MICK OR SUGAR RAY?
[I would vote for Mick, but only because I don't like sports. All the other people seem to be athletes].
The Herald News
http://www.heraldnews.com/education/...-at-fundraiser
Fall River — Bill Russell, Andy Rooney, F. Lee Bailey and others have spoken at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research Celebrity Scholarship Dinner. Now, the center is giving the public the chance to choose a celebrity for next year.
The options right now are a mix of local and national athletes and a musician. Red Sox David Ortiz and Curt Schilling are on the list, as is Patriots receiver Troy Brown, Celtics coach Doc Rivers, and baseball legends Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
Former Bruin Ray Bourque, former boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and Mick
Fleetwood, the Fleetwood Mac drummer, are also options.
With less than 200 votes cast by Monday, Schilling led all celebrities, with 22 percent of votes. Aaron, the all-time home run leader until Barry Bonds broke his record, is second with 19 percent. Rivers has taken 17 percent, and Mays 11 percent.
But Aaron and Mays will soon drop out when a new poll goes up next week, said Center for Marketing Research Director Nora Ganim Barnes, because they won’t be available next spring. Schilling is still in the running.
The center takes suggestions for celebrities and Barnes uses her agent to reach out to celebrity agents. Some, like Russell, work only through their agents. Others, like Bailey, want to arrange details themselves, Barnes said.
“Every year is a real adventure,” she said, adding that the booking process often takes about six months. It’s difficult to get current athletes to work around their season schedule, and others are simply too costly.
The online poll has been up for about a month and still stay until a celebrity is booked, Barnes said. The center holds the celebrity dinner each spring but the exact date often depends on the celebrity’s schedule.
Russell, the former Celtic now a director of the National Mentoring Partnership, spoke at this year’s event in March. Proceeds from the event were used to fund 24 $500 and $1,000 scholarships for marketing students. Next spring’s event will be the ninth annual for the Center for Marketing Research. Other celebrities featured have included Alan Bean, Henry Lee and Bill Walton.