The Angels will have 76 banners featuring Angel players
placed on light poles on selected streets surrounding
Anaheim Stadium to celebrate the beginning of the '97 MLB
season (Angels)....In Vancouver, Malcolm Parry writes the
"buzz" at GM Place is that Orca Bay Chair John McCaw "plans
to rename our (that is, his) Canucks hockey team the
Vancouver Orcas, thus reflecting the team-owning Orca Bay
Corp's title and eliminating the present team name's alleged
pejorative context in parts of the southern U.S." (VANCOUVER
SUN, 3/20)....The Bucs are planning a new uniform promotion
at The Pier in St. Petersburg and the waterfront in Tampa on
April 8-9. Team officials have discussed leasing the HMS
Bounty for a party at The Pier April 8 and they plan to sail
it the next day to Tampa, where they will unveil the new
uniforms (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 3/19)....The Cleveland
Browns Trust hired former Browns employee John Cicero's
I.M.S. Properties Inc., to sell sponsorships to team-related
events, including golf outings with former players, until
the actual NFL team comes in '99. Cicero will manage fan
clubs and team alumni relations. The deal does not state if
Cicero would be hired full-time once the Browns are revived.
Cicero is currently marketing software designed to aid
businesses in organizing their sports season-ticket holdings
(CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS, 3/17)....News of the Canadiens
getting a third jersey, "likely" a variation on the famous
CH design, has created a stir in Montreal. The Montreal
Gazette called the plan "CHessy and CHeerless," while
columnist Peggy Curran urged team President Ronald Corey to
"just say no. It was bad enough when the fans got
bamboozled into abandoning the beloved, grotty Forum for the
antiseptic, soulless Molson Centre" (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/20).
