NEWSWEEK's Daniel Pedersen examines the trend of former
athletes making the transition to team ownership and writes,
"When superstars become owners, intriguing questions arise."
Univ. of OR's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Dir RICK
BURTON: "What we're witnessing is the ultimate empowerment
of the player. You could say the inmates are now in charge
of the asylum." But Harvard Univ. Sports Management
Professor STEPHEN GREYSER "fears" these athletes "may not
know the limits of their expertise." Greyser: "My sense is
that hubris might be a problem" (NEWSWEEK, 8/9 issue).
OTHER NAMES: TIGER WOODS said that he talks
"frequently" with MICHAEL JORDAN and that the advice he
receives from him "has gone way beyond" how to handle the
media and fans. Woods, on a recent conversation with
Jordan: "I had a business thing I wanted to talk to him
about" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 8/11). More Woods: "We call
each other brothers because Michael is like a big brother."
In Chicago, Jay Mariotti writes: "The more we observe and
listen to Tiger, the more we see and hear Michael" (CHICAGO
SUN-TIMES, 8/11)....NL President LEN COLEMAN, who is the
highest-ranking black official of a major professional
sports league, was in Houston yesterday for a panel
discussion at the National Urban League conference.
Coleman, explaining why blacks and Hispanics have not gained
more management roles in sports: "The old boy network has
outlived its usefulness. But it's still entrenched"
(WASHINGTON POST, 8/11)....Salt Lake City mayoral candidate
JIM BRADLEY said that city taxes such as the hotel room tax
and car rental tax have to be "jacked up as high as we can
possibly do it" for the 2002 Games to generate revenue.
Bradley: "We have to look at opportunities like that to just
screw 'em" (AP, 8/11)....GREG NORMAN's business interest are
profiled in the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Norman: "This process has
taken six or seven years to get to the position I am at
right now ... [where he has] a very, very balanced portfolio
of businesses" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/11)....DENNIS RODMAN said
on the "Tonight Show" that he is taking with NBA teams about
playing next year. Rodman: "Like 15" (NBC, 8/10).