McCaskey inherited control of the Bears from her father, George Halas, when he passed away in '83GETTY IMAGES
In Chicago, Patrick Finley profiled Bears Principal Owner VIRGINIA MCCASKEY, the NFL's "oldest owner, its grande dame," and the "most direct link to its very founding." When Bears Founder GEORGE HALAS died in '83, he "left his daughter, then 60, control of the team." It is a "responsibility that has never lifted from her shoulders, even 36 years later." When asked whether she gives advice to other powerful women in professional sports, McCaskey "tried to downplay her place" in the NFL's history. She said, "I try to avoid that because I feel that I'm in this position because I inherited it. I didn't do anything to earn it. I didn't work for it in any way. It was something that happened to me" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/25).
GOLDEN HOUR: JACK NICKLAUS' gold Rolex watch, which he was known to wear in competition, is about to be put "up for auction, in what could become one of the most expensive pieces of sports memorabilia ever sold." The Oyster Perpetual Day Date Rolex will be displayed this week at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, before "going on a world tour to court potential bidders." Auction house Phillips is "set to display the watch" in Geneva, London, Hong Kong and L.A. in the "months ahead before opening it to bids on Dec. 10" in N.Y. Nicklaus said that the "entire sale price, including Phillips' cut, will go to the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation" (WSJ.com, 5/27).
FACES IN THE CROWD: MGM Resorts Int'l Chair & CEO JIM MURREN attended the opening game of the WNBA Las Vegas Aces season Sunday night, along with NBA VP/Global Partnerships ED WINKLE and MGM Resorts Int'l Senior VP/Sports & Entertainment LANCE EVANS. Evans accepted MGM Resorts' SBJ Breakthrough Award at last week's Sports Business Awards. At the game, Evans "told Murren about the SBJ Breakthrough honor and Murren smiled" (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 5/26).
THE GOOD STUFF: T'Wolves coach RYAN SAUNDERS "bought 500 tickets" to Saturday's WNBA Minnesota Lynx season opener against the Chicago Sky for "donation" to various area youth organizations (TWINCITIES.com, 5/24)....Phillies 1B RHYS HOSKINS and his fiance, JAYME BERMUDEZ, will "host the Philadelphia MDA Muscle Walk at the Navy Yard" on June 8. The event "aims to raise $150,000 for muscular dystrophy research" (PHILLY.com, 5/27).
NAMES: NFL free agent LB WILL COMPTON and Titans OT TAYLOR LEWAN started a podcast called "BUSSIN' WITH THE BOYS," which is "already on iTunes' list of top 200 podcasts in the nation." On Saturday, just a few days after the first episode was released, the podcast "sat at No. 168" (TENNESSEAN.com, 5/26)....Lions coach MATT PATRICIA will serve as the grand marshal for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race at Michigan Int'l Speedway on June 9 (FREEPRESS.com, 5/24)....Texans DE J.J. WATT and NWSL Houston Dash F KEALIA OHAI are engaged (HOUSTONCHRONICLE.com, 5/26).
IN MEMORY: Dallas Morning News reporter GERRY FRALEY died early Saturday morning at 64 after a "two-year bout with cancer." Fraley was "one of the most respected sportswriters of his generation," having covered football, basketball, NASCAR and various assignments "over a career spanning four decades," three of them with the Dallas Morning News (DALLASNEWS.com, 5/25). In Dallas, Evan Grant wrote "everything I've become as a sportswriter, I became because" of Fraley (DALLASNEWS.com, 5/25).
