In DC, Dana Milbank writes on baseball's influence on
TX Gov. and GOP presidential candidate GEORGE W. BUSH. In
"baseball, as in politics, the skeptics underestimated"
Bush. Milbank: "And in baseball, as in politics, Bush
disarmed them with beguiling charm." Bush, on the
similarities of baseball and politics: "I'm not so sure you
can segue from baseball to a presidency, but there are some
lessons about management, about developing a strategy.
Baseball is a marketing business. It's a business of being
able to relate to fans and convince fans to come out. This
is a business about adding value" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/25).
OTHER NAMES: St. John's men's basketball coach MIKE
JARVIS has retained the services of NY-based RLR Associates
to assist him in the areas of TV, radio, speaking
engagements and endorsements (RLR)....JACQUES VILLENEUVE
extended his contract with BAR Honda yesterday in a three-
year deal "believed to be worth" $37.5M (Mult., 7/25). ...In
N.Y., Rich Cimini wrote that NORMA HESS, the wife of late
Jets Owner LEON HESS, "did a classy thing, sending a
handsome scrapbook of her husband's life to writers who
cover the team. The 74-page book is filled with photos,
newspaper clippings and eulogies from Hess' funeral" (N.Y.
DAILY NEWS, 7/24)....In Philadelphia, Phil Jasner writes
that 76ers GM BILLY KING will accept the SPORTS EXECUTIVE OF
THE YEAR award at the Rainbow Sports Awards dinner in
Chicago on Thursday. The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition sponsors
the awards (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 7/25)....MAGIC JOHNSON,
on his investments in Starbucks Coffee and his Magic Johnson
Movie Theatre chains: "I knew this was going to work and I
knew it could make myself and my partners a lot of money,
and that's what's been happening. Of course, it wasn't
easy, because I got labeled as the 'dumb jock,' and so I had
to try to overcome that. ... I control over $500 million
worth of property all over the [U.S.]. ... I'm setting the
stage, hopefully, for athletes to come after me."
Meanwhile, Johnson said he feels TIGER WOODS is "going to be
bigger than MICHAEL JORDAN" ("Up Close," ESPN, 7/24).
