Univ. of Missouri football coach GARY PINKEL has agreed to a new contract that "will pay him a guaranteed salary" of $3.1M through '20. Pinkel's previous contract paid him $2.8M through the '17 season, and his guaranteed compensation "will increase by $100,000." But the "real winners under Pinkel's new deal are his assistant coaches." Their "salary pool increases" from $2.66M to $3.2M (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/7). With Pinkel's raise, at least "11 of the 14 coaches in the SEC" will make $3M or more next season (ESPN.com, 3/6).
DAN IN REAL LIFE: Sports writer DAN JENKINS this week released "HIS OWNSELF: A SEMI-MEMOIR." Jenkins "discusses his upbringing, as well as his love for golf and reading." It is "chock full of stories." Jenkins on Thursday told CBS Sports Radio's JOHN FEINSTEIN, "I just tried to tell them some things about the BEN HOGAN I knew that they didn’t know and the DARRELL ROYAL I knew and the BEAR BRYANT I knew and that sort of thing" (CBSSPORTS.com, 3/6).
AWARDS & HONORS: CBS' VERNE LUNDQUIST on May 8 "will received the Vin Scully Award for lifetime achievement in sports broadcasting" (AP, 3/6)....Chicago broadcaster JEANNIE MORRIS will receive the Ring Lardner Award for her "groundbreaking body of work." She is the "first female winner of a Ring Lardner Award honoring mostly local sportscasters and writers" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/7)....Former NHLer DOMINIK HASEK on March 29 "will be inducted" into the Sabres HOF (BUFFALO NEWS, 3/7).
ON THE BIG SCREEN: A film on '09 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, titled "50 TO 1," will launch in "more than 20 Kentucky theaters on April 18" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 3/6)....UFC fighter CAIN VELASQUEZ has "rounded out the cast of Universal's 'TERM LIFE' starring VINCE VAUGHN and HAILEE STEINFELD (VARIETY.com, 3/6)....The biopic titled "TURK," about the life of former NHLer DEREK SANDERSON, "will be shot in Canada" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/7).
NAMES: Former Dolphins trainer KEVIN O'NEILL, who was "fired last month," has hired law firm Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley to "represent him in what could turn out to be a heated wrongful termination lawsuit" (PALMBEACHPOST.com, 3/6)....Former NFLer and Wake Forest Univ. alum BOB MCCREARY donated $7.5M to the school to “support the Wake Forest football program and a planned 95,000-square-foot sports performance center” (JOURNALNOW.com, 3/5)....Former MLBer MARIANO RIVERA and his wife, CLARA, have opened a church in New Rochelle, N.Y., called Refugio de Esperanza, which translates to Refuge of Hope. It is a “calling he has devoted years of his life and millions of his dollars to” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/7)....Rays manager JOE MADDON, coaches, players and front office staff prior to March 16’s Spring Training game will “shave their heads to pay tribute to children fighting cancer.” Fans can “join in as well, and all proceeds benefit the Pediatric Cancer Foundation’s Cut for A Cure" (TAMPABAY.com, 3/6)....NFL Giants QB ELI MANNING was spotted taking "center stage with the band, BETTER THAN EZRA, in New Orleans during a Mardi Gras celebration.” Manning “sang along for one verse, wisely, of their song ‘This Time of Year’” (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 3/6).
PAYING RESPECTS: The funeral service on Wednesday for DAVID REINSDORF “was jam-packed.” David is the son of Bulls and White Sox Chair JERRY REINSDORF and his wife, MARTYL. The service was held at the Chicago Jewish Funerals Chapel in Buffalo Grove, Ill. Those in attendance included Basketball HOFer SCOTTIE PIPPEN, former NBAer BOB LOVE and Hyatt Hotel heir MATT PRITZKER (SUN-TIMES.com, 3/6).
