Cheap Seats
That’s using your head
Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis is endorsing the prescription drug that helped him beat a migraine headache and become the Most Valuable Player in the Super Bowl.
Davis, who has suffered from migraines since he was 7 years old, took the medicine, Migranal, during the second quarter of the Jan. 25 game in which Denver beat the Green Bay Packers 31-24.
“I’m not putting my John Hancock on something I’m not truly behind,” Davis told The Boston Globe. “This might be the beginning of a trend with endorsements.”
Davis rushed for 157 yards and became the first player to rush for three touchdowns in a Super Bowl.
Migranal, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December, is made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals, a Swiss-owned company.
“Terrell’s migraine probably was the most public migraine of the decade, coming at the worst conceivable time, right in the middle of the Super Bowl,” said Todd Forte, a spokesman for Novartis.
“It’s unfortunate that he suffered it, but the timing was a bit of serendipity for us, since Migranal is hitting the shelves this week,” he said.
Davis said details of the deal with Novartis are being worked out. Analysts predict he will get several hundred thousand dollars a year.
Davis said part of the deal is that every time he scores a touchdown next season, he and Novartis will contribute money to a new foundation created to promote research and education on migraine headaches. Fortunately, the makers of Sudafed have not announced plans to buy the NHL.
You asked for it
Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson, in response to media publicity over an apparent blown call late in last week’s Utah-New Mexico men’s basketball game, criticized the conference officiating staff Thursday for what he called inconsistent work Later Thursday, the officials working Utah’s 83-68 victory over Brigham Young called 54 personal fouls including 33 in a second half that took more than 90 minutes to play. The two teams shot a combined 75 free throws.
Coincidence? We think not.
Diversity at the microphone
Last Sunday’s Bulls-Lakers game was a bit of a bust, with the Lakers running away from the champions in the second half. However, even if the basketball is occasionally dull, there’s always plenty going on during a Lakers game at the Great Western Forum.
Take for example, NBC’s Ahmad Rashad interviewing comedian Chris Rock at courtside, and Rock blurting out: “Let me get this straight: You’re a football guy doing a basketball game … ” To which play-by-play man Bob Costas replied, “It should be pointed out to Chris Rock that football experience is virtually useless these days at NBC. You must diversify.”
Add Bulls-Lakers: It’s not Coca-Cola
The most obscene element at the Forum wasn’t even Dennis Rodman. It was advertising everywhere from that Shaq-endorsin’ soft drink company that isn’t Coca-Cola. They even outfitted the Lakers girls in their logo tight tops and had them dance to the Spice Girls’ “Generation Next” song during a timeout.
Bulls-Lakers III
One more quip from Costas: After explaining how Lakers teen whiz Kobe Bryant got his first name - it’s the same as a steak that folks order quite often in Japan, and can be pronounced “ko-BAY” or “KO-be” - the little wiseacre added: “Either way, it’s a good thing they weren’t ordering rump roast.”
The last word …
“Loy Vaught’s future with the Clippers depends not on how his back surgery went recently - it went fine. It’s on how Lorenzen Wright and Maurice Taylor pan out. If both show promise, Vaught can start packing his Samsonites. Which is why you know he’s pulling for their success.”
- Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News
, DataTimes