Pro Power.(Pro Power Sports & Marine)(Company overview) - Powersports Business

CONTACT

Pro Power Sports & Marine

6781 Highway 10 NW

Anoka, Minn.

55303

763-576-1706

www.propoweronline.com

OWNER

Todd Amar and Mike Worthington

BUSINESS PROFILE

Pro Power Sports & Marine is a recent consolidation of two, competing dealerships that once were located across the street from each other. Owners Todd Amar and Mike Worthington are friends that come from the printing industry. In 2004, Amar retired from that industry--a move that did not last long. By September of 2005, he and Worthington had purchased the two Anoka dealerships. About nine months later, they combined them into one, remodeled 35,000-square foot facility. The store carries Suzuki and Kawasaki motorcycles, Polaris, Arctic Cat, BRP, Suzuki and Kawasaki ATVs, and Sea-Doo and Kawasaki PWC. The dealership also has boats and power equipment. The store has about 33 employees.

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GREATEST CONCERNS

'My greatest concern is general economy and consumer health,' Amar said, citing limited financing options as the biggest culprit. Amar does not have a local benchmark number to compare the number of consumers that are turned down for credit, but he knows it's high. 'That's a pretty discouraging indicator of the overall general consumer health,' he said. 'They want to purchase something we sell, but they don't have' the necessary credit background or rating.

Amar also is concerned how dealers respond to competitive pressures 'by simply reducing their pricing, hoping customers will do business with them because they are the low bidder. This is a recipe for disaster. We have way too much investment risk in our business to settle for a poor return on investment simply because of lack of an alternative sales tactics,' he said.

WHAT'S HOT?

'Personal watercraft is doing really well,' Amar said, citing Sea-Doo specifically. 'In the motorcycle and ATV segments, the sport bikes segment is doing pretty decent right now. The cruiser segment is off a little bit.'

CUSTOMER BUYING TRENDS

Aftermarket parts for cruisers and sports bikes 'are down dramatically,' Amar said. 'Our parts and accessories manager is very surprised how poorly chrome and aftermarket upgrades are (doing), particularly the cruiser market.'

PARTS AND SERVICE

Knowing parts and service are among the dealership's biggest margin makers, Amar said the dealership has strived to reconnect with consumers. 'We're really trying to reach out to our market,' Amar said, 'and say, 'Hey, we're here.' We intend to be a contributing member of the community and consequently, we want to be your dealership of choice. In the past, neither dealership really had a focus on the customers. They just took what was there and didn't really mine' for more consumers. Amar and Worthington plan to use open houses and other consumer-focused events to reach their market.

PROMOTIONAL HOME RUNS

Pro Power's grand opening featured local media celebrities, professional athletes and appearances by manufacturers' officials. The result--an attendance of 2,000 people. The goal of the event was to 'introduce ourselves to the customer base and hopefully foster long-term loyalty,' Amar said, and not just a spike in sales. The event, however, did produce elevated receipts that day and 'the following couple of weeks were fairly heavy,' Amar said.

WORDS OF ADVICE

'Pay attention to your customer base,' Amar said, noting, 'it can be a frustrating business with the margin pressures and some of the things going on.

'Never lose sight of your customer base. A lot of people tend to get too diverse and try to be all things to all people. But if you're focused on your customers' wants and needs, you'll be successful.'

Ex-Soccer Pro's Patience Pays Off at Sports Shop in Hackensack, N.J. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Martha McKay, The Record, Hackensack, N.J. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 11--In 1982, soccer in the United States was sputtering.

Despite superstar players such as Pele, the New York Cosmos professional team was on the verge of folding. And baseball and football fields still dominated most schools and parks of northern New Jersey.

So it seemed like folly to some when former Cosmos goalie Hubert Birkenmeier opened a soccer store on Main Street in Hackensack.

'They would say, 'You guys are crazy,' and they shook their heads,' said Andranik Eskandarian, a former Cosmos defender who bought the store from his friend in 1985. 'You couldn't even find a soccer field in Bergen County.'

But Eskandarian, an Armenian-born soccer star, gambled times would change.

'In my heart, we know this game will get very big. We could see the light, it's gonna come,' Eskandarian said.

And come it did.

Soccer has grown from a few hundred thousand players to 18.1 million last year, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Perhaps even more surprising, especially to those familiar with the commercial decline of downtown Hackensack, is the success enjoyed by Birkenmeier Sport Shop.

Since he bought the store, Eskandarian said he has seen a steady increase in business. Eskandarian won't discuss profits.'I don't want to jinx anything.' But the Montvale resident said the store has given him a comfortable living.

It hasn't all been easy.

After the Cosmos folded, Eskandarian and his wife, Anna, who also works full time for the business, found themselves in a pickle. Much of their sales came from Cosmos-related gear: sweatshirts, jerseys, and other apparel emblazoned with the Cosmos logo.

They knew North Jersey was home to various soccer-happy ethnic groups and so decided to carry international team uniforms.

But it was a decision to stick with high-end soccer gear, in particular footwear, that Eskandarian believes made his store a destination for loyal customers.

In the back of the neatly organized shop are three walls of sports shoes, most of which are made especially for soccer. Customers will find a range of prices.

Eskandarian pointed to a pair of $50 cleats, saying he sells maybe five or six pairs per year. 'These,' he said, hefting a slick pair of red Nikes that retail for $165, 'I'll sell maybe 30 or 40 pairs per year.'

At the height of the outdoor season in the spring, the shop stocks between 300 and 400 types of soccer shoes. In April, said Eskandarian, grinning in anticipation of the World Cup this summer, 'We're going to get World Cup shoes -- $200 -- I'm very excited for those.'

This is not gear for a child player, Eskandarian said. Although the store sells children's soccer shoes and sneakers, it is not something the store emphasizes.

Parents, he rationalizes, aren't likely to travel to his store to buy soccer shoes for the fast-growing feet of a child when they can pick up a reasonably priced shoe at a large retailer.

On the other hand, for an older child getting serious about the sport, the attention, advice, and expertise that both men provide to loyal customers keep them coming back.

These are not your ordinary shoe salesmen.

It's safe to say a customer wouldn't find any two people more steeped in soccer lore and history than Birkenmeier and Eskandarian, known to the soccer-playing world as 'Eski.'

Both were soccer-crazed from a young age, Birkenmeier in a tiny town in Germany where he and his pals would stand on wooden boxes and peek through tavern windows to watch the German national team on TV, and Eskandarian in Armenia.always scolded by his father for ruining yet another pair of shoes kicking a soccer ball around with playmates.

Birkenmeier had some retail experience in Germany before he signed with the Cosmos in 1979. He sank $50,000 into the new venture on Main Street. Although Birkenmeier sold the business to his friend when he left the East Coast to play for a pro team in Chicago, he returned several years ago to help out.

Of those early days, Birkenmeier recalled: 'You could already see the growth of soccer, and you couldn't find soccer equipment anywhere. There was one store in New York City.'

Competition has been on the rise as other soccer specialty stores have opened in the area. Eskandarian doesn't worry about competitors.

'We bring good quality and people come,' Eskandarian said.

The growth of soccer not only helped boost sales, but also changed who shops in his store.

In the first years, women made up about 1 percent of his business, he estimated. Today, they account for about 30 percent, he said.

Despite challenges with parking (customers often hunt for spaces on Main Street), Eskandarian has no plans to leave. 'We've had a lot of offers from shopping centers to move but we are very happy here; we're never going to leave,' he said.

To see more of The Record, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.NorthJersey.com.

(c) 2002, The Record, Hackensack, N.J. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

BETHEL IS A PRO WITH A GOAL.(Sports) - Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)

ALBANY -- For now, maybe forever, just call Kimdo Bethel by his nickname.

'I'm the X Factor now,' the heavyweight boxer said Thursday afternoon. 'I like that name.'

At 6-foot-3 with a 220-pound chiseled frame, who's going to argue with him?

Bethel, who has been known as one of the best amateur boxers in his weight class for years, will try to shake that moniker very soon. He is making his highly anticipated first professional fight next month when he takes on Shafi Abdulmumim (3-1, no knockouts) of Queens in a four-round bout at Bruno Stadium on Aug. 7.

Tickets are $30-50 and available by calling 330-9533 or 813-3416.

'There is no more laughing, there is no more try agains, there are no more maybes and no more ifs, ands or buts,' Bethel said after working out at the City of Albany Department of Recreation's Boxing Club on Quail Street. 'All of that is out the window. I used to dream about this but I don't anymore. Now, I am on a mission.'

Bethel spent nearly 10 years on the amateur trail and owns a Silver Gloves national championship and under-19 national championship. He was named as an alternate to last year's Olympic boxing team but never got to make the trip to China.

People he meets in stores and the gym and on the street all have had the same question for him: When are you going to go pro? He doesn't have to answer that question anymore.

He had an 82-6 record as an amateur. He hasn't fought in almost a year because there wasn't anything left for him to do as an amateur. Bethel and trainer Vladimir Koshnitsky have bided their time, waiting for the moment when the fighter was ready.

He's ready now.

'Kimdo's head is on straight and he can do this,' Koshnitsky said. 'His confidence is very high and I have no complaints because he works very hard. He is very serious about this.'

Bethel, who moonlighted as a security guard during Albany Patroons games at Washington Avenue Armory over the winter, works out four hours per day. He is also employed at the Quail Street club.

Bethel, 24, hopes to fight seven times in the next year. He hopes to move up the heavyweight ladder and get noticed. He hopes to win a title one day, dreams every young fighter has.

'I've accepted the challenges,' Bethel said. 'I am going to do whatever I have to do to get the goal. The only way I am going to be satisfied is if I do go all the way.'

Tim Wilkin can be reached at 454-5415 or by e-mail at twilkin@timesunion.com.

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Cindy Schultz/Times Union

NEW LAFAYETTE GOLF PRO TESORI SAYS THANKS.(Sports)(Column) - The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)

Byline: JOE TESORI GOLF COLUMNIST

Editor's note: Joe Tesori, the longtime director of golf at Drumlins who was let go in a financial restructuring last month, has accepted a new job as head professional at LaFayette Hills Golf & Country Club.

The world just seemed simpler some 50 years ago. People listened to the radio at night, television had two colors (yes, black and white), families went for a ride in the car on Sunday afternoons, stores were only open on Thursday nights, and parents/children actually sat down to eat together in the evening.

Choices were also simpler and people had values, traditions, and heritage. The elderly were revered for their time spent on Earth and the knowledge that they had acquired. People said 'Yes, sir. ... No, Ma'am. ...' They took their hat off when they walked into a restaurant, house or business, and they went to college to secure a career after graduation.

Not bad stuff, huh? And you know what, people always said 'Thank you' when appropriate. Well, my friends, as we embark on a new season, let me be the first to tell the Syracuse community 'Thank you' for all the support you have given this'ol pro the past 30-plus years.

I have been so blessed to have worked as a golf professional in this closely knit community since my first job at Onondaga Golf and Country Club in 1973 and now will be continuing my career at Lafayette Hills as their head golf professional. You all have been such loyal readers of my column for years here in The Post-Standard, and so many have taken instruction that I feel so blessed to have reached so many.

The golf professional for years has followed a very simple creed: 'Honesty, integrity and fair dealing.' The game itself demands a lot from we who participate, but it gives back so much more. As a club professional, we have the opportunity to touch many people's lives, young and old alike. We really help make a difference in the size of their smile each and every day.

You know, my dad Charlie told me as his days here on our planet were nearing an end to judge my life as to how many people I helped have a better day. Good advice from a wise man. Furthermore, he said that life, like golf, was not made to be fair. How we dealt with adversity, or a bad bounce, would be our legacy.

For the past several weeks, I have had much time to reflect and redirect. There is no benefit in self-pity, nor should we ever dwell on past occurrences.

I liken it to the sage golfer who was having a great round, with only a little over two holes left to play. Everything had worked out during the round pretty much according to his game plan, and as he was about to hit his approach shot to the 16th green, there was no reason not to believe that another successful result was in the script. But alas, a finely struck shot took a totally unplanned, unforeseen and horrific bounce into the depths of the hazard surrounding the green.

The golfer wondered 'Why me? What did I do? Where did I go wrong? What will the spectators think?' His caddy told him to take a deep breath, figure out where to drop his ball so as to provide him with the best chance to finish out the hole and then move on to the final holes left to play.

It was tough, much tougher than he thought any bad break could ever be, but his dad's words and all his fans in the crowd helped him to realize that he was a good player, and that while it was a bad bounce, it should not and would not disrupt his mission to finish strong and with dignity.

A well-thought-out next shot turned out successful, and he left the hole with a bogey, not in the large scheme of things anything negative enough to dwell on. And, interestingly enough, while I forget how the golfer finished the round, it occurred to me that it was not important, but rather what I realized was that he dealt with the bad bounce with the dignity that he lived his life with.

To my friends, thank you for your support of my efforts these past 30-plus years to help you understand why I love this great game. For in the end, it is the people who make up the game, not the bad bounces. And, like life, golf can be simple and very rewarding if we adhere to the honor, dignity and fair dealing that stand firmly as the principles with which we should treat one another. Let us move forward together this next season on our journey toward that next shot, that next hole, and that next smile.

YOU TROLLEY BAD SPORTS; Anger at store's World Cup mix-up.(News) - The Mirror (London, England)

Byline: SUE CASTLE

TESCO was branded two-faced yesterday for knocking England's bid to win the World Cup - at its stores in Wales and Scotland.

The supermarket giant has put up posters in hundreds of English stores reading, 'pounds 50 cashback if England win the World Cup'.

But in their Welsh and Scottish supermarkets the posters have been changed to say, 'pounds 50 cashback if England fluke the World Cup'.

Tesco were under fire yesterday from soccer fans across the borders who are backing David Beckham, Michael Owen and their team for glory.

The chain were accused of being hypocrites by being both pro-England and anti-England at the same time across Britain.

Tesco chiefs admitted the two-sided campaign - but said they were trying to score with all their shoppers all of the time.

Fay Hogg, head of communications at Tesco said: 'It was an internal idea and it was actually an Englishman who came up with it.

'We don't want to cause offence and we expect that everyone will take it in the sporting way it was intended.' Stores are given the option of choosing the pro-England or anti-England advertising material promoting Tesco motor insurance.

Ms Hogg said: 'It's up to individual stores. Some Welsh stores, particularly those near the border have requested the main ad, which is understandable.

'It's all a bit of fun and we want to get as many as we can backing England.'

But England fan Peter Griffin, 27, who lives in Cardiff, claimed Tesco were being two-faced.

He said: 'Either they are behind David Beckham and his team or they aren't.

'It's wrong for Tesco to knock England's campaign in Wales because a lot of people here will be supporting them.'

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American Consumers Root for the Underdogs: Gymnastics, Figure Skating, Men's Golf, High School Sports and Pro Boxing Rank High in Fan Interest. - Marketing Weekly News

American consumers have typically shown unwavering support for the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, College Football and Basketball, NASCAR and the Olympics. In fact, the latest study from Scarborough Sports Marketing shows over half (53 percent) of American adults are 'Avid Fans' of one of these sports. When we eliminate these time-honored sports from the conversation, we are left with an intriguing list of fan favorites which include sports like Figure Skating, Gymnastics, Men's Golf, High School Sports and Pro Boxing.* Scarborough Sports Marketing defines 'Avid Fans' as consumers who are 'very interested' and 'Fans' as respondents who are 'very, somewhat or a little interested' in a given sport.

American sports fans have been opening their minds and wallets to a host of diverse sports. Avid Fans of these sports are often characterized by distinct audience demographics. For instance, 73% of Avid Gymnastics Fans are female and 81% of Avid Figure Skating Fans are female. This is a unique demographic makeup since Avid Fans of sports like the Olympics, Women's Tennis and the WNBA - classically 'female friendly' sports - are only about 50% female. This notable demographic base helps explain findings such as: Gymnastics Fans are 53% more likely than all American adults to schedule a spa day, 30% more likely to visit a jewelry store and 33% more likely to visit a bridal store. Similarly, Figure Skating Fans are 28% more likely to visit a florist and 27% more likely to visit a dry cleaner.

Another demographically interesting sport is Pro Boxing. Though European Soccer, Major League Soccer and Mexican Soccer are all leagues with large Hispanic fan bases, Pro Boxing is the non-soccer sports league with the highest percentage of Hispanics among its Avid Fans - 35%. Avid Pro Boxing Fans are also 58% more likely than all American adults to use their smartphones to: listen to or download music, 67% more likely to check sports scores and updates, and a staggering 110% more likely to watch free TV programs.

When we look at the ever-growing domain of competitive Motor Sports, we see another differentiating demographic. Formula One Racing attracts the highest percentage of Avid Fans with $100K in annual household income, more than any of the eight Motor Sports measured. Overall, Formula One Racing Fans are 7% more likely than other motor sports Fans to own homes with $500K+ market values, yet Formula One Racing Fans are also 25% more likely to hold blue collar jobs.

'Looking beyond the obvious can represent new possibilities for advertisers, marketers and other sponsors to reach targeted or key demographic groups,' said Bill Nielsen, vice president, Scarborough Sports Marketing. 'The major sports, of course, allow marketers to reach the masses, but if you only focus there you are missing an important opportunity to market to the 37% of Americans who are very interested in sports that fall outside of the usual suspects.'

A local market look shows West Palm Beach, FL represents the top local market* * for Figure Skating, with 43% of adults characterized as Fans of the sport. Salt Lake City was overwhelmingly supportive of Gymnastics with 45% Fans and Harlingen, TX is the top market for Pro Boxing with 37% of the market considered Fans.

Scarborough Sports Marketing measures avidity levels for 41 different sports, and the table below summarizes the percentage of American adults who are 'Fans' of each. Highlighted in blue are the sports that are consistently high ranking.

* Interviews were conducted between March and August 2011 and therefore may be influenced by seasonality.

* * Top local market among the 77 measured markets for adults 18+. For a full listing of measured markets please visit http://scarborough.com/schedule.php.

Scarborough Sports Marketing Fan Rankings for American Adults, Age 18+

Total % (Very, Somewhat or A Little

Keywords: Advertising, Entertainment, Sporting Activities - Skating.

PAYING THE PRICE IS KEYES FOOTBALL: FORMER UCLA, BIRMINGHAM HIGH STANDOUT HOPES BRUTAL WORKOUT REGIMEN GETS HIM A SHOT WITH PRO TEAM.(Sports) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

Byline: Ramona Shelburne

Staff Writer

It was hard to watch.

The weights workout had been brutal. An hour of hard, hard lifting. Set after set, each time to fatigue, which, by definition, means that you lift until your arms are so tired you want to quit, and then you squeeze out another couple reps.

But it was nothing compared to the abdominal workout Kertic Carruth had in store for them on this day: Six minutes of non-stop abs. And these were no ordinary sit-ups.

Each guy had to hold a 45-pound weight in his arms while he did sit-ups and Russian twists -- which feel about even more sadistic as they sound -- for six minutes, non-stop.

About three minutes in, Dennis Keyes looks like he wants to barf. He sits up for a couple seconds, looks around the room at his teammate from UCLA, Chris Markey, and then his former Birmingham High of Lake Balboa teammate, Ramal Porter. They don't look much better. At the moment, Porter is actually sprawled out on his back, trying to summon the energy to continue.

This is the point when you find out how much you really want it.

The NFL is everyone's dream of course, but not everyone has the will, or the intestinal fortitude, to make that dream a reality. Keyes -- who didn't hear his name called Saturday in the first two rounds of the NFL draft -- has been projected as high as a third-round pick to as low as a free agent signee.

So Carruth yells out, 'Keep going! You wanna get paid? Do you? This is how you get paid!'

Keyes pauses for a second, his face turns serious again, and he presses on. He doesn't just want to get paid, he needs to.

He's a father now. In January, his longtime girlfriend Krystan Dutton gave birth to a girl, Nalia Elise Keyes. As soon as his future is a bit more settled, Keyes said he they're planning to get married.

'Having a kid changes everything, it turns your whole life upside down. Everything I do is for her now. I've got to step up and be a man now. So this -- this, is strictly business,' he said. 'I'm not the carefree kid I was when I left Birmingham. I still goof off, I'm still a goober, because that's just me. But I'm a lot more serious now because I know I gotta step up and take it to the next level.'

At this moment, the next level means three more minutes of hellacious Russian twists with a 45-pound weight. And it ain't easy.

By the end of it, all three guys look like they're about to drop. It takes a few minutes for each to even stand up afterwards. But if you sit too long, it's worse. The lactic acid will make you cramp up, so Keyes wobbles out of the weight room for some fresh air.

'Every workout is like that,' he said. 'If you get to the end of one of coach Carruth's workouts and you don't feel like you're going to barf, you haven't done it right.'

Carruth knows what he's doing though. He's been training NFL prospects for the draft for almost a decade and has become something of a guru for guys looking to get stronger, faster or tougher before they head to the next level.

He's known Keyes for years. Was his running back coach at Birmingham when Keyes led the Patriots to the City Section title in 2002. Then trained him in the off-seasons, during his years at UCLA, where Keyes played safety.

As good as Keyes was at UCLA -- he was the team's defensive MVP as a senior -- Carruth knew he had to push him hard if Keyes wanted to stick with an NFL team.

'I had to make him realize that people don't care what he did in college,' Carruth said. 'So I pushed him hard. I made his workouts at like 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning, so he couldn't go out on Friday nights, I put him against other guys who were just as physically gifted as he was.

'The first three weeks were hard for him. But adjusted quickly, and he really stepped up. I could see how much more mature he was. When I talk to him, it's all business now.'

The changes are visible, too. The normally lithe, 198-pound safety is now a thick, mean 207-pounder. And after the Senior Bowl, Keyes shaved off his trademark dreadlocks.

That may not sound like a big deal. But this was no ordinary haircut.

'I've had my hair long for seven years. You get attached to it. And it made my mom real (upset) because she always liked all her boys to have long hair,' he said. 'But I wanted to be free of it. I wanted to feel free of it.'

At first it felt weird. He actually caught a cold three days later. But symbolically, it was exactly what he needed.

'This is the first time I've really been out on my own,' Keyes said.

He remains a Valley boy. During college, he'd always come home on the weekends, or show up at a Birmingham game Friday nights. Even now, he's made a point of going to as many of his brother Julius' track meets as he can.

'I'm never going to forget where I came from,' he said.

But now it's time to get paid.

Keyes wants it, he needs it.

'I know I'm not the most hyped guy. I feel like I should've got more hype. But that's OK,' he said. 'It just gives me extra incentive. Every workout, everything we do, we want to work harder than everybody else so that when we get into camp, we're ready to go, we're ready to make it.'

ramona.shelburne@dailynews.com

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Former UCLA standout Dennis Keyes has been projected as high as a third-round pick.

Minnesotan adjusts to life in the minors; Mike Restovich has displayed plenty of potential during first full year of pro ball.(SPORTS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

When Mike Restovich was growing up in Rochester, Minn., he would play one-on-one baseball against his older brother in the back yard. His brother, George, insisted on pretending he was a Twin. Mike had to be a Tiger.

Years later, the Tigers drafted George, and the Twins drafted Mike.

'Strange, how that happened,' Mike Restovich said.

These days George, having decided a promising baseball career was not as secure a future as an attorney's, is attending law school in St. Louis. Mike, the Twins' second-round draft pick last year, is studying in baseball's school of hard knocks - the Appalachian League.

'I played with my brother last summer for a couple of weeks, until I broke my wrist,' Restovich said. 'That was one of my biggest thrills in baseball, to play with him.'

Restovich admits he hasn't had many career highlights. He looks more like a power forward than a power hitter, and he concentrated on basketball at Rochester Mayo. 'High school baseball in Minnesota really isn't that big a deal,' he said. 'Baseball really only lasts a couple of months in Minnesota, and half the games are canceled. I really haven't played that much baseball in my life.'

Which is why Restovich is both a raw and undeniable talent. After playing third base in high school, he's being converted to right field at rookie-league Elizabethton. He's considered a 'five-tool' player, meaning he should be able to hit for average and power, run, field and throw.

After a batting-practice session in which he pounded balls far over the fence at Joe O'Brien Field, Twins minor league fields coordinator Larry Corrigan said: 'That was un-be-lievable. Hitting them out to left field isn't that big a deal here, but anyone who can backspin the ball over the 414 sign in center is doing something.'

Restovich is batting .357 with five homers and 31 RBI since Elizabethton's season started in mid-June. He has a strong arm, although he has yet to master an outfielder's footwork. At this level, scouts look for raw ability and 'coachability' - and Restovich has both.

'You ask who my favorite players have been here, well, he's already up there,' Elizabethton general manager Ray Smith said. 'He's got all the ability and he's got outstanding work habits and a quality head on his shoulders. He's very mature for a 19-year-old. He'll give the people in the Twin Cities a lot of enjoyment one day.'

Elizabethton manager Jon Mathews put it this way: 'He's going to be a PR person's dream.'

Said former Elizabethton general manager Carmon Dugger: 'I think he's going to make it.'

High school players can take four or five years to reach the majors. Restovich knew that when he signed with the Twins instead of accepting a scholarship to Notre Dame.

'I basically went all summer thinking I'd go to Notre Dame,' Restovich said. 'That had always been my goal. Before I realized I might get drafted, Notre Dame was a lock. But once I was drafted, that made things difficult. The more the summer went on, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that what I wanted to do with my life was play baseball. And signing would give me the best chance to succeed.

'I know some people think they need to go to college as a part of the maturing process, but I've always been around older people. I thought I could handle it.'

On a recent weekday, Restovich sat at an aluminum picnic table in Elizabethton's clubhouse, eating lunch out of a Styrofoam container of grocery-store food. As he talked, an old movie played on the television stacked on top of the lockers and he handed out morsels to teammates, who were dressing quietly.

'This is a strange life,' Restovich said. 'You usually don't know if it's Tuesday or Saturday, because the routine's the same. Education is very important to my family, and my parents worry that I'm not reading enough. My dad got me the Kirby Puckett book, and I'm starting to read it now.

'Sometimes I talk to them on the phone, and start talking the way I talk in here, and I must sound like I've never spoken the language before.'

Restovich worried about spending his first four years out of high school in the lower minors, not high education. So far, he has been happy with Elizabethton, the Twins' organization, and teammates.

Arkansas-Based Pizza Pro to Open Combination Food Store in Beaumont, Texas. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Dan Wallach, The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 19--BEAUMONT, Texas--Jeffrey Gardner and James Locke had a dream and now are making it a reality.

By the middle of March, the partners plan to open their combination Pizza Pro-Subway sandwich-Blue Bell ice cream store at 1175 Washington Blvd.

The partners hope their venture will accomplish at least three major goals.

First, they want to show investment in the African-American community is not only possible, but could help people to start building wealth in an area outside of the West End.

Second, they want the new business to become the first of many in Southeast Texas built on their Pizza Pro franchise, which is based in Arkansas.

Third, they want to set an example as mentors for young people of any race that building a business is possible.

'We have so many athletes that young people look up to,' Gardner said. 'But we want to show what you can accomplish if you work hard. Anybody can reasonably do it. It's not a difficult feat.'

The three major U.S. sports leagues employ about 3,200 highly paid athletes. The chance for a career in the pros is more than remote.

But the chance to become something like a 'Pizza Pro' is much more realistic, Gardner and Locke said.

Gardner, 32, and Locke, who says he is a 'younger 32,' have planned the business for the past nine months, but their association dates to childhood, they said.

'We're all a product of our environment,' Locke said.

'We've always tried to surround ourselves with people like us the same vision, the same goals, the same aspirations. We're going to have to make a living one day.'

Gardner said something similar and sinister revolves around the drug culture.

Referring to an example of how people get caught up in activities that can destroy their futures, he said: 'If someone I know is selling drugs, I might buy them, or I might sell them.'

Locke said a business could help people unlock their creativity in a positive manner.

'If people used their creativity more, the crime rate would go down. You've got to make up your mind, find a concept and go forward,' he said.

'I don't know any drug dealer who sells drugs for 25 years and retires peacefully. It just doesn't happen.'

Gardner and Locke decided early on to take the long view, which they said requires discipline, particularly when it came to financing their venture.

'We saved every nickel,' Locke said.

'We had to make sacrifices,' said Gardner, whose father, George, has developed the Subway sandwich store franchises in Southeast Texas.

'My dad didn't give us anything in this deal,' Gardner said.

And then they had to assemble their business plan and approach lending institutions to arrange for financing.

In all, their business will have cost perhaps $350,000 to build and launch.

Community Bank & Trust backed them, but they were turned down by a couple of other local lenders.

'They (other banks) still don't want to deal with minorities,' Gardner said. 'We just want to be treated equally. We needed a couple of hundred thousand to do the project. Some wouldn't even call back. Very unprofessional. They wouldn't even look at our financials.'

Locke said they were very prepared before they applied for a loan.

'If we didn't get it, we wanted to know why so we could fix it,' he said.

Locke also brought to the table his general contracting company, Premier Custom Homes and Development.

'I've always enjoyed designing,' he said. 'Six years ago, I wanted to build a house. So I designed it and hired subcontractors.'

Locke's company is acting as general contractor for the Pizza Pro-Subway construction, which will be the first freestanding store in the region.

There also are Pizza Pro shops in Port Arthur and Beaumont as part of other stores.

Their building is up and the interior work is well under way.

The project restored a productive land use to a previously vacant lot that beforehand had been a small apartment complex that had burned, they said.

The new construction also serves as proof that investment in the south end of Beaumont is a good thing, they said.

'When you spend money in the West End, it stays in the West End. It doesn't help this community,' Gardner said. 'What we want to do is create a business, provide employment, and circulate these dollars back in this community. That's the only way to build wealth.'

Dowlen Road has been the scene of Beaumont's largest commercial and residential construction in the past few years.

The partners said they understood profits earned by national chains in the West End leave the community, but also point to local stores that have built new branches along Dowlen Road.

Meanwhile, investments in the south part of the city are few and far between.

Locke and Gardner expect to employ about 25 people in the new store, which will be open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

They expect the people they employ to use their creativity on the job, also.

'I started out putting lettuce and pickles on a sandwich,' Gardner said. 'But I wanted something bigger. Just because you're browning a pizza doesn't mean that that's the ceiling.'

Neither Locke nor Gardner sympathize with the excuse that people have to leave Beaumont to find work.

'You can't say there are no jobs here, so I'll be a miserable failure,' Gardner said. 'So, you create one. That is the entrepreneurial spirit. Mentally, you've got to have the mindset to overcome barriers and obstacles. We've had obstacles, but it hasn't deterred us.'

Locke said both he and Gardner are parents and they want their children to see their own possibilities in the examples their fathers set.

'They'll be products of their environment,' he said.

To see more of The Beaumont Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.southeasttexaslive.com

Logoed-apparel buyers play by their own rules: ESPN Chilton Sports Poll tracks store and team preference, and buying factors. - Daily News Record

NEW YORK -- One of the keys to success in sports apparel retailing, as in all retailing, is knowing the customer. But when it comes to the sports apparel customer, there is a lot more to know.

Retailers carrying sports apparel must deal with such non-store variables as team standings, player loyalties, new franchises and a host of other sports-related issues in addition to the usual problems associated with building inventory and merchandising programs.

Some help for the perplexed retailer comes from a tracking study of consumers conducted by the ESPN Chilton Sports Poll. Last year this research group interviewed over 8,000 consumers about their attitudes towards sports-related issues, including apparel purchases. When it comes to describing those consumers who buy or own apparel items carrying college team or professional team logos, the study is a virtual playbook. It provides the latest insights into this market both in terms of size and value; it also profiles the apparel sports-logo customer in terms of store preference, team preference and buying factors.

Here are the highlights:

More than half of the U.S. population over 12 years of age (51 percent) bought an apparel item with a college or profession team logo in 1996.

29.6% bought an item with a professional logo.

16 percent bought an item with a college logo.

5 percent bought both college- and professional-logo apparel items

On average, about 25 percent of the population spends money on sports- related items every week.

About two-thirds of those dollars are spent on apparel items.

Half of those interviewed said design/fashion is very important in the decision to buy logo sports apparel; 91 percent reported design/fashion as playing a part in the purchase decision.

84 percent said quality is very important in the decision; 99 percent of respondents interviewed noted that quality plays some part in the selection of logo apparel.

50 percent of sports apparel buyers said price was a very important factor in the purchase; 92 percent reported price as a consideration in the purchase of logo apparel.

While the ESPN Chilton Sport Poll does not answer all the questions surrounding the reasons for logo apparel purchases, it does provide insights into the demographic differences among sports-logo apparel buyers in terms of where they shop, league support and key purchase factors.

The ESPN Chilton Sports Poll data compares four major retail groups by 45 demographic characteristics. It uses an index as a measure, comparing survey responses against the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. An index number above 115 indicates greater activity than in the general population. An index number below 85, less buying than would be expected in the population. Here's how it works on a question such as: 'Among pro-league apparel logo owners, which league is favored by African Americans?'

These numbers tell a story. If you are carrying sports-logo apparel and you have an African American clientele, you had better be carrying a lot of NBA logos. The survey indicates no major strength among African Americans for NHL logos, average sales potential with NFL logos, stronger opportunities with MLB logos and a bonanza with NBA logos. The poll indicates buying rates at more than double the numbers found in the population.

The ESPN Chilton Sports Poll provides a profile of customers along demographic lines, allowing comparison of apparel logo buyers (both male and female) by different classes of trade. Respondents' answers are analyzed against standard Census data to provide an index.

It works like this. According to the ESPN Chilton Sports Poll, among the 51 percent of the population who have bought college and/or pro logo apparel, 18.1 percent purchased items from a mass merchandiser like Kmart or Wal-Mart.

Furthermore, 30.6 percent of the buyers are 25-35 years of age. According to Census numbers, only 19.5 percent of the population is in this age group. The mass market's index for customers in this age group is 156 (30.6 divided by 19.5). This means that there are 56% more sports-logo apparel buyers in this age group than are found in the general population. Now let's compare this group with buyers who purchased at specialty stores such as Foot Locker or Champs. Here the index is 115, indicating that there were only slightly more buyers of logo apparel in this age group than in the general population. In effect, discounters were attracting more buyers in this group than specialty stores.

Wanted: Hollywood ending; ValleyCats left-hander goes from deli aisle to pro baseball.(Sports) - Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)

Byline: MARK SINGELAIS - Staff Writer

TROY - As Jeff Icenogle worked the night shift in a California supermarket, it did occur to him that his dream of a major league baseball career might be over.

'The thought definitely entered my mind,' Icenogle said. 'But I never gave up the hope, and I just kept going after it.' Icenogle, a Tri-City ValleyCats pitcher, was out of baseball for two years after undergoing major surgery on his pitching shoulder in June 2004.

During that time, he toiled in the dairy and deli section and worked as a cashier at Vons, a Los Angeles-area supermarket chain.

Safe to say, he likes his new job a little better.

Icenogle, a left-handed middle reliever, will suit up for his first professional game tonight, when the ValleyCats open their sixth season in the New York-Penn League with a game at the Vermont Lake Monsters.

Tri-City, a short-season Class A affiliate of the Houston Astros, plays its home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday against the Oneonta Tigers at Bruno Stadium in Troy.

Icenogle, 23, wore his Tri-City uniform during the team's Media Day festivities on Monday.

'It definitely makes you appreciate the finer things in life,' he said. 'I'm out here playing baseball every day. Millions of people would like to be doing what we're doing.'

Icenogle and right-handed pitcher Cardoza Tucker, who played for the independent Yuma Scorpions, are the only players on the Tri-City roster who aren't joining the ValleyCats from straight out of college or elsewhere in the Houston farm system.

Icenogle said he's aware he might have more to prove to the Astros than a drafted player.

'Sometimes there's some politics involved where a lot of high draft picks get to move up to certain levels,' he said. 'Being a summer-sign undrafted (player), I'm out here working my hardest every day, but you kind of have to prove yourself a little more.'

New ValleyCats manager Pete Rancont said he's still learning about Icenogle.

'I can't tell you a whole lot about him, other than he's a good competitor,' Rancont said. 'He's going to throw strikes, and he's a very hard worker.'

Icenogle needed that work ethic after blowing out his shoulder while pitching for Pasadena (Calif.) City College in 2004. His labrum and rotator cuff were partially torn, and his biceps tendon ripped off the bone.

He had exhausted his junior college eligibility, and four-year schools weren't jumping at the opportunity to take a pitcher coming off a serious shoulder injury.

So Icenogle endured the drudgery of daily rehabilitation and continued his job at Vons, where he'd worked since high school. He played the infield in a slow-pitch softball league just to stay active.

His patience paid off last year. He got a phone call from a friend who played on a Los Angeles Dodgers scout team, which gives high school and older players a chance for exposure. The friend told Icenogle the team needed left-handed pitching.

Icenogle pitched for the Norwalk Dodgers and was noticed by Astros scout Chuck Stone, who managed an opposing team and liked what he saw in the left-hander with a heavy fastball and three other effective pitches. The Houston organization agreed and signed Icenogle last August. Former Astro Enos Cabell, now a special assistant, compares Icenogle to Tom Glavine.

Icenogle has show business in his blood: He's the great-grandson of Oscar-winning actor Ed Begley and great-nephew of actor Ed Begley Jr. And his story has a Hollywood feel to it.

'He's got an excellent shot as long as he stays healthy and strong,' Stone said. 'Being in a grocery store, it sounds like something out of (the movie) 'Major League.' It's all storybook.'

Mark Singelais can be reached at 454-5507 or by e-mail at msingelais@timesunion.com.

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BLOWN ENGINE HALTS WORSHAM JOHNSON ALSO HAS PROBLEMS IN PRO STOCK.(Sports) - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Yesterday's opening qualifying session wasn't exactly the way Del Worsham envisioned starting the defense of his Northwest Nationals Funny Car title. The motor on Worsham's Checker-Schuck's-Kragen Pontiac exploded at the starting line, and he was unable to even attempt a qualifying run.

``That was one of those really lucky or really unlucky deals,'' said Worsham, who ended an eight-year winless streak when he won at SIR last summer. ``It was unlucky, because we exploded a bunch of brand new stuff. It was lucky because it happened there, and not down track at 300 miles per hour.''

Worsham wasn't the only defending race winner with opening-round frustrations. Pro Stock driver Kurt Johnson's Chevy Camaro had mechanical problems and he posted the worst time of the 26 entries.

UP IN SMOKE: Significant changes are in store for NHRA's title sponsor, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and its Winston cigarette brand. As part of ``big tobacco's'' 1998 master settlement with the federal government, RJR can only maintain one title sponsorship - using a brand name such as Winston or Camel - following the 2001 season. Since the company currently sponsors the NHRA and NASCAR, that means it must make a choice between the two race series or use clever semantics.

With several series and teams following under the NASCAR banner, it might seem obvious that Winston stays there, but Denny Darnell, RJR's sports marketing enterprises senior manager of media relations, cautions that no decision has been made. After all, Winston has been aligned with the NHRA for the past 28 years.

LOCAL SHOWING: Tacoma driver Pat Austin topped the Federal Mogul Series Funny Car qualifying yesterday with a 5.764-second, 252.05-mph run. His uncle Bucky was ninth quickest entering today's final qualifying session. Each has won this event three times, and Pat is the defending winner.

Brandon Henkelman of San Jose, Calif., led Federal Mogul dragster qualifying with a fast run of 5.395 seconds. Dale Carlson of Olympia was the top local qualifier with a third best time of 5.511 seconds. Mark Hentges of Federal Way was fifth quickest, and Graham's Kim Parker qualified eighth.

TWIST IN FATE: Pro Stock points leader Jeg Coughlin Jr. has a series-best six victories this season and a hefty 189-point advantage atop the standings. But when it comes to Seattle International Raceway, Coughlin has been less than spectacular. In three visits here - two in Pro Stock and another in Sportsman - he has never advanced past the first round.

``I still think this is a great track,'' Coughlin said.

Things looked up for Coughlin yesterday. He was third quickest in opening-round qualifying.

CLEAN RACING: The NHRA is feeling good about new rules instituted for the season - especially the emphasis on minimizing oildowns. Through the first 12 events, there have been only 13 hours and 23 minutes of down time for track crews to clean up oil spills.

That's a little more than an hour a race - a far cry from previous seasons. The NHRA is now penalizing drivers - both monetarily and points-wise - when their cars leave oil on tracks and cause delays.

NORTHWEST NATIVE: Pro racer Cristen Powell of Portland was noticeably absent from SIR's entry list. Powell was let go from the Al Hofmann-owned Funny Car team in mid-June after making the transition from Top Fuel dragsters.

Tommy Johnson, who replaced Powell, still is looking to qualify for his first national event with the team.

Fly-Fishing Pro Hooks Anglers on Sport. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Jeffrey Sparshott, The Washington Times Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Oct. 10--Larry Coburn's job is to think like a fish.

Where do they like to swim? What do they like to eat?

When do they like to eat it?

Mr. Coburn, a fly-fishing professional at Bass Pro Shops in Hanover, Md., is in the business of psyching out trout and helping other anglers to do the same.

'If you feel you've learned it all, that's when you've lost,' says Mr. Coburn, who started fly-fishing 24 years ago when he was 22.

Now he manages Bass Pro's fly-fishing shop, advises customers what equipment to buy, where to go, and teaches fly-casting and fly-tying classes. He also acts as a guide for sportsmen who want a full-day, first-person lesson.

About 11.5 million people fly-fished in the United States last year, and retail sales for the outdoor activity reached $686 million, according to the American Fly Fishing Trade Association. The number of participants is up 16 percent and sales of fly-casting equipment are up slightly, 1.5 percent, over the past two years, an association spokeswoman says.

In Maryland, trout fishing is possible largely because of an extensive state program -- with a budget just under $2 million funded through licenses and excise taxes on fishing equipment -- to stock streams and rivers.

The state Department of Natural Resources stocks almost 300,000 trout annually, according to Bob Lunsford, hatcheries manager for the state. In the next two weeks, some 33,000 trout will be released into Maryland waters during the fall stocking season.

'We expect the vast majority of those fish to be harvested,' Mr. Lunsford says.

Each year some 65,000 people in Maryland buy licenses and trout stamps to have a go at the stock.

But just because brook, brown, cutthroat and rainbow trout are swimming around doesn't mean they are easy to catch.

'Fly-fishing is a unique sport. It's one-on-one, you against the fish,' Mr. Coburn says. 'You use an artificial item you yourself make, and you have to present it in a way to trick the fish.'

The experience doesn't start with a quick cast into the water.

The prospective angler has to get outfitted with a few hundred dollars worth of equipment -- rod, reel, line, waders, a vest, flies and a net. And get a license from the state.

Mr. Coburn can point to the most basic equipment. Then he can teach you how to use it.

He formerly owned his own hunting and fishing shop in Laurel. He took a three-year sabbatical to fish across the country and write a book.

He has been at Bass Pro shop for two years to head up the fly-fishing department. The busiest times of the year for him are around Christmas and in the spring.

But the fall is a good time for fishing and the store is active. Bass Pro's last casting class this season is Oct. 17. Fly-tieing classes start after the holidays.

A true fly fisherman ties his own flies -- woolly buggers, little black stoneflies, nymphs, midges, gnats and the like. A trout is a fussy eater, though. Anglers have to create and then cast whatever is on the day's menu, whether it is a particular insect, pupa or worm.

Mr. Coburn demonstrates.

'This is part of the fun of fly-fishing, making your own flies,' Mr. Coburn says.

A small barbed hook is set in a vice. Needle-nose pliers, fine black thread and a bit of cement are used to attach a turkey feather, a luminous thread called crystal flash, rooster cape, and some peacock feather. The result is a woolly bugger.

'It's a basic fly, a very practical fly. It catches a lot of fish,' Mr. Coburn says.

Figuring out where to go is another challenge. The state lists stocked streams, and Mr. Coburn also co-authored a book, the appropriately named 'Guide to Maryland Trout Fishing,' that tells where the state's catch-and-release streams are, and how to get the fish that are in them.

Most trout creeks are in Central and Western Maryland -- Gunpowder Falls, Big Hunting Creek, Owens Creek and the Youghiogheny River for example. Hunting Creek is a favorite destination for guided trips.

But finding the fish is only part of the challenge. Hooking it is another.

'It's always difficult. If you miss a little thing, you lose,' Mr. Coburn says. 'You have to have patience. If you slow down, you start observing, then you are able to decode what's going on around you and you will be able to catch fish.'

Approaching the water, standing upstream or downstream from the direction of the cast, observing the way a current will pull on a fly, watching where and what the fish are striking.

It's all in a day's work.

'It's a neat game. You're always creating a strategy,' Mr. Coburn says.

To see more of The Washington Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.washtimes.com

Greece suspends pro team sports after riot that killed volleyball fan - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)

ATHENS, Greece The Greek government suspended play in allprofessional team sports for two weeks today after a fan was killedin a riot before a women s volleyball match.

The ban, which covers soccer, basketball, volleyball and othersports, will last until April 13.

A man was killed and seven others were hospitalized Thursday whenfans from rival women s volleyball clubs Panathinaikos Athens andOlympiakos Piraeus fought near Athens.

Violence in sport is something that affects our entire society ...and cannot be tolerated, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulossaid today after an emergency cabinet meeting chaired by PrimeMinister Costas Karamanlis.

Roussopoulos also promised to tighten prison-sentencing laws forviolent fans, and introduce mandatory surveillance cameras at allmain soccer stadiums by 2008.

These crimes are not anonymous. Specific people are responsible, Roussopoulos said.

The suspension effectively will delay team games for a week, as itcoincides with a planned recess for the April 8 Orthodox Easterholiday.

The suspension follows a similar move in Italy following the Feb.2 killing of a policeman in rioting at a match between Sicilianrivals Catania and Palermo. The violence led to a weeklong suspensionof all soccer in Italy s top three divisions and to the closure ofstadiums

Greek sporting events have been plagued by fan violence for years.

The national soccer team is likely to face sanctions from UEFAfollowing Greece s 4-1 home loss to Turkey on Saturday in a EuropeanChampionship qualifier. Greek fans clashed among themselves and alsopelted Turkish players with sticks, coins and plastic water bottles.

In Thursday s clashes, several dozen fans on motorcycles clashedwith rival supporters, hurling petrol bombs and rocks. At least twocars and three stores were damaged, police said.

Eighteen youths were detained by police, 13 of whom were formallyarrested.

Police said a 25-year-old man died before reaching the hospital. Astate coroner said the man died of head injuries and had beenmurdered.

The clashes occurred before a volleyball Greek Cup match betweenPanathinaikos and Olympiakos.

Both clubs have major teams in soccer, basketball and othersports, and rival supporters in the past have clashed at varioussporting events.

Following the violence, police raided 15 supporters clubs ofOlympiakos and Panathinaikos, seizing dozens of makeshift weaponsincluding pick axes, iron bars and baseball bats.

Cyclist LeMond, associate form in-store pro centers. (Greg LeMond and Jeff Sanchez; Team LeMond Pro Centers) - Daily News Record

Cyclist LeMond, Associate Form In-Store Pro Centers

Champion cyclist Greg LeMond, in conjunction with long-time associate Jeff Sanchez, has formed Team LeMond Pro Centers, an in-store cycle shop available to retail stores nationwide. The store-within-a-store concept will feature cycling apparel and accessories, as well as a full line of bicycles.

A performance apparel collection available in the 'cycling boutique' includes cycle shorts, jerseys, gloves, shoes, socks, fleece separates and a full line of equipment, accessories and other cycling paraphernalia. All carry the Team LeMond label and are competitively priced.

The bicycles, displayed independently from the 24-square-foot Team LeMond merchandise area, range in price from $600 to $3,000 and are hand-crafted by Roland Della Santa of Reno, who designed LeMond's first racing bicycle 12 years ago.

'We just found that the equipment the professionals were using wasn't available to the recreational cyclist,' said founder and general manager Sanchez, who operates a bike shop in Reno. 'Now it is. This is a way for some general equipment bike stores to have a focus.'

Currently, 75 cycling retail stores from California to New York have purchased the LeMond Pro Center concept, according to Sanchez.

A prototype of the Team LeMond Pro Center was first displayed last January at abike trade show in Long Beach, Ca. More than 40 dealers decided to carry the line of products at that time. Another 30 stores purchased the boutique idea in February at the New York show.

'Our goal is to pick up 100 stores in the first year,' said Sanchez. 'The cost has been more than we thought ($50,000 to exhibit at the two bike shows, for example), but the response has been more than we expected, too.'

According to Sanchez, the new company's long-term goal is to place shops in 250 retail stores. No mail or specialty orders will be available. Sanchez added that there has also been retail interest in Japan.

A portion of the proceeds from Team LeMond ProCenters will benefit the sport of cycling. Three per cent of the revenues will be distributed to four areas of cycling within the market area of each retail store. In order, the monies will be disbursed to help develop racing programs, senior cycling development, local racing clubs and general community cycling.

LeMond, who is under contract to several companies including Puma (footwear and apparel), Huffy (bicycles) and Avocet (saddles), is recovering from a near-fatal hunting accident April 20 incurred on the family ranch near Sacramento, Calif.

From A&P to the NBA; Wolves' Johnson bagged grocery career and made it to the pros.(SPORTS)(Patrick Reusse) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

Byline: Patrick Reusse; Staff Writer

Los Angeles, Calif. -- Camron Pitcher is a United States probation officer. He lives with his wife and three kids - 9, 4 and 1 - in the L.A. suburb of Corona.

Pitcher handles people accused of white-collar crimes. He monitors their cases before they have been convicted.

He took the job with the Feds after serving as a probation officer for the state of Missouri in Kansas City. There, he was dealing with dangerous felons - murderers, rapists, armed robbers.

'I took this job, and we came out here with our family in 2001,' Pitcher said. 'I'm not going to leave here unless my job forces it. The beach is 45 minutes in one direction and there's snow in the mountains 45 minutes in the other direction. You couldn't ask for anything more.'

Pitcher has older generations of his family in both Southern California and Louisiana. He was born here and then moved to Louisiana at age 7.

He graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Baton Rouge, La., in 1988. 'We were the Rebels,' he said. 'Our mascot carried around a Confederate flag.'

Pitcher is black. He played football and wrestled for the Rebels, with that flag waving high. He chuckles slightly now and says: 'We caught flak from the other schools, but I guess it didn't occur to us to make a big issue out of it back then.'

In May 1988, Pitcher went to work at an A&P store in Baton Rouge. It was part of a summer jobs program for minority youth. There was a young full-time employee called 'Slim' by everyone who worked in the store.

'Slim Johnson,' Pitcher said. 'I worked with him for 3 1/2 months, until the end of August, and I don't think I ever heard anyone call him Ervin.

'There wasn't a day that went by when he didn't get asked, `Young man, do you play basketball?' And if it wasn't that, it was, `Son, how tall are you?'

'With him, it was always, `Yes ma'am, no ma'am, yes sir and no sir.' He would say, `No ma'am, I don't play basketball,' and the reply always was, `Well, you should.'

'Slim told me that he didn't like basketball. He was a very religious young man. He would talk about studying theology. I thought for sure he would wind up being a minister.'

Pitcher went to a junior college in Kansas at the end of that summer. When he was back in Baton Rouge for Thanksgiving, he went to the A&P store to say hello to Slim and the other employees.

'The ladies there were all excited, telling me, `Didn't you hear? ... Slim went to New Orleans to play basketball,' ' Pitcher said. 'I said, `What are you talking about? He can't play no basketball. He doesn't like basketball.' '

Johnson went to New Orleans and spent the fall of 1988 working on what were playground basketball skills. He enrolled at the University of New Orleans in January 1989.

The next Pitcher heard of Johnson's basketball career came in a college dormitory a while later. A friend walked in and showed him a newspaper story about a college basketball player who had been discovered in a grocery store.

'I said, `I know this guy; I worked side-by-side with him,' ' Pitcher said. 'That's the popular legend in Baton Rouge, that someone from UNO saw him in the store and convinced him to play basketball. The locals like that story better than Ervin calling UNO and talking to a coach.'

Johnson became a star playing for Tim Floyd at UNO. He was the Sun Belt Conference's Player of the Year and a third-team All-America as a senior in 1993. He was taken by Seattle with the 23rd pick in the first round of the NBA draft.

He started late - turning 26 during his rookie season with the Supersonics - but he's now completing his 11th NBA season and the Timberwolves are his fourth team.

'Camron Pitcher? Yes, I know him,' Johnson said last week. 'He was a football player. He wanted to play college football.'

Pitcher wound up getting a scholarship to a Kansas school, Washburn, where he played football and received a degree in criminal justice.

'I was a Robert Newhouse-sized fullback - 5-foot-8, 215 pounds,' he said. 'Unfortunately, I couldn't run like Newhouse.'

Pitcher last communicated with Johnson a decade ago. Last month, he sent an e-mail to the Star Tribune after reading a story online on the 7-foot center's basketball roots.

'I just want people to know,' Pitcher wrote, 'that everything that is written about him regarding his character and his demeanor, I can say from knowing him back when he was just a tall young man working in a store, that all those good things are true.

'He was 6-foot-11, he towered over everybody, but he didn't look down on anyone. He wouldn't say a mean word or a bad thing about anybody.

'We had a dictator boss at the A&P - Mr. Brown. I saw Slim angry with him, for very good reason, but he always kept it inside. And he wouldn't let the rest of us say a bad word about Mr. Brown.

'It would be 105 degrees and 98 percent humidity, and just to show his power, Mr. Brown would say, `Slim, you and that young fellow go out to the parking lot and round up those carts.' And Slim would do that without a peep, even if there were all the carts the customers could want already in the store.'

Pitcher admits his admiration for Johnson could not change his rooting interest when it came to Monday night's sixth game of the Western Conference finals - Timberwolves vs. Lakers at Staples Center.

'My family, with the L.A. connection ... we still were Lakers fans even when we were living in Louisiana,' Pitcher said. 'Magic Johnson and Showtime. I grew up with that. I want to take my kids to a Lakers championship parade next month. They haven't been to one.'

Ready to go pro, but where?(sports) - Wind Speaker

Ryan Constant is fairly confident he'll be playing professional hockey somewhere this season, but as of late September, the 21-year-old defenceman just wasn't sure in which league he'd begin his pro career.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Constant originally thought he'd be playing at Boston's Northeastern University this season after accepting an athletic scholarship offer from the American school. Due to some botched up paperwork, however, Constant was told he wouldn't be allowed to start at the school until the following semester in January.

As it turned out, that news turned out to be a blessing in disguise. That's because Northeastern's coach contacted the National Hockey League's New York Rangers who decided to invite Constant, a free agent, to their training camp.

Attending an NHL training camp is quite a step up for Constant, a member of Manitoba's Opaskwayak Cree Nation. For the past four years he has toiled for the OCN Blizzard in The Pas, Man. in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL).

Constant didn't even play in the highest level of junior hockey in Canada. The MJHL, part of the Canadian Junior A Hockey League, is viewed as a step below the Canadian Hockey League, which includes the Western Hockey League.

'Every kid dreams of playing in the NHL,' Constant said. 'But I didn't think this opportunity would come so early for me.

Constant's first taste of life as a pro began in Traverse City, Mich. That's where the Rangers participated in a seven-day, eight-team NHL rookie tournament in early September.

Constant appeared in three out of the Rangers' four games in the tournament. And he earned a pair of assists in his appearances.

From there, Constant reported to the Rangers' main training camp in New York City.

He stayed in the Big Apple for about a week, where he trained on the same ice as NHL superstars Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan.

So what was it like skating alongside such big-name NHLers?

'It was something else, I guess,' said Constant, adding he didn't really have any opportunities to talk to the NHL stars. 'I was really excited about it. But for some reason I was pretty relaxed out there on the ice. I don't know why.'

Constant stayed in New York City for about a week before he was cut and told to report to Hartford, Conn. That's where he could try and earn a roster spot with the Rangers' American Hockey League affiliate--the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Constant was a bit surprised he did not receive any feedback from the Rangers' coaching staff before or after he was released. He discovered he was being dispatched to Hartford from a list posted in the dressing room.

'Actually I was expecting the coaches to call me in and give me an insight to what's going on,' he said. 'But that never happened. They didn't say anything at all to me.'

Constant added he was in limbo as he didn't know what was in store for his immediate hockey future. He was expecting to get into some exhibition matches with Hartford.

'I'm trying to prove myself here and hopefully get a spot on the team,' he said. 'They haven't told me much so I'm kind of hanging around for now until I hear something.'

Ryan Constant is confident he does have what it takes to play in the AHL this season.

'I think I could play here,' he said. 'I wouldn't be a top-end player. But I could be a regular guy.'

If the Wolf Pack does not sign him to a contract, Constant could be sent to the Charlotte Checkers, in the East Coast Hockey League. Like the Wolf Pack, the Checkers are also a Rangers' affiliate.

And if neither the Wolf Pack or Checkers is interested in having Constant in their lineup this season, he said he will head to the even lower calibre. The Central Hockey League has informed him a roster spot will be available if he is interested.

By Sam Laskaris

Windspeaker Contributor

Hodge's Billabong Pro showdown.(Sports) - Daily News (South Africa)

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is all but over in Hawaii. While the men's event drew to a climatic finale with Kelly Slater winning an unprecedented sixth Pipeline Masters title last week the women's Billabong Pro Maui champion still remains undecided.

East Londoner Roseanne Hodge is through to the quarter-finals in Maui and will be aiming to go one better than her semi-final finish last year.

Hodge is matched with seven times ASP world champion Layne Beachley who still remains in contention for the Triple Crown of Surfing title.

The showdown between Beachley and Hodge will have historical importance as the Billabong Pro Maui is Beachley's swan song after 19 years on the ASP World Tour.

Beachley will have many fond memories of winging at Maui and would like nothing more than bowing out from the tour with a win at Honolua Bay, Maui.

Hodge on the other hand would love nothing more than beating the greatest female surfer of all time at one of her favourite breaks.

Having already qualified for the 2009 ASP Dream Tour Hodge will not be under the pressure she endured last year and can surf with complete abandon at the picturesque Hawaiian point break.

The second quarter final features the newly crowned ASP world champion Australian Stephanie Gilmore who recently won the second jewel in the Triple Crown, the Roxy Pro at Sunset Beach. Gilmore is paired with compatriot Rebecca Woods.

Another exciting match-up in the quarter finals will be that of Hawaiians Carissa Moore and Melanie Bartels. Moore recently signed a multi million Rand deal with Nike, Red Bull and Target (an American retail chain store); 'the 16 year-old will likely be enjoying one of the most lucrative contracts in female surfing history (estimated to be in the range of R8 million per year),' reports the US-based Surfing Magazine.

The teenage sensation surfed away with the first event in the Triple Crown, the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa last month which saw Beachley finishing runner-up to the youngest ever winner of a Triple Crown event.

Hawaiian stalwart Megan Abubo takes on a fiery Brazilian Silvana Lima in the remaining quarter final. After losing narrowly to Gilmore at the Roxy Pro (and ultimately the world title) Lima will be on a mission to show the world just how talented she is.

Sports Fan, Store Owner Mitchell Sklar, 93 - The Washington Post

Mitchell 'Mike' Sklar, 93, longtime owner of a Washington sportsequipment store and a local professional basketball team in the1950s, died of heart disease Nov. 5 at Sunrise Assisted LivingCommunity in Rockville.

Mr. Sklar, widely known as 'Coach,' owned and operated Mitchel'sSport Shop in three Northwest locations over the years: first at14th and Gerard streets, then at Wisconsin Avenue and AlbemarleStreet, and finally at the Chevy Chase Center. As a 70-year-old, hespotted someone stealing four boxes of New Balance sneakers from hisshop and chased the perpetrator out of the store and down to theMetro until the thief dropped the shoes, his family said.

In the 1950s, Mr. Sklar started a pro basketball team he calledthe D.C. All-Stars, popularly known as 'Sklar's Stars.' The rosterwas made up of All-American collegiate stars and future NBA starssuch as Elgin Baylor and Dick Groat. The newspapers reported in 1955that he was talking to the NBA about starting a pro franchise, butnothing came of it.

He was a man who loved sports, including the Washington Redskins.Three weeks before his death, when he was barely speaking, he turnedfrom the television to his relatives and said his only intelligiblewords of the day: 'Boy, that Sonny Jurgensen looks younger everyyear.'

A Washington native, Mr. Sklar graduated from McKinley TechnicalHigh School. He caught batting practice with Walter 'Big Train'Johnson of the Washington Senators and was a good friend of BostonCeltics coach Red Auerbach's.

Mr. Sklar started his sporting goods shop in the 1940s and solduniforms and gear to many area high schools and colleges until heretired in 1990. He became friends with Jim Tatum, coach of theUniversity of Maryland football team from 1947 to 1955, andtraveled with the team.

Well-dressed and talkative, he also was an excellent dancer.

He was one of the founders of the Norbeck Country Club and laterplayed golf at Woodmont Country Club, where he also was captain ofthe tennis team. He was a member of the Amity Club of Washington andthe Samuel Gompers Lodge.

Pro and con: Sports, gambling bad partners. - The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, FL)

Byline: David Whitley

As the admissions flowed last week, we learned two things about gambling and sports.

First, if you spot Charles Barkley and John Daly at a poker table, rush over and have them deal you in.

Second, we don't really know if there's a gambling problem in sports. And what we don't know could hurt us.

It's certainly hurt Daly's wallet. Does that affect his golf game?

Even he probably can't say. But it sure makes it easier to assume he blew that winning putt because he:

A) Had money on the other guy.

B) Choked under the added pressure of having to pay off an eight-figure tab in Las Vegas.

Speaking of ridiculous sums, how about $5 billion. That's how much is bet illegally on NFL games every week, according to some estimates. We know not a penny of it comes from an NFL player because none of them would ever do such a thing.

Would they?

No major pro league has been rocked by a gambling scandal for more than 50 years. But you don't need a modern-day Black Sox to smell trouble.

Sports has produced a flood of rich, young adrenaline junkies. And our gambling culture is growing so fast, there has to be some fallout beyond Michael Jordan being secretly suspended for a year.

Daly says he lost $50 million. Barkley fesses up to $10 million. He says it's not a problem because he can afford it. Besides, he's a private citizen, it's legal and it's not as if he's beating his wife.

All true, but it's not that simple.

If nothing else, athletes drinking bottles of Cristal, dropping 100 grand at a blackjack table and waltzing away creates an image problem. And the mere perception of 'Jocks Gone Wild' creates an atmosphere where conspiracy nuts really believe the NBA suspended Jordan.

But forget pro sports. Forget the NHL gambling ring that snared an assistant coach and Wayne Gretzky's wife. Forget reports that 60 of England's top-league soccer players are gambling addicts. Forget the presumption that all pro jocks make so much they can't be sucked into point-shaving schemes.

And sure, forget The Church Lady arguments about how gambling isn't the best use of one's time and money. To quote the esteemed lady:

God only knows what's happening in college.

Well, God and the NCAA, which often assumes that position. In a 2004 study of 21,000 Division I athletes, 17.2 percent of them admitted to betting on college sports. Four percent said bettors had put them in compromising positions to provide inside info or shave points.

Remember, those are just the ones who admitted it.

A University of Pennsylvania study said as many as 500 college basketball games had been affected by point shaving in the past 16 years. That was based on a statistical analysis of scores.

Call it voodoo freakonomics if you want. Any gambler who studies numbers would bet there's something there.

Amid all the wagering fog, there is one certainty. The gambling train isn't going to slow down.

Leagues used to sprint the other way at the mention of gambling. Now a WNBA team plays in a casino. The Vancouver Canucks are in business with the lottery. Lotto-crazed states are now rushing to get into the slot machine business.

Gambling is becoming as easy and acceptable as going to the store for milk. None of which means Daly feels added pressure to play well or some kid will accidentally-on-purpose drop a pass against State U.

Fact is, we just don't know if there's a gambling problem in sports.

That's the problem.

___

(c) 2006, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).

Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

_____

ARCHIVE PHOTOS on KRT Direct (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): Daly, Barkley

BASEBALL LOSING ITS FAN BASE LIKE OTHER PRO SPORTS.(EDITORIAL)(Column) - The Cincinnati Post (Cincinnati, OH)

Byline: Larry Webster

There is a place where young men are bought and sold, but only after they have been inspected to see that their bodies are sound and that they are strong and healthy.

The buying and selling of humans would be illegal every where else except in baseball, but a lot of stuff happens in baseball which would not be tolerated in the real world.

The Cincinnati Reds organization is run less like a plantation than it was under the feminist icon, Marge, who made the slaves pet her dog, but still has an overseer who must buy his manpower with limited resources.

The Redlegs are more like a mom-and-pop store trying to keep in business with a Wal-Mart next door.

The powers who run the game may not have noticed, but it is unlikely that there will ever be another World Series in which some team from New York owned by a trillionaire doesn't play some team from Atlanta owned by a trillionaire. Mere Chevrolet dealers cannot compete.

And when they try to by spending way too much on a superstar, the rest of the team consists of the rising or the falling or the sore-armed.

The way it works now is that if a team gets a hot prospect, they can only keep him for five years, so they try to see if they can use him up in that time. Statistics show that for every inning a pitcher throws before a fairly young age, that he will lose an average of two innings after that age.

If Cincinnati had had any assurance of keeping the flame-throwing Mr. Dibble, maybe he would have had a career now instead of a fading memory. To get somebody who seems capable of winning consistently, you must pay $10 million a year, but for that sum the Reds got a player that the other players don't like and whose former team did a lot better without him.

The question being asked is why the National Basketball Association is losing its fan base, and although everybody knows the answer, nobody will say.

We can't either, but let us say that baseball is headed the same direction if all the players are named Rodriquez, Fernandez or Martinez. Soon somebody will realize that most baseball salary dollars are being converted to pesos and are going for airline tickets to spots near the equator. The fans will soon notice that there are more names on the diamond ending with 'ez' than there are at the bullfights.

So this is the time of the year for us Reds fans to begin to try and learn the names of the cast-offs that Bowden has lured out of nursing homes to play for us, and maybe this is the year when somebody finally realized that watching a ballgame being played on a green carpet in a stadium with no corners in the most boring city in America is not the way to build a long-term fan base.

And I don't care who they sell naming rights to. Let's call it Riverfront just for spite. Cinergy sounds like the amount of calories the body uses to commit adultery.

How we play - Pro Sports - The lowdown on your favorite teams - The Columbian (Vancouver, WA)

NBA Basketball

Portland Trail Blazers

. Season: October-April

. Venue: The Rose Garden

Individual tickets range from $9 to $113.

. Season tickets and multiple- game package prices: Seasontickets range from $369 to $4,633. Prices on other game packagesvary depending on the package ordered. Call 503-224-4400 fordetails.

. Buying tickets: Tickets can be purchased at the Rose Garden boxoffice, or by phone at 503-797-9600, or via Ticketmaster at 503-224-4400.

. On the Internet: www.nba.com/blazers/tickets/arena.html, orwww.ticketmaster.com.

. Directions to the Rose Garden: From Portland InternationalAirport, take Airport Way to Interstate 205 south. Exit onInterstate 84 westbound. Go to Interstate 5 north, then take theBroadway-Weidler/Rose Quarter exit. Take a left at the second lightonto Broadway. Follow signs to Rose Garden.

Seattle SuperSonics

. Season: October-April

. Venue: KeyArena, 305 Harrison St., Seattle

. Individual tickets: $11 to $129, and up to $725 for courtsideseats. Go to www.nba.com/sonics/tickets, or www.ticketmaster.com formore information.

. Season tickets and game packages: Season packages range from$279 to $3,410, and up to $21,700 for courtside seats. Six-gamepackages are available. Call 206-283-3865 for more information.

. Directions: Take Interstate 5 north to the Mercer Street exit.Follow the brown and white visitor signs to the Seattle Center. TheKeyArena is on the northwest corner, with street access along FirstAvenue North, and Thomas and Republican.

. For more information: call 206-283-DUNK.

NFL Football

Seattle Seahawks

. Season: September-December

. Venue: Seahawks Stadium, 800 Occidental Ave. S., Seattle, WA98134.

. Individual tickets: $23 to $280. To buy, go towww.ticketmaster.com or call 503-224-4400.

. Season tickets and game packages: $200 to $2,800. For moreinformation, call 888-NFL-HAWK.

. Directions: From Interstate 5 south, and the Alaskan WayViaduct, there are exits near Seahawks Stadium and ExhibitionCenter. From I-5 there are exits at James Street, Fourth Avenue, andAirport Way that will place visitors close to the stadium.

. For more information: Go to www.seahawks.com or call 888-NFL-HAWK.

WHL Hockey

Portland Winter Hawks

. Season: September-March

. Venues: The Rose Garden, Memorial Coliseum

. Individual adult game tickets range from $10 to $23.75.Individual student/senior/kid game tickets range from $5 to $20.75.

. Adult season tickets prices: Range from $288-$567. Student/senior/kid season tickets prices range from $180 to $468. Eighteen,12, and six-game packages are available. Prices vary depending onpackage ordered. Call 503-224-4400, or 503-236-4295 for details.

. Buying tickets: By phone call 503-224-4400, or 503-236-4295; onthe Internet go to www.ticketmaster.com, or www.winterhawks.com/rescale/tickets.

. Directions to the Rose Garden/ Memorial Coliseum: From PortlandInternational Airport, take Airport Way to Interstate 205 south.Exit on Interstate 84 westbound. Go to Interstate 5 north, then takethe Broadway-Weidler/Rose Quarter exit. Take a left at the secondlight onto Broadway. Follow signs to Rose Garden/Memorial Coliseum.

Major League Baseball

Seattle Mariners

. Season: March-September

. Venue: Safeco Field, First Avenue South and South AtlanticStreet, Seattle.

. Individual tickets: $6-$45. To buy individual tickets, go towww.ticketmaster.com or call 206-346-4001.

. Season tickets and game packages: Full season plans range from$1,215 to $3,078. There is a deposit that ranges from $200 to $400,depending on the plan. Other plans, including weekend, business and16-game packages are available. Go to www.seattlemariners.mlb.com,or call 206-346-4001 for more information.

. Directions: Take Interstate 5 north to Seattle. Take exit 164Bto Fourth Avenue South, merge onto Interstate 90 west, turn rightonto Fourth Avenue South. Turn right on South Atlantic Street.

PCL Baseball

Portland Beavers

. Months: April-September

. Venue: PGE Park, 1844 S.W. Morrison St., downtown Portland

. Individual game tickets range from $6 to $11, and discountgroup packages are available (family tickets can be purchased for adiscount at participating Fred Meyer stores). For phone ticketpurchases, call 503-224-4400.

. Season tickets (72 games): Prices range from $504 to $648.

. Game packages: Prices vary depending on package. Twenty- and 10-game packages are available. For more information, call 503-553-5555 or go to www.pgepark.com/beavers/tickets.

. Buying tickets: General admission, single-game tickets areavailable at the box office before all games from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Tickets purchased in advance are available at Ticketmaster or FredMeyer. For more information, call 503-224-4400.

. Parking: Limited. Those attending games can use their ticket asTri-Met/MAX fare.

A-League Soccer

Portland Timbers

. Season: May-September

. Venue: PGE Park, 1844 S.W. Morrison St., downtown Portland

. Individual tickets:

Prices range from $9 to $16. General admission seats are $6 onThursdays. There are group discounts for groups of 15 or more.Season ticket prices range from $150 to $210. Family tickets can bepurchased in advance at participating Fred Meyer stores. To buy, goto www.ticketmaster.com, or call 503-224-4400.

. Season tickets (16 games) and game packs: Range from $128-$228. For more information, call 503-553-5555, or go towww.portlandtimbers.com/season-tickets.

Winston-Salem, N.C., Used Sports Equipment Store Serves Wide Area. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Fran Daniel, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jul. 16--Last week, Vernell Ingram traded in a seven-foot basketball goal to help pay for exercise equipment she wanted at Play It Again Sports in Winston-Salem.

'I paid $85,' she said, referring to the price for the used Tony Little's Gazelle Freestyle she'd just bought at the store.

'I actually had thought about buying something brand new, but a friend of mine said, 'Go to Play It Again Sports,'' Ingram said. 'He buys his equipment from here.'

Used sporting goods account for about half of the store's merchandise, said Phil Raiford, who owns the retailer with his wife, Kelly. The other half is new sports equipment.

Raiford has been a Play It Again Sports franchisee since 1993, when he gave up a 10-year career as a teaching pro for tennis clubs in Greensboro.

'You don't want to be 60 years old and be on the court teaching lessons,' Raiford said. 'I didn't want to look back 10 years later and say, 'Gosh, I wish I'd gotten out.''

As a Play It Again Sports franchisee, Raiford buys, sells and trades used and new sports gear and equipment for youth and adults. He also accepts merchandise on consignment.

'There's not many stores like this,' Raiford said of his 2,700-square-foot operation at Summit Station shopping center on Jonestown Road. 'No one else in town has used sports equipment.'

Since Raiford has the only Play It Again Sports store in the Triad, his business attracts customers from as far afield as Greensboro, High Point and Lexington.

His store is one of 470 Play It Again Sports in the United States and Canada.

Raiford declined to disclose sales, but said that business has been steady in recent years.

Still, he said, people seem to be more conservative with their money, even for used equipment, than they were during the sluggish economy the year he opened his business.

'If they have the money, they're going to save it,' he said.

Play It Again Sports is a franchised-store brand operated by Winmark Corp., a Minneapolis, Minn., company which develops, franchises and operates stores that buy, sell, trade and consign used and new merchandise. Winmark's other retail stores are Once Upon a Child, Music Go Round and Plato's Closet. Once Upon A Child and Plato's Closet have one store each in Winston-Salem.

Merchandise sold at Play It Again Sports stores vary because they are all locally owned and operated businesses. For example, Raiford's store focuses on golf and fitness merchandise. His customers bring in a lot of brand name used golf clubs, such as Ping and Callaway.

'Golfers love to try out a club and trade it in, so that's what I get,' he said.

'It's unlike any other sport. They'll (golfers) spend $200 on a driver and then in two months they might not like it and they'll trade it in toward another club that I have. A lot of our golfers are regulars.'

When it comes to fitness equipment, the store tends to carry more new items.

'Fitness is probably two-thirds new and one-third used (equipment),' Raiford said. 'I can't get enough, good, used fitness (equipment) because fitness is trendy.

For example, the Gazelle, which Ingram purchased, is a hot item at the moment.

'I can't get enough of them,' Raiford said.

The store has treadmills, free weights and benches, elliptical machines and exercise bikes.

In addition, the store sells baseball, softball and tennis goods; discs for Frisbee golf, a growing sport; and bicycles. In the winter, it sells more ski equipment.

Play It Again Sports' merchandise has to be something that will sell.

'We turn down probably half the stuff that people bring in,' Raiford said. 'It may be out of date or broken or is just something that people aren't looking for.'

Used equipment helps with sales during a sluggish economy when people watch their spending, but it can also be unpredictable. That's why Raiford plans to increase his new merchandise, which he orders.

'You have to have the new,' he said. 'Otherwise, for some reason, there could be two weeks where people just don't bring stuff in. Then I might have a bunch of stuff tomorrow.'

Raiford said that knowledgeable employees help distinguish his store from his competitors.

He said that he and Greg Wilmoth, the store's manager, learn as much as they can about the equipment they sell and listen to their customers.

'I've learned what the customers want,' Raiford said. 'I can help guide them.'

For example, if people come into the store looking for fitness equipment to lose weight, he tries to understand what type of equipment they would stick with over time.

'You listen to what their goal is, help them find what they need and help them get the best deal they can get,' he said.

To see more of the Winston-Salem Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.journalnow.com

Daniels trying to lure mega sports store - Post-Tribune (IN)

THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM PRINTED VERSION

The governor may attempt to lure Bass Pro Shops into Northwest Indiana at a meeting today with the retail giant's representatives.The mega sporting goods store is believed to be considering a site at the Ameriplex complex in Portage, north of Interstate 94.

Gov. Mitch Daniels, store representatives and executives of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. are all expected to be in on the discussion, said Weston Sedgwick, a spokesman for the IEDC.

Tim Sanders, the northwest region director of the IEDC said he 'would presume' that a store for Portage would be part of that conversation.

'I think that Bass wants to talk about opportunities in Indiana,' Sanders said.

Sedgwick said economic incentives for the retailer to locate in Indiana also will be part of the talk.

'I'm sure that will be part of the conversation,' Sedgwick said.

The state's policy is to not offer incentives for retailers, Sedgwick said. Chicago nabbed the Mittal Steel national headquarters this month by offering $9.5 million in incentives, while Indiana made no formal offer.

Sedgwick said offers were suggested to Mittal, but he said the company already seemed to have decided on Chicago.

'We would have, obviously, been prepared to put together a deal for Mittal Steel,' Sedgwick said. 'They were pretty much already set on the Chicago location.'

Analysts consider Bass Pro Shops a powerful competitor.

It's been a major factor in Cabela's recent decline in same-store sales growth. In addition, while outdoor sporting goods is a $65 billion industry, the number of outdoor sportsmen is in decline.

Despite the state's policy, Sedgwick said there is room for exceptions for companies like Mittal or Bass Pro Shops.

'It really depends on a case-by-case scenario,' Sedgwick said.

Cabela's, another huge outdoor store which is preparing to locate in Hammond, is also waiting for word from the state on incentives.

'We're not able to comment on our specific conversations with the company,' Sedgwick said. 'These things are highly confidential.'

Bass Pro Shops' flagship store in Missouri is 300,000-square-feet.

That store and others built by Bass Pro are referred to as 'museums' or 'attractions' more than just a simple store.

There is an on-site wildlife museum and in-house restaurants at the store in Missouri.

The International Game Fish Association World Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum is located next door to the Bass Pro Shops in Dania Beach, Fla.

Post-Tribune correspondent Michelle Quinn contributed to this report.