The U.S. women's hockey team appear on the cover of a
commemorative Wheaties box, but five "key players" will not
be pictured, according to Rachel Blount of the Minneapolis
STAR TRIBUNE. Jenny Schmidgall, Tara Mounsey, Sara DeCosta,
A.J. Mleczko and Angela Ruggiero will not be on the box,
scheduled to hit stores on March 2, due to NCAA rules which
"prohibit athletes from participating in any marketing that
would imply they endorse a product." Schmidgall: "I'm a
little sad. But I still know it's my team, and I wouldn't
want to take this away from anyone else. The picture is
really great. In spirit, we're all on that box" (STAR
TRIBUNE, 2/22). General Mills VP/Communications Joe
Rutledge: "We take our cues from the NCAA. Based on what
they told us, our decision was to absolutely take no chances
than an athlete's future would be jeopardized" (N.Y. POST,
2/23). In Baltimore, Ken Rosenthal criticizes the NCAA
rules: "Only the NCAA could produce such an Olympic moment.
... sales will be exactly the same whether all 20 players
are pictured or just 15. ... Nothing could divide the U.S.
women's hockey team. But the NCAA found a way" (SUN, 2/23).
NOTES: Roman Blahoski, the "Wheaties man" who decides
which athletes will be featured on the box cover, was
profiled on Sunday in the OKLAHOMAN. Blahoski's younger
sister, Alana, is a member of the U.S. women's hockey team
(OKLAHOMAN, 2/22)....Team G Sarah Tueting has signed with
agent Steve Zucker (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/23).
