10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (4/27-4/29)

10. Nike Shoe Designer Mocks Derrick Rose on Twitter
            This story wouldn’t have been a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that Jason Petrie happens to be the man who designed Lebron Jame’s signature sneakers. Petrie should’ve used his head and realized that trying to play 66 games in 120 days had much more to do with Rose breaking down than what brand of shoes he was wearing.

9. Redskins Draft Kirk Cousins in Fourth Round

            I’d be totally cool with Washington taking a flier on Cousins (it’s not a bad investment to draft a quarterback late and turn it into future draft picks via trade. Think of what the Patriots did with Matt Cassel as a prime example). The problem is they already gave up three draft picks (including their next two first-rounders) on their presumed quarterback of the future, Robert Griffin III. Shouldn’t a team that isn’t all that great be focusing on adding as many parts as possible around Griffin instead of taking a guy that they might be able to trade in three years? This serves as another reminder that the best part of being a Dallas Cowboys fan is having the Redskins in your division.

8. Cowboys First Round Pick Morris Claiborne Claims He Blew Off Wonderlic Test

            Reportedly his score on the Wonderlic was a 4, so claiming he didn’t give a damn about it was a wise move by the Cowboys’ prized new cornerback.

7. Water Bottle Takes Victory Away From Tony Stewart, Gives it to Kyle Busch

            NASCAR is claiming that there was sheet metal on the track, but Tony Stewart will go to his grave blaming an empty water bottle for taking a sure victory away from him Saturday night. Saturday’s win capped a huge weekend for Kyle Busch, who’s brother Kurt delivered his Nationwide team it’s first victory.

6. Josh Smith Dominates KG, Rondo Earns a Suspension

            For a team that appeared to have a clear path to the Eastern Conference Finals set-up by the Derrick Rose injury, Boston had about as bad a Game 1 as they could’ve had. They’ll need a huge game from Paul Pierce in Game 2 to even the series.

5. Kings Steal Game 1 in St. Louis

            L.A. already took down Vancouver, so the Blues should be a piece of cake right? If Jonathan Quick keeps standing tall, this series will be a short one.

4. Howard-less Magic Score 11 Unanswered Points, Steal Game 1 in Indiana

            What an embarrassing loss for Indiana. No Credentials predicted that Game 1 is the one time Indiana will let its guard down against an undermanned Magic squad, and was handsomely rewarded for a hefty wager on the Pacers in Game 2.

3. Heat Annihilate Knicks

            I’ll make a long story short and come out with the truth…I bet a shit-ton of money on the Heat laying 7.5 points. They won by 33. Good times for No Credentials.

2. Danny Briere Scores “Twice” in Overtime, Flyers Take Game 1

            Briere kicked a puck into the net early in overtime (which was quickly overturned), but made up for it with a well-placed wrist shot. New Jersey was the dominant team in the first period, but ran out of steam the rest of the way.

1. Durant’s Clutch Jumper Gives Thunder Game 1 Win

            It wasn’t the most graceful looking shot, but two points is two points.             

Bonus 1. Grizzlies Pull Epic Choke, Lose to Clippers

            I never claim to be an expert on anything (except how to build a team in Madden’s Franchise mode), but I’m pretty sure that when you are up by 27 points, you’re supposed to win the game. Things would look better for the Clippers if Caron Butler hadn’t of broken his hand.

           

                                                                                                          

Shoe Wars and the BCS Championship Game

            I remember watching the 2006 BCS National Championship game with a friend who happened to be a manager for an Adidas store at the time. The game was the most memorable college football game I’ve ever seen, with Vince Young putting on a super human performance to lead Texas over Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and the USC Trojans. Despite the memorable match-up, all my friend could keep talking about was all the “swooshes” he was seeing. He was referencing the Nike logos on both team’s jerseys. It was sort of understandable, since this was a guy who if he heard anyone say Nike while he was working, would ask, “Did you just use the “N” word?” Say what you want about the man, but he was damn dedicated to his company.

            I couldn’t help but be reminded of that evening five years ago while watching last night’s Auburn-Oregon game. Oregon tied the game with over two minutes left with a touchdown and a two-point conversion, but Auburn methodically drove down the field to kick a field goal as time expired. It wasn’t as epic of a contest as the previously mentioned Texas-USC tilt, but still a great game that met all expectations going in. Most people were probably focused on this match-up. I couldn’t help but notice that the swooshes were joined by a funny looking logo. This clash pitted the long-time dominator of athletic shoes and apparel (Nike) against a 15-year old rival whose origins are very similar to how Nike began (Under Armour).

            Under Armour was founded by former University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank in 1996. Along with a former teammate, Plank began the new company from his grandmother’s basement in Washington D.C. A year later, Plank grew his revenues from $17,000 to $100,000. A front page picture of former Raiders quarterback Jeff George wearing an Under Armour mock turtleneck first introduced the company to the masses (who knew that Jeff George would be partly responsible for something other than having an awful moustache when he was a rookie and screaming at his coach in 1996 and getting suspended for the rest of the season while he was on the Falcons). Improbably, the big break for the company was Jamie Foxx wearing an Under Armour jockstrap in “Any Given Sunday” (it does make sense that a jockstrap would be more valuable in the back story of a company than Jeff George). Ever since 2000, Under Armour has slowly been expanding their product line, and in a similar fashion as Nike’s strategy, has begun signing top athletes as endorsers, with none bigger than Tom Brady (if I was a homer, I would’ve mentioned Miles Austin, but I’ll put it in parentheses to make the statement seem less serious). In 2008, Under Armour began outfitting some colleges with athletic gear. In 2009, they inked Auburn University.

            Nike has been keeping a close eye on Under Armour for the better part of the last decade. There origins are very similar to Under Armour (founder Phil Knight used to sell shoes at track meets out of the trunk of his car, while co-founder Bill Bowerman used a waffle iron to create the game-changing waffle outsole). They even train their associates to give a speech about how Nike’s compression wear is more durable than Under Armour’s. Nike’s been kicking Adidas’ ass for years, but they recognize that this new upstart is different. Under Armour only does less than 10% of the revenue Nike, but they have become a hip brand with kids across the nation. They may not persuade a bunch of middle-aged men to make a switch, but eventually the kids they are appealing to now will be middle-aged men with kids of their own.

            This is where we need to bring up the University of Oregon. Oregon could be renamed “Nike College”, as it’s the alma mater of the aforementioned Knight and Bowerman. Stationed close to Nike’s headquarters, Oregon has developed into a testing ground for Nike. Starting in 2006 (ironically enough, right around the time when Under Armour was beginning to air television ads), Nike began designing radical new uniforms for Oregon. The Ducks wore 9 different combinations in the 2006 season alone. Most of them featured neon yellow quite prominently, which irked some alumni. The suits at Nike weren’t concerned about the alumni when making these uniforms, they were thinking about kids. Oregon has been transformed into the university of cool, and Nike’s swoosh is all over it. It didn't take them long to realize that Under Armour was a threat, and they needed to react quickly to strike back in the battle for America’s youth.

            This back-story made Monday’s game that much more interesting. There was Oregon, in the most important football game in the program’s history, trotting out onto the field in uniforms they had never worn before (they were specially designed by Nike for this game). Auburn was wearing their traditional blue jerseys, a stark contrast to the space-age garb being worn by the opposition (don’t give Under Armour any credit for this. According to an ESPN.com article published last month, they have proposed multiple alternate uniforms, but Auburn has refused in order to stick with tradition). If you didn’t know any better, and you had to pick which school was equipped by the young upstart sportswear company, you would’ve picked Oregon.

             Will Auburn’s victory have an immediate impact in the sportswear industry? It probably won’t in the short term. Under Armour has Auburn plastered all over their homepage right now, but I doubt millions of people will chuck their Nike’s in the dumpster and purchase Under Armour sneakers. It will be interesting to see what this sector of the economy looks like in 20 years. Their journey from a grandmother’s basement to the outfitter of the national championship football team in 15 years has been remarkable. As long as they continue to add high caliber athletes to endorse their product, and they continue to expand their product line (or in other words, follow the Nike blueprint), they should be in great shape.

           

              

             

Good Ads, Bad Ads

            Ever since my youth, I’ve always had a fascination with commercials. My all-time favorites were the Budweiser Frogs from the mid-90s. Whoever thought of having a lizard hire a ferret to kill three frogs was a genius (those ads aired during Super Bowl XXXII in 1997). In this space tonight, I’ll quickly run through some ads that are getting it done, and a couple that aren’t working out so well. Thankfully, there is nothing as bad as the old Chevrolet “THIS IS OUR COUNTRY” ads (John Mellencamp should’ve been deported to Istanbul for that song. If I live to be 97 years old, I know I’ll be able to recite every word of that song that aired during every commercial of every NFL game for 3 years. Even if I’m completely senile). 

GETTING IT DONE

1. Geico – Between the “Does the little pig go we-we-we all the way home?” and “Does a woodchuck chuck wood?” spots, Geico has been on a roll. The little pig ad is just about perfect. I’m not sure who came up with the idea to stick the pig in a booster seat while holding a pinwheel, but those touches push it to the next level.
2. Dos Equis – We haven’t seen to much of the Most Interesting Man in the World Lately, but he’s still worthy of making the cut.
3. Miller Lite – The man up ads are solid. My personal favorite is the one with the guy dressed up in the cat costume.
4. Nike/Jordan – Lebron’s ad is about 30 seconds to long, but the buzz it has generated makes it compelling. Dwayne Wade’s spot has very clever inside jokes that make it enjoyable. Nike rarely misses with an ad (with an exception being the Tiger Woods spot with his deceased father providing the voice-over).

SHOULD BE TAKEN OFF THE AIR

1. NBA TV’s “Big Heads Ad” – I’ve watched way too much NBA in the last 3 weeks, so this ad has begun to drive me crazy. It’s way too creepy. I’m not sure if the creator of this ad wanted me to start hating the NBA because of it, but that’s been the result.
2. Skechers – I’m just going to come out and say it. Shape Ups are a joke. It would’ve been a good idea for the Skechers people to not listen to Jimmy from a hidden-classic episode of “Seinfeld” suggest a style of footwear. How they can sucker people into paying $60 to a $100 for these things, I’ll never know. What I do know is that the ad with Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is terrible (despite Malone’s moustache’s heroic effort to save it. It’s an epic ‘stache).
3. TNT Drama’s – TNT dumps way to much money into these commercials. Perhaps if they used that money on the actual shows themselves, they would be much better.

I'll be traveling this weekend to visit some family. Look out for my "10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend" column that should be posted sometime Monday. Drive On.