The Business Week list of the 100 most influential people in the world of sports contains all the job descriptions you’d expect. There’s commissioner, owner, president, CEO, chairman and other titles drawn straight from corporate elite’s financial reports.
But one title stands out for looking like it was lifted from fables about King Arthur or Harry Potter. The title?
Legend.
That’s what Business Week chose to put beside Arnold Palmer’s name (and only one other) when it dubbed Palmer the 76th most influential figure in 2007 sports: Arnold Palmer, PGA Legend.
Great work, if you can get it.
Palmer’s name is unique to the list in that he’s nearly four decades removed from the heydays of the profession that first made him famous. The other 98 are still actively engaged in their life’s pursuits. Fellow “legend,” Earvin “Magic” Johnson, comes in at 95.
According to Business Week, the top 10 are:
1. Roger Goodell Commissioner, NFL
2. Tiger Woods Golfer
3. David Stern Commissioner, NBA
4. George Bodenheimer President, ESPN, ABC Sports; co-chairman, Disney Media Networks
5. Bud Selig Commissioner, MLB
6. Brian France Chairman, CEO NASCAR
7. Dick Ebersol Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics
8. Phil Knight Chairman, Nike
9. Sean McManus President, CBS News and Sports
10. Rupert Murdoch Chairman, CEO, News Corp.
Besides Palmer and Woods, the only other golf-associated names to make the list are PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem, no. 34, and IMG Senior Vice President and global managing director of golf, Mark Steinberg, no. 72.
Palmer’s lucky, too, in that his is the only occupation on the list where if he says, “Hey, I’m taking the day off to play golf,” he’s not going to hear any griping from angry shareholders. In fact, people get upset if Palmer’s not golfing enough.
If that’s, indeed, the case then all is right in the Palmer world. After a recent working vacation to Pebble Beach, Palmer has confirmed he’ll be playing in the following events: On Thursday, October 11, he’ll be in the pro-am at the Administaff Small Business Classic at the Augusta Pines Golf Club near Houston; and he’s looking forward to joining his grandson, Sam Saunders, now a sophomore at Clemson University, again at the Father-Son tournament at ChampionsGate Golf Club Nov. 28 through Dec. 2 near his Bay Hill winter home in Orlando.
A legend’s work is never done.