PR Move of the Day:ability to harness nostalgic feelings of games, teams and athletes past and provide a vehicle for fans of today to reconnect with the past.Washington Wizards reached back to retire the number of Earl “The Pearl” Monroe. There were many who felt that the former Baltimore Bullet had been slighted by the organization through the years, as the team moved from Baltimore to Landover to D.C., but Saturday night's ceremony, as chronicled by Mike Wise's piece (one of two in the Washington Post), a USA Today piece, David Steele's Baltimore Sun piece and countless others, gave the Wizards a chance to break through the early season clutter in the Washington sports scene (which included Army-Navy in Baltimore, Maryland football and basketball, the BB and T Classic in DC and all the details of the Redskins emotionally charged week with the Shaun Taylor incident) and get the team some very positive coverage with one of the NBA's most beloved athletes. Kudo's to the Wizards and their staff (top PR guy Zack Bolno especially) fo.making it a special night. As we have seen with Yogi Berra's return on Old Timers Day after a prolonged abscence from Yankee Stadium, the goodwill outreach to past stars has huge credibility.with media, fans and sponsors, and is much more of a long term benefit than most promotional efforts.?Speaking of the Wizards, also check out Gilbert Arenas’ blog on nba.com, one of the best by a current athlete, and it continues to remain fresh, and even more unique, because of hi.recent injury.
