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George Steinbrenner Expected To Attend April
16 Home Opener At New Yankee Stadium |
On Long Island, Steven Marcus cited a source as saying that Yankees Chair
GEORGE STEINBRENNER is expected to be at the new Yankee Stadium for the April 16 game against the Indians, the first regular-season game in the ballpark. Steinbrenner has not attended a game in N.Y. since the MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium last July, and now is "essentially confined to a wheel chair." The source said, "He can't walk, he has two football knees. He can barely stand." Steinbrenner is not expected to make a public appearance at the game, and the source said, "I don't think he's willing to pose in a wheelchair" (
NEWSDAY.com, 3/26).
KOBE STAKE: MARIA JIMENEZ, the former housekeeper for Lakers G KOBE BRYANT and his wife, VANESSA, is suing the couple, claiming Vanessa "badgered, harassesed and humiliated" her. Jimenez, who worked at the house six days a week, is seeking money for wrongful termination and is "asking for damages for emotional distress, unpaid wages, and invasion of privacy and breach of contract" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 3/25).
SILVER SCREEN: In a special to the WALL STREET JOURNAL, Jeff Pearlman noted "SUGAR," a documentary about a "small-town Dominican Republic pitcher looking to escape his county for the riches of American professional baseball," earned "strong reviews" at the Sundance Film Festival in January '08. In the film, which opens nationwide April 4, the title character's "rise and fall are portrayed with jarring realism" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/27)....Bergen Record reporter MIKE GARTLAND and filmmaker ROB WEISS have created "YANKEELAND: IN THE SHADOW OF THE STADIUM," which is an independently produced documentary that "introduces us to a handful of locals who bid farewell to the old Yankee Stadium and said hello" to the new ballpark. A trailer for the movie is available at shadowofthestadium.com (Bergen RECORD, 3/27).
NAMES: Cavaliers Owner DAN GILBERT Saturday night at a Bar Mitzvah in Detroit got into a fight with former Rock Financial Senior VP DAVID HALL, who was let go from the Gilbert-owned company last year (MLIVE.com, 3/24)....Syracuse Univ. this spring will host its 10th annual "Basket Ball" fundraiser to raise money for cancer charities. The school has raised $2.8M total from the previous nine events, and Syracuse coach JIM BOEHEIM has helped raise $4.5M for the central New York chapter of the American Cancer Society since the mid-'90s (N.Y. TIMES, 3/27)....The Denver Press Club will give its annual Damon Runyon Award to ESPN's RICK REILLY at a banquet on April 17 at the Marriott Denver City Center (DENVER POST, 3/27)....Former NBAer JAMES DONALDSON Wednesday kicked off his campaign for Seattle Mayor (SEATTLE TIMES, 3/27)....IOC member Dr. ROBERT HINDMARCH Thursday was inducted into the Canadian Olympic HOF (CTVOLYMPICS.ca, 3/26).
BEST WISHES: Longtime FSN ad sales exec STEVE HILL currently is in a Dallas hospital with a serious kidney ailment. Hill has been a fixture in the Dallas sports advertising community for more than 20 years, and has been with FSN Southwest since its November '96 launch. FSN Senior VP/Ad Sales CRAIG SLOAN: "We're all pulling for Steve. He's a great friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family" (John Ourand, THE DAILY).
