From socks to jocks, Belco cleans up on sports.

• Position: Belco Athletic Laundry Equipment

From socks to jocks, Belco cleans up on sports

In his efforts to clean up athletics, Bill Beall Jr. has visited Johnny Unitas' home, ordered drinks alongside slugger George Brett and rubbed shoulders with Vince Lombardi.

But Beall is not out to air sports stars' dirty laundry. As national sales manager for Charlotte-based Belco Athletic Laundry Equipment, he just wants them to keep it clean.

And plenty of them have--using specially made washers and dryers bought from Bill Beall Sr., 71, who still runs the distributorship he started 33 years ago. In the dazzling duds department, Belco has put the spin on the Toronto Blue Jays, the California Angels, the Atlanta Braves and Charlotte's own Hornets. More than 7,000 high schools, colleges, pro teams, YMCAs, health centers and military bases buy from Belco.

If you've seen the movie Bull Durham, you've seen a Belco dryer--in the background when catcher Crash Davis coolly tells pitcher "Nuke" LaLoosh that the rose on his lucky garter belt goes on the front.

So why do sports teams need super suds? For one thing, as those mamas on the Tide commercials keep telling us, nothing gets clothes dirtier than playing ball. But believe it or not, it takes more than Tide to get them clean. Belco...