The Raptors held their practice last Wednesday at Nike
corporate HQs in Beaverton, OR. The players were treated to a
shopping spree in Nike's employee store afterward, with some
reportedly leaving with more than $1,000 in merchandise (at cost,
of course) (FINANCIAL POST, 12/8)....Retailers in Baltimore note
sales of Browns merchandise have cooled as talk grows on "whether
the Browns name should stay in Cleveland" (Akron BEACON JOURNAL,
12/10)....BUSINESS WEEK Stern reports on the rash of forgeries in
the $2B sports collectibles industry. Stern notes a "frenzied
trade" in bogus Cal Ripken items (BUSINESS WEEK, 12/18 issue)....
Norwegian Cruise Lines has retained ISI to assist in the
management and marketing of its Sports Afloat-theme cruise
(Norwegian)....Former NFL Properties President Greg Bello has
launched a new beverage company -- South Beach Beverages, of
Norwalk, CT (South Beach)....The N.Y. DAILY NEWS ranks best and
worst pro uniforms. Top: Yankees and Raiders. Bottom:
Islanders and Raptors (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/10)....Aspen has
raised its lift-ticket price to $52, the first area in the U.S.
to break the $50 mark (Colorado Springs GAZETTE-TELEGRAPH,
12/10)....In L.A., Bill Plaschke gives Sega a "Thumbs down" for
"its insensitive exploitation of the dangers of professional
football" in an ad it ran in a national newspaper last week.
Plaschke notes the ad featured a cartoon mocking Rams QB Chris
Miller's five concussions, "intimating he had a better chance of
finding an open receiver now because his brain injury will cause
him to see double" (L.A. TIMES, 12/10).... Packers QB Brett Favre
doesn't mind not having a slew of endorsements: "I don't like
shooting commercials" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL,
12/10)....Shell Oil Products has become primary sponsor of the
Team Rahal IndyCar racing team (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/10)....The
union representing employees at the Fleer factory in Philadelphia
is demanding the company give an additional 160 workers 60 days
pay before the plant closes in January (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER,
12/9)....Universal Pictures is spending $15-20M on promotions for
Howard Baldwin's "Sudden Death" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 12/9).
