Toys "R" Us yesterday named former Univ. of Michigan AD DAVE BRANDON Chair & CEO, effective July 1. This "signals his return to the business world" after he resigned from UM on Oct. 31. He previously served as Domino's Pizza CEO, and is currently Domino's BOD Chair (CRAINSDETROIT.com, 6/2). The move "could point the way to an eventual exit for three private-equity firms that bought Toys 'R' Us" for $6.6B. Brandon left UM "amid an uproar over his handling of matters ranging from ticket prices to the Wolverines’ struggling football program to an incident last fall in which the team’s quarterback was allowed to play after suffering a head injury" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/3).
HONORING MR. PADRE: A proposal to erect a small memorial near the Lake Poway baseball field in Poway, Calif., to honor late Baseball HOFer TONY GWYNN "was rejected Tuesday night by a disappointed City Council." The plan that city staff had yesterday -- "essentially attaching an engraved granite plaque to a small boulder which would be placed near the baseball field -- wasn’t what Poway Mayor STEVE VAUS and others on the council had in mind." Vaus: "I’ve always envisioned something more grand" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/3).
PARQUET COURT REPORT: Harvard Law School professor ALAN DERSHOWITZ on Friday in Suffolk Superior Court sued TD Garden "nearly three years after a slip and fall in an arena bathroom during a Celtics game that he blamed on a depleted supply of paper towels near the sinks." Dershowitz, a Celtics season-ticket holder since '65, said that "he did not want to sue the Garden." But "with no agreement in place and a three-year statute of limitations looming, he felt he had no choice." Dershowitz in the filing claims he “violently slipped, causing him to fall upward and then hard upon the tile floor and severely twisting his right knee and leg, landing on his back" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/3).
BOOK IT, TIM: U.S. national soccer team G TIM HOWARD appeared on ABC’s “GMA” this morning to promote his autobiography, “THE KEEPER.” ABC’s Robin Roberts said the “inspirational” book is “all about defying the odds and becoming one of the world’s top goalies.” Howard: “I have an amazing platform to reach these children and hopefully give them hope to reach their dreams like I did” (“GMA,” ABC, 6/3).
NAMES: Red Sox VP/Club Counsel ELAINE WEDDINGTON STEWARD is profiled in the Boston Business Journal’s “WomenUp” feature this week (BOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/29 issue)....T’Wolves Dir of Membership Service BRITT CARLSON is among the winners of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s ’15 Women in Business award (MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/29 issue)....NFL Cardinals President MICHAEL BIDWILL will be featured on the June cover of So Scottsdale! (THE DAILY)....TNT’s CHARLES BARKLEY “plans to donate” $1M each to the Wounded Warrior Project, Morehouse College and Auburn Univ. (AL.com, 6/2)....Clippers G CHRIS PAUL “has partnered with” Nashville-based D1 Sports Training & Therapy on its Winston-Salem location -- the 29th for the company. D1 offers “a range of sports training and physical therapy and rehabilitation” (TRIAD BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/29 issue)....NASCAR driver JIMMIE JOHNSON tomorrow “makes his voice-over debut” on Nick Jr.’s “BUBBLE GUPPIES.” He will be “animated as a lobster and clad in work attire suggestive of his racing sponsor, Lowe’s” (USATODAY.com, 6/1)....AFL Philadelphia Soul co-Owner COSMO DENICOLA “rubbed elbows Monday with cast members of the highly anticipated new ‘ENTOURAGE’ movie” (PHILLY.com, 6/3)....Cowboys QB TONY ROMO “was seen rolling up to U2’s L.A. show on Saturday night in a white limo with NSYNC crooner JC CHASEZ, manager ERIC PODWALL and 'GOSSIP GIRL' stars JESSICA SZOHR and CHACE CRAWFORD” (N.Y. POST, 6/3).
