With a bit of fanfare, John Skipper and Daniel Battsek announced that their respective companies, ESPN and Miramax, have teamed up to acquire from GreeneStreet Films the rights to “Once in a Lifetime.” The documentary, narrated by Matt Dillon, chronicles the rise and fall of the New York Cosmos, the team that brought Pele to America. Geoff Reiss negotiated ESPN’s entry into the theatrical film business. While no TV airing has been scheduled, the documentary will make the rounds of the major film festivals. … Phil Rizzuto, who at 88 is the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame, made his first public appearance in a decade to promote Geppi’s Memorabilia Road Show’s auction of his memorabilia, including his game-used Yankee cap with
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Phil Rizzuto made a rare public appearance
to promote an auction of his memorabilia. |
his trademark piece of gum affixed to the top button. … Taking advantage of the election of
John Madden to the Hall of Fame,
Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports, said, “If fans could choose one person to sit in their living rooms and watch a big game with, John Madden is the guy.” …
Ed Lucas will be the first man married at Yankee Stadium. He is a 67-year-old Union, N.J., reporter with his own radio show on which he covers the Mets and Yankees. But the last game he ever saw was the seventh game of the 1951 World Series in which
Bobby Thompson hit “The shot heard ’round the world.” He lost his sight that year. Lucas became the first blind graduate at Seton Hall University. He runs an annual charity golf tournament with Rizzuto that has raised millions of dollars for his alma mater, St. Joseph’s School for the Blind in Jersey City. Ed and his former wife, Allison Lucas, will be married at home plate on March 10.
Jamie Majeski is a human punching bag for charity and he’s looking for a fight. He sustained a broken nose when he went two rounds with former cruiserweight champ Al “Ice” Cole last September. “Small price to pay for raising $42,000,” said the founder of Cydcor, a national marketing company. He set up a foundation to raise money for children’s causes after selling Cydcor. He has challenged Randy Couture to a three-round fight, but he says the ultimate-fighting champion is ducking him. “I don’t know why,” Majeski said. “I told him he’ll kill me quickly.” … Southern California boxing promoter Roy Englebrecht, tired of novices having a deleterious impact on his sport, created Fight Promoter University, an intensive three-day course in which future promoters can earn an MBA degree — Master of Boxing. Among the 15 guest speakers for the Feb. 22-24 class in Irvine, Calif.: Nevada boxing czar Marc Ratner, Top Rank’s head matchmaker Bruce Trampler, boxing PR guru
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“Once in a Lifetime” will tell the story of
the New York Cosmos at major film festivals. |
Fred Sternburg and “The First Lady of Boxing,”
Jackie Kallen.
Bob Arum has been asked to deliver the commencement address. FPU tuition is $1,995. … To pitch the IBA welterweight championship fight between
Arturo Gatti and
Thomas Damgaard, the former Cy Young pitcher
Dean Chance, who is now the president of the IBA, got EA Sports to install a video game at Mickey Mantle’s, on which Gatti fought as his real three-time foe
Mickey Ward against the video-game Gatti. The video-game Gatti won. … Getting an early start,
Don Larsen flew from his Idaho home to start stumping for an event on Nov. 4 commemorating the 50th anniversary of his World Series perfect game.
Bookshelf: For more than a decade, Andrew Zimbalist has been a thorn in Bud Selig’s side. What started as a cordial relationship when both testified at a Senate hearing in 1992 turned very cold as Zimbalist became one of baseball’s harshest critics. “Most people at MLB had no interest in talking to me,” he said recently. But over drinks in October 2004, Zimbalist told MLB President Bob DuPuy that he planned to write a book about Selig’s tenure as commissioner. DuPuy promised cooperation. “He lived up to his word,” said Zimbalist, whose book “In the Best Interests of Baseball, The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig” (Wiley) comes out next month. … Jamie Trecker, who has circled the globe to cover soccer, will write a book on this summer’s World Cup in Germany, which Harcourt is aiming for spring 2007 publication. He once shared an East Germany hotel room with Chris Cowles of Reuters, who had a thing for cheese and “turned our hotel room into a cheese cave.” It’ll be Trecker’s fifth World Cup.
Around the Horn: At the Final Four in April, Dick Vitale will host a celebration honoring Five Star Basketball camps legends Howard Garfinkel and Will Klein. Anaconda Sports, whose “The Rock” is the official basketball of the McDonald’s All-American game, will throw the party. … The Jordan All American Classic, a Nike event, extended its deal to play at MSG for the next two years. Next April’s event will include a regional game showcasing New York’s top prep players. … Don’t Quote Me, a popular board game, will launch a Sports Illustrated edition at New York’s Toy Fair this month … SBG/b Equal will introduce a NASCAR and a World Wrestling Entertainment game.
Contact John Genzale at johngenzale@gmail.com.
