In Chicago, Heinzmann, Chase & Coen review the relationship between Mayor RAHM EMANUEL and Basketball HOFer MAGIC JOHNSON. In February, a company Johnson formed with Dodgers Chair MARK WALTER to fund a Chicago summer jobs program "donated $100,000 to Emanuel's campaign." Last week, the company "gave Emanuel $150,000." Last year, the Emanuel-appointed Chicago Board of Education "awarded one of Johnson's companies" -- SodexoMagic -- an $80M contract to "provide custodial and facilities management for Chicago Public Schools facilities." Emanuel's relationship with Johnson is "just the latest example of a hallmark of Emanuel's governing style -- his deep reliance on political cash from business interests who can count on City Hall or the mayor himself to help them" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/19).
ROGER THAT: Lawyers representing former MLBer ROGER CLEMENS and his former trainer BRIAN MCNAMEE yesterday "reached a settlement in McNamee’s long-running defamation suit against Clemens." McNamee will "receive an unspecified payment from Clemens’s insurer, AIG, which also took part" in yesterday's negotiations. Both RICHARD EMERY, the lead lawyer for McNamee, and RUSTY HARDIN, the lead lawyer for Clemens, said that Clemens himself "would not be paying any money to McNamee and that the settlement did not contain any admission of wrongdoing." Hardin added that the payment "will come from a homeowners insurance policy that Clemens has with AIG that covers defamation claims" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/19).
YEAR-END BONUS: Wyoming's bid into the NCAA Tournament "means more money" for AD TOM BURMAN and men's basketball coach LARRY SHYATT. Burman will "earn a total of $37,500 in bonuses from this basketball season." He will "take home an additional $10,000 for Wyoming making the NCAA Tournament, plus a bonus of $2,500 for the men's basketball team finishing in the top four" of the Mountain West Conference. Burman "made an additional $25,000 after Wyoming was ranked in the national Top 25" of the AP poll earlier this season (CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE, 3/19)....Univ. at Buffalo men's basketball coach BOBBY HURLEY's "base annual compensation" comes to $300,000, but three incentives he was given added up to $62,499, which he "earned over the course of eight days" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/17).
NAMES: Cavaliers Owner DAN GILBERT is "among the investors" in the GEORGE PYNE-founded Bruin Sports Capital. Gilbert said, "I am very excited to work with George, who is a friend, on his new venture" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 3/19)....Vikings LB CHAD GREENWAY won the NFLPA's Byron "Whizzer" White Award, given to players who go above and beyond to perform community service (Vikings)....Bulls C JOAKIM NOAH last night was presented with the NBA Cares Community Assist Award for his "recent anti-violence initiatives" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 3/18)....ESPN NFL analyst RAY LEWIS has "filed a lawsuit against his former attorney and business partner, alleging that he was duped out of" more than $1.5M after "lending his name to a development project ... that never materialized" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 3/18)....A new book about Mets GM SANDY ALDERSON entitled, “BASEBALL MAVERICK: HOW SANDY ALDERSON REVOLUTIONIZED BASEBALL AND REVIVED THE METS,” is “still worth reading, despite its excessively positive tone.” The book “traces Alderson’s entire life.” Passionate fans “won’t be surprised by much covering the Mets years,” but there are “enough details to satisfy” (ESPNNY.com, 3/18)....Eagles RB DEMARCO MURRAY “is using a billboard in downtown Dallas to show his appreciation for the team and its city.” The billboard reads, “Thank You Dallas!” with a picture of him running onto AT&T Stadium’s field (DALLASNEWS.com, 3/18).
IN MEMORY: Some of the “most prominent sports logos in America” were drawn by PATRICK MCDARBY, a graphic designer who died Saturday at 57. Among his logos were those of the NHL Rangers, Islanders and Nets; the Indianapolis 500; MLS; and what is now WWE. The Rangers’ logo he designed was “the red, blue and silver image of Lady Liberty” and the Nets’ was in use from ’97-'12. McDarby designed more than 200 logos. His work also “included the logos of many college teams,” among them Villanova, Iowa State and Pitt (N.Y. TIMES, 3/19)....Longtime track-and-field writer JAMES DUNAWAY, who covered the sport at 14 Olympic Games, died Sunday at his home in Austin at the age of 87 (CHRON.com, 3/18).
