The U.S. Department of Justice is "pointing to a YouTube video of SHAQUILLE O'NEAL from 2018 as proof 'Tiger King' star JEFF LOWE mistreated big cats and ring-tailed lemurs." O'Neal at the start of the video of his visit to the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park said, "Hello America, let me introduce you to my babies." Government attorneys last Thursday asked a federal judge to "order Lowe to turn over all of his big cats on grounds he and his wife, LAUREN, have a long record of 'inadequate and inhumane treatment of animals'" (OKLAHOMAN, 11/24).
SEASON OF GIVING: PHIL MICKELSON "recently made a $500,000 donation to Jackson State, and more could be coming" in his celebrity match on Friday. Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change will "include a series of on-course challenges to bring additional funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities." Mickelson "selected Jackson State as his HBCU to support during the competition." CHARLES BARKLEY will represent Tuskegee and STEPHEN CURRY has chosen Howard. PEYTON MANNING chose the trio of Grambling State, Southern Univ. at New Orleans and Lane College (Mississippi CLARION LEDGER, 11/24)....The Marlins and the Miami Marlins Foundation, with the support of Feeding South Florida, provided 1,000 Thanksgiving dinners to local families yesterday (MIAMI HERALD, 11/24).
IN MEMORY: Following news of the death of N.Y.'s first Black mayor DAVID DINKINS yesterday at 93, Marist Center for Sports Communication Dir JANE MCMANUS wrote that Dinkins was "beloved by many people who worked at the U.S. Open tennis tournament." McManus on Twitter wrote, "He and BUD COLLINS are probably up there now debating the best matches they ever saw" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/24).
