Marlins President DAVID SAMSON will appear on CBS' "SURVIVOR: CAGAYAN," which premieres tomorrow at 8:00pm ET, but he cannot say "how he or anyone else did." He "can't talk about particular events that took place or precisely where in the Philippines the show took place." Samson said it is "not even a question" whether it is more challenging of mind or body. He said, "It's psychological. You're away. I mean, you're really away. You're cut off. They take away every communication device you have. There's no contact with family or friends or business associates. There's nothing. I didn't realize how addicted I was to my phone" (PALM BEACH POST, 2/25).
SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE: UCLA football coach JIM MORA received a contract extension that likely will "make him the second-highest paid football coach in the Pac-12." Mora will earn an average of $3.5M annually in "base pay and talent fees over the course of his new contract," which amounts to $21M overall in the next six seasons. He also is "eligible to receive up to $930,000 in performance-based bonuses each year." Only Washington's CHRIS PETERSEN, who will reportedly make $3.6M in '14, has "a higher salary in the conference" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 2/22)....Minnesota has restructured the contract of football coach JERRY KILL, "extending it by one year -- through the 2018 season -- and raising his salary" from $1.2M last year to an average of $2.3M during the deal (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/23).
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT: Iowa basketball coach FRAN MCCAFFERY has "told his players to shut down their Twitter accounts until the end" of the season. Iowa F ZACH MCCABE "received multiple negative comments directed to his Twitter account after he missed a 3-pointer at the end of Iowa's 79-74 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday." McCabe "lashed out with his own response, which he later retracted." McCaffery said that he "talked to his players after the incident." He called it a "healthy discussion, one that I think made sense to everybody" (Cedar Rapids GAZETTE, 2/25).
CAMPUS CONNECTIONS: West Virginia Univ. has received a commitment of $5M from D-Backs Managing General Partner and business school alum KEN KENDRICK, his wife RANDY and the Charles Koch Foundation as a lead gift to launch a new center to study the economic, political and social factors that increase prosperity (WVU)....The Univ. of Kansas announced that its planned $17M "Fieldhouse Apartments" project, which will "eventually house the school's men's and women's basketball players, is moving forward." The project's primary donation came from Jayhawk Capital Management President & CEO KENT MCCARTHY (K.C. STAR, 2/25).
NAMES: DC-based lobbyist JACK BURKMAN yesterday said that he is "preparing legislation that would ban gay athletes from joining" the NFL. Burkman in a statement said that he has "garnered political support for the bill, though his statement didn't mention any specific lawmakers who are behind it" (THEHILL.com, 2/24)....The Royal Canadian Mint announced that a ’14 Lucky Loonie in a special commemorative frame will be sent to the hometown of each of Canada’s medalists from the Winter Games later this week. Canada earned 25 medals in Sochi (Royal Canadian Mint)….Bears TE MARTELLUS BENNETT was “supposed to spend Saturday afternoon playing video games with 60 children at the West Chicago Public Library” as part of its “Read to Succeed” winter program. However, Bennett “opted to spend most of his time reading to them” (Illinois DAILY HERALD, 2/23)….Orioles Owner PETER ANGELOS yesterday stopped by the team’s Ed Smith Spring Training complex “for a short visit.” He was accompanied by his son, LOUIS, and Orioles attorney ALAN RIFKIN (Baltimore SUN, 2/25)….Thunder F KEVIN DURANT has “dismissed his $600,000 federal lawsuit against his former accountant” (AP, 2/24)….Eagles QB NICK FOLES yesterday got engaged to longtime girlfriend, TORI MOORE (PHILLY.com, 2/24).
