Pamela Wheeler "has been replaced" as WNBPA Dir of Operations, with NBPA Exec Dir Michele Roberts named interim Exec Dir of the women's union. The WNBPA also is seeking a new Dir of Operations to "run the organization on a day-to-day basis." An advisory committee led by former WNBPA VP Ruth Riley "will make recommendations to the union about marketing, labor and employment issues, community outreach, player and career development and health." The committee "has engaged Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe as an adviser" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 12/4).

MLB today will announce a "major overhaul of its executive unit," and Bob Starkey will be named the league's CFO. MLB Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred said that Starkey "figures to be a key player in helping negotiate how players and owners split the financial pie." Starkey "has worked with the Twins and consulted with MLB for over 20 years," having participated on the league's "finance, revenue sharing, labor policy and Executive Council Committees" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 12/4).

EPL club Liverpool today will announce that it is "finally ready to start construction of the long-awaited redevelopment" of its Anfield stadium. The US$118M upgrade of the Main Stand "will start now and be complete in time for the start" of the '16-17 season. The venue's capacity "will increase to 53,500, although of the 8,500 new seats, less than half will be for general admission." A "second phase development for the Anfield Road End would add a further 4,800 general admission seats, but there is no timescale on when that will proceed" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 12/4).

Arbiter Harold Henderson today is scheduled to hear testimony from NFL Exec VP/Football Operations Troy Vincent in Vikings RB Adrian Peterson's appeal proceedings, but he "encouraged the NFL and the NFLPA to negotiate a settlement" regarding the suspension. A source said that "there have been no offers exchanged yet." An NFLPA source said, "In our view, the league would have to show a level of reason and humility to present a settlement offer that would be acceptable. Thus far, they have displayed neither" (ESPN.com, 12/3).

The Rutgers athletic department yesterday announced the establishment of a 25-member Fan Advisory Board, marking a "grassroots effort to connect with its fan base on a wide range of issues and initiatives." Rutgers officials said that the group's goal is to "create a dialogue between fans and the athletics department regarding their game-day experiences." The board "will hold four meetings a year that won't be open to the general public." Assistant AD Andrew Robinson said that "there won't be any hand-picked fans or donors" (NJ.com, 12/3).

Meanwhile, Illinois is creating a "fan council" with the aim of "receiving feedback and boosting ticket sales." Members of the Illini Fan Council "must be season-ticket holders in at least one sport and participate in four meetings annually." The members will run for one-year terms from February '15-December '16 (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 12/3).

Up-and-coming drivers Kyle Larson and Sage Karam yesterday during the closing session of the '14 NASCAR Motorsports Marketing Forum in Las Vegas shared some thoughts on how they are using Twitter, Instagram and other social media to grow their brands. Karam, who is competing in the Verizon IndyCar Series for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, said, "I found in my experiences that fans and people that don't know you, they want to see behind-the-scenes stuff and they love visual stuff. If you just put a tweet out saying, 'At the track,' you might get a few favorites or retweets. But then if you show them a photo at the track in your garage with your engineers, it gets so much more interest."

Larson, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor also with Ganassi, added, "Drivers interact with other drivers (on social media) a lot in a good way and they'll get into each other on the racetrack. ... That gets fans really involved."

See more in today's issue of THE DAILY.

The Packers today "will announce grants to 223 organizations" during their annual luncheon in the Lambeau Field Atrium. The team last year awarded $750,000 to 188 civic and charitable groups in Wisconsin (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 12/4).

Ellen DeGeneres and Bengals DT Devon Still have teamed up with eBay Giving Works and their ’14 Holiday Charity Shop to “auction off a signed jersey with 100 percent of the proceeds benefitting The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.” The jersey has been signed by guests that have appeared on DeGeneres’ show over the last several weeks (CINCINNATI.com, 12/3).

The Univ. of Florida is “without a new football coach for the time being, but does have a new website" for Colorado State coach Jim McElwain. A search shows that the domain www.coachjimmcelwain.com was reserved yesterday “by the same registrar and DNS" that registered www.coachwillmuschamp.com in ’10 (Ft. Collins COLORADOAN, 12/4).

Tempur-Pedic North America has agreed to become the official sleep provider of the U.S. Ski Team, U.S. Freeskiing and U.S. Snowboarding. The deal with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association runs through '16 (Tempur-Pedic).

“I want the fans to know I appreciate their support, and I know in these economic times money comes dearly and they have other options. But I am committed to getting this right for them, and sooner rather than later” – Titans President & CEO Tommy Smith, on his team currently being 2-10 (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 12/4).

“When you look at where this is going, the small programs are going to struggle more and more because people are driven by the big programs” – Former Alabama football coach Bill Curry, on UAB being the first Division I program since ’95 to drop its football program (CHATTANOOGA TIMES FREE PRESS, 12/4).

“It is always our goal to represent the university with class in every endeavor, and the behavior of our fans is an important element in that effort” – Alabama AD Bill Battle, on the playing of “Dixieland Delight” over the PA system after fans interjected profane chants between lyrics at Saturday’s game against Auburn (TUSCALOOSA NEWS, 12/4).

"I got a lot of positive feedback. Any time you talk about the hypocrisy of the league, players are going to agree with you. Everyone wanted me to say something about (Commissioner Roger) Goodell. But it’s like … what don’t you say about Goodell” – Seahawks CB Richard Sherman, on calling the NFL “hypocritical” last week during a press conference (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 12/4).

Last night’s 2:00am ET editions of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and FS1’s “Fox Sports Live” both led with the 76ers defeating the T’Wolves for their first win of the season, improving their record to 1-17. Both telecasts were basketball heavy, leading with several NBA and college hoops highlights. Both nets for their first non-basketball report focused on the Browns announcing QB Brian Hoyer would start this Sunday, with ESPN airing it ten minutes into their broadcast and FS1 covering the topic at the 30-minute mark.

ESPN’s Keith Olbermann called out his “world’s worst” persons in sports: An “unidentified cricket bat thief in Australia” who stole a bat left outside in tribute to a cricketer who recently died after being hit in the head. Olbermann also blasted the NHL’s All-Star voting marketing campaign as Sabres C Zemgus Girgensons is the leading vote-getter, and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly for “his viewpoint on the five Rams’ players” and their “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” pose.

My thanks to all who came to "Wheels Up" at Fenway last night for a SCRIBE signing and chat. I really enjoyed it. Great food, too.

— Bob Ryan (@GlobeBobRyan) December 4, 2014

Shout-out to anyone else still up, fueled by weak hotel coffee while finishing a deadline feature at a Courtyard Marriott!

— Chris Ballard (@SI_ChrisBallard) December 4, 2014

Bless you, Lauren Hill. You have been deeply loved and will be long remembered. You helped children and parents who know pediatric cancers

— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) December 4, 2014

Dear @Orioles the key to success is to keep your nucleus and not allow everyone to slip away. Thank you.

— George Diaz (@georgediaz) December 4, 2014

The Wild will take part in an announcement of sustainability achievements at Xcel Energy Center and Saint Paul RiverCentre. Team Owner Craig Leipold and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will be in attendance.

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “U.S. Geography.”

“This city of 650,000 people is the most populous U.S. city not found in a U.S. state.”

“What is Washington DC?”