Names In The News
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White Filming Pilot For
SpikeTV Show In Boston |
In Boston, Shanahan & Rhone report UFC President DANA WHITE yesterday filmed part of the two-hour SpikeTV pilot he is filming, tentatively titled "WAR OF '04," which is "inspired by Boston's Irish mob." The show is about a "WHITEY BULGER-esque mob boss and the explosive battle that erupts when he abruptly disappears." This is White's first foray into TV, and he said that the pilot, which he "hopes to parlay into a series, is unapologetically pitched to men between the ages" of 18-34, and it has "all the elements: violence, sex, and loads of bad language" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/3).
JIMMIE BEING JIMMIE: NASCAR Sprint Cup champion JIMMIE JOHNSON appeared on ESPN’s “Jim Rome Is Burning” yesterday and addressed his personality and his lack of controversy. Johnson: “There’s been a lot of people focused on it and it’s been interesting. I don’t understand in today’s world that if you’re doing your job, have a great marriage, support your sponsors and treat people with respect and class why that’s a problem. In today’s world everybody wants someone in a fight.” He added, “The last thing I want to do, and the worst thing I could ever do, is to be concerned about being a bigger personality that what I am” (“Jim Rome Is Burning,” ESPN, 12/2).
NAMES: Vikings Owner ZYGI WILF yesterday stopped by the new Heritage Sports Center in Duluth, Minnesota, a youth sports facility for which the Vikings and the NFL donated $200,000 (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 12/3)....Baseball HOFer TOMMY LASORDA yesterday received the "Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette medal for his contributions to Japanese baseball" (MLB.com, 12/3)....The Univ. of Massachusetts (UMass) Sport Management program has hired Sport Management Resources President DONNA LOPIANO to teach its College Athletics course for the '09 Spring semester (UMass)....Clippers G BARON DAVIS has signed on as a co-Owner of the Conga Room, a Latin nightclub and restaurant at L.A. Live (Conga Room).
IN MEMORY: Former NFL Cardinals and Arizona State Univ. athletics play-by-play announcer TOM DILLON died Monday at the age of 65. Dillon announced Cardinals games for 12 seasons until '01, and was voted Arizona Sportscaster of the year on 17 different occasions (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 12/3).
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