THE IDITAROD DELIVERS: TX-based Talon Engineering GM
Derrick Charbonnet "is pleased" with the performance of his
sponsored team in the recently completed Iditarod.
Charbonnet, on the ninth-place finish of musher Mitch
Seavey: "I'd rather have him win, but I'll take it. I grew
up in New Orleans. The Saints never won anything." Talon
paid $500 to sponsor Seavey (F.W. STAR-TELEGRAM, 3/17).
OTHER NOTES: In Portland, Andy Dworkin reported that
New Balance will open its 29th retail store this month in
the city's Pioneer Place expansion, with a NikeTown just
blocks away. The opening marks New Balance's first in the
Northwest, and the company will open a Seattle shop later
this year (Portland OREGONIAN, 3/16)....Mike O'Harra, a
Columbus, OH, firefighter known throughout the area as "Mike
the Sign Guy," is featured in a new TV and print ad campaign
for the expansion NHL Blue Jackets. O'Harra, who was the
first to purchase a PSL at Nationwide Arena, become a
"legend of sorts" in Columbus and around the ECHL by holding
up signs at Columbus Chill games taunting the opponents,
especially the goalie (Zero Base Advertising)....The N.Y.
Road Runners Club unveiled a new permanet logo for the NYC
Marathon. The logo, created by FTD Design, is the first in
the 30-year history of the race. It includes five points
which represent the city's five boroughs (Daniel Kaplan,
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/13 issue).
