Chef BOBBY FLAY appeared on NBC’s broadcast of the Belmont Stakes, with NBC’s Bob Costas noting Flay was a “huge all-around sports fan” and just recently acquired an ownership stake in J Boys Echo who finished ninth in the race. Flay bought a stake in '16 Belmont winner Creator prior to the race, and he said, "Last year we had a lot of fun with Creator, and when you get that bug, when you’re in the winner's circle for the Belmont Stakes, you just want to do it again.” Costas asked, “If J Boys Echo, like the other horses in the field, got bored with oats and hay, what would you whip up for them? Some kind of gourmet dish for a horse?” Flay: “It’s going to be brunch forever for J Boys Echo. I’ve got him totally covered. Oats and hay for today, but if he wins he can have whatever he wants” (“Belmont Stakes,” NBC, 6/10).
QUITE THE CATCH: A rare T206 HONUS WAGNER baseball card was the "big winner" at auction on Sunday, "fetching $609,294." The Converse sneakers MICHAEL JORDAN wore during the '84 Olympic gold-medal game against Spain "set a record, too, although it was far less: $190,373" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/12).
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| Clinton-Dix is interning with a Circuit Court judge in pursuit of a criminal justice degree |
NAMES: KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR yesterday headlined Printers Row Lit Fest, an annual book fair in Chicago, "speaking in front of hundred's inside the Jones College Prep gymnasium." His latest book is "COACH WOODEN AND ME: OUR 50-YEAR FRIENDSHIP ON AND OFF THE COURT." Abdul-Jabbar "spoke like a gentle giant about Wooden" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/12)....PETE FRATES, the inspiration behind the Ice Bucket Challenge, donated four items on Saturday -- "a cap and glove from his playing days at BC, and the bucket and sunglasses" from his original '14 Ice Bucket Challenge -- to the Baseball HOF (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/11)....Packers S HA HA CLINTON-DIX, in "pursuit of his degree in criminal justice" from Alabama, "reported for a different job on June 2." He is "serving an unpaid internship under Brown County Circuit Court Judge DON ZUIDMULDER," for which he is "set to log 180 hours before the Aug. 1 deadline to earn six credits towards his degree" (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 6/11)....Two weeks after surgery to replace the pacemaker in his heart, Baseball HOFer TOMMY LASORDA "visited Dodger Stadium on Saturday for the Old-Timer's Game." Lasorda was in charge of the home team during the pregame festivities and "received a standing ovation during pregame introductions" (L.A. TIMES, 6/11)....ISABELLA TOBIAS and SAMUEL LITES were married Saturday at the Fox Theater in Detroit. Lites is an "amateur scout" for the Red Wings and his father, JIM, is Stars President & CEO. Lites is also the "maternal grandson" of MARIAN ILITCH, who is the wife of late Red Wings and Tigers Owner MIKE ILITCH (N.Y. TIMES, 6/11).
