Shorts...11/04/05 NOVEMBER 04, 2005 -- Fila appointed Stefano di Martino managing director of European operations, effective immediately. His recent tenures were at HTM Italia and Nike. Di Martino spent two years with HTM Italia, acting as president/managing director. He additionally served as the European sales director and as the energy/trend director of Nike, overseeing the EMEA markets from '89 to '04. Adidas has become the first brand to advertise across Yahoo! Avatars for a European campaign to promote its women's winter collection. The six-figure deal places the brand placed in advertising spaces, like Yahoo! Avatars, encouraging female users to interact with the Adidas brand to reflect their personality and styles through the clothing range. Puma has announced the impending launch of limited edition footwear to coincide with 'True Crime: New York City, a sequel to Activision's video game 'True Crime: Streets of L.A.' The title will feature specific Puma brand advertising, in-game retail stores and numerous product placement and brand references. To coincide with the launch, Puma will release just 200 pairs of True Crime shoes, which will only be sold in New York at The Puma Store: Soho, Classic Kicks, Fight Club and Clientele; the retail stores depicted in the game itself. Puma True Crime RS-100 shoes will have a game logo on the insole, embroidered letters T and C on the heel and feature a map of lower Manhattan. The move to create dedicated footwear to coincide with the release of the game is similar to the recent collaboration between Nike and 2K Sports, who announced a range of exclusive NBA 2K6 footwear to be launched throughout the current NBA season.In-game, enhancements to player stats can be obtained through the purchase of specific, customisable Nike iD footwear. Microsoft have also recently partnered with Adidas , in a series of cross-promotional activities leading up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. On Friday, November 4th, David Chamberlain, CEO of Stride Rite and John Fisher, former CEO of Saucony, will preside over the NASDAQ Stock Market Opening Bell in celebration of the New York City Marathon. Chamberlain and Fisher just completed traveling nationwide meeting with the Sporting Goods and Specialty Run channels, and spent time at partner factories in Asia. Hi-Tec Sports USA appointed Bill Berta SVP/sales. Berta previously worked in the role of Hi-Tec NSM from '90-'95. Most recently, he was GM of Columbia Footwear. The National Sporting Goods Association says Alan Cohen, chief executive officer of Indianapolis-based Finish Line, Inc., will be inducted into the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame in May. Cohen joins six other inductees including the late Dave Koch, New Era Cap Co.; Don Pfau, Sports, Inc.; Joachim Schroeder, retired from Karstadt Sports (Germany); Jim Soffe, M.J. Soffe Co.; and Edward W. Stack, Dick's Sporting Goods, will be honored in ceremonies Tuesday evening, May 23, during the 42nd Annual NSGA Management Conference & 8th Annual Team Dealer Summit. The Conference & Summit will be held May 21-24, 2006, at The Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, Texas. Since 1956, the sporting goods industry has honored its pioneers, innovators and leaders, and the election of the Class of 2005 brings the total number of Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Famers to 130.;