Supreme Court nominee BRETT KAVANAUGH "incurred tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying baseball tickets over the past decade." Kavanaugh "built up the debt by buying" Nationals season tickets and tickets for playoff games for "himself and a 'handful' of friends." Payments for the tickets were made at the end of '16 and "paid off early the next year" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 7/11).
NAME GAME: The Chandler (Ariz.) Police Department originally claimed that NFL Cardinals GM STEVE KEIM "misidentified himself" as the team's Dir of Security when he was pulled over on suspicion of DUI on July 4. However, police "walked back that assertion after viewing footage from the officer's body-worn camera." A Chandler police statement said, "After reviewing the BWC (body-worn camera) footage, Mr. Keim stated that a person by the name of (SHAWN KINSEY) was their director of security and that he worked for the Arizona Cardinals" (AZCENTRAL.com, 7/11).
GRIDIRON NEWS: Cowboys RB EZEKIEL ELLIOTT is "not just the headlining attraction" of the '18 National Fantasy Football Convention, he is also a "part owner of this ultimate football fan showcase." CBS' TONY ROMO "remains a part owner, along with Elliott," NFFC CEO ANDY ALBERTH and business partner MARK HULME. Alberth said that Elliott "saw the vision of the event and wanted to be part of it as an owner," starting with an NFFC camp with several other Cowboy players in Mexico in April (STAR-TELEGRAM.com, 7/11)....Texans DE J.J. WATT "donated $10,000 to a GoFundMe page" created for CORY BARR, a fire captain in Wisconsin who was killed in an explosion Tuesday (JSONLINE.com, 7/11)....Bills RB LESEAN MCCOY has "hired a high-powered Atlanta defense attorney" after being accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Attorney DONALD SAMUEL of Garland, Samuel & Loeb is "representing McCoy." Samuel has "represented several NFL players, including RAY LEWIS" in his '00 murder trial (BUFFALONEWS.com, 7/11).
Josh Harris (L) with Univ. of Pennsylvania wrestling coach Roger Reina ALEX SUBER
NAMES: Penn announced that it has received a $1M gift from the Harris Family Charitable Foundation to support the wrestling program. The foundation was founded by former Penn wrestler and Devils/76ers Majority Owner JOSH HARRIS, and the gift will be distributed over five years (Penn)....Duke Deputy AD NINA KING has been named to the D-I Women's Basketball Committee for a three-year term (Duke)....Former Missouri AD MIKE ALDEN "served as a consultant" for Univ. of Missouri-K.C. athletics in recent months (KANSASCITY.com, 7/11)....Wizards G JOHN WALL, Redskins CB JOSH NORMAN and actor JAMIE FOXX are among those “scheduled to appear in Sunday’s Legends & Celebrity Softball Game at Nationals Park” as part of MLB All-Star Game festivities (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 7/11)....Lakers GM ROB PELINKA said that LEBRON JAMES was "actually carrying a copy" of the book "THE ALCHEMIST" by PAULO COELHO with him throughout the playoffs. Pelinka: "Ironically before I took the job to be the general manager of the Lakers, KOBE (BRYANT) had given me this book and said, 'Hey, you are going to go on an interesting journey there, why don't you read it'" (LATIMES.com, 7/11)....TONY HAWK has “signed on as executive producer and script technical adviser” on the comedy “BACK TO THE GRIND,” from Branded Pictures Entertainment. The film tells the story of “five middle-aged men who reunite the skate team from their youth to save their beloved park from being taken over by a team of obnoxious young skaters” (VARIETY.com, 7/11)....DAVID BECKHAM arrived at The Wharf in Miami for yesterday’s Croatia-England FIFA World Cup semifinal as “awed guests snapped pictures" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 7/11).
