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People and Pop Culture

Names In The News

USA TODAY's Jeff Graham profiles Clippers C DEANDRE JORDAN in the paper's "Talking Your Tech" feature, describing Jordan as a "massive video gamer -- both of old-school games and new ones for his PlayStation 4 console." Jordan boards the team plane or bus "with a MacBook Air, iPod, Samsung Galaxy Note phone, iPad and a portable PlayStation Vita." But he spends "most of his time on the MacBook, which is rigged up to play old Nintendo and Sega Genesis games." Jordan leaves his PlayStation "at home" (USA TODAY, 4/23).

SOCIAL MEDIA MISHAPS: Mets P MATT HARVEY yesterday morning posted a photo on Twitter "that showed him making an obscene gesture." While he "didn't apologize" for the photo, he "subsequently deleted his Twitter account later in the day." Harvey said, "It was me showing a little bit of my personality before surgery." The Mets "asked him to take down the photo, which caused a stir on social media." He said that deleting the account "was his decision, not that of the Mets." Harvey: "I've kind of had enough with Twitter, I guess, not being able to show your personal side" (Bergen RECORD, 4/23)....IndyCar has put driver HELIO CASTRONEVES "on probation through June because he violated the series' social media policy." Castroneves was penalized yesterday for a tweet "sent from his official account after the Long Beach, Calif., race on April 13 that criticized race control for not penalizing drivers during the race." The tweet "included an image of IndyCar's official logo with a 'thumbs down' symbol photo-shopped in the center" (AP, 4/22).

HOLLYWOOD DRAMA: Jockey CALVIN BOREL plays himself in the new movie "50 TO 1," which highlights Mine That Bird's win at the '09 Kentucky Derby. The film "takes a few liberties with the facts, paints an unflattering portrait of racing snobbery in general and trainer BOB BAFFERT in particular, but Calvin Borel as Calvin Borel is pretty close to pitch-perfect." The three-time Derby winner gives the movie an "authenticity and a soul a more accomplished actor would have been hard-pressed to provide" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 4/23)....Sony Pictures has "acquired all North American, Eastern European and Asian rights to 'RED ARMY,' on the heels of the sports documentary being tapped for the Cannes Film Festival's Special Screening Section." The film, directed by GABE POLSKY, centers on the Red Army hockey team "from the perspective of its captain SLAVA FETISOV and his transformation from national hero to political enemy" (VARIETY.com, 4/22).

GET WELL SOON: Bills coach DOUG MARRONE yesterday said that he recently "had a cancerous mole removed from his skin." He said, "The only follow-up required is to have my moles checked every three months, and that basically is the end of the story. The recent extraction procedure will have no effect on my ability to coach the team moving forward" (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/23)....San Diego State baseball coach TONY GWYNN has been "on a leave of absence for the past month to regain his strength after dealing with cancer treatment." Gwynn said that he "hopes to return to coaching before the end of the season." He added, "I'm doing good. That's all I can say" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/22).

CHARITY STRIPE: MiLB Charities yesterday announced it is donating $10,000 to the United Way of Snohomish (Wash.) County's Disaster Recovery Fund to aid in the relief efforts related to the March 22 mudslide in Oso, Wash. (MiLB)....Golfer MICHELLE WIE on Saturday night hosted the inaugural "Wie Love Ping Pong" charity tournament at Honolulu's eleven44 nightclub. Participants included golfers YANI TSENG, CHRISTINA KIM, CRISTIE KERR, TIFFANY JOH, JAYE MARIE GREEN and HANNAH JUN MEDLOCK, as well as actor DANIEL DAE KIM (GOLFWEEK, 4/25 issue).

NAMES: DEEPAL WANNAKUWATTE, the former owner of the now-defunct World TeamTennis Sacramento Capitals, "plans to plead guilty after being charged with fraud in a massive Ponzi scheme" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 4/23)....Dodgers President & CEO STAN KASTEN yesterday accepted the '14 Mayor’s Award on behalf of the team from the L.A. chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (Dodgers)….Former Ohio State football coach JIM TRESSEL is “among three finalists” to be Univ. of Akron President (OHIO.com, 4/22)….Jaworski Turf Solutions, owned by ESPN NFL analyst RON JAWORSKI, has “signed a deal” with the independent Atlantic League Camden Riversharks to provide field maintenance at Campbell’s Field (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/21)….Sagamore Spirit, a planned distillery owned by Under Armour Founder, Chair & CEO KEVIN PLANK, “wants to name its whiskey Triple Rye and might locate to Baltimore.” Sagamore GM BRIAN TREACY said that the company has “applied to trademark the Triple Rye product name and expects to settle on a location in the coming weeks” (Baltimore SUN, 4/22)….Former UConn G SHABAZZ NAPIER threw out the first pitch before last night’s Yankees-Red Sox game and was joined at the game by the rest of the men’s team. The UConn women’s basketball team was “originally scheduled to join the men at Fenway,” but cancelled yesterday morning citing an “unforeseen” conflict. UConn “would not say what the conflict was” (HARTFORD COURANT, 4/23)….Liga MX club Leon and former Red Bulls D RAFA MARQUEZ recently sold his N.Y. condo for $8.6M, which is $2.2M “more than he paid three years ago” (N.Y. OBSERVER, 4/21 issue).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

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On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

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SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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