Ben Maller's odd notes and stuff
by FOXSports.com
Doc who treated Giants Plaxico Burress suspended
The doctor who helped treat Giants star Plaxico Burress' self-inflicted gunshot wound was mysteriously summoned to the hospital in the middle of the night - and has been suspended for failing to alert police and signing off on medical papers identifying him by a phony name, sources said yesterday. Dr. Josyann Abisaab, 44, does not work directly for New York-Cornell Hospital but is affiliated with the facility. Not long after Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg at the Latin Quarter nightclub, investigators say, she was called at home and asked to come to the hospital to meet him there. Investigators are not sure who made the mysterious call. But the Giants vice president of medical services, Ronnie Barnes, told detectives he received a call from Burress and teammate Antonio Pierce after the shooting and he told them to go to that hospital. Barnes, too, went to the hospital and met the players there. He did not tell investigators if he had called Abisaab. Cops and prosecutors are now weighing whether to bring charges against anyone who was obligated under state law to alert police about Burress' gunshot wound. -- NY Post
Fox, NBC and ABC want '14 Olympics
Fox, along with ABC/ESPN and possibly NBC, are interested in bidding for Olympic rights starting with the 2014 Winter Games. (NBC has them locked up through the 2012 Summer Games.) And Hill suggests that the global economic downturn has put the International Olympic Committee in a tough bargaining position, even though the Beijing Olympics were a success: "It's gone from bad to worse for them. Everything was holding their breath about how NBC would do. They did their best Olympics ever, kept the sports going, did what they should have done all along. -- USA Today
Heat's Dwyane Wade could play Barack Obama one-on-one
Now that he's interviewed VP-elect Joe Biden and made him his homeboy, Pahokee fifth-grader Damon Weaver is working the top of the ticket. In his latest video, the K.E. Cunningham/Canal Point Elementary School student and YouTube sensation vies for an interview with the president-elect. "Hello, President-elect Obama. I am Damon Weaver and I want to interview you," the video opens. Damon's already received some big-time support for his interview. The Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade agreed to play Obama one-on-one if Damon gets the interview, but he wouldn't promise to let the commander-in-chief win. "Sorry kid, can't do that," Wade said. "Can't let the president beat me." -- Palm Beach Post
Mets legend Shamsky hit with sex suit
The ex-wife of Art Shamsky claims the Mets legend gave her a sexually transmitted disease after repeatedly cheating on her with both men and women. In a sordid lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Kim Shamsky says that during their 13-year marriage the famed outfielder and first baseman "engaged in acts of adultery with both men and women," without her knowledge. His romps included "acts of 'unprotected' sexual and deviate sexual intercourse," according to the suit. The court papers state that Kim, suspecting her hubby was fooling around, submitted to a number of medical tests. After one examination, she was informed by her doctor she had contracted the human papilloma virus (HPV). Medical experts say HPV can cause problems such as genital warts and cervical cancer. The suit claims Shamsky continued to have sex with her although he "knew that an individual or individuals with whom he had engaged in sexual relations had contracted HPV or that he had contracted HPV." Kim, who says she suffered "serious physiological and emotional injury," is asking for $11 million in damages. Art's lawyer, Pat Crispo, dismissed the entire lawsuit as "frivolous" and insisted Shamsky is free of sexual disease. "This is the act of a very angry ex-wife who has maligned him in the press," Crispo told Page Six. "He will be vindicated in the courts." Shamsky, 67, was with the Mets from 1968 to 1971 and batted .300 during the team's 1969 world championship season. He also played with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs and Oakland A's, and did play-by-play and color commentary for the Mets and hosted a talk show on WFAN. -- NY Post
Sports Collectors Purchasing Packets -- Even Boxes -- They Never Intend on Opening
Some hobbyists in the world of sports memorabilia pay thousands of dollars for a collectible they have never seen -- or might not even possess. In this niche field, collectors snap up unopened cartons and packages of sports trading cards. Then, they leave their purchases unopened, the contents forever a mystery. An unnamed bidder paid $13,000 at a July auction for 17 packs of unopened Topps baseball cards from 1953 to 1969. The packages could contain a valuable Ted Williams card. Or maybe not. For collectors, "it may be worth more unopened than opened," says Brian Fleischer, a senior market analyst for Beckett Media, a sports-collectibles publisher and card-grading service. As with most memorabilia, the older the card, the greater its value, Mr. Fleischer says. Thus, unopened items from the 1950s, '60s and '70s are most desirable. At the time, the cards cost between a penny and a dime. Now, they're worth much more. -- Wall Street Journal
Chiefs rookies dance with seniors
Members of the Kansas City Chiefs Rookie Club, including Branden Albert and kicker Connor Barth, made a visit Tuesday to the Don Bosco Senior Center in Kansas City where many of the players took to the dance floor with the senior citizens to learn the merengue. In addition to the dancing, the players played cards and signed autographs. -- KC Star
Tommy Lasorda owns Professional Bull Riders Bull
Last month Tommy Lasorda made 22 appearances, received nine awards and spoke to everyone from a group of admirals and generals at an Air Force Base in Omaha to the Harvard-Westlake High football team. He also went to Las Vegas for the Professional Bull Riders finals -- bull a word some might associate with Lasorda -- because he has an ownership interest in one of the circuit's bulls, of course, De Ja Blue. You would think by now they would've run out of rotary clubs or Italian Hall of Fames, but Lasorda on Tuesday received the same medal previously given to a concert pianist who tried to avoid the press, Mr. Sulu from Star Trek, and a soldier reportedly involved in the execution of prisoners on the Bataan Death March. -- LA Times
How Michael Phelps Became the Face of PureSport
As history's greatest Olympian, Michael Phelps earns an estimated $5 million a year by endorsing some of the world's best-known credit-card, hotel and cereal brands. But his appearance as pitchman for a Texas protein-powder maker might go down in the annals of sports marketing as one of the most unusual deals ever. Before he earned his eight gold medals and became a global celebrity at the Beijing Olympics, Mr. Phelps and three teammates agreed to endorse PureSport, a protein mix made by a tiny Austin, Texas, company that didn't exist three years ago. The agreement with Mr. Phelps and three other Olympic swimmers -- Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Ian Crocker -- gave the University of Texas spinoff a dizzying start. The foursome, introduced to the company while training in Austin last year, took a 5% stake in exchange for their endorsements. But it is Mr. Phelps's new star power that has provided the seven-person Human Performance Labs LLC with financing and access to scarce shelf space at retailers. The drink mix, initially sold through specialty shops, recently won a coveted spot at the Sports Authority, a 400-store sporting-goods chain. -- Wall Street Journal
Jose Canseco fight pushed back
The battle between 94 WYSP morning host Danny Bonaduce and Bad Boy of Baseball Jose Canseco has been pushed back a week. The pair will now square off Jan. 24 at Ice Works (3100 W. Dutton Mill) in Aston, as part of a card that now features wrestler Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake against Delaware County's Tom "TR" Robinson. -- Philadelphia Daily News
Tony Romo's girlfriend wants to study religion
Jessica Simpson wants to head off to college to study theology - and watching TV was her inspiration. "I've been contemplating taking a college course in religion," the bubblehead told Marie Claire. "I love religion. I remember whenever the book 'The Da Vinci Code' came out, the Discovery Channel did this three-night piece on it that I TiVoed and then watched eight times." We just hope someone advises her not to include that bit in her application letter. -- NY Post
Sports in 3-D will cost big money
College football's Bowl Championship Series game will be broadcast in 3-D to the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show and select 3-D-ready theaters, David Hill, chairman and CEO of Fox Sports Television Group, said Tuesday at the 3-D Entertainment Summit. He is enthusiastic about the format but made it clear that if 3-D TV is to move forward, stakeholders should be prepared to take out their checkbooks. "You are not going to see 3-D -- if I have my way -- on broadcast television until the manufacturers of the sets that are making money are subsidizing us with every piece of equipment that we have to buy," he said. "The HD transition was dreadful. It cost us a fortune to work in HD: to re-equip our studios, to re-equip our cameras, to re-equip our trucks. And do we get an extra cent from the advertisers? No. If the 3-D industry thinks they are going to get the same ride, they are wrong." -- Hollywood Reporter
BCS on Fox going 3-D in theaters
Via technology that's rattled around since the Eisenhower era, next month college football is coming to theaters. Fox will announce today plans to show 3-D coverage of the Bowl Championship Series live in theaters. So while the BCS on the big screen might serve as an appetizer, Fox Sports Chairman David Hill says networks aren't going to underwrite the infrastructure to let millions of couch potatoes see more fully dimensional views of fair catches: "Broadcasters won't do anything until we get everything paid for by the set manufacturers." -- USA Today
Warren Sapp quite gracious to fans in Philly
Dancing With the Stars" runner-up Warren Sapp dined a couple of nights back at Mel's (201 Jefferson) in Belmont Hills. The former NFL star is in town weekly working on "Inside the NFL," which tapes in the area. Sapp ate at the bar at Mel's and was quite gracious to customers who lined up to take pictures with him. -- Philadelphia Daily News
Fox's Hill: Pro sports making a mistake moving big-events to cable
If more big-event events migrate to cable, says Fox's David Hill, they face long-term problems. "Multi-entertainment platforms" such as broadcast networks "continually refresh fan bases," he says, while ESPN offers only a sports-based "niche. And if you keep your event on a niche base, your audience will eventually die off." Even if that's true though, the question is how long that might take. After all, everybody's viewers will eventually die. -- USA Today
USA Hockey, NHL Net Sign Coverage Deal
USA Hockey and NHL Network have signed a three-year agreement that will give NHL Net coverage of the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. The deal also includes coverage of the 2009-10 U.S. Women's National Team's Qwest Tour. NHL Network will air live HD TV coverage of all U.S. games and medal-round games for the next three IIHF World Junior Championships. The network will broadcast four live Qwest Tour games. Additionally, the deal calls for NHL Network to produce at least two hockey-themed programs per year. -- TV Week
NESN Instigates Hockey Talk
NESN Thursday will debut The Instigators, a weekly show featuring Boston Bruins' studio analyst Mike Milbury, color analyst Andy Brickley and play-by-play announcer Jack Edwards debating and discussing the most controversial national hockey topics of the day. The series drops the puck Thursday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. ET on the regional sports network and will air at both 6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. each week. -- Multichannel News
Wolves Love sings again
Wolves rookie Kevin Love was forced to treat another veteran to a chorus of "Happy Birthday" after practice, this time for center Jason Collins. -- Pioneer Press
Veteran Arizona broadcaster Tom Dillon dies
Tom Dillon, former play-by-play announcer for Arizona State athletics and the Arizona Cardinals, died Monday night at age 65. Dillon worked for the Sports USA Radio Network since 2005 and was scheduled to announce the Territorial Cup between ASU and Arizona in Tucson on Saturday. Dillon called ASU games for 20 years from 1979-97 - announcing the Sun Devils' two Rose Bowl appearances - and Cardinals games for 12 years through 2001. He worked for Fox Sports Arizona for five years. He was voted Arizona Sportscaster of the Year 17 times. -- Arizona Republic
Wife of Spurs Tony Parker a closet smoker
Who knew Eva Longoria Parker was a closet smoker? It seems the "Desperate Housewives" star has been desperate to keep her habit under wraps - only openly indulging in a cigarette - or several - while she was out of the country this week. "She hates to be photographed smoking," says X-17 owner Frank Navarre. "But we get her once in a while." Longoria Parker was caught in the act twice this week, puffing away while trolling the streets of San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she traveled for the wedding of "Without a Trace" star Roselyn Sanchez. -- NY Daily News
Get ready for more product placements on sports TV
In a rough ad market, viewers are seeing some novel marketing. Fox's pregame show recently brought in a Ford truck for its analysts to climb around on -- in a sort of informercial that broke out in regular programming -- while CBS' NFL pregame show Sunday included a Victoria's Secret model on the set. Given the tough economy, will viewers see more novel product placements? "Of course," Fox's David Hill says. "One of the things I'm very proud of is working with advertisers. We desperately try to come up with ideas that give them value." -- USA Today
After closing arguments, Hawks-Thrashers case in jury's hands
Lawyers for David McDavid on Tuesday pulled out e-mails and reread court testimony to convince the jury that Turner Broadcasting System cheated the Texas businessman out of buying the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena operating rights. "'The deal was done,'" one witness said. -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Plaxico Burress song
Plaxico Burress shooting himself has inspired a new song from sports music guru Ryan Parker. "With or Without You Plaxico," is all about Plax big mistake at the club in Manhattan. -- RyanParkerSongs.com
NFL a ratings winner again for CBS
With over forty minutes of NFL overrun, CBS easily took the night in terms of viewers, and football ruled the 18-49 and 18-34 demos too, but that was for NBC's Sunday Night Football matchup(Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings). There will be some delays with posting a show data table (sorry) but due to the overrun, the CBS show data is completely horked anyway. -- TVByTheNumbers.com
MTV, NBC Sports Form Action Sports Alliance
MTV and NBC Sports Tuesday have teamed up to create Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports, a joint venture that will include seven national and international action sports tours, events and multimedia content. The new umbrella brand, which joins the former Action Sports Tour properties (AST) with Maloof Money Cup, AMA Motocross Championship and King of Wake series, will continue to be co-owned by NBC Sports and MTV. -- Multichannel News
Miss Cleo looking for return to TV
Miss Cleo's itching to get back into television. And the psychic, who now lives in Lake Worth, recently e-mailed her expansive list of friends to ask for their support. "Hello My Dears," she writes, "First and foremost, HUGS AND KISSES!!!! I need a favor from each and everyone of you. My publicist is currently conducting an email campaign to gauge how the 'public' would receive my return to television. The show would focus on relationships. Your emails will be so VERY IMPORTANT to moving forward . . . Claiming to be a Jamaican voodoo-trained psychic, Miss Cleo made as much as $10,000-a-day hawking the 1990s fortune-telling hotlines on the tube in the wee hours. Spurred by her clever come-ons and phony Caribbean accent, viewers went to the $4.99-per-minute hotlines hoping to talk to a real psychic. Instead, telemarketers holed up in an anonymous Fort Lauderdale office took their calls. In 2001, Florida and federal authorities sued the hotlines and Miss Cleo for false advertising, effectively shutting them down. And while the hotlines paid more than $500 million in fines and restitutions to millions of callers, Miss Cleo's credibility took a serious hit. -- Palm Beach Post
Ben Maller can be heard weeknights on "The Third Shift on Fox" via the vast Fox Sports Radio Network. The show is broadcast live Monday-Friday from 2am till 6am (est). Check your local radio listenings for the FSR affiliate in your town, listen to XM Satellite Radio Channel No. 142 or via live streaming audio online at FoxSports.com/Radio. Say hi to Ben at myspace.com/benmaller. Interact with Ben's fans and talk sports on Ben Maller's forum Questions, comments and news tips can be sent to Ben via e mail at BigBen@Foxsports.com or Ben@BenMaller.com.
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