DIVAC INVESTS IN FOREIGN TEAM: In NC, Richard Walker reports that Kings C Vlade Divac and former NBAer Sasha Danilovic have become co-Owners of the Partizan team in Yugoslavia, the same team Divac played for before coming to the NBA in '90. Divac said that he bought the team 45 days ago for $3-4M in U.S. dollars (GASTON GAZETTE, 12/14). DOMO ARIGATO, MR. ICHIRO: In Seattle, M. Sharon Baker writes that local tourism promoters expect new Mariners OF Ichiro Suzuki to "hit a home run in terms of reversing the decline in Japanese visitors" to Seattle. Seattle-King County Convention and Visitors Bureau Tourism Dir of Asia and Latin America Michael Kurtz said, "I'm getting three or four phone calls a day from Japanese tour operators. It's had a huge impact" (PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/8). WILD ABOUT SEMINARS: After Tuesday's workout, Wild players attended an NHL-sponsored seminar on media and diversity. Wild GM Doug Risebrough said, "I think the media thing is done not to educate them about the negatives, it's to educate them that (dealing with the media) is part of the business" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 12/13). NEW AF2 OWNER: ValueClick Int'l President Steve Umberger and his wife Kathryn have purchased and assumed ownership of the af2 Birmingham Steeldogs (Steeldogs).
