Advertisers Are Scrambling for Their Share of Air Time

If you were pitching a product and you wanted a sports tie-in, who would be your representative?

For years, Arnold Palmer was the No. 1 sports pitchman. Palmer is still high on the list, but he has relinquished his top spot to Michael Jordan.

“He’s hotter than any recent athlete we’ve seen in the prime of a career,” said Brian Murphy, publisher of Sports Marketing Letter.

Jordan’s client list includes everything from sneakers to cereals, soft drinks to fast food. It all adds up to $11 million in endorsement earnings.

The top 10 most wanted representatives and their earnings: 1. Jordan, $11 million; 2. Palmer, $10 million; 3. Jack Nicklaus, $10 million; 4. Magic Johnson, $9 million; 5. Greg Norman, $8.5 million; 6. Andre Agassi, $7 million; 7. Wayne Gretzky, $7 million; 8. Joe Montana, $6 million; 9. Chris Evert, $6 million; 10. Bo Jackson, $5 million.

Trivia time: Six Heisman Trophy winners have played for the Rams. Who are they?

Andre Who?: In John Feinstein’s book, “Hard Courts: Real Life on the Professional Tennis Tours,” he doesn’t have many kind words for Andre Agassi.

Agassi is portrayed as a phony, often security-obsessed star who is surrounded by sycophants. When he arrived for a tournament in Cincinnati, he reportedly demanded that security guards escort him from the airport.

A volunteer driver is quoted as telling him: “Andre, it’s 11:30 at night. We’re in Kentucky (the airport is across the Ohio River from Cincinnati). Unless you’ve appeared on ‘Hee Haw’ lately, no one here is going to mob you.”

Add Agassi: Ivan Lendl has no use for Agassi, saying in the book: “He’s just a bad guy. I thought Thomas Muster was a jerk, but this guy is much worse.”

Putt down: Amy Alcott told the Baltimore Sun that she was on the putting green at Carmel Valley Country Club a few years ago when she was chided by a man.

“I must have missed a couple of putts and he said something like, ‘You’ll never win the (women’s) U.S. Open putting like that,’ ” she recalled. “I said, ‘Sir, I have won the U.S. Open.’ ”

Room service: Moe Drabowsky, pitching coach for Vancouver of the Pacific Coast League, was an incorrigible prankster during his 17-year major league career. A sampling:

Drabowsky tormented Baltimore Oriole trainer Ralph Salvon by calling a hotel operator and saying: “This is Ralph Salvon. I’m not in my room, but I need wake-up calls at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.”

The operator questioned the request, but Drabowsky responded: “I’ve got a severe eye infection and must take these drops every two hours. It’s critical that I take them, or I may go blind. I may sound gruff and may not answer the phone and, whatever I say, don’t let me cancel the calls.”

Calling Sherlock Holmes: Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post on Monica Seles, whose mysterious injury caused her to miss the Wimbledon tennis tournament:

“Seles and the Women’s Tennis Assn. owe the public more than mysterious Garbo-babble. Can you imagine the hubbub if the starting quarterback in the Super Bowl pulled out on Saturday, saying simply, ‘Something happened. I’ll tell you about it when I’m good and ready.’ ”

Trivia answer: Tom Harmon, Bruce Smith, Glenn Davis, Terry Baker, John Cappelletti and Charles White.

Quotebook: Atlanta Brave broadcaster Don Sutton on stout Philadelphia first baseman John Kruk: “He looks like a guy who went to a fantasy camp and decided to stay.”