Blue Jackets LW SCOTT HARTNELL is "co-founding a company that is making see-through beverage coolers." The 50-quart "Naked Coolers" have patented clear windows that "won’t fog up and will let people see what’s buried in the ice." Flyers video coach ADAM PATTERSON is a 50% owner, with Hartnell and a "silent partner each holding" 25%. Hartnell and Patterson are "running a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter with a goal of raising $200,000 so they can mass-produce the coolers" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 6/23).
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? Magic Johnson Enterprises in an e-mailed statement announced that it has "completed the acquisition of a controlling interest in EquiTrust Life Insurance Co." Guggenheim Partners LLC "will continue to provide investment-management services for EquiTrust." Terms of the deal were not disclosed (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 6/23). It is "unclear whether Guggenheim continues to own a stake in EquiTrust." EquiTrust Senior VP/Corporate Governance PAUL MILLER "declined comment" (USA TODAY, 6/24).
IT'S NOT TV: Former NFLer RASHARD MENDENHALL has been "writing for HBO's new show on football, 'BALLERS,' which is produced by STEPHEN LEVINSON of 'ENTOURAGE'" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/23)....HBO's new tennis mockumentary, "7 DAYS IN HELL," features appearances from JOHN MCENROE, CHRIS EVERT and SERENA WILLIAMS (SI.com, 6/22).
GOOD STUFF: Patriots coach BILL BELICHICK "has provided gifts to Hiram College to honor his parents." The amount of the gift "is not disclosed" (CLEVELAND.com, 6/22)....Fire possibly caused by lightning strikes "burned through the roof" of former college football analyst LOU HOLTZ' Lake Nona, Fla., home early Sunday. The fire "gutted the 11,000-square-foot home and took three hours to extinguish" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 6/23)....Panthers QB CAM NEWTON “has teamed with Carolinas HealthCare
System” and other area partners in a “public awareness campaign aimed at
fighting childhood obesity” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 6/24)....NASCAR driver JIMMIE JOHNSON,
in partnership with the San Diego Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s, will
build four homes from the ground up in five days. The Jimmie Johnson
Foundation donated nearly $1M for the cause (Habitat for Humanity).
NAMES:Pro Football HOFer MIKE HAYNES, in Israel this week with other HOFers, “floated the idea of returning to hold clinics to continue to grow the game” there (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/24)....Former CrossFit Ventures promoter JOHN FRANKLIN filed a lawsuit late Monday in Federal District Court in N.Y. against his former partner, JOSHUA NEWMAN, accusing him of “misappropriating more than $400,000 from their joint business venture to open several CrossFit training centers” in N.Y. and New Jersey (N.Y. TIMES, 6/24)....Author KEVIN SULLIVAN’s new eBook, “BREAKING THROUGH: COMMUNICATIONS LESSONS FROM THE LOCKER ROOM, THE BOARD ROOM AND THE OVAL OFFICE,” has debuted (POLITICO.com, 6/24)....Actor BRYAN CRANSTON was at Wrigley Field last night for Dodgers-Cubs (CHICAGO.SUNTIMES.com, 6/23)....ESPN college basketball writer EAMONN BRENNAN got engaged over the weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains to public policy think tank Third Way Senior Media Relations Manager WHITNEY MITCHELL. Brennan was “supposed to be setting up a game of Scrabble in the other room and when Whitney walked in the board read ‘Will You Marry Me'" (POLITICO.com, 6/24).
