The WALL STREET JOURNAL examined the 122 franchises in the four major North American pro leagues and found that “more owners graduated from Harvard's business or law school (seven) than any other institution.” The group includes Patriots Owner ROBERT KRAFT and Bucks Owner HERB KOHL. But while Harvard remains the most popular school overall for team owners, none of them “went there as an undergraduate student.” In that regard, “Georgetown is No. 1,” with five owners earning their undergraduate degrees there, including embattled Dodgers Owner FRANK MCCOURT and Wizards and Capitals Owner TED LEONSIS (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/13).
| SCHOOL | # | NOTABLE ALUM |
| Harvard | 7 | Patriots' Robert Kraft |
| Georgetown | 6 | Wizards/Capitals' Ted Leonsis |
| Columbia | 4 | Marlins' Jeffrey Loria |
| Michigan | 4 | Mets' Fred Wilpon |
| UCLA | 4 | Padres' Jeff Moorad |
| Arizona | 3 | Angels' Arte Moreno |
| Dartmouth | 3 | Bengals' Mike Brown |
| NYU | 3 | Rockets' Leslie Alexander |
| Penn | 3 | Phillies' David Montgomery |
| Wayne State | 3 | Cavaliers' Dan Gilbert |
| Yale | 3 | Lions' William Clay Ford |
| | | |
PAR FOR THE COURSE: In San Diego, Tod Leonard profiled outgoing PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open Tournament Dir
TOM WILSON. After 20 years of serving as Exec Dir of the Century Club and the Tournament Dir of the Farmers, Wilson is "retiring at the end of the upcoming tournament week, Jan. 23-29." He is being succeeded by
PETER RIPA. In Wilson’s first year in '93, there were “10 skyboxes and he had to fill all but two of them with Century Club members to make it look like they were doing good business.” Next year, there “will be 50 boxes.” In ’93, the tournament’s total purse “was $1 million and the winner earned $180,000,” compared to this January’s event having a purse of $6M, with a first prize of $1,080,000” (
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/12).
MUSIC TO MY EARS: Colts Owner JIM IRSAY’s personal artifacts will be “put on public display” for an exhibit at the Indiana State Museum in late January. The collection includes “some of Irsay's guitars, once owned and played by the likes of ELVIS PRESLEY, GEORGE HARRISON and JERRY GARCIA.” There are also “documents from Presidents THOMAS JEFFERSON and ABRAHAM LINCOLN,” as well as JACK KEROUAC’s manuscript for “ON THE ROAD” (FOX59.com, 12/12).
AWARDS & RECOGNITION: Brewers announcer BOB UECKER will be inducted into the NAB Broadcasting HOF during the NAB Show Radio Luncheon on April 17. Uecker was inducted into the Radio HOF in ’01 and was honored with the National Baseball HOF’s Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence in ’03 (NAB)….Former Bristol Motor Speedway President & GM JEFF BYRD will be inducted posthumously into the Tennessee Sports HOF on May 19 in Nashville (SCENEDAILY.com, 12/12). …Broadcasting & Cable named UFC President DANA WHITE its ’11 Sports TV Exec Of The Year (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 12/12 issue).
COURT REPORT: Missouri Attorney General CHRIS KOSTER yesterday filed suit against DUSTIN ASHBY and his company, Gridiron Fantasy Sports, for “failing to pay consumers thousands of dollars in prizes they had been promised.” Koster said that Gridiron Fantasy Sports “have not paid at least $151,261 in promised prize money” (STLTODAY.com, 12/12)….The federal trial of former Fiesta Bowl COO NATALIE WISNESKI has been postponed from Jan. 3 to Feb. 7 so her attorneys will have more time to prepare (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 12/13).
NAMES: A Lakers spokesperson yesterday confirmed that team Owner JERRY BUSS has been “released from the hospital.” Buss last week was “admitted because of blood clots in his legs caused by excessive travel” (ESPNLA.com, 12/12)….Topps named the MLB Giants its Organization of the Year, the second win for the team in the past three years. The award highlights the franchise that has shown outstanding performance, depth and talent throughout their Major and Minor league teams (Topps)….Manitoba Public Insurance has issued 20,000 commemorative NHL Jets plates (WINNIPEG SUN, 12/13)….Red Sox Owner JOHN HENRY’s wife, LINDA PIZZUTI HENRY, and club front-office execs donated more than 200 gifts to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families in South Weymouth as part of the team’s “100 Acts of Kindness” initiative (BOSTON HERALD, 12/13)….Browns WR JOSH CRIBBS was joined by 15 of his teammates for his second annual “Shop with a Jock” day at Walmart. Kids were treated to a $100 shopping spree sponsored by Walmart and to food and drinks donated by Subway restaurants (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 12/13)….Rays manager JOE MADDON for the sixth year has personally bankrolled and carried out his annual “Thanksmas” event, during which he had already served about 4,000 people with clothing and shoes. The Thanksmas crew heads to Salvation Army locations in Bradenton and Tampa today and tomorrow (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 12/13)….The January issue of Maxim includes a feature on the Bruins titled, “Leave The Puck, Take The Cannoli.” Bruins LW MILAN LUCIC and D DENNIS SEIDENBERG "got behind the counter at Mike’s Pastry in the North End one day last fall and rang up $424" for customers, and later "treated a bunch of peeps to a $400 Boston Duck Tours trip" (BOSTON HERALD, 12/13).
