YOU LOVE IT: Steve Smith will be featured in a PSA for
the NBA TeamUP Program on Saturday during NBC's coverage of
the NBA Playoffs. Smith: "Everyone wins when you volunteer"
(NBAE)....Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Scott Burrell
will be featured in one of the new NBA "I Love This Game"
commercials debuting Sunday on NBC. Jordan also is featured
in a slow-mo "I Love This Game" spot (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/1).
John Starks, Charlie Ward and Allan Houston will also appear
in new "I Love This Game" spots on Sunday (N.Y. POST, 4/29).
NOTES: IL-based Burns Sports Celebrity Service booked
Walter Payton to appear on behalf of AmEx at the Food
Marketing Institute Show in Chicago on Monday (THE DAILY).
...NATIONAL SPEED SPORT NEWS's Chris Economaki, on Pep Boys'
title sponsorship of the IRL: "At this stage of the game Pep
Boys is far ahead of where RJReynolds was when it started
off with NASCAR." Pep Boys Dir of Corporate Communications
Bill Furtevic said the deal is expected to create nearly 2.7
billion impressions for Pep Boys in the first year alone
(NSSN, 4/22 issue)....Nike will team with non-profit
organization KaBOOM to build playgrounds and specially
designed rubber playground surfaces in ten cities
nationwide. Nike will contribute 75% of the money needed
for the court/playground surfaces, with the various
communities contributing the rest (DETROIT NEWS, 5/1).
