In Ottawa, James Gordon reported the NHLPA is “asking a judge to dismiss a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by the family" of late NHLer DEREK BOOGAARD. The lawsuit, which “accuses the players’ union of failing to pursue a potential financial claim with the league following Boogaard’s death” in May ‘11, seeks the $4.8M that was “still outstanding on his last contract” with the Rangers and a further $5M in punitive damages. The lawsuit “targets the union,” not NHL teams, “alleging the PA breached its duty of fair representation by not filing a grievance with the league over the unpaid money remaining on Boogaard’s contract before the window for such a move closed.” None of the allegations have been “proven in court, and on Monday the PA filed its response and proposed motion to dismiss” (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 12/4).
MORE COURT REPORTS: Former NFLer and assistant coach CORWIN BROWN, who suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a police standoff in ’11, has “sued the league over concussions sustained during his eight-year playing career.” The 73-page lawsuit was “filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 12/4)....Former MLBer LENNY DYKSTRA was “sentenced to 6 1/2 months in prison in Los Angeles on Monday for hiding memorabilia from his playing days that were supposed to be part of his bankruptcy filing” (LATIMES.com, 12/4).
AWARDS & RECOGNITION: Philadelphia Sports Writers Association President RON CORBIN of KYW-AM announced Flyers Chair ED SNIDER has been named the first winner of the Ed Snider Lifetime Distinguished Humanitarian Award. The award will be given at the PSWA’s 109th annual Sports Awards Dinner on Jan. 28 in Cherry Hill, N.J. (PSWA)....Univ. of Alabama AD MAL MOORE was presented with the ’12 John L. Toner Award at the 55th Annual National Football Foundation Awards Dinner in N.Y. The award is given annually to an AD who has “demonstrated superior administrative abilities and shown outstanding dedication to college athletics and particularly college football” (AL.com, 12/4)….The North Carolina Motorsports Association will honor racing promoter H.A. “HUMPY” WHEELER with its Achievement in Motorsports Tribute Award at the seventh annual N.C. Motorsports Industry Awards Ceremony on Jan. 28 in Concord, N.C. (THATSRACIN.com, 12/4)….NASCAR/IndyCar team owner ROGER PENSKE, a “driving force behind Detroit’s resurgence,” will be awarded a Brown Bomber Jacket on June 22. The award, in honor of Detroit boxing legend JOE LOUIS, is given annually to individuals who have made contributions to Detroit and its citizens (DETROIT NEWS, 12/4).
CHARITY STRIPE: The Jimmie Johnson Foundation yesterday awarded “nearly $600,000 in grants -- including four grants to schools in the Charlotte area" -- as part of the Champions Grant Program. The foundation awards the grants to schools in NASCAR driver JIMMIE JOHNSON and wife CHANDRA’s respective hometowns of El Cajon, Calif. and Muskogee, Okla., as well as Charlotte, where they currently live. This brings the contributions of the program “to more than $2.6 million” (THATSRACIN.com, 12/4).
NAMES: Former U.S. Olympic speed skater GUY THIBAULT will take over as coach of the national short-track team, replacing JAE SU CHUN, who “resigned in October amid a skate-tampering scandal and allegations of abuse.” Thibault will begin his job Dec. 13, but “won’t actually begin coaching until after the upcoming U.S. Short-Track Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns from Dec. 20-22” (SLTRIB.com, 12/4)....Olympic Gold Medal-winning gymnast GABBY DOUGLAS appeared on ABC’s “GMA” live in-studio yesterday to promote her new memoir, “GRACE, GOLD & GLORY.” Douglas said after her book tour, she will “get back into the gym, get back in the swing of things and just gain more." Douglas: "I want to go to more World Championships and I think it would be very cool if I attended two Olympic Games” (“GMA,” ABC, 12/4)....Restaurant French 75 owners said that Ducks RW TEEMU SELANNE is “opening a restaurant in Laguna Beach.” The operators of the “last remaining French 75 said they accepted a buyout from an investment firm with ties to Selanne.” Teemu Tavern & Grill is expected to open in April as “an upscale steak house” (OCREGISTER.com, 12/4)….ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick on his Twitter feed reported Rays P FERNANDO RODNEY has “left ACES and hired DAN LOZANO” as his agent (TWITTER.com, 12/4)….NHL Kings LW DUSTIN PENNER used his “comic skills and got an internship with CONAN O’BRIEN.” Penner’s skit as an “intern” appeared on O’Brien’s show Monday night (LATIMES.com, 12/4)….Tennis HOFer BILLIE JEAN KING attended the Women’s Fund of Central Indiana’s The Power of Women’s Philanthropy event on Monday (INDYSTAR.com, 12/4)….Redskins QB ROBERT GRIFFIN III attended the Heat-Wizards game yesterday and was seated with his fiancee “in the seats usually occupied by” Wizards Owner TED LEONSIS, “just to the right of the Wizards bench” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 12/4).
IN MEMORY: JEFF MILLAR, who wrote the "Tank McNamara" comic strip, died Friday in Houston at the age of 70 "after a four-year battle with biliary cancer.” Millar and illustrator BILL HINDS “developed a strip based on the life and times of the fictional football-player-turned-broadcaster in 1974.” The strip “soon developed a national following,” and today runs in “more than 300 American newspapers” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/1).
