The Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League gathered together three recognizable names -- George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford -- to drop the opening puck before Monday's game. Later, the three traded slapshots during the first intermission, Clinton showing his hockey prowess to win.

	Left to right are: Phantoms captain Mark Greig, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford and Houston Aeros center Shawn Carter.

Getting the three together wasn't all that difficult said Al Cohen, the Phantoms' public relations director. They just looked them up in the phone book and extended the invites.

Of course, Bush, Clinton and Ford are not to be confused with the current or former U.S. presidents. Their familiar names withstanding, they are otherwise ordinary average residents from around the Philadelphia area. "I have a lot of fun with my name," George William Bush of Boothwyn, Pa., told ESPN.com.

The team's marketing minds dreamed up the Presidents' Day promotion and invited the three that had the same names as the living presidents. They did, however, notice that there was no lack of Pennsylvania residents bearing the names of now deceased presidents.

"There are plenty of John Kennedy's, two with F's (as the middle initial)," Cohen said. "There are a lot of George Washingtons, and there is even a Theodore Roosevelt, a Herbert Hoover and a Calvin Coolidge."

As part of the holiday celebration, the team wore red, white and blue jerseys that were auctioned off after the game. The team raised $34,700 for the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which provides educational assistance to financially needy children and spouses of those affected by the Sept. 11 tragedies.

Did you see that?

	Two years after his horrific wreck at Daytona, Geoffrey Bodine took third in this year's race.

Geoffrey Bodine, the 52-year-old NASCAR veteran driver, raced from the 35th position to a third-place finish at the Daytona 500 on Sunday, good for a $644,187 payday. But Bodine, who nearly died in a Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona two years ago, also earned significant exposure for his main sponsor, the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida.

Bodine was paid approximately $450,000, according to Miccosukee chairman Billy Cypress, to advertise the tribe on the car's hood and its 67,000-square-foot Miccosukee Indian Gaming casino on the back bumper during the Daytona 500 and again during the Pennzoil 400 in Homestead, Fla., this November. So far, it appears the tribe received its money's worth.

The Miccosukee Tribe received $608,345 in equivalent advertising time from the live broadcast of Sunday's race, according to Dave Yott, Winston Cup racing analyst for Joyce Julius & Associates, a sponsorship evaluation firm. While little was shown of the car during the race, Bodine gave the tribe 48 seconds of major television exposure during his post-race interview by wearing a Miccosukee hat.

The tribe plans to continue sponsoring Bodine on a per-race basis. Miccosukee also will sponsor Bodine in the Pepsi 400 in July, and based primarily on his performance at Daytona, Cypress said the tribe likely will add the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 in Las Vegas on March 3, the Atlanta 500 on March 10 and the Talledega 500 on April 21.

"We're always about going with the underdog," Cypress said. "Almost everyone has written him off, and so far he's proven he could go the distance."

Bodine has had a big week. He designed the "Bo-dyn" bobsleds for the U.S. Olympic team, which the U.S. women's team used to capture gold on Tuesday. It was the first Olympic medal for a U.S. bobsled team in 46 years.

Looking to make some silver and gold
Peter Spaziano, owner of a Web design firm in Barnegat, N.J., registered Jamiesale.com last Monday, when Sale and her figure skating partner, David Pelletier, became the center of a controversy when they failed to win the gold medal at the Salt Lake Winter Games. "I bought it because I wanted to provide an outlet for fans to share their feelings about the controversy," Spaziano said.

Although the two were awarded gold on Sunday night, the traffic on Spaziano's site hasn't slowed in the days since. In its first week of operation, the Web site has drawn 545 visitors per day, according to his site meter.

Although he had three quick offers from people looking to buy the site, the only person Spaziano will sell it to, at least for now, is Jamie Sale herself.

According to Internet search engine Lycos, Sale was the 22nd-most requested search item last week, ahead of searches for Enron. Searches for Sale outnumbered searches for Pelletier by 20-fold, Lycos reported.

Reebok's back-to-school blues

	Venus Williams holds up another trophy after defeating sister Serena in the U.S. Open last year.

Venus Williams will overtake Jennifer Capriati as the No. 1 women's tennis player in the world on Monday. Because of her desire to take fashion classes at the Florida Art Institute, Williams had never before played enough matches to qualify for the WTA's top ranking. But things might not stay that way if Williams hits the books full-time in the fall, something Williams told the French paper L'Equipe she is considering.

That's something Reebok might not want to hear. Williams signed a reported five-year, $40 million endorsement deal with Reebok more than a year ago.

"We've encouraged her to take classes if that's what interests her," said Dianne Hays, global tennis sports marketing director of Reebok. "As long as she fulfills our needs promotionally, as far as shoots and (public relations) appearances and stays competitive, she can certainly take a few classes here and there."

Williams' spring line by Reebok was unveiled in January during the Australian Open, and a fall collection is due out in September during the U.S. Open.

Nothing to sneeze at
When was the last time you heard of an athlete actually using a product before endorsing it? U.S. women's bobsledder Jean Racine got a one-year endorsement deal, which sources say is in the mid-five figures, after coming down with the flu last Wednesday night. Team USA physicians gave her Tamiflu and her agent, Evan Morganstein, says that Jean recovered in 24 hours.

"I am thrilled about this deal," Morganstein said. "Not only has Jean actually utilized Tamiflu and gotten better, but the product is helping many of the top athletes with flu on the USA Olympic Team."

Racine, who replaced her longtime teammate, brakesperson Jen Davidson, just prior to the U.S. Olympic trials, finished fifth in Tuesday's event.

As good as gold
In order to capitalize on the patriotic spirit, top sponsors shell out between $50 million and $60 million each time the Olympic Games roll around. But what kind of bang for the buck do they really get?

Michael Lynch, senior vice president of event and sponsorship marketing for longtime Olympic-sponsor Visa, claims that after the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Visa research showed 72 percent of those surveyed said they knew the credit card company as an official Olympic sponsor and that those who knew claimed they used the card more than those who were not aware. A new poll released by Harris Interactive, however, reveals that 47 percent of those polled would change the commercialism associated with the Olympics.

Because of its relationship with the Olympics, not to mention the millions of dollars it has paid for its sponsorship, Visa is the only card accepted at the Olympic ticket booths, concession stands and at licensed merchandise stores. Twenty-eight different Olympic card designs are on 20 million new cards in 32 countries, Lynch said.

Cashing in after the Super Bowl
Tom Brady has been signed by Tri-Star Productions, a leading sports memorabilia company, to sign Super Bowl XXXVI items on March 1. For the past month, Tri-Star has been taking orders for many items, including 8-by-10, autographed pictures of Brady for $99 and scaled-down replica Super Bowl helmets bearing his signature for $169. Fans can have Brady sign "Super Bowl MVP" or "2002 Super Bowl Champs" for an extra $39, according to Brian Nowell, retail sales manager at Tri-Star.

"The response has been very good," Nowell said. "Boston fans have been starved for so long that they are looking for something like this." Nowell said the prices for Brady items are the same that the company charged for Kurt Warner-signed items after he earned MVP honors in Super Bowl XXXIV.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at Darren.rovell@espn.com