MLB.com's Gilbert & Emerick noted D-Backs 1B PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT announced yesterday that he "will finance and help grant three full tuition scholarships for fans" to the Univ. of Phoenix. Any Arizona resident pursuing a bachelor's or master's degree "can apply for a scholarship" online before July 1 as part of the Teaming Up For Education Program. From there, a committee, including Goldschmidt, will "narrow the maximum 150 qualified applicants down to three." Once chosen, Goldschmidt will "present the winners with their scholarships at a future D-backs game." Goldschmidt last season "earned a bachelor's of science degree in management thanks to the flexibility of online classes" (MLB.com, 3/26).
ON-FIELD FASHION: In London, Luke Leitch noted Nike CEO MARK PARKER runs a business that employs more than 30,000 people, but when he first started at the company in '79 it "was as a designer of running shoes, a job he still maintains as part of his portfolio today." The fashionability of Nike -- "equal to its sporting credentials -- is what makes it such a success." When asked at a Nike show in Barcelona earlier this month about the aesthetics of Nike shoes, Parker said, "When athletes look at themselves in the mirror and are ready to compete, it is like an actor going out on stage. They want to look and feel like they are ready to do what they do. ... That psychological element is incredibly important." Parker said that his own "desert island Nike shoe would be 'the one I'm wearing right here, called the Roshe: immensely comfortable, very simple, clean design. I would wear black'" (London TELEGRAPH, 3/26).
NAMES: Nine-year-old MADDIE SANTOSUOSSO of Topsfield, Mass., as part of a Make-A-Wish Foundation event yesterday spent time with Bruins G TUUKKA RASK at team practice, "taking shots from the forwards and getting some pointers on her butterfly" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/27)....Bruins LW SHAWN THORNTON hosted his annual Cuts for a Cause shave-athon yesterday, where 21 players from the team went bald “and raised more than $118,000 for charity” (BOSTON HERALD, 3/27)….The Bobcats last night honored U.S. Marine CARL JOSHUA MORGAN during a ceremony after he received a Purple Heart while on duty. As part of the ceremony, Wells Fargo presented him “with a key to a brand-new house in Huntersville, N.C." (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 3/26)....New Hampshire Motor Speedway Exec VP & GM JERRY GAPPENS yesterday shared “key ideas and observations from his 25 years in the motorsports industry” during his “Racing for Success” presentation at Rivier Univ.’s President’s Circle (New Hampshire UNION-LEADER, 3/27)….NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver MATT KENSETH and his wife, KATIE, on Tuesday welcomed their third daughter, CLARA MAE (Joe Gibbs Racing).
