Fukudomania: Sponsored media sessions

Where to start on this day that was all Fukudome all the time?

Maybe with this: When Kosuke Fukudome held his get-acquainted news conference, the Cubs used a reversible backdrop. One side features the team logo and that of the Nippon Life Insurance Company (represented in English as well as in Japanese letters). The other side has the Cubs logo and that of State Farm Insurance.

The prop was in its proper position for Fukudome's session.

When manager Lou Piniella was about ready to start his media briefing later in the day, a sharp-eyed reporter noted the Japanese side was still facing forward. Media-relations staff members asked Piniella to hold on a second so they could turn the backdrop around and give State Farm its props.

A brave new world indeed.