NFL Jets Owner WOODY JOHNSON was "confirmed" Thursday by the Senate as the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. His brother, CHRISTOPHER WOLD JOHNSON, will "take over the team in his absence" (N.Y. POST, 8/4). Woody Johnson "reportedly donated" $1M to PRESIDENT TRUMP's inaugural committee (N.Y. POST, 8/4). Trump on Thursday also appointed former Dodgers co-Owner JAMIE MCCOURT U.S. ambassador to France (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/3).
GIDDY UP: Horse racing trainer DOUG O'NEILL and his team have a "new client" in Lakers President JEANIE BUSS, who will "go under the nom de course Purple Rein Stable." O'Neill assistant STEVE ROTHBLUM said, "She’s had some horses with MARK VERGE of Westside Stables, she wants some of her own and she’s committed a pretty good chunk (of money) for purchasing" (HORSERACINGNATION.com, 8/2).
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: NBC's "THIS IS US," which is set in Pittsburgh, will have the Steelers "play a big role in season two." Series creator DAN FOGELMAN said, "I'd love to get to a Steelers game to film. We've developed a relationship with the Steelers. We're in the early stages of talks" (POST-GAZETTE.com, 8/3)....Publisher Little, Brown & Company has "acquired" CASEY SHERMAN and DAVE WEDGE's book about Patriots QB TOM BRADY and the team's most recent Super Bowl win. The book, "12: TOM BRADY, DEFLATEGATE, AND THE SEASON OF REDEMPTION," is also slated to be a movie (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/4)....PBS' "AMERICAN MASTERS" series announced a new documentary about late Baseball HOFer TED WILLIAMS, co-produced with MLB, ALBERT TAPPER, former MLBer DAVID ORTIZ' Big Papi Productions and Nick David Productions. The film is slated to premiere next summer on PBS in honor of Williams' centennial. This is the first time the series has profiled a baseball player (MLB).
TAKING OFF: USA TODAY’s Brant James profiles JTG Daugherty co-Owner JODI GESCHICKTER, who is the “only female owner” in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. In “assuming a myriad of roles that typical owners delegate,” the former flight attendant is “utterly singular in helping facilitate the daily operation of a race team devised in a Little League field, birthed in a dirt-floor chicken house and 23 years later fielding two full-time Cup teams.” Geschickter “handles staffing, health insurance, benefits, security, facilities, credentials, sponsors, truck driver coordination and marketing.” She “ferries sponsors to the credential building to sign in guests, picking up the occasional stranger who thinks shuttling fans is her normal job” (USA TODAY, 8/4).
NAMES: AL.com released its “top 25 most influential people in Alabama sports” list, and among those listed are Alabama AD GREG BYRNE (No. 15), Auburn AD JAY JACOBS (No. 13), former SEC Commissioner MIKE SLIVE (No. 10), DR. JAMES ANDREWS (No. 5), SEC Commissioner GREG SANKEY (No. 2) and Alabama football coach NICK SABAN (No. 1) (AL.com, 8/3)....The Hawks are honoring their team photographer of the past 40 seasons, SCOTT CUNNINGHAM, with a two-week retrospective of his work at the Westside Cultural Arts Center in Atlanta, which began Thursday and runs until Aug. 14 (Hawks)....Esurance and Giants C BUSTER POSEY have developed “Quotes for a Cure,” an initiative that aims to raise awareness for pediatric cancer research and treatment (Esurance).
IN MEMORY: HARRY SCOTT JR., who owned NASCAR teams in the Cup, Xfinity and K&N Pro Series East, died Wednesday. He was 51. Scott entered NASCAR as a sponsor in ‘08. In ‘11, he “became an owner in Turner Motorsports’ Xfinity team.” In ‘13, he became co-Owner with STEVE TURNER of the rebranded Turner Scott Motorsports team (NBCSPORTS.com, 8/3).
