The Senators yesterday confirmed that Owner EUGENE MELNYK "has been discharged from Toronto General Hospital after having liver transplant surgery save his life on May 19." Melnyk "has been moved to a rehabilitation facility to help monitor his recovery." Medical officials said the anonymous donor also "is doing extremely well" (OTTAWA SUN, 6/4).
WILLLLMMMMAAA! Tennessee State Univ.'s "storied athletic history will be featured in exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution's newest museum," the National Museum of African-American History & Culture, when it opens next year in DC. Late Olympian WILMA RUDOLPH, who in '60 became the first American woman to win three medals in a single Olympic Games, "will be enshrined in a special 'Game Changer' room, dedicated to those athletes whose contributions transcended on-the-field accomplishments" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 6/3).
READY TO FLY: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Hilary Potkewitz profiles U.S. Women's National Team MF MEGHAN KLINGENBERG, who in packing for a soccer championship, "always carries a Nike backpack and a small rolling suitcase." Her must-have items "include Bose headphones, memory foam neck pillow, a laptop and a Sudoku book." Her favorite snacks are Brookside pomegranate chocolate, Perky Jerky and Good & Plenty candies (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/4).
PRIDE OF PUERTO RICO: Legendary Pictures is "returning to the ballpark with a biopic" of late Baseball HOFer ROBERTO CLEMENTE, after picking up the rights to DAVID MARANISS' book "CLEMENTE: THE PASSION AND GRACE OF BASEBALL'S LAST HERO" and entering into an agreement with Clemente’s family for his life rights. BEN SILVERMAN and JAY WEISLEDER "are producing via their Fuego Films banner along with Legendary." GISELLE FERNANDEZ and SANDRA CONDITO "will serve as executive producers" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 6/3).
HOLLYWOOD APPEAL: HBO's “ENTOURAGE” series creator DOUG ELLIN said of the show's run, “One of the great tragedies is ELI MANNING bailing on me.” He said that the Giants QB "reached out to him about making a cameo on Season 6," but when the time came to shoot the scene, "Manning blew it off." He added, "Someone told me PEYTON wanted to do it as well, so I’d written Eli and Peyton in it, so I was like, 'I don’t how I’m gonna replace them.'" Patriots QB TOM BRADY and “Entourage” producer MARK WAHLBERG "ended up replacing the Manning brothers in the scene shot at a golf tournament" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 6/4)....NASCAR driver BRAD KESELOWSKI "is featured in the trailer" for "SHARKNADO 3: OH HELL NO!" Keselowski, seen with a shark "flying directly at him," says, "Oh, hell no!" The movie debuts June 22 on Syfy and also includes appearances from fellow driver JOEY LOGANO, former NBAer RICK FOX and Mavericks Owner MARK CUBAN (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 6/4).
NAMES: The state of North Carolina on Tuesday night presented IMG College President & Chair BEN SUTTON with the “state’s top honor, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/3)....Grizzlies C MARC GASOL, along with his brother, Bulls F PAU GASOL, have been awarded Spain’s Princess of Asturias prize for their “brilliant record” playing basketball for their country and NBA teams (AP, 6/3)....CBS NFL analyst BILL COWHER “will be honored” at the annual Champions of Hope dinner June 26 at Heinz Field (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/4)....Former U.S. Olympic figure skater MICHELLE KWAN, a member of the Boston ’24 BOD, has “released a video promoting the city’s effort to host the Summer Games” (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/4)....NASCAR HOFer RICHARD PETTY and Panthers QB CAM NEWTON are among the participants today in the Ricky Proehl Celebrity Golf Classic, which benefits the Power of Play Foundation (GREENSBORO.com, 6/2)....Dolphins QB RYAN TANNEHILL is “holding his annual youth football camp” next week at Nova High School in Davie, Fla. (PALMBEACHPOST.com, 6/3)....Michigan State football coach MARK DANTONIO will serve as the grand marshal for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 on June 14 at Michigan Int’l Speedway (MIS).... Gold Medal-winning gymnast NASTIA LIUKIN this week “announced her engagement” to boyfriend MATT LOMBARDI (AP, 6/2)....Former tennis player LI NA yesterday “gave birth to a girl named ALISA” (ESPN.com, 6/3).
