In what surely must be one of the biggest surprises of this or any other year, unemployed Army and Air Force veteran and virtual unknown Alvin Greene captured the Democratic primary for election to the US Senate from South Carolina. Greene had spent little money, had not campaigned at all and trumped the Democratic Party's preferred candidate retired judge Vic Rawl, who spent $250,000 by 100,000 votes. So, why do I bring this up on a sports business blog? 
Well, a couple of weeks ago, Greene was quoted in an interview published in the Guardian, of all places, that one element of his economic revival plan is to make action dolls of himself, putting South Carolinians to work: "Another thing we can do for jobs is make toys of me, especially for the holidays. Little dolls. Me. Like maybe little action dolls. "
Mike Veeck, a chip off the old block if there ever was one, the President of the Charleston RiverDogs, a Class A affiliate of the Yankees, immediately sensed a promotional opportunity and on Saturday, the RiverDogs will proudly be giving away 1,000 Alvin Greene action figures. The ball club will even set up an economic stimulus station at the stadium hiring special workers just to assist with the promotion.
