Sacramento Mayor KEVIN JOHNSON "deleted text messages, including some related to the city’s arena deal, after city officials received a legal letter advising them that they were required to preserve all electronic communications related to the deal." On Day 6 of a trial that "seeks to invalidate the city’s agreement to subsidize an arena," Johnson told the court that he "sent texts infrequently at the time and that very few of those he deleted involved arena discussions." He described what he erased as "chit chat, but nothing relevant" to the case (SACRAMENTO BEE, 7/1).
PROTECTIVE SHELL: Maryland football coach RANDY EDSALL "has agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension" through the '19 season. He will "receive a $71,000 raise in each of the final two years of the six-year contract he signed after taking over" at the school in '11. The extension will be worth $7.5M beginning in January '17, though UMd "would owe Edsall only $500,000 should his contract be terminated" between January '17 and January '18, and "nothing after that." Edsall currently is under contract for roughly $2.1M annually, which "will balloon" to $2.5M after the '16 season (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 6/30).
WHAT'S UP, CHUCK? NBC News Political Dir and “MEET THE PRESS” moderator CHUCK TODD "has been a politics junkie almost as long as he’s been a sports junkie" and recently answered some of the "more pressing sports questions." He said of the most athletic politician, "Both OBAMA and BUSH are pretty athletic in different ways. Obama is a serious hoops player, but I’d go with [U.S. Sen.] MARCO RUBIO. He’s got some serious foot speed." He said of an athlete he could see venturing into politics, "PEYTON MANNING has that politician side to him. He always says the right thing and never throws his teammates off the bus. And he’s so careful about his own politics that you don’t know what he is" (USATODAY.com, 6/30). Todd was one of the founding members of THE DAILY.
SUPER TROOPERS: PGA of America President DEREK SPRAGUE, who hails from Malone, N.Y., on Sunday had an "unnerving moment" when he "received a call from his teenaged daughter." Sprague: "My daughter calls me and says, ‘Dad, there are six state troopers here to check the house out and to secure it because they’re not sure where he is -- on the move, or whatever.'" The “he” Sprague’s daughter alluded to "was escaped convict DAVID SWEAT, who had been on the run for 23 days after breaking out of a maximum security prison about 30-40 miles from Malone" (PGA.com, 6/29).
GONE FISHIN': Baseball HOFer WADE BOGGS is "selling the boat" that then-Rays Owner VINCE NAIMOLI "gave him for getting his 3,000th hit with the team." The $50,000 custom 19-foot Ranger bass fishing boat "has a facsimile of his signature and '3000' and the old Devil Rays logo on it." It is "carpeted in Rays blue and silver" and "has not been used since Boggs received it" in August '99 (ESPN.com, 6/30).
NAMES: Under Amour Senior VP/Communications & Entertainment DIANE PELKEY comes in at No. 13 on PR Week’s “Power 50” list (PRWEEK.com, 6/30)....The ECHL named Ft. Wayne Komets Dir of Communications CHUCK BAILEY the recipient of its ’14-15 Award of Excellence for Media Relations (ECHL)....ESPN’s JOHN KRUK has joined with the DAVISSON BROTHERS BAND to record a special track, titled “RIGHT HERE ON ESPN,” for the “SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL” broadcast on July 4 weekend. Kruk and the band have also created customized renditions for each game (ESPN)....Lakers investor PATRICK SOON-SHIONG said that he “plans to offer shares in his healthcare company to the public by the end of this year -- fueled by a big investment from an electronic medical records firm.” Allscripts Healthcare Solutions disclosed yesterday that it would pay $200M for a “10% stake in Soon-Shiong’s NantHealth firm,” valuing it at $2B (L.A. TIMES, 6/30)....Former NFLer RANDAL HILL will “announce plans to run for U.S. Congress in District 24 in Miami” (MIAMIHERALD.com, 6/30)....Union Chair & Majority Owner JAY SUGARMAN is featured as a “Who’s Who” in The Hamptons. The MLS team owner is “known for hosting epic events” at his “Sawyer Berson-designed Southampton estate, including last year’s God’s Love We Deliver Midsummer Night Drinks” (N.Y. OBSERVER, 6/29 issue).
