 |
|
||||||
| |||||||
I’m in awe this morning. Everyone is going nuts, upset at Marcus Jordan and dad Michael over Adidas dropping UCF in response to MRjr lacing Nikes last night.
(UCF readying for its ‘White’ Knight in Nike?)
But after talking to two prominent sports marketing execs this morning, all indications are that Nike will soon swoop in to save the day, picking up the UCF sponsorship that Adidas has abruptly vacated.
Brilliant. Read more…
Well, that didn’t take long. Hours ago, UCF announced that His Heirness Marcus Jordan would be taking the floor in tonight’s exhibition in his dad’s Air Jordans. According to Darren Rovell at CNBC, adidas has responded… by summarily canceling their $1.9 million sponsorship with the Golden Knights.
(But what of the custom-made Air Jordans? All people get those before their freshman year, right?)
The immediate ramifications - financial and otherwise - are as yet unknown, but adidas says all notions of a contract extension with the school are completely off the table. And our question is pretty simple: where the hell was Michael Jordan on this one?
A couple weeks ago, we brought you news that Marcus Jordan, son of Michael Jordan, was refusing to comply with the school’s adidas shoe deal, insisting instead on wearing Nike on account of his father’s inextricable history with the brand. The story was that UCF had granted him permission to wear Nikes in exchange for signing with the school, up until some executives at adidas balked at the deal afterward.
(Will Marcus be stepping out in his Air Jordan exclusives?)
Well, score one for the plucky underdogs at Nike; Phil Knight and his rag-tag gang of misfits have finally gotten their big break. As the SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL’s Twitter feed reported, young Marcus is in his Nikes tonight. WHEW. Thought they’d never get their way.
Odd news from ESPN today, as UCF’s Marcus Jordan - son of His Airness Michael, of course - is refusing to comply with the Golden Knights’ shoe deal. UCF has a $3 million dollar with adidas, while (not suprisingly) Jordan won’t wear anything but his dad’s Air Jordans.
(It’s an adidas logo. It’s not made of poison.)
While it’s fine and normal for Marcus to want to honor his dad (if this is, indeed, Marcus’ decision alone), it seems slightly improper to do so in this way. We’re not going to chastise Marcus much for not understanding the way endorsement and equipment deals work - he’s just a freshman in college - but there are several causes for concern here, and nearly all point right back at Dad.
Rapper Chamillionaire makes a pretty compelling case for Michael Jordan being the worst person in the world. Are you buying what he’s selling?
Let me get you started: YES.
I’m sure there’s some embellishment in there, but I have no doubt that the substance of what Chamillionaire said about his personal experience with Jordan is completely true.
The IOC’s highly anticipated 2016 Summer Olympics vote is tomorrow, and what initially appeared to be a slam dunk for the USA has turned into a legitimate two-horse race.
(Pele, representing his country by holding up a Brazilian flag. Please disregard the flag in his other hand.)
Try as President Obama might, Chicago is facing stiff competition from Rio de Janeiro for hosting rights, and it might have something to do with the fact that the Brazilian athletic community is pulling out all the stops. And by that, of course, we mean bringing Pele to Copenhagen on Friday to represent Brazil’s bid. When one thinks of Chicago’s most famous athletes, of course, the list starts and ends with Brad Sellers Michael Jordan. He’s not going to Copenhagen, though, and that means it’s time for Pele to somehow overstate his importance. Mission accomplished.
Here’s the thing about Charles Barkley: he may come off as contrarian and opinionated and anti-establishment or whatever, but that’s not really the case. He’s just in the normal early stages of Cranky Old Man Syndrome, in which COMS sufferers begin alienating themselves from the changes in the world around them. It wasn’t immediately obvious; Barkley’s frequent shots at his superiors could have been just a garden-variety case of a problem with authority.
(NERRRRRRRRRRDS! AND BIRRRRRRRRRDS!)
But now that he’s going after TWITTER, well, we’re kicking ourselves that we didn’t diagnose the COMS earlier. It’s so obvious, in retrospect. He doesn’t hate authority because they tell him not to do things, he’s just not used to the culture of responsibility. And the kids, with their Twitter Tweet Twoodles or whatever they’re called? Well, Charles Barkley doesn’t much cotton to these computers today.
It’s been a while since the Bears have had a good quarterback. And it’s a shame, considering they’ve had some pretty good teams that were ultimately sabotaged by guys like Jim Miller and Rex Grossman. So we all know what a huge relief it was for the people of Chicago that they finally would have a real, legitimate star under center.
So, anyone missing Orton yet? In what is always a monumental game for the Bears, Jay Cutler was Brian Griese-esque as he threw four interceptions in a 21-15 loss to Green Bay at Lambeau Field. The CHICAGO TRIBUNE’s David Haugh says that Cutler wasn’t exactly keeping a cool head while everything crumbled around him:
In case you haven’t heard, Nike’s at it again, reappropriating 9/11 for their own crass commercial purposes as Michael Jordan gets inducted into the Hall of Fame. Wait, I’m sorry, we’re told that is a wildly untrue statement and that Nike had nothing to do with the date of induction. We regret the error. Anyway, MJ is being inducted today; presumably, the day belongs to him.
But while Jordan grabs the headlines, there are other people being inducted today, most notably John Stockton and David Robinson, two titans of the era in their own right. And while their inductions are generally of the off-without-a-hitch variety, there’s also Peter Vecsey, a NEW YORK POST reporter who’s being inducted for lord knows why. And that’s the real highlight here, folks, because by all accounts, last night, he delivered the worst induction speech of all time.
Guilty, your honor; with an explanation. How did Brett Favre justify his illegal crackback block on the Texans’ Eugene Wilson last night? Like this: “I will be 40 years old in October and (was) weed-eating 13 days ago,” Favre said. “I wasn’t thinking about throwing blocks.” And there you have it, folks: The Weed Whacker Defense.
It’s kind of a shame that Favre’s debut in a Vikings uniform will be most noted for this. But then I’m not the one who launched myself at the knees of a defensive back in a meaningless game, endangering not only his career, but possibly his ability to walk to the corner market under his own power when he’s 70. Check out the video yourself, below, and see what you think.
The reaction so far is interesting: Many were up in arms, including the ESPN crew of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden, as heard in the video. Meanwhile, Vikings fans seem most concerned that Favre threw the block with his throwing shoulder. Having Favre run two plays out of the Wildcat in a preseason game does seem a bit nuts. But bending an opponent’s knees like Gumby is the big story here, and pretty inexcusable. I’m beginning to think that Favre isn’t going to win that Nickelodeon Teen Choice Award he’s been after.
(Warning: Cheese is purple for a reason. Do not eat)
For those interested in the legal portions of the game, Minnesota won 17-10, with Favre playing three quarters and going 13-for-18 for 142 yards. He didn’t really move the offense much; the real standout was Adrian Peterson. The Texans looked rusty and sluggish; in other words, in mid-season form. But the thing is, in a preseason game when none of that matters, all anyone is going to talk about is controversial stuff like Favre’s block. From AP:
Vikings coach Brad Childress said he hadn’t seen the block, but had a lot to say about it.
“I have not spent a lot of time with him blocking in the last 10 days,” Childress said. “Nor do I think he has spent any time doing any blocking, but I will in the future if he is going to be at the point of attack. I don’t think he did any of this down in Mississippi either. So that one is on me, I will take that one.”
Wilson said he hadn’t spoken to Favre, but if he did he would ask him one thing.
“What was up with that?” Wilson said. “Seriously, what was up with that?”
Wilson was hurt on the play, but says he’s going to be OK.
The Dodgers’ push for a World Series title got a big boost on Monday when they acquired first baseman Jim Thome and pitcher Jon Garland just ahead of the playoff roster deadline. And how was the big news announced to the team? In the traditional way: Larry King’s sons shouted it into their dugout during their game with the Diamondbacks. Chance, 10, and Cannon, 9, know a scoop when they hear one, and like their father, couldn’t wait to beat Fox and MSNBC. The old man probably fed them the tip to make up for the shame of his recent Michael Jackson coverage.
More oddness: Garland (8-11, 4.29 ERA) was sitting in the Arizona dugout when he heard the news, just before the Diamondbacks scored two in the 10th to beat Los Angeles 5-3. He was supposed to pitch against LA on Thursday, and will probably still take the hill, only now against his former team. Thome, 39, who has 564 career homers, wasn’t exactly brought in to play first base — he’s played in the field a grand total of 28 innings in the past four seasons, including zero innings last season. Joe Torre no doubt sees him as a little offensive insurance policy, in much the same way the Phillies used Matt Stairs last season.
Meanwhile, the Rockies missed out on Garland, who they really wanted, and settled for White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras (5-13, 5.42 ERA). Chicago gets promising pitching prospect Brandon Hynick in return. The White Sox also got infielder Justin Fuller from the Dodgers for Thome.
The Giants picked up pitcher Brad Penny, who had been cut by the Red Sox. He’ll probably be their No. 5 starter as SF and Colorado, who are tied for the wild card lead, head into the final 31 games of the regular season.
Rafael Furcal, however, has had more important things to worry about. If you’re wondering why the Dodgers started Juan Castro at shortstop on Monday, it’s because Furcal has had to evacuate his home as the Station Fire north of Dodger Stadium continues to burn. Furcal was in Denver on Thursday when his wife called and said that firefighters wanted them to evacuate their house, in the Flintridge neighborhood. “I tell my wife, ‘You know what, get clothes for the kids and take the car and get out of there,’” Furcal said. “Life is more important than anything.” The six-day-old wildfire, not yet close to being contained, has destroyed 53 buildings and burned 105,000 acres, resulting in the death of two firefighters.
UCLA coach Rick Nueheisel, meanwhile, says the Bruins still plan to play San Diego State in their football opener on Saturday at the Rose Bowl, which is less than 10 miles south of the fire. Since the Aztecs were 2-10 last season and are 0-21 lifetime against UCLA, perhaps he feels the smoke won’t make much of a difference.
(4) Contest Winner is entitled to one (1) handshake with Mr. Jordan; one (1) exchange of pleasantries with Mr. Jordan not to exceed three (3) discrete sentences spoken to Mr. Jordan, and allowed to occur only between 8:00 AM and 8:15 AM on the initial morning of the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational; and one (1) farewell directed to Mr. Jordan, which shall take form solely as “Thank you for being such a great guy. It was nice to meet you.” All other interaction is strictly forbidden.
(6) Contest Winner shall not participate in, photograph, or record any gambling, adult entertainment, sexual intercourse, amorous circumstance short of intercourse, sexual assault, or simultaneous combination of the preceding activities.
(9) Contest Winner shall wear Hanes underwear, Hanes t-shirt, Jordan Brand top, Jordan Brand bottom, and Jordan XX3 at all times.
