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Madison's Juicy Sports Stories, Featuring Bodyguards for LeBron and D-Wade

Madison Besser |
March 3, 2011 | 12:50 p.m. PST

Staff Writer

Apparently LeBron and teammate Dwyane Wade need 12 bodyguards to go out. (Creative Commons)
Apparently LeBron and teammate Dwyane Wade need 12 bodyguards to go out. (Creative Commons)
The juiciest off-field sports stories of the week, courtesy of Neon Tommy's own Madison Besser:

1. Apparently LeBron James and teammate Dwyane Wade think they are in danger 24/7. According to Terez Owens, LeBron and D-Wade had a dozen security guards with them when they ate at Hub 51 in Chicago on Feb. 25. The Heat were in town to play the Bulls the following night. The only thing they are in danger of is finishing third in the East and having to duke it out with the other Big 3 in the Big Apple in the first round of the playoffs. I like D-Wade so I’ll let it slide but so much for the tough guy from Akron.

2. What John Wooden did at UCLA was unprecedented and most likely will never be matched. Ten National Championships in 12 years, including seven straight. And let’s not forget the 88-game win streak.

UCLA played its last basketball game in historic Pauley Pavilion on Saturday and it went out in style. The Bruins blew out No. 10 Arizona in a dominant performance that seemed to be guided by the Wizard of Westwood himself.

The most amazing part of the game was the last two points in Pauley. With the walk-ons on the court in the last minute, an errant shot floated right into the lap of Tyler Trapani under the basket. Trapani, Wooden's great grandson, calmly put the ball off the backboard for a layup, the final points of the game.

It was only fitting that “the house that Wooden built” would close that way. It was the perfect ending to a historic run at Pauley Pavilion.

3. We all know Erin Andrews as the babe from ESPN who most men dream about… maybe some women too. Andrews has definitely become the heartthrob for sports junkies everywhere. It appears she is venturing out into other forms of entertainment (not just sports). Andrews tried her hand at reporting for the movie world when she did coverage of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. ”What am I doing here? I’m out of my element. I’m breaking Oscar,” she said. Although some may feel cheated on for crossing over, I’m sure many don’t mind seeing her on TV more.

4. The 2012 London Olympics logo, which was revealed in 2007, continues to be the source of controversy. The image is supposedly appealing to the world's youth with its graffiti-style "2012" image. Even though it is 2011, the logo is now causing uproar in Iran. According to the New York Daily News, the country is threatening to boycott the games because the image apparently says "Zion," a reference to Jerusalem and Israel. Bahram Afsharzadeh, the country's Olympic secretary general, has come out to say that he wrote a letter of complaint to IOC president Jacques Rogge, but the issue with the logo was not addressed. The image was also criticized in 2007 for resembling a Nazi emblem.

5. In America, we love our Big 3 sports (football, basketball and baseball) and don’t have a huge interest in “The World’s Game,” soccer. Some argue that there’s not enough scoring and it’s boring, but many take issue with the sponsorships on the front of jerseys. For whatever reason we love to see our team's name across the chest.

It was only a matter of time before the issue was brought up in the world of major American sports. Jersey sponsorships could pay huge dividends, maybe even bring the NFL owners and NFL Players Association closer together (and hopefully end the threat of a lockout).

This from the Pittsburgh Business Times:

The Pittsburgh Steelers could generate $14 million per season by slapping corporate sponsorships on players’ jerseys, while the Pittsburgh Penguins could bring in $676,938, according to a new study that estimates advertising potential of professional sports teams.

The study, conducted by Horizon Media, New York City, looked at National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League teams representing the country’s top 20 media markets and, broken out by sport, ranks the value of each team’s jerseys. The study determined a dollar figure by assigning an attribute to jersey exposure including total duration, logo isolation status, logo size and the cost of a 30-second unit in each market, as well as how many times a brand/sponsor can be viewed per game and how long it is visible at each detection.

It doesn’t matter how much money you have, $14 million a year is tough to pass up. But let’s look at this from the fan's perspective. If your team had “Best Buy” across the front of its jersey instead of its team name, you could theoretically go out and get the ace that your pitching staff is lacking (like the New York Yankees do every offseason), or use the money to get your team’s superstar to stay in your small market town (just kidding, Cavaliers and Nuggets fans). 

In all seriousness, it is very unlikely that this happens in the near future, but it is definitely something to think about down the road. After all, we don’t want our hometown teams looking like Bimbos out there.

__________________

To reach Madison Besser, click here.

She would like to send a special shout out to Jake Rosenblatt.



 

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