ALEX MONTOYA, has "been missing since she went alone to a Subway restaurant near her Paradise Hills home Wednesday night, and her family is asking for the public’s help to locate her" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/24)....Bruins C JAROME IGINLA and RW REILLY SMITH "made a visit to Perkins School for the Blind" in Watertown, Mass. on Wednesday. They "put on masks to prevent them from seeing and played 'goal ball,' a soccer-like game involving balls with bells in them" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/24)....Tigers 1B MIGUEL CABRERA and P ANIBAL SANCHEZ on Thursday visited the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in the first Metro Detroit stop of the team’s annual winter caravan (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 1/24)….Red Sox DH DAVID ORTIZ took part in dog food brand Pedigree's “See What Good Food Can Do” documentary-style campaign (Pedigree)….Country music singer LUKE BRYAN will headline the Daytona 500 prerace show (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 1/22)….ESPN’s DARREN ROVELL shared some of his favorite sports bars for USA Today's "10 Best Places" feature (USA TODAY, 1/24)….Baseball HOFer REGGIE JACKSON last week bought a $650,000 Ferrari at the Barrett-Jackson vintage car auction in Arizona (NYPOST.com, 1/23).
IN MEMORY: Longtime Miami (OH) Univ. AD DICK SHRIDER died on Tuesday at the age of 90. His tenure ran from ’64-88 (CINCINNATI.com, 1/23).
