Tag: Condoleezza Rice

9 star-studded PGA Tour pro and celebrity pairings at the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

These pairs are going to be fun to watch.

The second signature event of the PGA Tour’s 2024 season is here as a loaded field of 80 pros has descended upon Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the Monterey Peninsula.

The amateurs in the field will play alongside their partners for the first two rounds — one at Pebble Beach, one at Spyglass Hill — before it’s just the pros at Pebble Beach over the weekend.

Among the world’s best in the field are Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa.

Pebble Pro-Am: Picks to win, odds | Sleepers

As for the amateurs, here are nine star-studded pairings for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Jokes and wisecracks fly as Stanford, SMU try to influence ACC expansion vote

Stanford and SMU are using high-profile public figures to sway the ACC. Jokes instantly dominated social media.

As the old saying goes, “The jokes write themselves.”

Stanford and SMU, both interested in joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, have called upon prominent power brokers in an attempt to make their case to ACC members.

We have written about the politics of Stanford’s situation relative to the ACC. We have pointed out that Stanford has a number of tools in the toolbox it can use to change the ACC’s current 11-4 vote on the Notre Dame proposal to allow Stanford and California to enter the conference. The ACC needs 12 votes to approve the move, so Stanford is one vote short.

Stanford apparently thinks that using longtime employee Condoleezza Rice, the former United States Secretary of State under President George W. Bush and a former member of the College Football Playoff selection committee, is worth a try in its attempt to influence the ACC’s member schools.

Speaking of George W. Bush: SMU has reportedly enlisted the former president to make the Mustangs’ case to the ACC.

Reaction on social media was swift … and hilarious.

Let’s get a sampling of the jokes which pretty much wrote themselves:

Report: Sean Payton ‘fears a potential power struggle’ with Broncos ownership

The Washington Post’s Mark Maske has the spiciest Sean Payton report yet, says Payton ‘fears a potential power struggle’ with a member of the Broncos ownership group:

The spiciest Sean Payton report so far comes to us from the Washington Post’s Mark Maske, who has an update on Payton’s negotiations with the Denver Broncos. Maske says Payton likes the football setup — coaching Russell Wilson, working with a talented defense — but there’s been a hitch in interviewing with the new Broncos ownership group, and that Payton “fears a potential power struggle” with one of the team’s owners.

Led by Walmart heir Rob Walton but managed day-to-day by his son-in-law Greg Penner and daughter Carrie Penner, the Broncos are owned by a group that includes Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson, former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and seven-time Formula 1 champion Sir Lewis Hamilton.

So which of those claimants to the throne is muscling Payton out of the job? Whoever his nemesis is, it’s clear he’d rather look for work somewhere he faces less friction and competition from a rogues’ gallery in ownership, much like he enjoyed in New Orleans. It turns out that, maybe, the grass isn’t always greener somewhere else. Sometimes you just need to water it.

Update: Payton rebuffed this report, saying that there is “Zero truth” to Maske’s claim in a rare tweet from his official Twitter account.

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Broncos have a ‘sleeper candidate’ for head coach opening

It sounds like David Shaw is a dark horse candidate for the Broncos’ head coach opening.

When the Denver Broncos began their head coach search, Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton instantly jumped to the top of the list as marquee candidates.

After Harbaugh announced that he will remain at the University of Michigan, that left Payton as the presumed top choice for Denver. Payton will have many options, though, with one of them being potentially remaining at Fox for a year.

If Payton joins a different team or decides to continue working as an analyst, Dan Quinn would be a logical fallback option. Quinn was a finalist for Denver’s opening last year, and he has worked with general manager George Paton in the past.

That was the presumed order for the team’s head coach options: Harbaugh first, then Payton, then Quinn.

Perhaps we were too presumptuous.

Former Stanford coach David Shaw has emerged as a “sleeper candidate” for the Broncos, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. That notion was echoed by Vic Lombardi of Altitude Sports on Wednesday evening:

“Condi,” of course, is Denver minority owner Condoleezza Rice, who is the director of Stanford’s Hoover Institution. She is very connected to the school, serving as Stanford’s provost from 1993-1999. Broncos co-owner/CEO Greg Penner, and his wife and fellow co-owner Carrie Walton Penner, also hold degrees from Stanford.

If he does not end up getting the head coach job, Shaw might also be a candidate for Denver’s offensive coordinator position. As things stand now, though, it sounds like Shaw is in serious consideration for the HC role.

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Report: LIV Golf planned for all-star board members such as Michael Jordan, Condoleezza Rice and top-level business executives

The New York Times report analyzed hundreds of confidential documents from a proposal conducted for the PIF.

LIV Golf doesn’t just want big names on the course.

According to a New York Times report, the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit “considered assembling an all-star board of business, sports, legal and political titans” including the likes of NBA legend Michael Jordan, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as well as business executives Ginni Rometty (former IBM chief executive), Randall Stephenson (former AT&T chairman) and Mark Parker (Nike executive chairman).

“I didn’t know I was on the list, and I have never been approached,” Stephenson said to the Times. A board member for the PGA Tour, Stephenson said he’d decline if LIV asked, noting that “it would be a quick conversation.”

A player handbook said a LIV board would include 10 members, but the Times reported nine of those identified as targets had never been approached.

The findings came from a larger Times article that analyzed hundreds of confidential documents from Project Wedge, a proposal conducted for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The PIF is governed by Yasir al-Rumayyan, who also serves as chairman of the Saudi Arabian Golf Federation, English Premier League team Newcastle United and Saudi Aramco, the state-owned petroleum company which serves as a sponsor for the Ladies European Tour.

With the PIF as its monetary backer, LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its human rights record. Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Not to mention, members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.

Experts told the Times that Saudi Arabia’s $2 billion investment shows the Kingdom “has aspirations beyond the financial.”

“The margins might be thin, but that doesn’t really matter,” Simon Chadwick, a professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School in Paris, said to the Times. “Because subsequently you’re establishing the legitimacy of Saudi Arabia — not just as an event host or a sporting powerhouse, but legitimate in the eyes of decision makers and governments around the world.”

McKinsey & Company, a longtime Saudi adviser dating back to the 1970s, analyzed the finances of a new golf league and deemed LIV to be “a high-risk high-reward endeavor.” The Times also reported a McKinsey document that detailed 12 top players targeted by LIV. Only four – Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson – have signed so far.

A day after Tiger Woods unloaded on LIV’s leadership and called for CEO Greg Norman to lose his job, LIV recently announced part of its schedule for 2023, where 12 teams and 48 individuals will compete for a total of $405 million in prize purses. Rosters for the new season, the first as the re-branded LIV Golf League, have yet to be finalized.

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Garett Bolles eager for Walton-Penner group to build on Bowlen legacy

“The Walton-Penner group are going to come in here and take what the Bowlen family has done and just continue to run with it and build it.”

The Denver Broncos finally cleared the last legal hurdle of the ownership battle when the NFL unanimously approved the sale of the team to the Walton-Penner group earlier this month. The group — comprised of personalities such as Walmart heir Rob Walton, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton — are now the fifth ownership in team history.

Broncos offensive tackle Garett Bolles was effusive in his praise of the group, saying that they are going to build on the winning legacy of late former owner Pat Bowlen.

“[The Bowlen family] changed this whole city, and they changed this organization,” Bolles said earlier this summer. “The Walton-Penner group are going to come in here and take what the Bowlen family has done and just continue to run with it and build it.”

In their introductory press conference as a new ownership group, owner Greg Penner addressed the expectations that are in place.

“The Broncos are an iconic franchise that means so much to Denver, Colorado and the whole region,” Penner said. “Following in the footsteps of Pat Bowlen and Joe Ellis, are no small feat. Our Broncos fans have high expectations, we know that, and we embrace it. We believe that a winning team and organization require the right people, high expectations, the necessary resources, and accountability. We are committed to that, and we are going to draw on this diverse ownership group to succeed.”

While the group begins to wet their feet in the day-to-day operations of the team, Bolles expressed excitement for the future.

“I’m looking forward to all the amazing memories and all the amazing things that we are going to do and accomplish, both on the field and off the field.”

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Meet the new Broncos ownership group

The Bowlen era has come to an end. Here are the Broncos’ new owners.

The Bowlen era has come to an end in Denver.

NFL owners met Tuesday and unanimously voted in favor of a new Broncos ownership group led by Rob Walton, who agreed to pay $4.65 billion to the Bowlen family to purchase the team earlier this summer.

The late Pat Bowlen bought the team from Edgar Kaiser Jr. for $70 million in 1984. Denver’s NFL franchise went on to win three Super Bowls under Bowlen’s leadership before he died in 2019 following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

After Bowlen’s death, the team was run by a trust led in part by team president/CEO Joe Ellis. Bowlen’s children could not agree on a controlling owner among them, so the trust put the team up for sale earlier this year.

Tuesday’s approved sale marks the end of the Bowlen ownership era. Here’s a quick look at the team’s new ownership group that will be led by Walton starting this season.

Condoleezza Rice joins Broncos’ new ownership group

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is joining the Broncos’ new Walton-Penner ownership group.

The Denver Broncos’ (pending) new ownership group continues to grow.

The team announced Monday that Condoleezza Rice is joining the ownership group as a minority investor. The club released the following statement on behalf of the Walton-Penner ownership group:

We’re pleased to welcome former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to our ownership group. A highly respected public servant, accomplished academic and corporate leader, Secretary Rice is well known as a passionate and knowledgeable football fan who has worked to make sport stronger and better.

She is the daughter of a football coach and served on the inaugural College Football Playoff Committee. She moved to Denver with her family when she was 12 years old and went on to attend the University of Denver for both college and graduate school. Her unique experience and extraordinary judgment will be a great benefit to our group and the Broncos organization.

As the team’s statement noted, Rice has a strong connection to Denver and she’s a huge football fan. Rice was even linked to the head coach job with the Cleveland Browns in 2018, although she denied the reports that she was a candidate for that job.

Rich is the second Black woman to join the team’s ownership group, joining accomplished businesswoman Mellody Hobson.

The Walton-Penner group has not yet officially purchased the team — the sale has to be approved by at least 24 of the league’s 32 ownership groups — but that approval is expected to arrive later this summer. In the meantime, the ownership group could continue to grow, and Peyton Manning is a candidate to join the team in an advisory role.

The Broncos are aiming to have the new ownership group approved before the NFL’s regular season begins in September.

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Denver Broncos welcome Condoleezza Rice to their ownership group

The Denver Broncos and the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group announced that Condoleezza Rice would be joining the ownership group.

The Denver Broncos, on behalf of the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group, announced on Monday that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was joining their ownership group. In a statement, the Group stated that “Secretary Rice is well known as a passionate and knowledgeable football fan who has worked to make the sport stronger and better:”

In June, the Broncos reached a sale agreement with the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group, bringing to a close eight years of legal proceedings regarding the ownership of the franchise.

Dr. Rice’s career has seen her move from the halls of academia, to the world stage, and yes, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. After serving as the provost at Stanford University, Dr. Rice was named the National Security Advisor by President George W. Bush, and she served in that role from 2001 through 2005.

President Bush nominated her to be Secretary of State, and following her confirmation by the Senate, Dr. Rice served in that role during President Bush’s second term.

Following her service in the Bush Administration, she returned to academics, but began to take on more of a role in the sports world. She was selected as one of the 13 inaugural members of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, serving through the 2016 season. She was also rumored to be a candidate for the Cleveland Browns head coaching position, a rumor which she denied in 2018.

However, she has expressed an interest in serving as the NFL Commissioner, a position she once described as her “dream job.” Perhaps joining the Broncos ownership group will get her one step closer to that goal.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shows up to women’s 2022 NCAA Championship to support her Stanford Cardinal

“They work so hard in the classroom, they work so hard on the course. I just want to be out here to support them.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Stanford women advanced to the semifinals of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship with a special fan watching outside the ropes.

Former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who currently serves as the director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford and is also a faculty fellow and academic advisor for the women’s golf team, made the trip to Grayhawk Golf Club to cheer on the Cardinal in their Tuesday morning match against Georgia.

“It means a great deal to me, I just love these intercollegiate athletes,” said Rice on the importance of supporting the team. “They work so hard in the classroom, they work so hard on the course. I just want to be out here to support them.”

Supporting the team is great fun, sure, but the nearly 10-year member at Augusta National Golf Club would still like to be playing instead of watching.

“Well, it does make me want to go play golf, but I shouldn’t even think that I’m gonna look like that,” said Rice with a laugh.

Condoleezza Rice
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice watches Stanford at the 2022 NCAA Championship. (Photo: Darren Reese/Stanford)

Last year’s individual national champion Rachel Heck put the first point on the board for Stanford with a 2 up win over Georgia’s Jenny Bae, and was later joined by Aline Krauter, who defeated LoraLie Cowart, 2 and 1, and Brooke Seay, who beat Jo Hua Hung, 3 and 2.

ANNIKA Award winner Rose Zhang, who claimed the individual national title Monday afternoon, didn’t get a chance to square her match against Candice Mahe as the team competition was already decided before she was able to putt on the 18th green. Caterina Don earned the other point for the Bulldogs with a 3-and-1 win over Sadie Englemann.

“This is a wonderful team and I think they would both tell you that it’s the support of their teammates that’s so great,” said Rice of Stanford’s young stars Zhang and Heck. “Rose is incredibly accomplished and a very nice young woman and Rachel as well, so it was fun to go back to back and we’re gonna go try to get ready for this afternoon.”

Stanford, the No. 1 seed, squares off against No. 5 Auburn in Tuesday afternoon’s semifinal match.

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