TABLET MAGAZINE's Steve Friess profiles former WSOP Commissioner JEFFREY POLLACK, whose "latest gig is as CEO of Epic Poker, which he founded along with" professional poker player ANNIE DUKE. Pollack, who also founded SportsBusiness Daily, believes that the new league "will transform the game and make it as prominent and respected as tennis or golf." Friess wrote it is "impossible to dismiss Pollack's plans out of hand -- the man has already repeatedly had a role in transforming unusual corners of the American sports scene." FunnyOrDie.com Founder DICK GLOVER said, "He's very, very well-suited for emerging kinds of things that need the strategic vision" (TABLETMAG.com, 8/25).
YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS: NFL Giants Chair & Exec VP STEVE TISCH will make a cameo in Sunday's episode of "ENTOURAGE" on HBO. Filmed wearing a jersey of former Giants DE MICHAEL STRAHAN, Tisch "does have one line in a scene in which he is shown playing poker" (NEWSDAY.com, 8/25)....The Oct. 4 episode of NBC's "THE BIGGEST LOSER" will feature several NFL players, including Saints QB DREW BREES and Broncos QB TIM TEBOW (EW.com, 8/25)....NBC is "getting in the ring with a put pilot commitment to a drama about the 1980s professional wrestling boom that is executive produced" by JERRY BRUCKHEIMER and former wrestler DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON (DEADLINE.com, 8/23).
WHERE THE STREET HAS NO NAME: Comcast SportsNet Chicago’s “Chicago Tribune Live” Thursday night discussed how Park Ridge, Ill., Mayor DAVE SCHMIDT decided to remove the sign for “Jim Hendry Way” in the town. Schmidt in an e-mail of said of former Cubs GM JIM HENDRY, “If he had brought us a World Series, I would have built a monument to him at the intersection. But alas, all he brought us was ALFONSO SORIANO and CARLOS ZAMBRANO.” Comcast SportsNet Chicago’s David Kaplan did not hold back his thoughts, saying, “Mayor Dave Schmidt threw a little salt in the wound, acting very low-class. ... This mayor is ridiculous" (“Chicago Tribune Live,” Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8/25).
NAMES: The USPS Thursday revealed that Baseball HOFer WILLIE STARGELL will be one of four former baseball players to appear on a new set of stamps issued next summer. Stargell joins Baseball HOFers JOE DIMAGGIO and LARRY DOBY, while the "fourth is a player to be named later" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/26)....T'Wolves F KEVIN LOVE on Thursday lost in the opening match of Manhattan Beach Open volleyball tournament (LATIMES.com, 8/25)....Basketball inventor JAMES NAISMITH is one of 20 "notable Kansans" selected as part of the state's 150th anniversary (K.C. STAR, 8/26)....Grizzlies Owner MICHAEL HEISLEY will be inducted into The Peabody Memphis Duck Walk HOF on Sept. 1 as part of the hotel's 142nd anniversary (Grizzlies)....Patriots coach BILL BELICHICK brought his players to a showing of "THE FIGHTER" on Wednesday night alongside former boxer MICKY WARD, the "man the movie was based on" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 8/26).
