OK, You Guys, Put On Those Skis and Just Do It

One of the feel-good stories of the Nagano Olympics began two years ago with a brainstorm at Nike’s marketing department: What if we transform a couple of Kenyan runners into cross-country skiers?

Now Nike’s backing of the two athletes might have backfired, with some accusing the company of going too far to put its swoosh on a good story.

“These are not athletes clearing hurdles to reach their Olympic dream,” wrote Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski. “These are marketing pawns financed by well-heeled publicity-seekers.”

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Add Nike: Steve Miller, a senior Nike executive in Japan, conceded that factors other than idealistic goals also figured into the company’s support.

“People forget, we are a business, and part of our objective as a business is to get attention,” he said.

Don’t worry, Steve, nobody forgets.

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Trivia time: Jelani McCoy, who quit UCLA’s basketball team Sunday, is the Bruins’ all-time leader in blocked shots with 188. Who is second?

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Bad-hair daze? Mr. Blackwell’s Worst Dressed List, which appears in the March issue of Sport Magazine, includes Chicago Bull forward Dennis Rodman and boxing promoter Don King.

Joining the pair on that list are tennis star Pete Sampras and hockey player Sergei Fedorov.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, teammates of Rodman’s, are on Blackwell’s Best Dressed List along with heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, golfer Tiger Woods, NFL players Ray Buchanan, Keenan McCardell and Kevin Hardy, and, of course, Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley, who is always on the list.

There is also a women’s category. Blackwell rates gymnast Dominique Dawes among the Best Dressed, and swimmer Amy Van Dyken among the Worst Dressed.

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Getting even: Last season, Indianapolis Colt quarterback Jim Harbaugh broke a bone in his hand in an off-the-field altercation with former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, then an NBC commentator. It cost Harbaugh $147,000, one week’s pay, when he had to spend time on the non-football injury list.

Over the weekend, Harbaugh was traded to the Baltimore Ravens.

So what’s the connection?

The Ravens had been considering luring Kelly, 38, out of retirement. When the chance to get Harbaugh came up, any interest in Kelly disappeared.

And this blow to Kelly didn’t even cost Harbaugh any money.

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Trivia answer: Charles O’Bannon with 118. Obviously, they didn’t begin keeping this statistic until after the Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton years.

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And finally: Akebono, the 516-pound sumo wrestler who took part in the opening ceremony of the Winter Games, is engaged.

Writes Ken Rosenthal of the Baltimore Sun: “Think he’ll trim down for the wedding, say, to 450?”