Names In The News
In Orlando, David Whitley profiled former NFLer and former Disney VP/Sports Attractions REGGIE WILLIAMS’ fight to save his right leg while battling an infection. Williams, who is at the Hospital for Special Surgery in N.Y., has had “six surgical procedures in two months.” The goal is to “kill the bacteria and get his knee healthy enough for another artificial [knee] replacement” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 6/22)….Broadcaster PAT SUMMERALL was “resting comfortably” Friday morning in a Dallas-area hospital after “undergoing emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding” (DALLASNEWS.com, 6/20).
BORN IN THE USA: The N.Y. TIMES’ Bill Carter profiled USA Network President BONNIE HAMMER and writes when NBC acquired Universal in ’04, Hammer met with NBC Universal President & CEO JEFF ZUCKER and said that she would make “two major moves.” First, she would “reacquire WWE wrestling programming, which had been an important part of USA before it lost the franchise in 2000.” And second, she said, “I would give it a brand” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/22).
NO LOVE: Paramount Pictures’ “The Love Guru,” which was filmed with support from the NHL, was "pummeled by critics" and earned $14M at the national box office in its opening weekend, "almost $10[M] below some projections." Warner Bros.' "Get Smart," which also opened this weekend, finished first with $39.1M, followed by Paramount's "Kung Fu Panda" with $21.7M and Universal's "The Incredible Hulk" with $21.6M (USA TODAY, 6/23).
CHARITY STRIPE: Cavaliers F LeBron James Saturday gave away 400 bicycles to kids, $150,000 to Akron-area community groups and led about 2,000 riders in his third annual King for Kids Bikeathon (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 6/22)….IRL drivers and Target Ganassi Racing teammates DAN WHELDON and SCOTT DIXON prior to Sunday's race at Iowa Speedway "committed all of their winnings to the America Red Cross" to the flood recovery effort. Wheldon won the Iowa Corn Indy 250 and Dixon finished fourth, raising $60,000. IRL matched the total (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 6/23)....Chargers Owner ALEX SPANOS made a $25,000 contribution to the Red Cross to support relief efforts for the Quail Lakes fire in California (RECORDNET.com, 6/21).
NAMES: The media center at Nationals Park yesterday was dedicated to late Washington Post columnist SHIRLEY POVICH (WASHINGTON POST, 6/22)....T’Wolves limited partner BILL POPP recently won a humanitarian award at a celebrity goodwill fundraiser at the Xcel Energy Center (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 6/22)....Marlins President David Samson confirmed that JOSEPH SCHERER -- a Marlins season-ticket holder since ’93 -- is the owner of Reds RF KEN GRIFFEY JR.’s 600th home run ball. Samson “tried to broker a deal for Scherer to give the ball to Griffey, but none was reached.” Scherer is “still deciding what to do with the ball” (MIAMI HERALD, 6/23)….CBS Sports’ JIM NANTZ was profiled on CNBC’s “High Net Worth.” CNBC’s TYLER MATHISEN said Nantz’s new book, “ALWAYS BY MY SIDE,” is “a good read” (“High Net Worth,” CNBC, 6/20)….Pete Sampras Saturday appeared on NBC’s “Today” to promote his new book, “A CHAMPION'S MIND.” Sampras played a game of tennis with NBC’s AMY ROBACH (“Today,” NBC, 6/21).
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