#PhilKnightIsChickenshit
#PhilKnightIsChickenshit
Let me first say I support nick and this would all go away if the Usatf simply clarified the rules.
But... Something about this is like a publicity stunt. Did nick wait until the last minute and not sign so he could be a martyr? Clearly Nick is not in shape either. Did he make a counter offer? Did he lawyer up after the trouble with world indoors?
Sicknymmonds wrote:
Enjoy wearing your dorky brooks while watching from your couch
Seriously.
But Nike all too often also undermines American track. The company recently signed Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic 100 champion, helping make the unrepentant, twice-banned drug cheat the face of U.S. track and field. Allegations of unethical, if not illegal, doping practices within the Oregon Project have also raised questions about Nike’s role in enabling top athletes to use banned performance-enhancing methods. This week Victor Conte, the drug guru at the center of the BALCO investigation, said a U.S. Anti Doping Agency probe into the Oregon Project also needs to focus on Nike’s involvement with other athletes, including 2000 Olympic champion Maurice Greene and his coach, John Smith.
Then there's Nike the bully. Too often, the company thinks it’s the Kremlin and the rest of the sport is Hungary or Czechoslovakia. In recent years there have been allegations of Nike and USATF officials getting Nike athletes into the Olympics Trials even though the athletes didn’t meet the qualifying standards, and allegations of Nike and USATF officials bullying meet officials into making rulings in favor of Nike athletes at the expense of athletes from other shoe companies. And of course there’s the dress code. Symmonds said he was told by USATF officials to remove the Brooks gear he was wearing while having coffee in a hotel during the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Poland.
Nike dropped Symmonds shortly after he won the silver at the 2013 Worlds. Many in the sport believe the move was the result of Symmonds arguing that U.S. athletes should be able to wear the logos of more than one sponsor on their uniforms.
“This was my home,†Symmonds told me after winning his sixth U.S. title in June in Eugene. “I own four businesses here. I own two houses. I wanted to spend the rest of my life in Eugene. But I’m a professional athlete and I need to go where the team needs me, and Nike I guess didn’t feel like they needed me anymore.â€
If Nike feels like it owns the sport it’s because, in a large sense, it does. Last year Nike and USATF signed a sponsorship deal that reportedly pays the federation $20 million annually. The deal starts in 2018 and runs through 2040. At first glance the deal looks a major coup for USATF, but several longtime USATF volunteers, most notably David Greifinger, the former counsel to the group's board, maintain in the long run it’s a bad deal for the federation. Neither the USATF athletes advisory committee or a track athlete’s union was consulted with about the deal.
This much is clear now: USATF has not only sold out to Nike, but sold the souls of generations of American athletes as well.
That track’s governing body has sold out its athletes is nothing new. It’s what Bowerman and Hollister and Prefontaine and countless others fought against for decades. Nike used to be on the right side of those fights, the rebel company that shook the powers that be to their rotten core. Nike still likes to quote Bowerman and Prefontaine, although the quotes are more of a way to sell shoes and T-shirts than words to live by for a company that long ago lost its way. A few years ago a Nike ad campaign asked “Where is the next Pre?â€
Where?
In Seattle, making a stand.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/nike-676683-athletes-track.html
Ohdamn wrote:
Just not right. Hope he has his day in court.
Day in court?
Don't get me wrong, I support Nick Symmonds, but what is he going to sue them for?
He's probably not going to win no matter what he puts forth, I don't see how USATF broke any rules here, this is just a disagreement, that's it
Btw- Nick is high on run gum if he thought the usatf would've altered their contract in the days leading up to the deadline. At best he could've got assurances that the guideline would be better defined- and it seems that is the case
The whole sport of T&F is totally f*cked up, it should be the most popular sport in the world but it's not even close, which also means that BOTH athletes AND brands/sponsors aren't getting near as much money out of it as they could and should.
I'd say it's time move away from the nations-based champs and switch to a brand-based one (it could be started as an alternate year thing, Brand WC in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 etc) where Nike gets to send three to each distance, Brooks three, Puma three, etc).
Sue both USATF and Nike for Restraint of Trade, and seek an injunction that keeps EVERYONE (from USATF) from going to Beijing.
LetterOfTheLaw wrote:
Claiming that he signed the agreement before by clicking a checkbox online is pretty weak. It may be legally binding, but it is not the same as signing a EULA agreement to download a free PC application. This is about athletes livelihoods, not getting a browser plugin.
It is obvious you have not been an athlete or staff for a national team for the past few years. Electronic signature is SOP for USOC/ USATF
Dont spell n1ke anymore keeps hyperlinking it...just creates more advertising for them nik3...boycott
NOP Skeptic wrote:
Ohdamn wrote:Just not right. Hope he has his day in court.
Day in court?
Don't get me wrong, I support Nick Symmonds, but what is he going to sue them for?
He's probably not going to win no matter what he puts forth, I don't see how USATF broke any rules here, this is just a disagreement, that's it
Not sure if it's illegal but the contract they wanted him to sign said he can't cover up any Nike logo Michael Jordan style. It further goes on to say that USATF will be financially punished by their sponsor (Nike) if any logo is covered up. So in other words Nike is telling USATF to wear our logo or we'll stop paying you, and we both know you can't afford us to stop paying you (another example of the monopoly Nike has on USATF). It should be proposed that the athlete's individual sponsor should be able to pay for the athlete to go to Beijing and wear their clothing, but then on race day have everyone in the same USATF/Nike supplied uniform.
#BoycottNike
#LetNickRun
Some people just don't get it.
NCAA basketball and football = reality TV for ESPN and networks. High volume viewers with cheap production costs (performers with no union, dying for exposure/publicity).
Olympic sports is the same business model. Big money for networks, sponsors, and olympic committees, little to no money for the vast majority of athletes. They're just happy to be there but receive little of the true money/revenue involved.
For the record, Letsrun works on a similar model - content provided by idiots like us, who create the most visited and interesting part of the site (message board) while BroJos sit back and count the clicks/ad revenue.
Nick is challenging that model and that is very scary to sponsors like Nike.
Done with this sport.
Question: Did Nick stand up for the sport,as he is now, when he was running for Nike? If he did, then I am all ears and give him 110% support. If not, then he is just looking out for only Nick.
123098 wrote:
Question: Did Nick stand up for the sport,as he is now, when he was running for Nike? If he did, then I am all ears and give him 110% support. If not, then he is just looking out for only Nick.
You're right, because people's beliefs and ideals never change. Especially not after the realize that they were sponsored by a corporation who is only looking out for themselves, and not necessarily their athletes.
the6ixgod wrote:
Dont spell n1ke anymore keeps hyperlinking it...just creates more advertising for them nik3...boycott
GOOD FOR YOU. WAY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
How ridiculous. USTAF ruining the sport for American athletes. Another example of Nike trying to take control of everything. What an absolute joke. USTAF should be ashamed of themselves.
I will be curious to see what scab is willing to take his place.
123098 wrote:
Question: Did Nick stand up for the sport,as he is now, when he was running for Nike? If he did, then I am all ears and give him 110% support. If not, then he is just looking out for only Nick.
Your complete and utter lack of understanding of how logic works is truly remarkable.
No American women in Top 10: Emma 2:27:14, Sara 2:27:58, Des 2:28:27, Jenny 2:31:39
EMMA MF BATES - 2024 BOSTON MARATHON Popularity Contest Champion
Des Linden: "The entire sport" has changed since she first started running Boston.
Lemma is holding up his Adidas shoes during the interview for Adidas to add to his contract