The Santa Rosa PRESS DEMOCRAT's Phil Barber profiled former NFLer ANTHONY "SPICE" ADAMS, who has become a "legend" in one "goofy corner of the internet" via his YouTube videos. When Adams retired in '13, he "marked the occasion by releasing a parody retirement video in which, duped by his agent, he makes the announcement in a nearly empty White Castle restaurant." That video has over 1.2 million views on YouTube. At first, Adams got his wife, ANDENIKA, to do "most of the filming," but he now "handles most of it himself." He has "roughly 812,000 followers on Facebook, 522,000 on Instagram and 97,000 on Twitter, as well as 77,000 YouTube subscribers." Adams "doesn’t stick to sports for his clowning," as he has "capped on baggage handlers, clubbers and guys using hair dye" (Santa Rosa PRESS DEMOCRAT, 9/16).
METHOD TO THE MADNESS: Harvard Business School professor JOHN WELLS conducted two case studies on Patriots coach BILL BELICHICK that are now "used in a second-year course called Strategic IQ, 'organized around pairs of companies in similar industries where both are doing well, then one suddenly fails while the other maintains its success.'" The studies look at why Belichick was "so ineffectual with the Browns" and "so great with the Pats." Wells "advances several reasons." One was that Patriots Owner ROBERT KRAFT "proved to be a much more football-savvy team owner" than the Browns' ART MODELL. Belichick also "figured out how to exploit the NFL’s salary cap, introduced in 1993, better than almost anyone" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/17).
GOOD EATS: DWYANE WADE and Heat F UDONIS HASLEM will open a new restaurant, 800 Degrees Woodfired Kitchen, outside Miami on Thursday via their Forty-Three joint venture. Wade: "We always talked about it and it was like, 'Yo, let's put our teams together and let's go out and find kind of the best situation for both of us.'" Wade said Haslem is "more of an expert in this field, so I laid a lot on him in this process," but added they "wanted to make sure that everything was 50-50." The restaurant concept, "founded by chef ANTHONY CARRON, features pizza, rotisserie meats, salads and sides." The "variety and concept appealed to Wade." He said, "We're definitely looking to continue to expand. This is not like a one-off for us. We'll continue to try to build a brand" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 9/15).
NAMES: NBC's TONY DUNGY spoke to to the Univ. of Minnesota football team before their 26-3 win over Miami (Ohio) at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday. Dungy, a UM alum, was "awarded a game ball afterward" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 9/16)....Basketball HOFer TRACY MCGRADY and former NBAer CHRIS BOSH played in the Super Penguin Ultimate Game in Shanghai on Saturday. The Oriental Sports Center arena was "electric to say the least as 15,000 fans packed the arena to watch their favorite celebs battle with NBA stars and local professionals" (CHINADAILY.com, 9/17)....Steelers RB JAMES CONNER wore special cleats yesterday during pregame warmups to honor late rapper MAC MILLER (POST-GAZETTE.com, 9/16)....ALEX OVECHKIN was the “honorary captain for the day” at the Redskins' home opener yesterday. He “donned an Ovechkin No. 8 jersey,” and the team gave him and his wife gear for their son SERGEI (NBCSPORTS.com, 9/16)....Bucks play-by-play announcer JIM PASCHKE received the NBA’s Todd Harris Spirit Award, which recognizes an NBA broadcaster or exec who is the ultimate team player and inspires people to make every day brighter (Bucks)....LADY GAGA, LEBRON JAMES, GEORGE LOPEZ, CHARLES BARKLEY, DENZEL WASHINGTON, CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER, WILL SMITH, SCOTTIE PIPPEN, DAVE CHAPPELLE, CHUCK LIDDELL, DALE EARNHARDT JR. and MIKE TYSON were among the celebs in attendance at T-Mobile Arena for the CANELO ALVAREZ-GENNADY GOLOVKIN fight on Saturday (REVIEWJOURNAL.com, 9/16)....The WALL STREET JOURNAL featured surfers MAYA GABEIRA, LEONARDO FIORAVANTI and KOA SMITH in a piece detailing their “essential gear” and “top spots for catching waves” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/14).
IN MEMORY: Flames co-Owner CLAYTON RIDDELL died Saturday at 81 “following a short illness.” He joined the team in ’03. His death leaves ALVIN LIBIN, MURRAY EDWARDS, JEFFREY MCCAIG and ALLAN MARKIN as “surviving owners of the club.” Riddell is the “second owner of the team to die this year.” In June, former investor SONIA SCURFIELD died at 89 (CALGARY HERALD, 9/17).
