Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski won his second straight Gold Medal as coach of the U.S. men's team during the London Games, and the Olympic experience has provided a "large boost" to his image, according to Laura Keeley of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. Marketing Evaluations Exec VP Henry Schafer, whose company created the Q score, said that the average coach gets a positive Q score of 18. Krzyzewski in '04 was “recognized by 43 percent of sports fans nationwide and received a Q score of 27.” His awareness “rose to 48 percent and Q score to 35” in '06. Following the most recent measurement, “taken this year before the Olympics, Krzyzewski’s awareness was at 55 percent with a Q score of 31 -- in the same range as Joe Montana and Magic Johnson.” MLB Rangers President and Baseball HOFer Nolan Ryan “is the only sports executive or coach ranked higher than Krzyzewski.” Schafer said of Krzyzewski, “An iconic figure, more or less. As far as any kind of negative reaction, it’s so low that it’s not even worth talking about. He’s not polarizing in any way” (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 8/19).
COMMERCIAL SCENE: In Ft. Lauderdale, Ira Winderman noted Heat coach Erik Spoelstra taped a commercial for Smart Infinity, “a telecommunications company in the Philippines, his ancestral homeland.” He taped the spot “during his recent trip” to the country (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 8/19).
