Smith returned to his position at Ohio State on Monday after a 17-day suspensionGENE SMITH
Sources said that investigators looking into Ohio State's handling of abuse allegations against a longtime football assistant "did not seek to extract deleted text messages from the phone" of AD GENE SMITH, who "handed over a device that contained no texts." The sources said that Smith's explanation was that he "routinely deletes all texts after sending or receiving them." But sources said that such a practice "may violate both Ohio open records law and the school’s records-retention policy." Smith "returned from a 17-day suspension on Monday" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/20).
BEHIND ENEMY LINES: Sources said that N.Y. Mayor BILL DE BLASIO "met secretly with Red Sox brass for a 90-minute lunch" yesterday at the downtown offices of Goldman Sachs. De Blasio, a "lifelong Red Sox fan," met with President of Baseball Operations DAVE DOMBROWSKI, manager ALEX CORA and fans of the team who "work at the investment bank." De Blasio's Press Secretary ERIC PHILLIPS said, "The focus was the Red Sox Foundation and how New York fans of the Sox could help their important causes" (N.Y. POST, 9/20).
THE GOOD STUFF: Three NBAers who grew up in North Carolina -- Warriors G STEPHEN CURRY, Rockets G CHRIS PAUL and Wizards G JOHN WALL -- have teamed up to "support Hurricane Florence reliefs effort with a fundraising website." Paul, who attended Wake Forest, "donated $25,000 to get the donations started, and the league's players association also gave $25,000" (ESPN.com, 9/19)....Univ. of North Carolina football coach LARRY FEDORA said that his players will "donate meal money to buy supplies for victims of Hurricane Florence." Eighty-five players will "donate $15, the per diem each player would get after their game against Pitt on Saturday." Together they will "donate $1,275" (NEWSOBSERVER.com, 9/19)....Tigers P MATTHEW BOYD and his wife ASHLEY will "board a flight to Africa to spend a few weeks with the children of Kingdom Home, a refuge for rescued and vulnerable girls in Uganda." The Boyds unveiled their "new foundation to Support Kingdom Home on Tuesday at Comerica Park." Tigers RF NICHOLAS CASTELLANOS, P SHANE GREENE and C JAMES MCCANN have "signed up to sponsor some of the 36 children" (MLIVE.com, 9/19).
NAMES: “LATE LIFE: THE CHIEN-MING WANG STORY,” a new documentary about the former MLBer and Taiwan-native, will open in U.S. theaters Oct. 26. The release is handled by specialty distributor Passion River Films (VARIETY.com, 9/18)....U.S. figure skater ADAM RIPPON donated one of his Olympic costumes from the Pyeongchang Games to the National Museum of American History (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 9/19)....Gold Medal-winning U.S. gymnast ALY RAISMAN will speak at the Massachusetts Conference for Women at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on Dec. 5 (BOSTONHERALD.com, 9/19).
IN MEMORY: Former PGA of America President J.R. CARPENTER died yesterday at the age of 91. Carpenter, the 25th president of the organization, was elected to PGA membership in ’69 and served as president from ’87-88 (PGA).
