Our Economy Essay -- essays papers

Our economy Their season opened in Boston, against a young Celtics team that had listened to 80-year-old Red Auerbach. David Sterns name is on the basketball, Auerbach had said. not Michael Jordans. That evening, Celtics TV analyst Tom Heinsohn made sure his audience knew who Jordan is not. Hes not God, Heinsohn said. Everybody treats him like a messiah or something. He isnt. If it seems odd, at this point, for so many to be confused about Michael Jordans identity, its only because Jordan makes it confusing. He does not own the Bulls, and he isnt general manager, but as sure as they lost their opener to the Celtics and as sure as they drifted through the low gear two months of the season, he is the guy who built this team, for better or worse. briefly after the Bulls defeated the Jazz in the NBA Finals last spring, Jordan said, We deserve a chance (to win a sixth title). Much of what has followed is a government issue of Jordans desire, ambition and occasion. Phil Jackson is coach, Scottie Pippen is simmer down a part of the team, albeit disgruntled, and Dennis Rodman is back in Chicago, thanks to Jordan. The power to shape a basketball team, not honourable any team, but the defending NBA champions, winners of five titles in seven years, is revealing power, indeed. This is one reason Jordan, 34, is The Sporting News Most Powerful Person in Sports for 1997. Heres another Jim Jannard, chairman and president of Oakley, Inc., welcomed a new director, Bill Schmidt, onto his tabular array this week. California-based Oakley manufactures high-tech shades at a state-of-the-art Orange County factory. Schmidt is executive director vice president of Quaker Oats-Gatorade, creator of the successful Be similar Mike ad campaign in which Gatorade and the basketball superstar beckon thirsty consumers. Jannard and Schmidt were introduced by Jordan, an Oakley director who is developing an inside game-soaring high above boardrooms-to concomitant his outside shot as a marketing superstar. The cross-pollination of Oakley and Gatorade, Jannard and Schmidt, is a objurgation of Jordans power outside the game, just as his shaping of the Bulls reflects it within. He becomes the head start No. 1 who started as an athlete before veering into line of work and media. Previous No. 1s-Laurence Tisch (1990), David Stern (1991), Phil Knight (1992), Ted ... ...se Jordan and Jackson valued his toughness. A key big man from the 97 playoffs, Brian Williams, was lost because of the cap. As the Bulls limp toward January, Pippen still is sidelined because of foot surgery, and he demands to be traded. Rodman plays lethargically. Jacksons zen is on the blink. Only Jordan, averaging a league-leading 26.8 points, stands between the club and humiliation. In business, as with the Bulls, he has the power to be who he is, to call his shots, to control his image. A bold display of Jordans power occurred this year when two companies he represents, Nike and Oakley, collided over use of his image. Jordan has been with Nike since 1984 he earns $15 million to $20 million a year from the $9 meg behemoth. He has been with Oakley since 1995 he earns about $500,000 a year plus pack equity from the $220 million upstart. An Oakley print ad featured Jordan wearing Oakley sunglasses as well as an Oakley beret. Nike sued Oakley, claiming its contract with Jordan requires he wear Nike cut back in all of his ads. Jordan says he wore the Oakley beret because he believed at the time his comport with Nike encompassed only athletic equipment.