RAPTORS HOPE MEDIA COACH WILL ENDEAR THEM TO FANS, SPONSORS

     The Raptors have hired "media coach" Andrea Kirby to assist
their players with handling reporters with the hope that the move
will "improve their chances of seizing a spot in Canada's
marketplace," according to this morning's Toronto GLOBE & MAIL.
Kirby's tutelage of the Raptors has been "so far, so good," as
the team has "emerged as young darlings."  Kirby notes for a
player such as rookie Damon Stoudamire, a good relationship with
media can help with endorsement offers -- as those opportunities
"come far more frequently for athletes when company executives
see them on TV, grinning and looking amiable" (GLOBE & MAIL,
12/20).