In San Jose, Mike Rosenberg reports the Santa Clara City Council yesterday "promised to lease a chunk of city-owned land to JOE MONTANA for a luxury hotel project." The council voted 5-1 to "enter exclusive negotiations" with Montana, who "sought to build a major commercial project across from" the 49ers' proposed stadium in the city. Montana and his business group, which includes former 49ers Owner EDDIE DEBARTOLO, "will have at least 18 months to negotiate a lease with city officials." They "want to have the project ready when the stadium opens in 2015" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/13).
NOT UP TO STANDARDS: The AP's Karmini & Wright report workers making Converse sneakers in Indonesia said that supervisors "throw shoes at them, slap them in the face and call them dogs and pigs." Converse Owner Nike "admits that such abuse has occurred among the contractors that make its hip high-tops but claims there was little it could do to stop it." The company, "which came under heavy criticism a decade ago for its use of foreign sweatshops and child labor, has taken steps since then to improve conditions at its 1,000 overseas factories." But the "progress it has made at factories producing gear with its premier 'swoosh' logo is not fully reflected in those making Converse products." An initial report released by Nike indicated that "nearly two-thirds of 168 factories making Converse products worldwide fail to meet Nike's own standards for contract manufacturers" (AP, 7/13).
SMART SPENDING: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Lee Hawkins profiled BERNARD HOPKINS and noted the boxer "manages his own career ... in a sport where top-earning athletes can find themselves in financial crises, and sometimes bankrupt." Hopkins is an "outspoken advocate for athletes taking as much control over their careers as possible, and for spending conservatively." Hopkins: "I'm a government municipal bonds, tax-free bonds guy. It's not a big 15 or 8 or 9 percent return, but at the end of the day it's safe money" (WSJ.com, 7/12).
CHARITY STRIPE: The 11th annual ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic raised $1.05M in net proceeds for The V Foundation for Cancer Research. The event took place yesterday at the Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms in Industry Hills, Calif. (ESPN)....The McCormick Foundation and MLB have donated $1.1M to support the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program to expand access to care for veterans with traumatic brain injury or combat stress and support services for their families (Red Sox).
NAMES: Late Baseball HOFer ROBERTO CLEMENTE's family is "urging fans to keep pushing to retire his No. 21 across baseball, but they warned against doing so through perhaps the most prominent website dedicated to the cause, www.retire21.org." ROBERTO CLEMENTE JR. said of the site, "I'm really, really upset with them. Let's just leave it at that. The family is not behind this" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 7/13)....WTA Chair & CEO STACEY ALLASTER will be inducted into the Rogers Cup HOF this summer. Allaster served as Rogers Cup Tournament Dir from '02-05 (WTA)....The NBA is "celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Basketball Without Borders program, the first that won't involve active players because of the lockout." Camps will be held in Slovenia, Johannesburg, South Africa and Rio de Janeiro, and the league is "relying on retired players" for the camps (AP, 7/12)....Red Wings GM KEN HOLLAND "became a United States citizen" yesterday in Detroit. Holland said that the "entire process of gaining citizenship took about 8-10 years" (DETROIT NEWS, 7/13)....LANCE ALLRED, the NBA's "first legally deaf player," yesterday released his second book, "BASKETBALL GODS: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENLIGHTENED JOCK" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/12)....Pro Football HOFer MICHAEL IRVIN appears on the cover of this month's Out magazine, in a profile about his "unwavering support for gay rights" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 7/12).
