A blimp advertising for PenFed Credit Union near the U.S. Open on Thursday "deflated, burst into flames and crashed." The crash site was "about a mile from the Erin Hills golf course." The pilot, TREVOR THOMPSON, was "treated for serious injuries, including burns." The USGA in a statement said that the blimp "was not affiliated with the USGA or the U.S Open" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 6/16)....Basketball HOFer BILL RUSSELL will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the first-ever "NBA Awards" on TNT, airing Monday, June 26, with coverage beginning at 9:00pm ET (NBA)....Chicago-based tech company Digital Golf Technologies, which installs cameras on golf courses to "run hole-in-one contests," raised $4M and hired former Sportsvision President MIKE JAKOB as its new CEO (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 6/15)....Georgetown men's basketball coach PATRICK EWING stopped by CNN's WOLF BLITZER's table at Cafe Milano Thursday night to "pay his respects" (POLITICO.com, 6/16)....A WWE/Cricket Wireless ad featuring JOHN CENA is No. 7 on Google's YouTube Ads Cannes Leaderboard, which recognizes the top 10 performing YouTube ads globally in the past year (THE DAILY).
