He sold lots of jeans -- high-rise, low-rise, tight, loose, multipockets, you name it, and gave out lots of advice on how to make new jeans look and feel old and worn out.
In general, the salary cap has helped spread talent around the league, giving rise to tight races in both conferences.
Still, the American consumer — grappling with rising unemployment, tight credit markets and falling stock portfolios — is not spending freely.
Analysts also predicted that heating oil prices would rise as tighter supplies and jitters over a possible war in Iraq bolster the price of crude oil.
It's not only facing a traditional policy-induced slowdown -- which is brought about by the combination of rising rates, tight fiscal policy, the strong dollar killing off refinancing cash flows, taking real wages back to negative growth -- but also on top of that we have the tech sector in clear slowdown.
The market also faces macroeconomic headwinds like rising unemployment, tight lending standards and the ongoing increase in foreclosures.
"The signs are that the Chancellor will admit on Monday that tax rises and tight controls on public spending will be needed further out once the economy is on a firmer footing," said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer.
Trousers were typically sexy, low-rise and tight-fitting with rows of motorcycle leather tabs down each thigh.
But he argued that, with inflation rising sharply, tighter policy was essential to underpin the credibility of the committee's inflation-fighting resolve.
Now Mr Fernández, who in a first term from 1996-2000 presided over the economy's miracle growth, has laid a base for recovery (see chart).His first job was to restore confidence in the currency by pushing through an austerity programme involving cuts in public-sector jobs, tax rises and tighter monetary policy.
"The benefit from a letup in gasoline prices will be overwhelmed by the impact of rising unemployment, tighter credit and other hardships on households," says Frank Badillo, a TNS retail economist.
