Actors WILLIAM SHATNER and DWAYNE JOHNSON were "among the celebrities" who helped Panthers TE GREG OLSEN "win $25,000 for his charitable foundation late Sunday night." Olsen was "among 32 NFL players challenged to see who could get the most Twitter mentions in the weeks leading up to the naming of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year." Olsen "led the 32 players with nearly 1.1 million mentions of #OlsenWPMOYChallenge by the midnight deadline Sunday." That is "nearly double his closest competitor," 49ers WR TORREY SMITH, who "had nearly 600,000" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/10).
TOON UP: The "first official news conference" of the '17 American Int'l Auto Show in Detroit on Sunday was by Pixar, "previewing its upcoming 'CARS 3' movie." Pixar Chief Creative Officer JOHN LASSETER and his colleagues were "serious about their research" into the new character Jackson Storm, who "represents a future vision of a NASCAR racer." Pixar consulted former NASCAR crew chief RAY EVERNHAM for "input and advice." He told the creative team that they were "already on the right track in envisioning how a NASCAR racer might look 20 years into the future" (WKBN.com, 1/8).
SEARCH PARTY: The Univ. of Tennessee has "zeroed in on the search firm it intends to use to find its replacement" for outgoing AD DAVE HART. Tennessee "has a five-year contract in place with Parker Executive Search." But sources said that UT, under new Chancellor BEVERLY DAVENPORT, is "expected to use TODD TURNER's Collegiate Sports Associates." UT's deal with Parker "does not obligate the school to use the firm, but it shows that the contract can have a maximum value" of $3M (247SPORTS.com, 1/9).
NAMES: Recently retired cyclist BRADLEY WIGGINS has left SIMON FULLER's management agency XIX Entertainment to join Gold Medal-winning British runner MO FARAH and tennis player ANDY MURRAY at M&C Saatchi Merlin. XIX reportedly "now only has DAVID BECKHAM on its books" after the departure of Murray and F1 driver LEWIS HAMILTON (CYCLING NEWS, 1/9)....An 18-month prison sentence has been handed to R. MARC HAMID, who was “found guilty of defrauding” the Cubs out of the team’s “cut of revenues from his rooftop club near Wrigley Field.” Hamid, a former co-owner of Skybox on Sheffield, was accused of hiding over $1M in revenue to “avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties to the Cubs and taxes” (AP, 1/9)....Saints QB DREW BREES “sat up close with his wife, BRITTANY, and their three sons” last night at WWE’s "Monday Night Raw" at Smoothie King Center (NOLA.com, 1/9). ...NASCAR driver KURT BUSCH yesterday on Twitter revealed that he and ASHLEY VAN METRE are “now married" (NBCSPORTS.com, 1/9).
