Sports

Its been a long road for star baseball pitcher Roger Clemens since his poor performance at a congressional hearing on steroid use in baseball 15 months ago. Now, the Daily News reports, Clemens is onto his third PR counselor, Levick Strategic Communications SVP Gene Grabowski.

Grabowski told ESPN yesterday that he knew Clemens was not lying when he told him he never used steroids because he "looked him in the eye." The Levick SVP certainly has been busy lately, handling the Michael Phelps' bong mishap, Alex Rodriguez's steroid scandal, and KFC's "ill-fated grilled chicken launch."

Deadspin has more. Of course, there is always an ulterior motive. Clemens and his team feel the need to counter press around the release of a new book (written by four Daily News writers) titled, "American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime." Ouch.

Needless to say, the Daily News writers are not impressed with the new spin. Wrote columnist Mike Lupica, "...once you get Clemens off his talking points, almost everything becomes a brain buster."

UPDATE: Levick did not handle work for Rodriguez, Phelps or KFC, but rather was called to comment on them by the press. Also, in a comment to a post on Peter Himler's blog, The Flack, Grabowski wrote, "I know, the Mike and Mike [ESPN] segment I did is somewhat controversial. But sometimes these roles are thrust upon us, as you know. I try to do whatever it takes to help my clients. In this case, it meant going to bat for him on a national sports talk show."

Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons star and dogfighting enabler is talking to PETA about doing some spokes-work for the publicity savvy organization, 19-months after the story broke.

AdAge has what little details are available, confirms with PETA that Vick's unnamed image handlers are involved. Richard Levick of Levick Strategic Communications, and Drew Kerr of Four Corners are the PR people the trade called upon to comment on the strategy.

I agree with most of it except that PETA has PR "problems". The beauty of what they do is their ability to preach loudly to their choir while keeping themselves firmly in the media. Those they upset were not going to donate to the cause anyway. Here they have a win-win, they can tout his contrition if Vick is effective, and publicly flog him if he acts out. Public sentiment of sports fans likely ranks Vick higher than any of the drugs-takers.

Another example is PETA's recent stunt targeting school kids to get the word out about the cruelty in circuses. Gothamist asked if they went too far. It worked precisely because it went too far.

This is one stunt I'd like to perversely see go awry, just to see the outcome in the mainstream media. Like all image rehab campaigns, Vick--like A-Rod et al--needs to start by getting back to playing good ball.

Related: PETA's Newest Spokesperson: Michael Vick?

Clueless no more; PETA PSA beats Playboy spread for generating publicity

PRNewser has confirmed New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is working with Richard Rubenstein, son of George Steinbrenner spokesman Howard Rubenstein, for PR services. Rodriguez admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs between 2001-03 in an interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons yesterday.

Clearly Rubenstein's phone is ringing off the hook this morning as it took us several attempts to get through. An assistant confirmed Rodriguez as a client but could not put us through to Rubenstein for comment.

Rodriguez is receiving some kudos for being up front about his steroid use to the media. However, he's nowhere near out of the fire yet. The NY Daily News' Jesse Specter has an optimistic point of view: "The saga of last year [public trials of Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens] gave Rodriguez a public relations playbook, and he executed it perfectly."

Not everyone agrees. Writes the Times' George Vescey: "When the first quotes of his confession surfaced in midafternoon, it sounded as if Rodriguez really understood he had done something wrong. In the full interview, the more he talked, the more disassociated he sounded. He still doesn't get it."

UPDATE: When asked about the work he is doing with A-Rod, Rubenstein tells PRNewser, "I never discuss openly my strategy with clients."

The four-year vacuum left by Lizzie Grubman's PoweR Girls reality show is finally filled. VH1 signed Dallas Cowboys star Terrell Owens and his two friends and publicists Kita Williams and Monique Jackson to star in a yet-to-be-named series to air this summer.

The two will help T.O. get a grip on his antics, play matchmaker, and showcase his "quiet, sensitive" side behind the "braggadocio, emotional histrionics, and sculpted physique," according to the official press release. Hats off to VH1's Scott Acord and Toni Herron for using vocab not often seen in PR writing.

We're so glad. For a minute there we thought the era of publicists inserting themselves in the narrative of their clients might end prematurely.

[via National Post]

According to a Global Language Network TrendTopper study, Lenovo surged from the back of the brand pack to win the gold in Olympic sponsorship. The huge Beijing PC maker and IT company popped J&J and McDonalds for the win.

Lurking in the pack were unofficial "ambush marketers" including Nike, Amex, and Pepsi, as well as the Kung Fu Panda.

Lenovo did it with the help of a long time relationship with the Ketchum Global Sports Network, and a few platform publicity dives.

Details on Ketchum's web, Internet lounge, and party strategy after the jump:

continued...

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) seems to have gotten itself into a little PR mess.

Reports Newsday:

The LPGA, worried about losing interest among fans and sponsors, said it will suspend players who can't pass an English oral exam after two years on tour.

This appears aimed directly at South Koreans, who represent 45 of the 121 international players on the tour and who - British Women's Open champion Ji-Yai Shin and U.S. Women's Open champion Inbee Park, to name two - are dominating.

The issue also seems to be with the way the news was made public, not via press conference or public announcement, but rather through a leaked story on Golfweek magazine's website. However, Newsday's Mark Hermann reminds us that despite this news, "...the organization is generally open- minded and forward thinking." Nonetheless, with the sport losing sponsors and needing to drum up business, this is an unnecessary ruffle in the proverbial feathers. What would you have done?

(Meredith Vieira vs Ann Curry in Beach Tennis)

After just over a month as agency of record, Dan Klores Communications (DKC) has aced some media coverage for Beach Tennis USA.

This morning, the outdoor set of the Today Show was covered with sand for a demonstration of the new hybrid sport--doubles tennis on the sand with no bounces, explained founder Marc Altheim. Altheim is convinced the "addictive" sport could make it to the Olympics one day.

According to Klores VP Dayna Diamond when asked about Curry v Vieira and their respectable skills in the sand:

"as the founder would say, 'it's easy to play, but difficult to
master.' Meredith Vieira couldn't get enough of it really...she stayed
on the court for 10 minutes after the segment concluded and even came back for more during a commercial break. She said 'it's incredible
workout and so much fun.'"

Also the handiwork of DKC, on July 10th, Beach Tennis USA players were featured in the Style section of the Times, reviewing very important pieces of equipment: coolers.

New York sports writers are fuming that Mets manager Willie Randolph and two other coaches were fired at 3:14am Eastern Time last night, after a game with the Anaheim Angels.

Everyone knows Randolph was going to get canned eventually, in fact the press had been calling for it for quite some time. However, reporters expected to at least get a chance to question management about the decision. That opportunity they did not get, and who knows when they will.

Over at the O'Dwyer PR Blog, Kevin McCauley makes the point that the Mets need better PR and should hire local legend Howard Rubenstein, who has repped the Yankees for years. McCauley believes Rubenstein, "would have urged the Wilpons to take the heat via a Shea Stadium press conference." He adds, "The Mets could sure use Rubenstein's counsel, especially with Citi Field opening next year and a new manager in charge."

Whether or not Howard would consider the job is anyone's guess, (we're guessing he won't) but it's an interesting thought nonetheless.

(Jamal Patterson, salesman by day, mixed martial art ass-kicker by night, via NYTimes)

If you enjoy witnessing thorough beat-downs, this is your lucky week.

This Friday night at the Meadowlands scary dudes with nicknames like The Janitor and The Silencer will be punching and kicking the daylights out of each other at a "mixed martial arts" event held by the International Fight League (IFL).

What do these fighty dudes have in common with the NBA or the U.S. Tennis Association? The same person has done PR for all of them. Joe Favorito is currently the head of communications for the IFL. To him, successful sports PR is all about the personal stories, so shifting jobs in tennis to basketball, to mixed martial arts wasn't that much of punch in the gut.

Here's a sampling of the placements leading up to the brawl:

New York Times: "The Businessman Who Finds Time to Fight"

NYPost.com video feature on the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy

CBS Sports feature on Mark Miller (Chicago, Ill.):

IFL preview in the lower Hudson Journal News

Canadian Press feature on Chris Horodecki (London, Ont.):

SI.com Q-and-A with featherweight titleholder Waggney "The Silencer" Fabiano

ESPN.com feature on trainer Martin Rooney

Yankees hats with Crips and Bloods gang symbols are still available in some Brooklyn stores and online according to a Daily News story today.

The PR ramifications of this are pretty obvious. All we can say is someone needs to hop to it and fix the problem. Most of us in the business have dealt with the extreme chain of approval within corporate marketing departments. At the bare minimum two people are are responsible: a creative with the idea, and the executive who signed off on it.

Buffalo NY-based New Era, maker of official MLB merch pled ignorance in a statement after the original story broke last August.