To start:
I like Rojo's essays and dig him on the podcast, so I'm starting from being a fan of the site......
But I have to weigh in with this guy I pasted, and one on the next page, and the handful of others lurking around the Board that are not knee-jerk Nike fanatics (which includes most runners I the US).
I realize that his attitude when talking about (drum roll please...) THE SHOES is negative. In fact, he seems down on the machine that is the swoosh in general - as well he should be. I mean, they have have the head of the international Federation (I suspect Coe is not technically a Nike employee now but I don't believe he's had another employer besides them prior to getting his current job) and the US Federation is headed by a guy who is quite literally their employee (unless he resigned from TrackTown when his President job came back).
So hey, I am as non-Nike as anyone. They seem to be the only major sponsor who not only does not discourage PEDs but actively ENCOURAGES their use. Getting busted - no grey area, but flat-out caught red-handed - doesn't even lose you your sponsorship or coaching position. Bonds, A-Rod, Lance... it ain't just T&F. How about Tiger? Where there is controversy, there is Nike. There is actually a swoosh on the sign at Rosa & Associates camp! They endorse angle-shooting of all kinds and even outright cheating. The high-profile bust in Spain? Was there a non-Nike-shod athlete anywhere near that hotel room or in any way affiliated with that coach? Enough has been said about Athletics West and NOP.
All that having been said, Rojo seems to be the biggest campaigner for them and their latest shoes. Although he seems not to really approve of them and may likely agree with me in general, he continually advertises them - for free - on his own platform. We all know everyone has thought of springs, but everyone also thought there was a rule against it, and if you made enough that they actually caught on (unlike Spira) there would be a major freak-out with rules and bans. And that's true. Imagine adidas, or worse yet, asics doing it first. There would be an army of lawyers from Beaverton in Lanana's and Coe's offices by the end of the week! We all know that....unless you're the one that makes the rules, and Lanana and Coe are your puppets. They literally wrote the current rule.
So I understand Rojo's 'tude and I couldn't agree more. But I'm not sure if he realizes his never-ending claims as to their superiority simply reinforce the idea that 99% of all high school runners already have (I don't follow this Nico guy but YT recommended a video of him...and come on, we all know what brand he wears. Tuohy has worn NB - at their flagship meet. Find footage of her training and, well, don't bother looking because you know...) keep in mind that before they had any carbon shoes the unsponsored 2nd tier Americans ran in Nike. They weren't likely as good as a Saucony Fastwitch or asics Hyperspeed but whatever they considered their flagship road racing shoe a few years back was what most of the also-rans at previous Trials wore. Look at 50th place 4 or 8 years ago or whenever. There was nothing special about the Zoom such-and-such but since they'd been in Nike since 8th grade, it was the default. The swoosh is the starting point and therefore the most popular in this country anyway, and that's been true for decades prior to (fanfare....) THE SHOES.
So here's a guy who doesn't really like them unwittingly endorsing them for all he is worth. You're in THE SHOES or you're making a mistake. There are 2 kinds of runners: those who will be bankrupted if caught in them, and those in them. These tirades actually seem to me to be enthusiastically pro-Nike! Come on man, are they secretly paying you to put out 10 paragraphs a week on how they are so far superior to their competitors that it's just a given and not worth discussing? Because that's how it comes across.....