In Detroit, John Gallagher writes while downtown Detroit "has had many business patrons over the years ... none has burst onto the scene so quickly or dramatically" as Cavaliers Owner and Quicken Loans Founder & Chair DAN GILBERT. Gallagher: "Business leaders have always played key roles in rebuilding downtown Detroit. ... Gilbert has emerged as their successor." By "turns visionary, fun-loving and, at times, hot-tempered, Gilbert envisions a downtown teeming with new retail and high-tech entrepreneurs." Downtown Detroit Partnership President & CEO DAVE BLASZKIEWICZ: "His entrepreneurial spirit is driving a lot of excitement and a lot of physical change down here" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/30).
QUEEN MOTHER OF NASCAR: In Daytona Beach, Godwin Kelly notes the NASCAR Foundation BOD has introduced the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award, which "will be presented at the NASCAR Las Vegas champions' celebration in November." The award is named after the widow of late NASCAR Chair BILL FRANCE JR., BETTY JANE FRANCE, who has "spent much of her life as a children's advocate," said of her late husband, "I miss him on a daily basis. I miss his decision making. Sometimes, I think to myself: 'What would Bill do in this situation? How would he handle this?' I learned so much from him." France is the mother of NASCAR Chair & CEO BRIAN FRANCE and ISC Vice Chair & CEO LESA FRANCE KENNEDY, and she said the two are "very competitive, as a lot of siblings are." Betty Jane France: "They are both doing a fantastic job, especially Lesa in a man's world" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 6/30).
ALL-STAR GAME PROTEST: In Phoenix, Daniel Gonzalez reports immigrant-rights group Puente, which is "opposed to Senate Bill 1070, Arizona's year-old immigration law, is calling for a boycott" of the July 12 MLB All-Star Game at Chase Field. The group is "writing letters to several Major League players who initially criticized the law, asking them not to play in the game." Puente member ANAYANSE GARZA said that the group also "plans to protest outside Chase Field before the game" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/30).
FASHION FORWARDS: In a style section piece for the N.Y. TIMES, Alex Williams writes players from "across the NBA have raised their fashion game." Players selected in last week's NBA Draft "strode triumphantly onstage in handsomely tailored suits that flattered their superhuman, ectomorph frames." Cavaliers draftee and No. 1 overall pick KYRIE IRVING said, "I wanted to be dressed with the best, and what better way to do that than be outfitted by Giorgio Armani?" Williams notes "in contrast to bygone years, the handful of players who pushed the style envelope" at the draft "did so in understated ways" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/30).
NAMES: The WNBA Storm yesterday "joined President BARACK OBAMA in a Rose Garden ceremony to congratulate the team on its 2010 championship season." The team afterward "shared some basketball pointers with children from the Washington metro area in a FIT Clinic, part of a league-wide initiative encouraging kids to be active and eat well" (THENEWSTRIBUNE.com, 6/29)....The City of Concord, N.C., yesterday said that it will "pay $2.8 million to settle a lawsuit" by SMI. The money "will come out of Concord's general fund over three fiscal years." The agreement ends a "long-running dispute over development incentives." SMI Chair & CEO BRUTON SMITH "had threatened to move Charlotte Motor Speedway unless Concord dropped its objections to his plans for building an adjacent drag strip" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 6/30)....NYRA’s top six execs received a total of $2.25M in earnings for ’10, with pay increases “ranging from 2.4 percent to a whopping 7.7 percent.” The leading earner was NYRA President & CEO CHARLES HAYWARD, who received a 3.2% salary increase that added “$15,000 to his pay, bringing the total to $475,000” (Albany TIMES UNION, 6/29)....Sources said Hollywood has “expressed significant interest in turning" JIM MILLER and TOM SHALES' book, "THOSE GUYS HAVE ALL THE FUN: INSIDE THE WORLD OF ESPN," into a "blockbuster movie" (DEADSPIN.com, 6/29)....RISO, Inc. yesterday announced it has teamed with the Foundation To Be Named Later to provide 14 college scholarships to young adults in honor of MLB Network and NESN analyst PETER GAMMONS (THE DAILY)....Colts Owner JIM IRSAY and wife MEG have a new granddaughter, DYLAN MARGARET GORDON, born Tuesday to parents CARLIE IRSAY-GORDON and ZACH GORDON. Dylan is the Irsays’ third grandchild (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 6/30).
