NBA SHOE NEWS: In Orlando, Larry Guest reports that a
sneaker company which offered Kings rookie G Jason Williams
a $25,000 endorsement deal "just before" the start of the
season, increased its offer to $1M last week. Williams, who
is wearing Nikes, has not signed a deal (ORLANDO SENTINEL,
2/24)....T-Wolves G Stephon Marbury is playing this season
without a shoe deal and said, "The bad part of it is the
money issue, but at this point that is really not important.
I thought it was going to be hard to get shoes, but that
hasn't been a problem" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 2/24).
SALES: QVC's "entire inventory" of 10,000 limited-
edition $20 Jeff Gordon T-shirts, commemorating the driver's
Daytona 500 win, sold out in "less than an hour" Monday, as
did a crystal replica of his car and several die-casts (LAS
VEGAS SUN, 2/23)....FORBES' Erika Brown profiles George
Foreman's "50/50 partnership" with Salton Inc., which has
"notched" $200M in sales of Foreman cooking grills in less
than four years. Salton, currently on NASDAQ, is switching
to the NYSE (FORBES, 3/8 issue).
KUDOS FOR AMELIE: In London, Richard Evans profiled
Amelie Mauresmo, who revealed her homosexuality at the
Australian Open last month. Evans: "The interest is not
purely about Mauresmo's sexual preference but rather a
curiosity about how somebody so young could handle a tricky
situation with such aplomb" (LONDON TIMES, 2/21).
