In DC, Rick Maese profiles NFL Senior VP/Public Policy & Government Affairs CYNTHIA HOGAN, whose appointment in September represents "one of the most unlikely marriages in football: a male-dominated professional sports league with deep-seated cultural issues, and Hogan, a former top aide to VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN who'd previously worked on the Hill and played a key role in passing the Violence Against Women Act" in '94. She now is running the league's DC operations as "one of several people suddenly tapped with saving the league from itself." As the NFL’s top lobbyist, she will "be the public face of the league in Washington on matters as diverse as broadcasting rights, the league’s tax-exempt status, on-field health and safety issues, performance-enhancing drugs and, as Hogan has found these past few weeks, concerns about NFL players’ actions away from the field." She said, "When I left the White House, I didn’t think I would ever have as big a platform to talk about and work on some of the issues I’m interested in. What I've come to realize with the NFL, now I have a bigger platform" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/4).
GET IN THE RING: Boxer JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR. "has signed with powerful adviser" AL HAYMON, which "sets up an inevitable battle between two of boxing's most powerful figures: Haymon and Top Rank promoter BOB ARUM, Chavez's promoter." Haymon and Arum "have had a rancorous relationship since Haymon's No. 1 client, FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR., left Top Rank several years ago." Arum "has always blamed Haymon for engineering the move." Chavez "has been locked in a contract dispute with Top Rank, which is suing him in Nevada to get him to fulfill what it says is one fight remaining on their contract" (ESPN.com, 11/3).
COURT REPORT: Red Sox DH DAVID ORTIZ has sued Anaheim-based jeweler RANDY HAMIDA alleging that he "sold Ortiz fake or low-quality diamond and gold jewelry for $127,000, and then failed to refund the money when Ortiz discovered the deception" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/5)....U.S. women's national soccer team G HOPE SOLO, who "faces trial in January on misdemeanor domestic violence charges for allegedly assaulting two relatives," had her next court date scheduled for Jan. 6, with the trial scheduled for Jan. 20 (SEATTLE TIMES, 11/4)....LISA RASMUSSEN, a lawyer for Bengals CB ADAM JONES, "asked the Nevada Supreme Court to throw out" an $11M verdict against him "for his role in a Las Vegas strip club shooting that injured two men, one of whom was paralyzed" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/5).
AWARDS & HONORS: Former MLBer DEREK JETER last night "was a special guest at the 20th annual Lou Gehrig Sports Awards Benefit dinner at the Marriott Marquis, where about $1 million was raised for the ALS Association Greater New York chapter." Dodgers manager DON MATTINGLY, former MLBer KEITH HERNANDEZ and Pro Football HOFer FRANCO HARRIS "were honored during the ceremony," and Jeter presented "two silver ice buckets" to PAT QUINN and ANTHONY SENERCHIA JR., who are credited with starting the Ice Bucket Challenge (MLB.com, 11/5)....Michigan State Univ. men’s basketball coach TOM IZZO is "one of the headliners" of an eight-member Michigan Sports HOF class to be inducted Feb. 12, which also includes Derek Jeter, former NHLer SERGEI FEDEROV, Baseball HOFer BARRY LARKIN and Hockey HOFer-elect MIKE MODANO (LANSINGSTATEJOURNAL.com, 11/4)....Cablefax Daily's list of "overachievers under 30" includes NFL Media Strategy & Business Development Dir AMANDA HERALD, ESPN Int’l Marketing Solutions Manager RAYMOND LAU, Back9Network Programming & Production Manager RITA MAGLIOCCO, Sportsman Channel producer COURTNEY NICOLSON and Universal Sports Network Producer SCOTT KARPEN (CABLEFAX DAILY, 11/5).
NAMES: Former U.S. Olympians SHAWN JOHNSON and JAMIE ANDERSON, along with former MLBer JOHNNY DAMON and former NFLer TERRELL OWENS, will appear on season seven of NBC's “CELEBRITY APPRENTICE” (NBCSPORTS.com, 11/4)....Tennis player VENUS WILLIAMS “entertained a packed house” at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs celebrating the “10th anniversary of Peak Vista’s Breakfast of Champions” (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 11/5)....Sharks D MIRCO MUELLER, LW JAMES SHEPPARD, Cs JOE PAVELSKI and CHRIS TIERNEY and RW BARCLAY GOODROW on Monday joined D BRENT BURNS "for Burnzie's Buzzcut, as each player received close-cropped haircuts to help raise funds for charitable causes that are close to Burns and his wife, SUSAN." The efforts "raised funds for Defending the Blue Line, the Katie Moore Foundation and the San Francisco Zoo" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 11/4)....Pelicans G JIMMER FREDETTE "donated hundreds of sweatshirts" to elementary school students in his hometown of Glens Falls, N.Y. (AP, 11/5)....Cubs manager JOE MADDON and his wife “had dinner with friends at Chicago Cut Steakhouse" on Monday night (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 11/4)....Grizzlies F TAYSHAUN PRINCE bought a 5,358-square-foot North Palm Beach home in September for $3.1M (PALMBEACHPOST.com, 11/4)....CHARLIE EBERSOL, a producer and son of former NBC Sports Group Chair DICK EBERSOL, is dating singer BRITNEY SPEARS (EONLINE.com, 11/4).
