Oiselle Reprimanded by USATF

For a company like Oiselle that says they want to promote the sport and improve track and field, to post a picture with the Nike swoosh removed or blurred out is about as far from promoting the sport as you could get. Immaturity at its finest from Oiselle. Good for USATF.

What does ANY brand have to do with the sport of running?

Good for Oiselle.

Listen, gals, Oiselle is new to the running world. They don't know jack about rules and regulations and don't even understand the runner. Yes, they are trying to "buy" the runner with their assets, just like Hoka, but they will continue to misstep until they get some knowledgeable people on their team. Such a shame...

Why would Oiselle do this in the first place?

Stupid on their part.

cloudy in portland wrote:

What does ANY brand have to do with the sport of running?

Good for Oiselle.

They pay the athletes that run, so they can run.

That being said, I haven't worn Nike shoes in over a decade, and have very little Nike gear in my possession. However, what Oiselle did was stupidly immature. Seriously, we get that a lot of companies don't particularly like Nike. If they REALLY want to do something about it, then put some damn money where their mouth is to provide some support for the sport. Go buy the rights out of them. But if I remember correctly, Oiselle couldn't even offer Goucher a particularly good sponsorship deal, so I doubt that's going to happen.

As it stands now, Nike is the reason Lagat, Solinsky, Tegenkamp, Rupp, Bumbalough, Cain, Flanagan, Hill, Jager, Centro, Hasay, Ritz, Lomong, Heath, Leer, Rowbury, and until recently, Webb can even make a living as runners. Minus a few big names like Symmonds, Solomon, Simpson, Martinez, etc. that's almost every active US distance runner who has successfully DONE anything in recent years.

I seriously doubt that all of the other "running" companies together would be able to put in the same monetary support for our top runners, at least without bumping out their entire present rosters.

Either the US needs some sort of government-sponsored support like China and a number of other countries (which won't happen), or the other running companies need to pull their own damn weight.

Congrats to Oiselle, you are winning. Anytime Nike and USATF resort to the legal letter they are so pissed they take their eyes off of what is important. Reminds me of the run happy sign in Eugene. Brooks has kicked Nike butt in RSG ever since.

I don't buy their stuff either for over a decade. If I get some swOOsh as a gift, it goes straight to goodwill or ebay.

sponsorship until 2040 is a joke. it is more like indentured servitude. shame on usatf for that deal. they are the ones screwing the runners.

Go to guy wrote:

Congrats to Oiselle, you are winning. Anytime Nike and USATF resort to the legal letter they are so pissed they take their eyes off of what is important. Reminds me of the run happy sign in Eugene. Brooks has kicked Nike butt in RSG ever since.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that they resort to legal letters because it's by far the easiest method to get something done. I mean, if you have a legal agreement for an exclusive sponsorship and it gets infringed upon, wouldn't the method of resolving it with the least amount of effort be to simply send a legal letter? In fact, reading over the picture, the letter's writer probably didn't even bother proofreading it. He interchanged "USATF" and "USTAF" at least half a dozen times.

Can we all take a moment to look at the second to last paragraph and see how USATF can't even spell check their complaints?

Either that, or they aren't sure exactly what organization they are representing.

USATF is a joke! Sponsers who actually pay their athletes should be allowed to brand them.

cloudy in portland wrote:

I don't buy their stuff either for over a decade. If I get some swOOsh as a gift, it goes straight to goodwill or ebay.

sponsorship until 2040 is a joke. it is more like indentured servitude. shame on usatf for that deal. they are the ones screwing the runners.

Runners don't rely on USATF to supply them with income. The only thing USATF screws runners over with is how they can't seem to apply their rules consistently. In the case of Bumbalough, which is the only notable one sitting unresolved at the moment, I doubt that even had anything to do with Nike, since it's too illogical of a move for them to try and get their own athlete DQ'd.

Again, I find Nike shoes to be fairly uncomfortable to run in (I personally favor NB), but I do respect that they're willing to put in the necessary money to provide the best runners with the facilities and income needed to focus on competing.

Just as a quick example, look at Kara Goucher now. She's had to secure another two sponsorship deals since signing with Oiselle, one for shoes with Skechers, and one with Soleus for sports watches. In all seriousness, that probably just means that Nike was paying her so much to begin with that she needs 3 companies together to get anywhere close to matching it, especially since we all know Oiselle was reluctant to even make an offer to begin with originally.

Missed preschool registration by 4 months, but @Adam_Goucher is at the soccer meeting-gotta make sure Colt is on the best team. #priorities

Nice quote regarding the importance of education for a kid who is clearly destined to be a world class athlete who doesn't really need to go to school.

Good work, Adam!

Nike sponsorship $ aside, it's clearly a conflict of interest to have the sport's governing body sponsored by a company that also sponsors specific groups of athletes. It'd be like the NBA getting a 30 year Miami Heat sponsorship.

.cowp wrote:

Listen, gals, Oiselle is new to the running world. They don't know jack about rules and regulations and don't even understand the runner. Yes, they are trying to "buy" the runner with their assets, just like Hoka, but they will continue to misstep until they get some knowledgeable people on their team. Such a shame...

Listen, child, it is their duty to know the rules as sponsors.

I like Oiselle, but that was a punk ass, childish move.

You retards are missing the point.

USATF was so fast to act on reprimanding Oisille and did so within hours, but can't make a statement on Bumby months later.

This sport is so messed up. To have actual losers support nike is and chastise Oiselle, proves that nike will continue to prevail and everyone is hostage to USATF and nike. If you're not Rupp, Hasay or Eaton are you really being helped?

Well the only reason that Asics, Brooks and Oiselle athletes were on the 4x1500m team is because the three NIKE athletes who were originally selected for the team declined the offer.

They really should be thanking NIKE for the opportunity that was handed to them on a silver platter.

I think the ladies on our 4x1500m team in the Bahamas proved why they don't make world championships teams on their own merit.

Lets be honest here wrote:

I think the ladies on our 4x1500m team in the Bahamas proved why they don't make world championships teams on their own merit.

I didn't realize Hasay was running the Relays.

new computer new name wrote:

Lets be honest here wrote:

I think the ladies on our 4x1500m team in the Bahamas proved why they don't make world championships teams on their own merit.

I didn't realize Hasay was running the Relays.

The three NIKE athletes who were originally selected are Rowbury, Moser and Cain.

Hasay was not offered a spot on the World Relay Team

Think outside the box wrote:

new computer new name wrote:

I didn't realize Hasay was running the Relays.

The three NIKE athletes who were originally selected are Rowbury, Moser and Cain.

Hasay was not offered a spot on the World Relay Team

Think harder outside your box and you'll understand what I meant.