DaveW wrote:
Well if you qualify for the NBA or NFL you might see
http://www.nj.com/knicks/index.ssf/2014/03/nba_uniforms_could_feature_sponsors_logos_in_next_five_years.htmlI'm sure if you are running the Olympics, you will not be greatly burdened by Nike togs.
Remember 2014 and all that goes with it before it is too late. If you are still stuck on 1968, my condolences.
Oh, you know, I was only 4 yrs old in 1968 - I just thought it was a catchy chant for an action taking place in 1985 [which turned out to be WAY more confrontational than what I expected and led to the occupation of my dorm suite. The suite had started the academic year as the Russian House and ended the academic year as Revolution House. Silver lining - I got to do some press work that got me quoted in the Washington Post and the NY Times + gave me some interesting insights into how journalism works (or at least worked in those years.) Also got the chance to shake hands with Kwame Ture / Stokely Carmichael when he came up to the suite (I believe to get some food.) Seemed like a nice guy but I realize there are plenty of people who might reasonably disagree...]
But I digress. Ok, my point:
If you're an NBA or NFL athlete, yes, you're stuck with a certain sponsor's logo on your uni, but you've got other significant sources of income - your salary from your team to start, and if you're among, say, the top 100 players in the league, some amount of consumer products sponsorship income.
Compare to T&F. There's no equivalent of a team paying a base salary, and at this point I'm not sure there are any US T&F athletes making significant sponsorship income from consumer products companies that focus on something other than athletics. Which brings us back to Sally Bergesen's article and the doctored photo, which I read as making concrete some of the points she was making in the abstract in the article. Hence, my reading of her action as a form of civil disobedience.
I'll close with a revised version of another old chant [read "USATF Executive Council" for "Exec Council"]:
"Exec Council, You know, that Nike contract has to go!"
p.s. I think the TFAA should do a revised version of the old Nike "Revolution" commercial.