FYI, or, tooting my horn

[Peter Delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com>]

Hi list. This has nothing to do with the Celtics, but I thought a few of
you might be interested in this article I just wrote for this week's
paper. (I write for The Business Journal in Silicon Valley, and my stuff
also runs in Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal.)

@BYLINE:By Peter Delevett Business Journal staff writer
@BODY TEXT: The Golden State Warriors hope next weekend's National
Basketball Association All-Star Game will rally fan support—even though
the game itself isn't open to the public, unless you already happen to
be a Warriors season ticket holder.
The Warriors are hosting the NBA's annual gala for the first time since
1967, when the team was based in San Francisco.
 Owner Chris Cohan, who bought the Warriors in 1995, had pushed for the
event since the team finished extensive renovations on the Oakland
Coliseum Arena (now the Arena in Oakland) in 1997.
 "It's the second biggest sporting event in the world in terms of
exposure, behind the Super Bowl," said Robert Rowell, vice president of
business operations, who is the team's point man with the league.
 All-Star week is expected to pump some $30 million into the Bay Area's
economy, according to Manette Belliveau, executive director of the
Oakland Convention & Visitors Bureau.
 Mr. Rowell said landing the Feb. 10-13 All-Star Weekend "really
solidifies in our mind that we are putting the right pieces in place."
 However, team and league officials admit, the Warriors have a ways to
go to become competitive.
 Golden State has the second-worst record of the NBA's 29 teams, and no
Warrior was selected to play in the Feb. 13 game. The only Warrior
who'll participate in any of the weekend's events is Antawn Jamison, who
will compete in the rookie game and slam dunk contest Feb. 12.
 All-Star Weekend gives the team a chance to stroke its season ticket
holders, who will receive tickets to the game. Other fans will be out of
luck; the event isn't open to the general public, as NBA insiders
usually snap up the remaining seats.
 But fans are invited to the Thursday-through-Saturday events at the
Arena as well as to a weeklong carnival, the NBA All-Star Jam Session,
that kicks off Feb. 7 next door.
 To further capture fan goodwill, Warriors players and coaches spent
several hours Jan. 29 helping renovate a public park and recreation
center near the Arena.
 The playground will be renamed All-Star Park at a Feb. 10 ceremony
featuring Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and NBA commissioner David Stern.
 The effort was part of the Warriors' HOOP program, which stands for
Helping Out Other People. Mr. Cohan launched the program two years ago
by giving the team's employees two paid days off each year to perform
community service.
 "I think it's very important that we, as role models in the community,
try to give back," said Warriors center Adonal Foyle.
  The Warriors chipped in $150,000 of the $250,000-plus needed to spruce
up the park, with the rest coming from the NBA and Chevron Corp.
 There won't be many other opportunities for area firms to get involved
with All-Star weekend; the NBA handles almost all of the sponsorship and
marketing details, working with companies that have national contracts
with the league.
 This year, for the first time, the NBA is allowing a few of the host
team's local sponsors—including Bank of America, Catholic Healthcare
West and Tickets.com—to participate in the Jam Session.
 Area technology companies also will be featured at a Feb. 11 summit at
the Ritz Carlton San Francisco to address the Internet's role in the
sports world. Among those on hand will be Red Herring CEO Chris Alden,
Go.com chairman Steve Bornstein and Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison.
 Mr. Rowell said logistics made it impossible to schedule All-Star
events in all three of the Bay Area's major cities, but he expressed
hope that South Bay residents would participate in the Feb. 12 events.
 About 14 percent of Warriors season ticket holders hail from the South
Bay, Mr. Rowell said, though the team doesn't disclose the total number
of season ticket holders.
 This season the team is drawing about 12,000 fans per game, including
walk-ups.
@BIO/TAGLINE:You can reach Mr. Delevett at pdelevett@amcity.com.