This Week's Newsmakers: Cycling Gets A Rare Bit Of Good News
THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of people and entities in sports business. Here are this week’s newsmakers.
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Sponsors Beginning To Return To Cycling
Ahead Of Next Month's Tour De France |
WIN: CYCLING -- With the Tour de France fast approaching, two new multi-year sponsorships shine a positive light on a sport that has faced a flurry of doping scandals in recent years. Both Columbia Sportswear and Garmin join the ranks of team sponsors ahead of cycling's premiere event, and one Garmin exec sums up the sport's future best, declaring the "tide has turned in the sport." Meanwhile, a joint marketing effort between the Tour de France's Amaury Sport Organisation and Tour of California owner AEG should provide additional support for the events on both sides of the Atlantic.
LOSE: METS -- While WILLIE RANDOLPH's firing is hardly unexpected and generally accepted as a baseball decision, the manner in which the manager is dismissed is widely criticized. After announcing the decision in a press release in the middle of the night, OMAR MINAYA and the WILPONS are panned for their bad timing and "breach of baseball protocol." One analyst says, "There is nobody on this planet that thinks the Mets handled this well."
DRAW: GOLF -- Talk about a roller-coster ride. After beginning the week with record ratings and palpable buzz from TIGER WOODS' thrilling victory in a 19-hole playoff over ROCCO MEDIATE in the U.S. Open, the sport is rudely awakened from its dream scenario by the news that Woods will undergo season-ending knee surgery. While TIM FINCHEM tries to put on a brave face, pundits around the country are nearly unanimous in their assessment of the news, saying the Ryder Cup, the remaining majors and the still-in-its-infancy FedEx Cup will suffer in Tiger's absence.
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