Current and former Red Wings yesterday "attended the public memorial and visitation" for late Red Wings and Tigers Owner
MIKE ILITCH. Visitors were seated in Detroit's Fox Theatre and "watched a video montage" of Ilitch. Ilitch Holdings President & CEO
CHRIS ILITCH and his siblings "greeted visitors." Staffers from Ilitch's other businesses were "allowed in before the public entered" around 12:15pm ET (
DETROIT FREE PRESS, 2/16). Mourners "filed into the Fox throughout much" of the day, "waiting 30-45 minutes in the main theater before being ushered into the grand lobby." This was "not a memorial with speeches by dignitaries, but a common gathering, the way Ilitch would’ve liked it." It was a day of "remembrance, not remorse, and it was impossible to put Ilitch’s legacy in proper perspective." Ilitch’s "way was an everyman’s way, and the words on the memorial card summed it up: 'A Life Well Lived.'" It was a "full life and a fulfilled vision, celebrated equally by those who know him well, and those who felt they did" (
DETROIT NEWS, 2/16).
THE KING'S COURT: ARNOLD PALMER "will be succeeded by five co-hosts" at next month's PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational -- GRAEME MCDOWELL, ANNIKA SORENSTAM, PETER JACOBSEN, CURTIS STRANGE and former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security TOM RIDGE. The tournament will take place at the Bay Hill Club in Orlando, where McDowell and Sorenstam reside. The tournament hosts will "help with a variety of roles traditionally held by Palmer" (GOLFWEEK.com, 2/15).
NAMES: Dolphins WR KENNY STILLS is the fifth NFLer to pull out of a "goodwill trip" to Israel sponsored by the Israeli government (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 2/16)....Honorees at last night's Dapper Dan Dinner & Sports Auction were Penguins GM JIM RUTHERFORD and coach MIKE SULLIVAN, who were named Co-Sportsmen of the Year. Also honored were Gold Medal-winning U.S. rower AMANDA POLK (Sportswoman of the Year), former NFLer ROCKY BLEIER (Lifetime Achievement Award) and Pro Football HOFer MEL BLOUNT (Dr. Freddie Fu Sports Leadership Award) (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 2/16)....The NBA Cares program last night had seven former NBA and WNBAers on hand to "conduct a clinic for approximately 35 kids and christened" a refurbished basketball court at the Baton Rouge Recreation’s Monte Sano gym (NOLA.com, 2/15)....Snider Health, the company left to late Flyers Owner ED SNIDER’s heirs, submitted a proposal yesterday for a 125,000-square-foot facility for "growing medical marijuana” to be built in Philadelphia (PHILLY.com, 2/15).
