NHL Commissioner GARY BETTMAN is considering having
WAYNE GRETZKY involved in a public and media relations
program to "help young players in the league become better
ambassadors of the sport," according to Lance Hornby of the
TORONTO SUN. Bettman: "Our players are the best in sports
in terms of dealing with fans and media. It's just that
Wayne set a standard so far above what anybody in sport has
ever done. It's the comparison that causes the question to
be raised" (TORONTO SUN, 4/21). ESPN and ESPN2 run a full
page ad in USA TODAY thanking Gretzky for "creating the
office of The Ambassador of Hockey. And who will take over
his office? We look forward to finding out" (THE DAILY).
TWO STYLES: Closing HBO's "Real Sports" last night,
host BRYANT GUMBEL compared Gretzky and DENNIS RODMAN:
"While one man defined professionalism the other not only
lacked it entirely, but took perverse pride in it. As much
as one went out of his way for the sake of the team to fit
in, the other took the same pains to stand out. ... Therein
lies some modern lessons for young athletes looking to
cultivate one of our divergent definitions of character. As
Dennis Rodman and Wayne Gretzky so clearly proved, you can
be a character and enrich only yourself or you can show some
character and enrich us all" ("Real Sports," HBO, 4/20).
