Nike is in an absolute disaster right now. Smart move by Blanks. They (Nike) have struck out over and over again on the biggest talent out there from a marketing prospective. How on earth did they lose Valby when she had an NIL?? NB, adidas, and ON just completely having Nike’s lunch in the last 4-5 years since Capriotti left. Syd, Noah, Gabby, .. the list will only grow.
Nike’s arrogance, combined with their incompetence and increasingly lousy product, has diminished this once great brand into a shell of a company. Stock is also a disaster. They truly may not recover.
Nike is in an absolute disaster right now. Smart move by Blanks. They (Nike) have struck out over and over again on the biggest talent out there from a marketing prospective. How on earth did they lose Valby when she had an NIL?? NB, adidas, and ON just completely having Nike’s lunch in the last 4-5 years since Capriotti left. Syd, Noah, Gabby, .. the list will only grow.
Nike’s arrogance, combined with their incompetence and increasingly lousy product, has diminished this once great brand into a shell of a company. Stock is also a disaster. They truly may not recover.
I really doubt Nike’s professional prospects have much bearing on their overall international stock. But just from the perspective of being a sponsor in American running, they absolutely have slipped from being an overwhelmingly dominant force to a slight leader in a very competitive space. On, NB, Adidas have all made gains in recent years, and once fringe brands like Tracksmith and lululemon now can point to athletes who won national titles wearing their logo. Nike is definitely slipping and I have to assume money allocation is a factor.
If so, what about people like Tuohy and Drew Hunter who went pro, made the money, and then didn't really pan out? Do you think they should have waited as well? Would they have still gotten paid after not panning out?
There's a valid point to be made about Drew Hunter, but in what world has Katelyn Tuohy not panned out? She's been pro for roughly a year and ran 4:26/15:07 after coming back from injury. I feel like you've gotta give her a little longer to lump her in with Hunter.
You are half right. He needs to live at altitude at some point. But not this year. He should not change something too quickly that is clearly working so well. He'll do altitude camps, of course, but NB and Boston and Harvard makes sense as a package deal.
I also expect he'll move to altitude after this year. Finishing the last few months of a Harvard degree is a pretty good excuse to be in Boston, but once he graduates I fully expect he'll be in Flagstaff or Park City or something. He seemed to react well to altitude in his off year between HS and college and I'm sure he knows that.
Agreed.
Graham emphasized altitude training a lot in the following comprehensive article covering today's announcement.
Grant's overwhelming success following his move to Park City caught everyone's attention, including Nike's, given how they are now/soon will be funding pro teams in Boulder, Provo and Flagstaff.
A few altitude camps/year for sea-level-based teams does work, especially for 800/1500 runners. However, crystal clear that full-time living at altitude, with easy access to tracks at 5000' elevation or lower, optimizes fitness for long distance runners. Which is why Flagstaff has been so popular for years while Park City has become the exciting new destination.
So, following graduation, fully expect Graham to head back to Flagstaff for several weeks leading up to the USAs in August. And, very likely will move there at some point in the future.
ONE BIG NOTE: he will continue to be coached by Gibby. No mention of switching coaches to Marc Coogan by joining Team New Balance Boston.
Good for him. I wonder if he continues to train at Harvard. Giddy seems like a real jerk. I think Blanks would be able to stay healthy and be way happier, training with Coogan. The group is right where he is in Boston. Seems like a no brainer.
I feel like if he continues being coached by that Neil Degrasse Tyson wannabe, he's sure to pick up more injuries. Guy runs those wiz kids into the ground, it's a miracle Ramsden didn't get hurt.
Blanks can do what he wants and maybe he actually likes Dr. Tyson II, but just my two cents. I call it like I see it.
Yeah Gibby sure screwed him over big time, Maia too - only 5 NCAA titles, 2 NCAA records and two Olympics between them at age 22. That damn Gibby.
Grant Fisher? The Nike runner? I know you aren't talking about him. Who is the Fisher you are thinking of?
You do realize that athletes are not necessarily prohibited from training with others who are signed with different contracts, right? Especially if neither is part of a pro team. Connor Mantz and Clayton Young come immediately to mind...
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Good for him. I wonder if he continues to train at Harvard. Giddy seems like a real jerk. I think Blanks would be able to stay healthy and be way happier, training with Coogan. The group is right where he is in Boston. Seems like a no brainer.
I feel like if he continues being coached by that Neil Degrasse Tyson wannabe, he's sure to pick up more injuries. Guy runs those wiz kids into the ground, it's a miracle Ramsden didn't get hurt.
Blanks can do what he wants and maybe he actually likes Dr. Tyson II, but just my two cents. I call it like I see it.
You do appear to be an expert on seeming like a real jerk.
No, he hadn't done all that he could do in the NCAA. Assuming he had eligibility through this academic year, he could have added up to four NCAA individual titles and multiple records. I can understand why he'd want to stay with his present situation. It has been very good for him when he has been healthy. At some point, he is surely going to want to revisit his gap year experience at altitude, and in any given year, the odds of him getting injured with his current coach are about 50%. That being said, he's the youngest two-time NCAA xc champ since Prefontaine. He has a great future.
But your logic makes it sound like people should decline the money and wait to go pro until they are actually good enough to win at the highest level. Is that your theory?
If so, what about people like Tuohy and Drew Hunter who went pro, made the money, and then didn't really pan out? Do you think they should have waited as well? Would they have still gotten paid after not panning out?
this is crap logic. if you think about it rationally you are basically suggesting people who struggled some relative to college expectations (tuohy) should then double down by going pro earlier, as their pro potential only gets worse as they flounder. when to me if you think about it 5 seconds, if you're not dominating college then get your degree because you're probably not going to be a well compensated successful pro.
you have it backwards, to me. a truly dominant college runner might consider leaving because they are exhausting the possible gold medals to win, all they are getting is the education at that point, and they will be so good of pros they can afford to take their pocket change and go back and finish when their career is over.
blanks, to me, is a senior at an expensive ivy. he was just in the olympics. he's done about half the running year already. he has years until the next olympics. unless he's graduating a semester early, why not just finish the final semester. his success last year suggests he might make the worlds team anyway despite being a college kid. and to me while "pretty good" he was, what, 12th at the olympics? which doesn't sound like he'll be immediately racking up high DL finishes every week.
i mean, some of you with the hints of desperation, is he going up on billboards tomorrow? for the running purists fisher is the bigger deal right now. and distance running isn't exactly noah lyles level media image. even when you win. is there a cole hocker shoe? exactly.
last, is distance in the new grand slam track? i didn't think so.....
finish the last semester and then just flow into pro and DL. a harvard grad will never hurt for money. follow the gabby thomas model. it's not stopping her from getting golds.
But your logic makes it sound like people should decline the money and wait to go pro until they are actually good enough to win at the highest level. Is that your theory?
If so, what about people like Tuohy and Drew Hunter who went pro, made the money, and then didn't really pan out? Do you think they should have waited as well? Would they have still gotten paid after not panning out?
this is crap logic. if you think about it rationally you are basically suggesting people who struggled some relative to college expectations (tuohy) should then double down by going pro earlier, as their pro potential only gets worse as they flounder. when to me if you think about it 5 seconds, if you're not dominating college then get your degree because you're probably not going to be a well compensated successful pro.
you have it backwards, to me. a truly dominant college runner might consider leaving because they are exhausting the possible gold medals to win, all they are getting is the education at that point, and they will be so good of pros they can afford to take their pocket change and go back and finish when their career is over.
blanks, to me, is a senior at an expensive ivy. he was just in the olympics. he's done about half the running year already. he has years until the next olympics. unless he's graduating a semester early, why not just finish the final semester. his success last year suggests he might make the worlds team anyway despite being a college kid. and to me while "pretty good" he was, what, 12th at the olympics? which doesn't sound like he'll be immediately racking up high DL finishes every week.
i mean, some of you with the hints of desperation, is he going up on billboards tomorrow? for the running purists fisher is the bigger deal right now. and distance running isn't exactly noah lyles level media image. even when you win. is there a cole hocker shoe? exactly.
last, is distance in the new grand slam track? i didn't think so.....
finish the last semester and then just flow into pro and DL. a harvard grad will never hurt for money. follow the gabby thomas model. it's not stopping her from getting golds.
Can people not stay focused long enough to read a 3 minute article? he is staying school and finishing his degree just like gabby. He just a world standard in the 5k. There will maybe be 5 or 6 Americans that will achieve the standard this year. His next goal is the 10k world standard in late March. His goals have changed and the ncaa schedule doesn’t exactly line up if you’re trying to make a national team. Especially this year as worlds is later in September.
Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win a LetsRun t-shirt.Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win one of 10 LetsRun t-shirts.
