Sunday, March 29, 2009

Will Pole Vault for Pants

Blogging about the economy and sports has proven really easy because lately news has been breaking daily on the subject. The hardest part has been deciding which stories to include.

Today, courtesy of an Olympic pole vaulter from France, was one of the easier decisions. It seems Romain Mesnil, a three-time Olympian, subscribes to the theory that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

After his sponsorship agreement with Nike ended, Mesnil could not find a new backer. He decided to make a video featuring himself running naked with his pole at French tourist destinations to draw some attention to his plight. Here's the video.

Mesnil blames the economy for the situation. (Maybe he couldn't afford pants?)

"It was probably for budgetary and strategic reasons. It's the crisis," he wrote on his website.

Mesnil doesn't have a new deal yet, but it's hard to believe that he won't get something out of this (Lee's dungarees maybe). Is this the wackiest athlete publicity stunt ever? Probably not, but it certainly makes the list.

Imagine Clinton Portis sprinting around the Washington monument wearing only a football helmet. On second thought, maybe Mesnil won't get a new deal, and maybe it doesn't have anything to do with the economy.

1 comment:

  1. I wonder if Daniel Cabrera pulled a stunt like this when he was trying to get signed this offseason...

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