In N.Y., Emily Smith reports Yankees 3B ALEX RODRIGUEZ is "about to seal a multimillion dollar deal for a tell-all book about his legal battle with MLB, with which he plans to lift the lid on the 'full dirt of Major League Baseball’s tactics' he claims have been used against him." Sources said that HarperCollins and Random House are "two of the top publishers battling for the real A-Rod story, and that a deal could be signed in the next few weeks." Rodriguez also has recently "had several meetings with filmmaker BILLY CORBEN ... about making a documentary about his battle to stay on the field" (N.Y. POST, 12/17).
TIME TO PAY: New Jersey Superior Court judge DEANNE WILSON yesterday ruled that Vikings Owner the WILF family must pay more than the $15.1M a "court-appointed attorney recommended to cover attorneys’ fees and other costs incurred by two business partners who successfully sued them over revenues from an apartment complex in Montville." The report said that the Wilfs "should pay" $8.9M to ADA REICHMANN of Toronto and $6.2M to her brother, JOSEF HALPERN of Brooklyn (NJ.com, 12/16).
RETURN TO SENDER: The Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee said that it "would return $10,000" to Comcast-Spectacor Chair ED SNIDER because he "filled out a reporting form indicating he was not a state contractor." Connecticut Democrats spokesperson JAMES HALLINAN said of why the group initially accepted the donation, "The Connecticut Democratic Party relies on the information provided directly by donors." While Snider is "free to contribute to the state Democratic committee's separate federal account, which is governed by the Federal Elections Commission, his subsidiary company, Global-Spectrum, is on a list of contractors prohibited from giving to the party's state war chest" (CONNECTICUT POST, 12/11).
CHARITY STRIPE: D-Backs President & CEO DERRICK HALL is "on a mission to stop hunger" in Arizona, as he has agreed to co-chair the Valley of the Sun United Way's Ending Hunger Advisory Council. Hall: "The numbers are staggering. In Maricopa County, there are 82,000 households battling chronic hunger. They don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I don’t think most people realize how serious the problem is in our community" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 12/17)....Panthers QB CAM NEWTON yesterday shopped with approximately 20 elementary school children in the Charlotte area as part of his "Shop With a Jock" holiday charity event at Dick's Sporting Goods. Each student "was presented with a t-shirt, UnderArmour backpack, a pair of Beats by Dre headphones, and later, a $150 shopping spree inside Dick's" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 12/16)....Rays manager JOE MADDON and other team employees yesterday visited the Salvation Army's Sallie House "to cook dinner and hand out presents to foster children" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 12/17).
JET LIFE: ONE World Sports President & CEO SANDY BROWN pens today's edition of the N.Y. Times' Frequent Flier feature. Brown flies for business "about four times a month, mostly domestic." He said of which destination is his favorite, "Outside of the USA, I would have to say Hong Kong and Sydney. There's a level of energy in both places that is incredibly dynamic" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/17).
NAMES: Boxer VITALI KLITSCHKO "vacated his WBC world heavyweight title on Monday" in order to run for the office of Ukraine President in '15 (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 12/16)....FIFA President SEPP BLATTER went "to court in his native Switzerland to ban the publication of a book of cartoons" by Danish cartoonist and former soccer player OLE ANDERSEN, as the book features a "Blatter lookalike" (London INDEPENDENT, 12/17)....Sacred Heart Univ. AD BOBBY VALENTINE will own a new restaurant at the Bradley Teletheater in Connecticut as part of a $4M expansion of the facility (COURANT.com, 12/16)....An auction yesterday of Basketball HOFer MICHAEL JORDAN’s 56,000-square-foot mansion in Highland Park, Ill., “failed to draw a bid that met the reserve price, prompting officials to shelve the undertaking until next year” (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 12/16)….Golfer PAULA CREAMER is engaged to Air Force pilot DEREK HEATH (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 12/16)….Browns coach ROB CHUDZINSKI’s wife SHEILA gave birth to a baby boy yesterday morning (OHIO.com, 12/16)....Red Sox DH DAVID ORTIZ held his annual celebrity golf tournament over the weekend at the Sanctuary Cap Cana Resort and Punta Espada Golf Course in the Dominican Republic. The event “raised over $350,000 for the David Ortiz Children’s Fund in partnership with the World Pediatric Project and Massachusetts General Hospital for Children” (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/17). Meanwhile, Ortiz and his wife TIFFANY have "called off" their divorce (BOSTON HERALD, 12/17).
