Sponsors

NEW ORLEANS --With the city in dire financial shape because of Hurricane Katrina, companies are lining up for the opportunity to become the first-ever corporate sponsors of New Orleans' Mardi Gras celebration. At least 20 companies are offering to pay $2 million each to help cover the police and cleanup costs for next month's parades and parties, according to MediaBuys LLC, the firm hired to search for underwriters. Such sponsorships are a radical change for what is billed as the nation's biggest free party.

When the red starting flag is dropped tomorrow at the Maryland Hunt Cup and the horses charge across the green turf and over the splintered fences, they will follow a path and tradition almost unchanged for 100 years.But elsewhere on the steeplechase circuit are unmistakable signs of modernization: the raffle for a BMW, conspicuously parked at the paddock at the Far Hills meet in New Jersey, or the Carolina GMC Truck Dealers hospitality tent at the Block House Races in North Carolina.The prominence of sponsors, along with crowds that now top 30,000 at key events, reflects almost a reinvention of one of America's most timeless pastimes, which this year enters its second century as an organized sport.

Only four days before Christmas and Christine Poulsen is getting frantic. But she isn't worried about finishing her shopping or holiday greeting cards.Ms. Poulsen, director of the county's Holiday Sharing Program, is fretting over how to match 180 needy county families with sponsors who can provide gifts and food before time runs out on Christmas Eve."We have more to match than we usually have at this point," she said. "Generally by now, we'd have 60 to 80 families left to match. So we have a lot of work to do."

NEW YORK -- When the producers of Fetch! were trying to piece together funding for the new PBS science program for 'tweens this year, they got an assist from some unlikely quarters: Arby's and Macy's. The fast-food chain and the department store helped cover the costs of the 30-minute program, a partly animated game show in which children compete in science challenges. What they got in return was more than a subdued underwriting credit. This summer, Arby's restaurants offered a kids meal featuring Ruff Ruffman, the animated dog who stars in Fetch!

LOS ANGELES -- More than two months after the O. J. Simpson murder trial, some of this city's most prominent blacks are planning to honor Christopher Darden, the prosecutor who was vilified by many blacks as a traitor to his race for his role in the trial.The event tomorrow at the California Afro-American Museum is being billed as a tribute to Mr. Darden, but sponsors described it as an effort to dispel the impression that Mr. Darden is no longer welcome among blacks here."There was definitely some very strong feelings of resentment, animosity even, that Darden was an Uncle Tom and a sell-out," said Danny Bakewell, chairman of the Brotherhood Crusade, a community development group and one of the sponsors of the event.

The Savage Senior Center, 9525 Durness Lane, will sponsor a three-week 50+ Boot Camp for men and women from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Tuesdays and Fridays beginning May 15. Calisthenics and weight training for strength, stamina and endurance will be emphasized. The cost is $20. Information: Edith Bennett, 410-880-5915. Land-use group plans flower sale fund-raiser The Southern Howard Land Use Committee, a group representing several community associations that oppose a mixed-use development on property in North Laurel, will hold a plant sale tomorrow to raise money for legal expenses.

The suggestion by Health Secretary Louis W. Sullivan that fans stay away from sporting events sponsored by tobacco companies met with cries of foul play yesterday.TC Tobacco sponsorships can be found throughout the sports world, but the two major associations that come to mind are Philip Morris' Virginia Slims pro tennis tour and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s Winston Cup stock car racing tour."Virginia Slims is a sponsor of 12 events in the United States, plus our championship and ranking system," said Gerard Smith, executive director and CEO of the Women's Tennis Association.

Quick, now, can you recall the "official underwear" of the 1976 Olympics? How about the "official small car" of the Montreal Games?Having trouble? You're not alone. There were 628 official sponsors of those Summer Games, an Olympic record that organizers hope is never broken.This year's Games still feature some puzzling promotions -- the U.S. Postal Service is the official courier of the Barcelona Games, although it cannot move mail overseas -- but there are far fewer products bearing the Olympic rings.

Dunbar High basketball coach Pete Pompey says the calls to his office began not long after it was announced that the Poets would travel to Honolulu, St. Louis, Myrtle Beach, S.C., Erie, Pa., and Johnstown, Pa., this season for tournaments. All the callers asked the same question.Who pays for these trips?"They want to know how can the city afford to send Dunbar all these places when budgets are being cut everywhere," Pompey said. "The first thing I do is let them know that the city does not pay one red cent for us to travel anywhere."

It was the good government bill that was -- and then it wasn't.It began with complaints from citizens and city department heads about Annapolis city council members meddling and throwing their weight around. By September, five aldermen rushed in with a proposed charter amendment banning such interference in the orderly workings of government.But when it came time to vote that legislation into law last month, the bill's supporters inexplicably faded. Of nine aldermen, only three -- and none of the five sponsors -- voted for the measure.