Hundreds attended the funeral of Hockey HOFer GORDIE HOWE yesterday. Among those in attendance were Blackhawks Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations SCOTTY BOWMAN, Lightning GM STEVE YZERMAN, Hockey HOFers WAYNE GRETZKY and GUY LAFLEUR, Baseball HOFer AL KALINE, NHL Commissioner GARY BETTMAN, Maple Leafs coach MIKE BABCOCK and Ilitch Holdings President & CEO CHRIS ILITCH (DETROIT NEWS, 6/16). Also in attendance were Hockey HOFers BOBBY ORR and TED LINDSAY, as well as Michigan Gov. RICK SNYDER, Detroit Mayor MIKE DUGGAN and former MLBer WILLIE HORTON (DETROIT NEWS, 6/16). Former Whalers Owner HOWARD BALDWIN was also in attendance (HARTFORD COURANT, 6/16).
EXTRA MAN POWER: Mavericks Owner MARK CUBAN will donate $1M to the Dallas Police Department, which "announced it will primarily use those funds to protect the LGBT community." The funds will "pay for an estimated 16,000 hours of overtime for the Dallas police to aid the city's counterterrorism efforts, including an increased presence in the Dallas suburb of Oak Lawn, which has a large LGBT community" (FOXSPORTS.com, 6/15).
NAMES: AC Milan Owner SILVIO BERLUSCONI has undergone successful heart surgery, with the sale of the club "likely to be delayed as he completes his recovery" (ESPN.com, 6/15)....The Hamilton Partnership of Paterson, N.J., gave Giants WR VICTOR CRUZ an award "in recognition of his contributions to the city" through his sponsorship of S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program (PATERSON PRESS, 6/16)....The World Boxing Council later this year is bringing its annual convention to Broward County, Fla. The event is set for Dec 11-17 at the Diplomat Resort & Spa and "is expected to attract more than 1,000 attendees" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 6/16)....Patriots TE ROB GRONKOWSKI yesterday addressed 400 high school students along with a "sold-out audience of 1,600 at the Providence Journal All-State High School Sports Award Banquet" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 6/16).
