San Diego Magazine / December 2009 / I’ll Drink to That ...

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I’ll Drink to That ...

DECEMBER 21, 2009

HEAVY TRAFFIC: At the County Bar Association’s “Stepping Up to the Bar” event — a combination holiday party and swearing-in ceremony for the new president and board members — president Pat Hosey shared some sound advice he’d received along the way — including these wise words from celebrated attorney Brian Monaghan: “Always remember that incoming traffic at Dobson’s bar has the right-of-way.”

ROUGH ALL OVER: The San Diego Invitational Golf Tournament has taken a double bogey this year. First, in August, long-time title sponsor Buick bailed out, leaving the Torrey Pines tourney without major backing in a deep recession. Then, Tiger Woods’ epic extramarital adventures hit the headlines. Woods’ name is magic for any PGA event, but the golf superstar’s ties to the San Diego tournament were long and tight. When news of Woods’ “problem” first broke, his representatives were continuing to confirm his attendance at the San Diego tournament. But a few days later, Woods made the decision to take a self-imposed vacation from the PGA tour to concentrate on his family. How much will that affect attendance at the tournament here? The sponsoring Century Club is trying to remain optimistic. But Wendy Butler is less sanguine. Just the loss of Tiger’s mistresses alone would put a nasty dent in attendance, she says.

MEANWHILE: It’s not only Tiger’s sponsorships that have taken a hit as a result of his well-publicized peccadilloes. Steve Gaffen reports that a week before Christmas, at his neighborhood ToysRUs, Tiger Woods action figures had been discounted to $12.95. Other sports hero figures were still selling for full retail at $14.98.

SAN DIEGANS’ INK: New meaning to Christmas lights: Just in time for the holidays, William Scripps, great-grandson of legendary media mogul E.W. Scripps, has pledged $100,000 to launch a campaign to light the UCSD baseball field ... Former San Diego city attorney Mike Aguirre, who’d kept a relatively low profile in the year since voters ousted him, reappeared Friday to say I told you so. Aguirre, a vocal opponent of public funds for professional sports stadiums — and longtime Chargers nemesis — held a meeting a block from his old City Hall office to “discuss the due diligence needed to protect taxpayers and the legal requirement that a public vote be taken on any publicly funded stadium.” Just after the Chargers conceded they might need tax support for their stadium ... Pala has just upped the ante for top-name entertainment at local gaming casinos. Tim Allen, star of TV’s Home Improvement and movie blockbusters The Santa Clause and Toy Story, is booked to do his stand-up comedy act at Pala January 30. Top ticket: $85.

OUTSIDE IN: Just in time for the season’s close, U.S. News & World Report is out with a list of “The Worst College Bowl Sponsors” — a compendium, according to author Rick Newman, of “some of the absurdities that will be tripping across the TV screen.” No. 2 on the list: “The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.” Writes Newman: “How cheap are these sponsorships, anyway? Credit unions are known for being thrifty, so the Poinsettia Bowl sponsorship must have been a great deal.” Whatever the cost, it still sounds better than Newman’s No. 1 worst: The Chick-fil-A Bowl. “Companies named after poultry just were not made to sponsor bowl games,” he writes. “This sounds like a family-style dish you might order at Olive Garden, not a sports contest.”