Our Economy Essay -- essays papers

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