Georgetown Univ. on Thursday held its dedication of the JOHN THOMPSON Intercollegiate Athletic Center. The HOF coach "cut the ribbon, marking the official opening of the 144,000 square foot structure that cost roughly" $62M. Among the notables at the event included former GU players ALONZO MOURNING and ALLEN IVERSON. All the members of this season’s basketball team attended, as did NBA agent DAVID FALK and former NFL Commissioner PAUL TAGLIABUE (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 10/6).
BRIDGE SUPPORT: K.C. officials have "renamed the Broadway Bridge to honor" late Negro League player BUCK O'NEIL. The sign "was installed on the bridge Thursday afternoon" (K.C. STAR, 10/7)....Massachusetts Gov. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday "signed into law" a spending bill that "includes the provision designating the span over the Massachusetts Turnpike" near Fenway Park the DAVID ORTIZ ‘‘Big Papi’’ Bridge (AP, 10/6).
NAMES: PRESIDENT OBAMA on Thursday "welcomed the Penguins to the White House for a Stanley Cup celebration." The entire event "carried with it a humorous tone" as Obama "opened with a joke" about RW PHIL KESSEL. Obama made note of the eight Stanley Cup winners he has "feted being American-based teams, something he said he’s brought up to Canadian Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 10/7)....Red Wings Dir of Pro Scouting MARK HOWE and ECHL co-Founder PAT KELLY "have been named recipients" of the '16 Lester Patrick Trophy "for outstanding service to hockey" in the U.S. (DETROIT NEWS, 10/7)....MICHAEL JORDAN "will introduce" Thunder G RUSSELL WESTBROOK when he is inducted into the Oklahoma HOF on Nov. 17 (AP, 10/6)....Golfer BUBBA WATSON is “now in the car business” as a partner with Pensacola-based auto dealer SANDY SANSING. The Milton, Fla., Chevrolet dealership Sansing owns was renamed as Sandy and Bubba’s Milton Chevrolet (PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL, 10/7)....Browns RB ISAIAH CROWELL “kept a promise to donate his first paycheck to the Dallas Fallen Officer Foundation.” Crowell “sent a check for $35,300 -- one-seventheenth of his $600,000 base salary” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 10/7)....CFL Montreal Alouettes Owner ROBERT WETENHALL has “put his money behind Veri, a yet-to-be-released app that lets users pay for one-to-one online interactions with almost anyone they consider famous enough to interact with.” The app is billed as the “Uber for Internet celebrities” (FINANCIAL POST, 10/7).
IN MEMORY: GEORGE PERNICANO, one of the five original Chargers minority owners, died Thursday at his home in El Cajon, Calif., at the age of 98. Pernicano's “initial stake in the franchise was for $50,000.” He “attended almost every Chargers game over a span of four decades, earning him the nickname Road Warrior.” The Chargers in ‘96 inducted him into their HOF (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/7). In San Diego, Nick Canepa writes there was “no one of this earth more full of life, who enjoyed every single moment of it, who was more generous, more fun without strain,” than Pernicano (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/7).
