Sources said that NCAA COO JIM ISCH "will depart the association in the coming months." Sources added that Isch was "expected to step down at the end of June but is now in the process of negotiating a severance package that could push the date of his departure beyond the end of this month." Isch was "long considered the right-hand man" of NCAA President MARK EMMERT, and his departure marks "yet another top-tier NCAA position turning over under Emmert" since he took office in April '10 (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/3).
ROCK OF AGES: In Milwaukee, Sean Ryan profiles MKE Sports & Entertainment Founder MIKE ZIMMERMAN, who "came out of nowhere in mid-2012 to become a prominent sports business developer and player." Zimmerman has built The Rock Sports Complex, a "baseball, biking and skiing complex," bought the MASL Milwaukee Wave and "began his high-profile effort to build a minor league baseball stadium." He is "brainstorming ways to extend the MKE Sports & Entertainment operations." Zimmerman said that those could "include concert series, lacrosse leagues and, more long-term, the possibility of franchising The Rock model to re-create it in other cities" (MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/30 issue).
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WNBAers competed with "Bachelorette" Andi
Dorfman (r) against her male suitors on the show |
SHE GOT GAME: ABC's "The Bachelorette" last night featured WNBA Sky F ELENA DELLE DONNE and "five other WNBAers" in a game against the reality show's contestants. The WNBAers played with "Bachelorette" ANDI DORFMAN "against 10 of the bachelors during a 'group date' at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville, Conn." The segment "lasted about 15 minutes" with Delle Donne, Dream F SWIN CASH, Fever F TAMIKA CATCHINGS, Sparks G LINDSEY HARDING and Sparks F NNEKA OGWUMIKE (DELAWAREONLINE.com, 6/3).
NAMES: ESPN's SAGE STEELE today is featured in the WALL STREET JOURNAL's "What's Your Workout?" Steele "prefers group fitness classes to one-on-one solo workouts," and takes group fitness classes "about three days a week at the Zoo Health Club in Simsbury, Conn." Steele said that she is "addicted to BodyPump, an hourlong, weight-based class with music" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/3)....Oilers radio play-by-play announcer ROD PHILLIPS on Friday was inducted into the Alberta Sports HOF (Oilers)....Yankees 1B MARK TEIXEIRA yesterday announced that he is a “member of the board” that is putting together the first Greenwich Int’l Film Festival in ’15 (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 6/2)....Patriots Owner ROBERT KRAFT on Sunday was a judge for the Massachusetts Boys & Girls Club's sixth annual “Science of Sports” fair at Gillette Stadium (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/3)....Boxer MANNY PACQUIAO listed his 4,273-square-foot home in the Hancock Park neighborhood of L.A. for sale at $2.7M (LATIMES.com, 6/2)....NASCAR driver JEFF GORDON’s former Highland Beach, Fla., mansion “traded hands last month” for $12.5M. Gordon bought the land for $2.4M in ’96 and “later built the house” (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 5/31)....Blackhawks LW BRANDON BOLLIG paid $810,000 for a three-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot loft condominium unit in River North, Ill. (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 6/3).
