The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Gordon Marino profiled Ravens S TOM ZBIKOWSKI, who during the NFL lockout "finds himself pursuing an improbably romantic dream: to become the best boxer who ever played professional football." Top Rank Chair BOB ARUM, Zbikowski's promoter, said that he "has great potential drawing power -- and the physical tools to become a world champion." Arum said that the "only downside is that when he returns to football, 'it could be a long time before his next fight.'" Marino noted the Ravens "have no problem" with Zbikowski's boxing. Ravens Owner STEVE BISCIOTTI "once walked him to the ring and has said he would do it now if it were not for the lockout" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/19).
PAY SPIKE: A regulatory filing by Dick's Sporting Goods revealed that Chair & CEO EDWARD STACK "saw his base salary rise from $700,000 in 2009 to $780,769 during fiscal 2010." Stack also collected a $3.12M bonus, $3.2M in stock and options and $414,263 "in pension and other compensation." His total compensation for FY '10 of $7.53M is up from $7.41M in '09 (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4/21).
JAPAN RELIEF: Golfer MORGAN PRESSEL will play in the May 5-8 LPGA of Japan Tour World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup, and she "will give half of whatever she makes to the American Red Cross toward relief efforts for tsunami and earthquake victims" in Japan (AP, 4/20)....Former U.S. bobsledder BROCK KREITZBURG today is leaving for Japan, where he "plans to spend three months working on recovery efforts" (AP, 4/20)....Qatar is "set to host an all-star international soccer match in December to raise money for the victims of the recent earthquake in Japan." The game, the "brainchild" of former Brazil D CAFU, "will feature a joint team from Brazil and Germany -- who competed in the 2002 Japan World Cup Final -- against a team of international star players" (ARABIANBUSINESS.com, 4/19).
HONORS & RECOGNITIONS: Lightning GM STEVE YZERMAN, Canucks GM MIKE GILLIS and Predators GM DAVID POILE are finalists for this year's NHL GM of the Year Award (REUTERS, 4/20)....USA Hockey Exec Dir DAVE OGREAN has been selected for induction into the Colorado Sports HOF. Ogrean, who joined USA Hockey as its Dir of PR in '78, will be formally enshrined on Oct. 25 at the Colorado Springs World Arena (USA Hockey)....SportsOneSource Group announced its annual 40 Under 40 Awards winners. Among the honorees are Modell's Sporting Goods Senior VP/Marketing JED BERGER; NCAA Dir of Corporate Alliances PETER DAVIS; Reebok Senior Licensing Manager CARIE MCAULIFFE; Cobra-Puma Golf President ROBERT PHILION; CNBC's DARREN ROVELL; PGA Merchandise Show Group Sales Dir MARC SIMON; and adidas AG Global Apparel's CRAIG VANDEROEF (SportsOneSource).
NAMES: A judge yesterday "dismissed a Republican attempt to throw" former U.S. Olympian CARL LEWIS "off the ballot" for the New Jersey state Senate. Republicans had charged Lewis "did not meet the state Constitution's four-year residency requirement because he recently lived in California and voted there as recently as 2009" (Bergen RECORD, 4/21)....A No. 5 jersey that Baseball HOFer HANK AARON wore during his rookie season in '54 -- which was "resewed the next year with his more familiar No. 44 -- is up for auction in Texas this week and expected to fetch an estimated $200,000." The consignor is New Jersey ophthalmologist RICHARD ANGRIST, "who has been selling off some of his high-end collection as he concentrates on acquiring Yankees items for exhibit in the museum at Yankee Stadium" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/20)....Skateboarder TONY HAWK, volleyball player MISTY MAY-TREANOR and swimmer NATALIE COUGHLIN will each serve as a guest co-host of Nickelodeon's game show "BRAIN SURGE" during its premiere week next week (Nickelodeon).
