(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.