The Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago on Saturday “was nearly full” for late Baseball HOFer ERNIE BANKS’ memorial service. Among the attendees were Baseball HOFers HANK AARON, REGGIE JACKSON, LOU BROCK and ANDRE DAWSON, Cubs 1B ANTHONY RIZZO, Cubs broadcaster LEN KASPER, Blackhawks President & CEO JOHN MCDONOUGH, White Sox Exec VP KEN WILLIAMS, Cubs President of Baseball Operations THEO EPSTEIN and MLB Chief Baseball Officer JOE TORRE (MLB.com, 1/31). A number of speakers "reminded the crowd" that Banks was "always what he appeared to be: happy-go-lucky with an ever positive attitude about life and the Cubs." Other attendees included Rev. JESSE JACKSON, Cubs Chair TOM RICKETTS and Chicago Mayor RAHM EMANUEL (ESPNCHICAGO.com, 1/31).
ACADEMICS FIRST: A “revised contract” between Ohio State and AD GENE SMITH “gives fewer bonuses and shifts the focus of remaining bonuses to academic, not athletic success.” Smith “will receive a base salary of $959,263 a year under the new contract, the same amount” as last year. But his new deal “will eliminate bonuses for national and conference championships in several sports.” Smith “still will be eligible for bonuses tied to post-season success in football, basketball and baseball, but he won’t receive bonuses in other sports such as wrestling and soccer” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 1/31).
NOT SO FUNDAMENTAL: A source said that Spurs F TIM DUNCAN lost more than $20M to “bad investments at the center of a lawsuit filed Friday against his ex-financial adviser,” CHARLES BANKS. The source said that losses from ’05 and ’13 “were discovered during a review of Duncan’s finances as part of his divorce.” Duncan in his suit in Texas state court claims that he was “pushed into investments despite conflicts of interest that ultimately caused him ‘substantial losses.’” He alleges that Banks “hid his own interest in investment opportunities that he recommended to Duncan” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/30).
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Frankel (l) and Seiferheld take the top spots in
SBD/SBJ's Super Bowl Pick'em |
AND THE WINNERS ARE...: MSG Senior VP/Business Solutions EVAN FRANKEL and Turnkey Intelligence Senior VP/Consumer Research STEVE SEIFERHELD were the co-winners of the SBD/SBJ Super Bowl Pick 'em. Frankel correctly prognosticated everything except the winning ad, selecting Bud Light instead of Budweiser. Seiferheld correctly picked all the fields except the final score, shorting the Patriots by a point.
NAMES: California state Rep. LORENA GONZALEZ “has authorized a bill offering more workers’ protections” to pro cheerleaders. The bill “follows allegations of labor violations by cheerleaders” associated with NFL teams. Gonzalez said that the bill also “addresses the issue of gender equity” (SACBEE.com, 1/30)....The family of Hockey HOFer STAN MIKITA announced that he is “suffering from dementia” (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 1/30)....ResponsibleOhio, a group “trying to legalize marijuana” in the state, announced that Basketball HOFer OSCAR ROBERTSON is a “backer of their campaign” (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2/1)....Cardinals WR LARRY FITZGERALD was voted by NFLers as the “first winner of the Art Rooney Award, which was established this year to reward one player for his sportsmanship” (ESPN.com, 2/1)....Ft. Worth-based Prime Prep Academy, the charter school co-founded by Pro Football HOFer DEION SANDERS, “finally collapsed Friday afternoon under the weight of financial mismanagement.” A Texas state board determined that the school was “too deep in debt to continue operating” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/31)....Richard Childress Racing has “settled its lawsuit with former engineer MATT MCCALL. RCR said terms of the settlement would "remain confidential" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 1/31)....The Indianapolis Business Journal named Colts Vice Chair & Owner CARLIE IRSAY-GORDON to its ’15 “Forty Under 40” class (IBJ.com, 1/31)....Lightning Owner JEFF VINIK has “sold his funky 19,306-square-foot mansion in Massachusetts” for $10.3M, which was $6.4M “below the asking price when it first hit the market a year and a half ago” (TAMPABAY.com, 1/30)....Cardinals CB PATRICK PETERSON “bought a 7,405-square-foot home with pool” in Scottsdale for $2.692M (AZCENTRAL.com, 1/31).
