SI Senior Writer Jaime Diaz, on endorsement deals in
golf, following last week's signings of Ernie Els with
Taylor Made and Steve Brooks with Callaway: "This is a Tiger
[Woods] related story. The ceiling has been raised because
he's playing for Titleist for $20 million for five-years,
four million a year. That's unprecedented; that had a
ripple effect in the whole industry." ("CNN/SI," 1/11).
....Denver-based Strategic Marketing International will
market "GolfWatch," to debut at the Nissan Open in L.A. on
February 26-March 2 (SMI)....Upper Deck had made plans to
market a Jeffrey Maier trading card. Maier is the 12-year
old fan who caught a disputed homerun during Game 1 of the
Yankees-Orioles ALCS last fall. But Maier's parents have
said no to any plans on a trading card for their son
(Baltimore SUN, 1/11)....USA TODAY's Melanie Wells profiles
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Coors Light ads, noting that Abdul-
Jabbar is Muslim and doesn't drink alcohol (USA TODAY,
1/13)....The Sports Authority dropped 4 1/8 to 17 1/2 Friday
after an analyst at Alex Brown & Sons cut the firm's fourth
quarter earning estimates (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/13).
