Western New York will "see billboards of gratitude over the next five days" from Bengals QB ANDY DALTON after Bills fans donated to his charity this week following him delivering their first playoff berth since '99. "Thank You Buffalo & Good Luck!" is the message from the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation that will be "seen on five digital billboards along area highways." As of 5:00pm ET yesterday, more than 11,000 donors have "contributed more than $255,792" to the foundation. A spokesperson for the foundation "declined to disclose the cost of the billboards" (BUFFALO NEWS, 1/4).
THE FINAL CALL: A Univ. of Arizona official yesterday said that AD DAVE HEEKE made the decision to fire football coach RICH RODRIGUEZ "regardless of the outcome of the university’s investigation" into his workplace behavior. UA waited until after the investigation had been completed last Thursday to "determine whether Rodriguez could be fired for cause -- in which case the university wouldn’t have had to pay Rodriguez’s buyout" of $6.28M. The UA official said that Heeke’s decision was "based on several factors," including "on-field performance; poor attendance at Arizona Stadium; Rodriguez’s off-field behavior, including in postgame news conferences; and the necessity of the internal investigation" (ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 1/4).
TOUGH SITUATION: Two of CRAIG SAGER's children took to social media this week and said that there have been "problems since their father died" in December '16. Sager apparently left CRAIG SAGER II and his sisters "out of his will." Sager’s son tweeted on Tuesday: "Nothing like getting served, pestered by Sherrifs & taken to court over a Will that myself and my sisters are not only 100% excluded from but do not even have any interest in contesting in the first place. Thanks Dad" (K.C. STAR, 1/4).
DONE DEAL: Bucks co-Owner WES EDENS “closed the previously announced sale of the firm he co-founded,” Fortress Investment Group, for $3.3B in cash to Japan’s SoftBank Group. Edens’ “total proceeds for selling his stock” was about $512M. He received $11.4M since February ’17 through “bonus dividends related to the deal” and received another $1.4M in unvested shares (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/3).
COURT REPORT: Wheelchair-bound Cubs fan DAVID CERDA is “alleging in a lawsuit that Wrigley Field renovations have eliminated or excluded some handicap-accessible seating” at the ballpark. Cerda in his lawsuit said that the $750M renovation project “removed wheelchair-accessible sections in the right-field bleachers.” The lawsuit also said that the team “pushed the accessible seats behind home plate back several rows, making it impossible to see the ‘whole field of play’ when spectators in front of him were standing” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/1).
NAMES: The PGA Tour yesterday launched “January for Jarrod,” a fundraising effort to help golfer
JARROD LYLE and his family in “paying the costs they face after he underwent a third bone marrow transplant for acute myeloid leukemia last month.” Lyle has battled leukemia three times, and is “currently a member of the Web.com Tour, where he has won twice” (
GOLFWEEK.com, 1/3)....Steelers WR
JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER has been recording his “daily adventures on JuJuTV, his YouTube channel.” In a series called “JuJu Smith-Schuster Gets a Job,” he “moonlights a Fudge Farm" on the South Side of Pittsburgh. Another clip features him at sandwich chain Primanti Bros. “behind the counter” (
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 1/4)....Former NBAers
SHAWN MARION and
CEDRIC CEBALLOS “were one of 11 teams to compete in the 30th season” of CBS’ “
THE AMAZING RACE” (
MIAMI HERALD, 1/4). IndyCar drivers
ALEX ROSSI and
CONOR DALY were also contestants in CBS’ race around the world (
THE DAILY).
IN MEMORY: The life of Hockey HOFer JOHNNY BOWER was celebrated yesterday at the Air Canada Centre by “his family, contemporaries and one-time NHL rivals.” The event drew “a couple thousand fans to the ACC, along with a long list of hockey greats” and NHL Commissioner GARY BETTMAN (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/4). NHL Deputy Commissioner BILL DALY and Maple Leafs GM LOU LAMORIELLO were also in attendance. There “hasn’t been another player” in the NHL’s 101 years who “was more beloved” than Bower (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/4).
