In L.A., Joe Flint profiles new NBC Sports Group Chair MARK LAZARUS, who is "not as high profile or outgoing" as DICK EBERSOL but is "no stranger to big deals." Lazarus formerly served as Turner Entertainment Group President, and in that he role he "landed contacts" with the NBA, MLB and NASCAR. NBA Commissioner DAVID STERN described Lazarus as "tough." Stern: "He's a very good negotiator. We haven't always agreed on every point, but he is a man of his word and has great integrity." Braves Chair & CEO TERRY MCGUIRK, who previously served as Turner Broadcasting CEO, added, "Mark is a guy who doesn't have a huge ego. As you get higher and higher in the entertainment business, this is rarer and rarer. " Flint writes that "lack of ego has proven to be an asset in negotiations." Former Turner Broadcasting Chair & CEO JAMIE KELLNER: "He's not going to get sucked into doing a bad deal" (L.A. TIMES, 6/3).
DREAM INVESTMENT: In Atlanta, Michelle Hiskey profiles WNBA Atlanta Dream investor KELLY LOEFFLER, who "bought an ownership stake in the Dream to honor her sport, adopted hometown and the girls in the stands." Loeffler "learned to take stock, and leverage it, while growing up on a central Illinois farm and going for an MBA." She "learned how to 'manage the downside,' as she puts it, when she joined an energy start-up in Atlanta -- and ended up married to her boss." After she "successfully traded on her assets to achieve her goals, Loeffler's tolerance for risk grew." Banker PETE KESERIC said, "Wherever she went, she blew people's socks off" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 6/3).
FANNING THE FLAMES: L.A. Fire Department Assistant Chief DARYL ARBUTHNOTT said that Dodger Stadium personnel "may have contributed to the rekindling of a storage room fire this week by failing to remove flammable materials and by turning on a fan that reignited the flames." Arbuthnott said that Dodgers management "had accepted responsibility for removing paper products from the reserve-level storage room after the facility caught fire Saturday" during the Marlins-Dodgers game. The room "caught fire again early Monday morning" (L.A. TIMES, 6/3).
SOMETIMES YOU CAN'T MAKE IT ON YOUR OWN: In L.A., Houston Mitchell noted Oilers C GILBERT BRULE and his girlfriend picked up BONO and his assistant in Vancouver Tuesday after they "got caught in the rain." Brule and his girlfriend "stopped to pick up the two hitchhikers, then realized who they were." Bono thanked them by offering "backstage passes for the U2 concert Wednesday night at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium." The couple "sold their tickets" to Wednesday's Bruins-Canucks Stanly Cup Final Game One, "took a flight back to Edmonton and went to the show with Brule's mom" (LATIMES.com, 6/2).
NEW INDUCTEES: The Hockey HOF Thursday announced that Edmonton Sun columnist TERRY JONES "will receive the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for hockey journalism and will be inducted this fall." Jones will be joined by Red Wings TV analyst MICKEY REDMOND, "who will be presented the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster" (EDMONTON SUN, 6/3).
NAMES: Bills players and New Era Cap Co. "will combine to make a donation of at least $10,000 to the American Red Cross to support relief efforts in Joplin, Mo., which was ravaged by tornadoes late last month." New Era also will "provide 10,000 pieces of clothing to residents in the Joplin area" (BUFFALONEWS.com, 6/2)...."BUSTER," a movie about BUSTER DOUGLAS' "upset of MIKE TYSON in 1990 for the world heavyweight boxing championship, is expected to start shooting in the fall." Douglas' former manager JOHN JOHNSON, who is "part of a development group that has been laying the groundwork for the film for nearly two years," said that the group "hopes to have screenwriter ANGELO PIZZO under contract next week" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 6/3)....ESPN Senior VP/Marketing CAROL KRUSE, Univ. of Oregon football coach CHIP KELLY and Nike VP/Global Brand & Category Management TREVOR EDWARDS were among those to make Fast Company's list of the 100 most creative people in business (FAST COMPANY, 6/ '11 issue)....Saints RB REGGIE BUSH spent time this week in Danville, Ill., while Danville resident REGGIE BUSH spent time "living the offseason life of an NFL running back," as "part of a planned CBS reality-TV show, 'SAME NAME.'" The Saints RB said that the show "will air in July" (AP, 6/2).
