Sign We've Arrived

[cohenzone]

i have a relative who is a retired former national level sportswriter. His regular beats included the NFL, NHL and some very high profile men's college hoops teams. The year Rebecca Lobo graduated, she signed the first really big female sneaker endorsement contract. I told him he should do a story. He pretty much laughed and said it's women's hoops, and a big Michael Jordan deal is more newsworthy. I begged to differ (having been a high school sportswriter) and told him I thought the Lobo story was much bigger news precisely because she played women's hoops and that people expected MJ to sign big endorsement deals.

Maybe it's because he wound up having two daughters, but now when the female Huskies reach milestones, he's usually the first to send me a congratulatory message (in obvious recognition of my key part in the program). The times they did changing.

 

[tomcat]

This is a great story.
At the very least, you had better news judgment than he did. Jordan signing the contract was "Dog bites man.," and nothing new.
Lobo signing the contract was "Man bites dog," and thus newsworthy.