The year 2006 remembered for ball controversies in pro sports. - San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, CA)

Byline: Mark Emmons

SAN JOSE, Calif. _ As 2006 enters its final week, the sports world is saying goodbye to The Year of the Ball Controversy.

All over the athletic landscape, players were going ball-istic.

Take the NBA.

When the league announced before this season that it was switching to a synthetic basketball, it touted the new model's improved grip, durability and consistency.

Only one problem.

Nobody ever asked the players what they thought.

Commissioner David Stern, in a rare admission that he had screwed up, finally relented to weeks of loud complaints and announced this month the NBA would return to the old, but much loved, leather basketballs on Jan.1.

Stern is hardly the first sports executive to underestimate the angry reaction from athletes when someone starts messing with the most important tool of their trade: the ball. Players can be remarkably sensitive to even the slightest alteration _ real or perceived _ to the piece of equipment most intrinsic to their livelihood.

Soccer players complained bitterly, in assorted languages, before last summer's World Cup when the new ball used at the tournament was unveiled. In the NFL this season, after years of frustration, quarterbacks organized behind Peyton Manning and Tom Brady to get a rule change that made the way footballs are prepared before games more fair to everyone.

Even the World Series became engulfed in the Kenny Rogers 'smudge' squabble where the Detroit Tigers pitcher had to fend off accusations that he was doctoring the baseball.

But NBA players were the most upset. Not only were the athletes, who had no input on the new ball made by Spalding, upset about its performance, but they also said it inflicted small cuts on their hands.

'That was the first time I could remember the NBA doing something that big without testing,' Warriors Coach Don Nelson said. '... They had a major change, and it didn't matter what you say and whether you like it or not.'

That's exactly how you can make an athlete extremely irate. You see, in sports, a ball is never just a ball.

Jim Bouton, the pitcher turned author, once wrote: 'You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.'

It was Bouton's way of describing the emotional tug that the game exerts. But the actual grip that a player has on the ball also can mean the difference between success and failure.

That explains the reaction of NBA players to the new ball _ the first change since 1970. The league and Spalding maintained the microfiber version was just better.

'The time of the synthetic ball is here,' Stern said.

An all-star lineup of NBA players begged to differ.

Shaquille O'Neal said it was like 'one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store.' Others said it was too sticky when dry, too slippery when wet and reacted differently from the traditional ball when it bounced off the rim, the backboard and even the court.

Spalding officials expected some controversy but believed that the ball eventually would win over the players.

'When you make a change with such a personal piece of equipment, you're going to have resistance,' said Dan Touhey, Spalding's vice president of marketing, in late November. 'But they're getting over the initial shock of the change. They're great athletes and they'll adapt.'

Or not.

Stern realized he had a problem on his hands because of what the ball was doing to the hands of players.

'It makes my skin crack,' said the Warriors' Baron Davis, recently examining his fingertips. 'It chafes your fingers and makes them bleed.'

Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash _ among others _ also said they were getting paper-cut-like abrasions.

'Most point guards, if you watch their hands closely, are all taped up,' Nelson said. 'That's because the ball splits their fingers on the ends. It's a very painful thing. It's like a pitcher who gets a blister. That's a serious problem.'

Especially for a league that was a leader in developing infection-control procedures _ the so-called 'blood rule' in which players must leave the court when they're bleeding.

After the players association filed an unfair labor practice grievance, Stern let the air out of the new ball.

Spalding's Touhey was right about one thing: Players detest change.

Soccer players spent the weeks before the World Cup taking their kicks at Adidas' new ball. The company claimed that because its panels were glued together instead of being stitched, the ball was rounder and would fly more true. Goalkeepers, however, cried foul. Bend It Like Beckham? They claimed anyone could make the ball swerve, and it would result in cheap goals.

'It's a plastic beach ball,' German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann told reporters at the time.

Added French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez: 'These balls are a catastrophe.'

Instead, scoring was down at the defensive-minded World Cup. So the whining was much ado about nothing.

The Colorado Rockies said the same thing when opponents claimed something funny was going on with the baseballs at Coors Field. Major League Baseball allows the Rockies to store balls in a climate-controlled humidor as a way to help combat the thin air in Denver, which often leads to video-game-like scoring.

But as runs plummeted this season, some began to wonder. Milwaukee's Jeff Cirillo suggested the baseballs were waterlogged. After his A's went 18 innings without a run at Coors, Manager Ken Macha said the balls seemed heavier and that somebody needed to investigate the humidor.

Major League Baseball does monitor its use. And recently the commissioner's office sent out questionnaires to equipment managers of all teams, collecting information on how they store their baseballs, which are made by Rawlings.

'I don't have any suspicions that anybody is doing anything inappropriate,' said Joe Garagiola Jr., baseball's senior vice president. 'This will just give us some good, solid data to see how teams store the balls before the umpire gets them.'

But Garagiola said he understands how athletes think.

'Players are very accustomed to the feel of the ball,' he said. 'They're using it from early February to the end of October, if they're lucky. So it isn't surprising. Some pitchers will claim they can even feel if the seams are a little high. Besides, players are superstitious.'

Or conspiracy theorists.

During the World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals noticed Rogers, the Tigers pitcher, had a smudge on his throwing hand. Rogers said it was just dirt. Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa thought it was pine tar _ a substance that helps pitchers grip cold, hard, slick baseballs.

For days, debate raged about whether Rogers was breaking the rules.

The issue for NFL quarterbacks was a level playing field.

In the past, the home team supplied the footballs. It was up to that team, and the officials, to prepare them as they saw fit. That meant if the home quarterback wanted, he could use footballs that were practically untouched. And if the visiting quarterback preferred a football whose waxy sheen had been completely rubbed off? Tough luck.

This was trouble for the 49ers' Alex Smith, who endured a miserable rookie season trying to hold onto the football _ something he blamed in part to the slick feel of footballs on the road. Smith estimates he lost the football six times simply because it felt like it was just out of a box.

'They're supposed to be brushed down before you use them, removing that film,' Smith said. 'But a lot of times, it's a pain for the equipment guys. So some balls go right from the box to the field. All of a sudden you're in the middle of the game and you're handling a brand new ball that slips out of your hand easily.'

In the 49ers-obsessed Bay Area, people wondered whether Smith's hands were too small. (Actually, he wears XXL-sized gloves.) Meanwhile, Manning and Brady were organizing quarterbacks to lobby for a change: Visiting teams could prepare 12 balls that they would use while on offense.

'I guess other quarterbacks have been complaining for a long time, going all the way back to guys like Phil Simms,' Smith said. 'Finally Peyton got some quarterbacks together to get it changed. For me, it's one less thing that I have to worry about, which is really nice.'

That's not to say everyone is completely happy. This year the Wilson-made ball was redesigned and includes a large, gold NFL logo that doesn't have the pebbling found on the rest of the football.

'The logo is huge and slick,' said Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck. 'If it was my call, and it's obviously not, we would go back and use the balls that we have been using all the way back to when Pete Rozelle was commissioner.'

Smith said he doesn't understand the desire of any sport to tinker with its ball.

'It's the most important thing on the field for any athlete,' he said. 'I touch the ball on every play. I need to know that it's going to feel the exact same way every time. My livelihood depends on throwing it accurately, and the difference between winning and losing can come down to inches.

'It makes you wonder why they change it in the first place.'

Here's a short answer:

Cash.

The synthetic basketball, for instance, was more expensive than the leather model, retailing for about $100.

'It's all about making money,' said the Phoenix Suns' Shawn Marion.

Just call it another form of Money Ball.

Recently, the Warriors' Mike Dunleavy sounded much like Smith as he talked about why players became so miffed about the ball change.

'How we make a living depends on whether or not the ball goes in the basket,' he said. 'And how the ball feels is a big impact on that. The Spalding people say it's a better ball, but I question if anybody in the Spalding organization ever played in the NBA.'

You would think the decision to return to leather would be greeted with the kind of cheering that accompanies a game-winning shot.

But even before Stern's announcement, many players were saying that it would be a mistake to force them back to the old ball at midseason.

'It will be an adjustment,' Dunleavy said.

Maybe athletes are always going to find something to complain about when it comes to the ball.

___

(c) 2006, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).

Visit MercuryNews.com, the World Wide Web site of the Mercury News, at http://www.mercurynews.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

_____

GRAPHIC (from MCT Graphics, 202-383-6064):

NEW NBA BALL

EDITORIAL: Spurs, pro sports bring on the good times.(Editorial) - Victoria Advocate (Victoria, TX)

Jun. 14--Whether the Spurs will be victorious tonight is not known, but ask who will win and a Spurs fan will respond, 'It's a dumb question.'

At this stage of the NBA finals, it's difficult not to get caught up in the excitement, the mania, and the camaraderie, especially among Texans. Professional sports can be one of the biggest and uplifting elements during tough times: the Iraq war, terrorism, immigration, global warming, hurricanes, uneasy relations with Russia, Iran, North Korea and others, and, most important, worrying about our military overseas.

In this case, the Spurs looking for a sweep has caused people in this area and in some other areas to be generally in a good mood. These are not just fans, but people who are tired of hearing all the bad news across the state, the nation and the world.

Take the Valero convenience stores in the area for example: Every time the Spurs win, the stores let their customers have free coffee. This helps to spread the cheer and there are many more organizations, businesses and groups getting into the spirit of the finals. The Spurs don't know it, but they are saving lots and lots of people money indirectly.

Although the Spurs are a Texas team, players also can make a big difference. In this case, one has to admire LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

James has brought the city of Cleveland up in many ways, but he's also brought the Cavaliers, a team that was considered not so good until James came on the scene, to the finals. And he's filled the seats at the games in Cleveland, seats that used to be mostly empty.

Likewise, the Spurs and its stars have brought the same kind of positivism to Texas. Hooray for the NBA finals and other major sports happenings. These events provide us all good times.

To see more of Victoria Advocate, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, Victoria Advocate, Texas

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

COURTING THE REGION PRO SPORTS IN GARY MUST DRAW FANS FROM ENTIRE REGION - Post-Tribune (IN)

PHOTO - 2 (COLOR)

THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED VERSION.CAN THE CBA FLY IN NORTHWEST INDIANA?

He flips on the television and watches thousands of fans walk to Chicago's Comiskey Park, enjoying a baseball game amid the backdrop of South side public housing developments.It leads him to think about the neighborhood surrounding Gary's Genesis Convention Center, where the Continental Basketball Association may field a team this time next year.

Given the choices, businessman Jewell Harris, who heads the local investment group aiming to land a CBA franchise, likes Gary's chances for success.

'I remember a long time ago when they said people wouldn't visit (Comiskey) because of its location,' Harris said. 'Fans thought differently, they built a new stadium, and people are still going to Comiskey Park.'

While Gary residents will provide a ticket base, most recognize the team won't survive without help from residents from all over the area.

That, some say, may prove to be the easy part.

The image problems associated with a city that in previous years has earned the distinction of being the 'Murder Capital of America' are sliding away, local leaders say.

Events like the city's Fourth of July Festival, the Blues Festival, success at casino boats and throngs that line Miller's beachfront each summer have defied stereotypes some hold on the city, they say.

'Gary's image is changing,' said Speros Batistatos, head of the Lake County Convention and Visitor's Bureau. 'It's a safe community, but like any urban area, I can walk to a map and show you where you shouldn't be.

'But the same is true of South Bend, Michigan City and Indianapolis - any urban area will have some pockets in it that are different from the city itself.'

Mayor Scott King has enlisted support of Batistatos and the Northwest Indiana Forum, anticipating a marketing push that will spread 30 to 45 miles outside the city.

That's how far the city expects people might drive to experience a professional basketball game.

Should they do that, expect restaurants, hotels and stores to follow, King said, pointing to the changes on Chicago's West Madison Street upon opening of the United Center.

'That street was historically known as skid row - the worst of the worst on the west side,' King said. 'But with the stadium - and obviously it's a different scale than the CBA - but drive down West Madison now, and the changes are remarkable.

'It's something of a proven commodity that a sports event does draw residents and non-residents alike into the inner-city, and that's what's driving this administration.'

Challenges elsewhere

Indianapolis faced similar hurdles when the Simon family purchased the Pacers in 1983.

Making the package a combination of sports and entertainment allowed the team to find the thriving success it has in recent years, officials said.

'We struggled with the perception of 'India-no-place' for a long time and that perception was chronicled and re-hashed, much to our chagrin,' said Pacers spokesman David Benner. 'But when people came downtown, they found it's a good place to attend an event, and it spurred growth.

'When people from the city, from the business community and team investors pitch in so people feel safe, find a parking spot and have a good time, you can really make a go of it.'

Harris says he's been contacted by local investors and owners of other Midwestern minor league sports teams, who've shown an interest in the possible Gary team. A CBA representative again will be in Gary this week to discuss strategies with those investors.

It is a plan Batistatos has been longing for since the early '90s, when the area nearly landed minor league baseball and basketball teams.

But the franchises instead chose a pair of Michigan cities for their teams, where they have flourished, despite being in downtown areas of Lansing and Grand Rapids.

The right amount of sports mixed with an equal amount of entertainment - along with a sense of security - leads Batistatos to agree with King that a Gary team can find similar success.

'It is something of a 'Field of Dreams' mentality -'build it and they will come' sort of strategy,' King said. 'But I say that and point to the casinos. When people want that kind of entertainment, they come in by the droves.'

Local pro sports teams big lottery winners ; Scratch-ticket sales top $409 million - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

Boston sports teams are doing big business in scratch-ticketsales.

Instant lottery games featuring the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, andPatriots account for more than half the amount spent on all licensedteam lottery games now in stores nationwide, according to researchcompiled by the trade publication SportsBusiness Journal.

The seven local sports teams' lottery games now on sale havegenerated more than $409 million in sales; overall, the 51 currentteam-based games in the country have brought in more than $763million.

It's not surprising that local sports teams are faring so well inlottery sales. The Massachusetts State Lottery Commission not onlyhas the highest sales per capita in the nation, it was the firststate lottery to sell a professional sports-themed game and has morecurrent team-based lottery games than any other state in thecountry.

'The sports team tickets leverage the success and thechampionship history of our local sports teams, and we have foundthat the sports fans are also wonderful lottery customers,' said DanRosenfeld, spokesman for the state lottery. 'The sportsorganizations and the lottery both have traditions of winning.'

The Red Sox were the first professional sports team in the nationto license a lottery game, in 2006. Since then, the MassachusettsState Lottery has put out 10 additional games featuring the fourmajor professional Massachusetts sports teams, generating more than$1.1 billion in sales and raising more than $157 million for thestate's cities and towns.

The National Football League started licensing lottery games in2009, and since then the New England Patriots game has brought inmore than $102 million in sales in Massachusetts - one of the mostsuccessful instant-ticket launches in the lottery's history,Rosenfeld said. The $5 Patriots ticket, which has a 1 in 4.49 chanceof winning, was the first NFL game to top $100 million, according toSportsBusiness Journal.

There's no doubt that Massachusetts residents are wild about thelottery. Residents spent an average $671 per person on lotterytickets in 2009, higher than any other state, according to LaFleur's 2010 World Lottery Almanac.

'It was not surprising that given the fan fervor and the lotteryexcitement there that [the Massachusetts teams] were number one, butthe fact that they were that dominant is definitely an eye-opener,'said David Broughton, research director at SportsBusiness Journal.

The teams themselves are thrilled by the popularity of theirscratch tickets. The first Bruins game alone sold 25 million $2tickets, and both Bruins games, which are still on sale, havebrought in $900,000 in revenue for the team, said Amy Latimer,senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Bruins.

'This is great for our fans, this is great for our product,' shesaid, 'but then when you realize the money is going to buy afiretruck or to support programs in schools, there's no betterrelationship you can have with a partner.'

Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com.

ON THE NFL; NFL draft lets 'Old Man' sip from fountain of youth; Brandon Crawford has built cars and been a Marine. Now, at 33, he wants a shot at pro football.(SPORTS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

Byline: MARK CRAIG; STAFF WRITER

Brandon Crawford amassed quite a stack of nicknames during his time at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.

'Crawdaddy' was a popular one among teammates. 'Crawfather,' too. And 'Uncle.'

'Or just, 'Hey, Old Man,' Crawford said.

The 6-3, 275-pound defensive end laughs at the hundreds of monikers given to him by his 'little brothers.' For years, he was a man among these boys. In some cases, quite literally.

Now he's hoping to move on to the next level and unseat former Cretin-Derham Hall standout and Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke as the oldest player ever selected in the NFL draft. Weinke was 28 when the Carolina Panthers selected him in the fourth round in 2001.

Crawford is 33. And that's no typo. He's older than five of Ball State's assistant coaches.

'But age is just a number,' said Crawford, who adds a 34th number on Aug. 16. 'If you take the age factor out of it and just look at the abilities and character that I have, I think that's the secret with me.'

Paths to the NFL are unlimited. Crawford's journey will be one of the more interesting to watch as it begins to unfold with Thursday's pro day workout at Ball State.

Crawford wasn't invited to the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis last week. That's an indication he won't be drafted. But even if he's not, he's virtually certain to be signed as a rookie free agent.

'I think I'll be drafted because if I thought any less of myself, I wouldn't be where I am today,' said Crawford, who has spent the past five weeks training for his pro day at St. Vincent Sports Performance Center in Indianapolis. 'If I'm not, so be it. I always push myself to go higher, believe higher.'

Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Ind., Crawford had opportunities to play football coming out of South High. He chose to work odd jobs that included grocery store cashier and painter's assistant.

'Then my brother helped get me a job at a factory where they made Hummers and Jeeps,' Crawford said. 'I worked the assembly line.'

It was a good job. Crawford was miserable. Then something happened that Crawford took as a sign.

'I worked right next to a paint booth in the factory,' he said. 'One day, my nose started bleeding. It was smelling those fumes all day. I told my brother this wasn't for me. For those who had to do it and that was their situation, more power to them.'

Crawford joined the U.S. Marine Corps and spent four years stationed in Havelock, N.C. He was honorably discharged in 2003.

Three years later, Crawford decided to scratch his football itch once and for all. Using money from his military stint, Crawford enrolled at Ball State. He was 29 when he met with then-Ball State head coach and defensive line coach Brady Hoke.

'I remember when he walked through the door, he was a good-looking guy who had taken care of his body,' said Hoke, now entering his second season as head coach at San Diego State. 'But we didn't even know if the guy could get down in a proper stance, let alone play Division I football.'

It wasn't pretty at first. But Crawford's skills and Marine Corps training kicked in.

'Brandon was extremely intelligent and a hard worker with a big motor,' Hoke said. 'He was such a great character guy and a mentor to those young kids. He just kept getting better and better.'

Crawford started his final 39 games at Ball State and had 11 1/2 tackles for loss as a senior. NFLDraftScout.com ranks him as the 113th-best defensive end available in next month's draft.

In other words, he's a long shot. But Crawford is OK with that because he loves unlikely success stories. His all-time favorite came in 1994 when a 45-year-old George Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer to win the heavyweight boxing title. Moorer was 26 when Big George lowered the boom in the 10th round.

'A lot of people get that age number in their mind and they put on their blinders,' Crawford said. 'They say, 'Oh my God, he's old. He can't do this.' My thing was always looking at people who defied the odds and pushed past what the norm was and what society says they can't do.'

Buffalo Auditorium to Become Bass Pro's Flagship Store for New York State. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Sharon Linstedt, The Buffalo News, N.Y. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Nov. 14--Buffalo will not be home to the first Bass Pro Shops store in the state, but the mothballed Memorial Auditorium is still in line to become the retailer's flagship location for New York.

The company announced Wednesday that it will build a small-format store in Central New York, but that has no bearing on its interest in Buffalo, said Mark Lichtman, principal of the development team overseeing efforts bring a Bass Pro store to Buffalo's waterfront.

'I talked with Johnny Morris (founder of the company) and he is still absolutely interested in Buffalo,' Lichtman said. 'While it would have been great to be their first store, we're still convinced Buffalo will be home to their biggest, most exciting store in New York State.'

Bass Pro said Wednesday that it will open a Sportsman's Warehouse store in Auburn, west of Syracuse. The 50,000-square-foot store is the smallest format the Missouri-based chain operates.

By contrast, the Bass Pro Outdoor World store contemplated for the Aud would be at least 140,000 square feet in size, outfitted with everything from indoor archery and gun ranges, to putting greens and an in-store cafe.

And while Sportman's Warehouse stores are considered a local shopping destination, full-blown Outdoor World stores draw visitors from 300-mile radius.

Martin Macdonald, director of corporate communications for Bass Pro, declined to speak specifically about Buffalo's chances of landing one of the Outdoor World stores, but did say the company is looking for a presence beyond the Auburn location.

'The project we are pursuing in Auburn is part of a larger strategy to bring Bass Pro Shops to New York. We are continuing to look in New York,' MacDonald said.

The company is interested in entering the New York market not only because of the population base it could reach, the Bass Pro spokesman said, but also because of the state's outdoor heritage and residents' interest in hunting, fishing and other outdoor pursuits.

Lichtman's BOS Group, which was named designated developer of the Erie Canal Harbor Entertainment District in June, brought a 12-member design/engineering team to Buffalo earlier this month for an inspection of the Aud and walks through the 4.5-block area included in the development zone.

One of the key conclusions reached during the four-day Buffalo visit was that the Aud would remain structurally sound in a conversion from sports arena to sporting goods mega-store, according to Lichtman.

'The big question was how sound it would be after the seating is removed. We were concerned the auditorium seating was helping bear the load of huge, open expanse,' he said. 'It turns out we can scrape away the entire interior and not have to put in support beams. It will allow us to create a one-of-a-kind retail space.'

The design team also sized-up how to address other critical issues such as traffic flow, parking, signage, development of adjacent properties, the state's Gen. Donovan office building, and how to integrate efforts to restore the city's historic canalfront.

'It's still a very complicated project, but everybody came away even more excited than before,' Lichtman said. 'We'll be out with a design package, a full master plan, in early December and it's going to be extremely compelling.'

While the company has yet to sign a letter of intent for a Buffalo store, he is confident of Bass Pro's interest.

'Intuitively, I believe it's going to happen. We're not there yet, but between their interest in Buffalo and the store we feel we can deliver, we're all very excited,' said Lichtman, a Buffalo native, who has been involved in Bass Pro store development in nine other cities.

Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello said his level of optimism is also increasing.

'Until we're actually building there's going to be a level of doubt this is real, but knowing what's going on behind the scenes, I'm very confident there's a Bass Pro in our future,' Masiello said.

Under terms of the development contract, BOS Group has until next June to deliver the all-important letter of intent from Bass Pro to make all the planning a reality.

There are currently 16 Bass Pro Shops stores open around the country, with six more in development. The nearest store is in Detroit. The popular shopping spot is viewed as an anchor to a collection of new retail, restaurant and entertainment venues that would be built in the revitalized waterfront district.

To see more of The Buffalo News, N.Y., or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.buffalonews.com.

Bass Pro, REI sporting goods stores complement each other, officials say - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - An existing outdoor recreational equipmentstore should be able to survive and may even thrive when a megaoutdoors store opens in early 2007, city officials and outdoorenthusiasts say.

Recreational Equipment Inc., which opened in Rancho Cucamonga inNovember 2004, is geared more toward climbing and hiking outdoorenthusiasts, while Bass Pro is aimed toward hunting and fishingaficionados, said the president of a Midwest-based magazine thatcovers outdoor sports.

'There is a different emphasis,' said Gene Laulunen, president ofMidwest Outdoors. 'Bass Pro. Just the name of it, they tell you it'sfishing.'

Both Bass Pro and REI have stores in the Midwest. Both offerdifferent products for the outdoor market, and both manage tosurvive, Laulunen said.

'I think they can live together,' Laulunen said.

Last week, Rancho Cucamonga officials announced they had landedBass Pro Shops, a St. Louis-based mega outdoors store. Bass Pro willconstruct a 180,000-square-foot store on the east side of VictoriaGardens beginning next year. REI opened its 25,000-square-foot storeon the northwest corner of Day Creek and Foothill boulevards inNovember.

City officials have not done any studies about the impact of BassPro Shops coming to Rancho Cucamonga, said Linda Daniels, the city'sredevelopment director.

But before city officials made their announcement last week, theycalled other cities with a Bass Pro and asked how similar outdoorsbusinesses did when the mega outdoor retailer came to town, she said.

'We felt comfortable that they don't come in and put people out ofbusiness,' Daniels said.

Laulunen, the president of Midwest Outdoors, said businesses thatshould worry are those that offer hunting and fishing gear.

Bass Pro offers a lot of choice at low prices, he said.

'I feel sorry for the little guy, because they can't compete withtheir prices,' Laulunen said.

A store such as REI may thrive because of Bass Pro, said Daniels,the redevelopment director.

Bass Pro draws people from across Southern California whootherwise would not visit the Rancho Cucamonga area, she said.

REI may be able to draw on those Bass Pro customers while stillrelying its local, existing customer base, she said.

REI officials are aware that Bass Pro is opening its store nearVictoria Gardens. When the Rancho Cucamonga Bass Pro opens, it willbe the nearest any of the St. Louis company's stores are to an REIstore, a spokesman for REI said.

But Bass Pro and REI often operate in the same market and both dowell, REI spokesman Mike Foley said.

The Rancho Cucamonga REI store is doing very well and bestingsales projections for the location, Foley said.

'For a new store, the sales have gone much better than planned,'he said.

REI is not worried about Bass Pro coming into town and gobbling upall the outdoors business, Foley said.

The company offers enough varied goods to differentiate them fromBass Pro, he said.

For example, REI's cycling sales are a big part of its business,he said.

It's likely Bass Pro and REI will complement each other. Ifsomeone can't find what they are looking for at Bass Pro, they may beable to find it at REI and vice versa, Foley said.