Marketplace Round-Up

ESPN’s Angelique Chengelis cited Sprint Nextel spokesperson Becky Cox as saying that a report last week about a potential name change to NASCAR’s top series was incorrect. Chengelis: “There’s no change from last year when the company said it is looking into changing the name. ... If they find the right name, they want to make it a big splash. They want to do this very, very large and they really want the fans involved in this” (ESPN, 3/13).

HARDAWAY: Former NBAer Tim Hardaway said that of all the fallout from the anti-gay comments he made last month, the “impact on his business dealings –- including losing a BaldGuyz endorsement –- ‘hurt the most.’” Also, the Miami-area car wash of which he owns a stake no longer bears his name on the sign, and he said “people are not coming as frequently” to a chicken wings restaurant he owns. Hardaway “wants to be welcomed again in NBA circles and emerged hopeful” after meeting recently with NBA Commissioner David Stern. But Stern, who removed Hardaway from All-Star Weekend activities, “made no promises” (MIAMI HERALD, 3/14).

Edfors Makes Changes To Size Of Puma Logo On Hat

FOR THE BIRDS: In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes MASN began filming promotional spots for the upcoming MLB season at Ft. Lauderdale Stadium yesterday. But shooting was on “such a tight schedule” that Orioles SS Miguel Tejada’s spot had to be canceled because he returned from a medical checkup too late to film it. RF Nick Markakis will be featured in one spot, and manager Sam Perlozzo and P Adam Loewen will be featured in another. (Baltimore SUN, 3/14).

CAT IN THE HAT: In a Q&A with the SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, golfer Johan Edfors, when asked if he has ever been reprimanded for how he dresses on course, said, “I have a hat with a Puma on the side, and in one of the tournaments I won, they came and measured my Puma, and they said the tail was a little bit too long, so I had to cut the tail off so they would allow me to wear it” (EXPRESS-NEWS, 3/14).