Browns Owner JIMMY HASLAM was "not charged with any wrongdoing in a fraud scheme at his family's truck stop chain, Pilot Flying J," but he has "loomed large in the federal trial" of former execs and sales reps. With the trial moving into its second month, scrutiny of Haslam's role at Pilot is "only likely to intensify as the prosecutors look to wrap up their case and the defense phase gets underway" (AP, 12/3).
NAMES: The N.Y. TIMES reviewed a new biography of MUHAMMAD ALI, "ALI: A LIFE." It is a "richly researched, sympathetic yet unsparing portrait" of Ali. If anything in the book is "likely to be controversial it may be the biographer’s acknowledgment of the dark side of boxing, which public celebrations of Ali discreetly ignore." The same way Ali's life was an "epic of a life" this book is an "epic of a biography." Even those familiar with Ali "may be glimpsed from a new perspective" in author JONATHAN EIG's prose (N.Y. TIMES, 12/3)....Lagardere Sports announced that TIM MICKELSON and STEVE LOY "will represent" golfer JON RAHM with a pair of associates, JEFF KOSKI and JAMIE EVANS, "handling daily affairs." Mickelson had been "serving as caddie and agent" for his brother PHIL since July after he and longtime caddie JIM MACKAY "decided to go their separate ways" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 12/1)....Quail Hollow Club President JOHNNY HARRIS last week was honored by the Charlotte Chamber with the group’s Citizen of the Carolinas award, the organization’s “highest honor” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/30)....Univ. of North Carolina alums STEVE and DEBBIE VETTER have given the school a $10M leadership gift to support UNC student-athletes. The gift is part of a $40M commitment from the Vetters to the school (UNC).
