Anna Kournikova "unveiled a black and white billboard
poster of herself" Friday in England, "posing" in a Berlei
sports bra, with the slogan, "Only the ball should bounce,"
(see THE DAILY, 4/3) according to Elizabeth Judge of the
LONDON TIMES. Kournikova is the "latest in a line of
athletes" to endorse the bra (LONDON TIMES, 6/17). About
1,500 of the Kournikova/Berlei billboards "soon will loom"
throughout Britain (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/17). In N.Y.,
Bill Hoffmann reported that Kournikova inked a $5M, seven-
year deal to endorse the line of sports bras (N.Y. POST,
6/18). In London, Catherine Riley wrote, "The problem with
getting someone as lovely as Ms. Kournikova to be your
spokesperson means that 90 per cent of the people at your
press conference will be male, with only a passing interest
in how supportive a sports bra is" (LONDON TIMES, 6/17).
SI BEING REALISTIC? Meanwhile, NEWSDAY's Steve Jacobson
wrote on the negative reaction to Sports Illustrated putting
Kournikova on its cover two weeks ago: "SI [is] dealing in
reality. ... Do we think the squealing for Derek Jeter in
Yankee Stadium is because he's such a good player? As long
as the people interested in the sports pages, in playing the
games and watching them are overwhelmingly male, the
marketplace will seek beautiful women. It isn't sexist,
it's sexual. It isn't females who are exploited by
Kournikova and the wardrobe she selects, she's exploiting
males who are drawn like moths to a flame" (NEWSDAY, 6/18).
