Tag: Nike

COUNTERPOINT: Red Sox to Participate in UCLA Cosplay

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Gonna have to go ahead and disagree with Red on this one. To paraphrase Roger Ebert, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, I hate these uniforms. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate these uniforms.

Keeping 'Siskel and Ebert At the Movies' Alive - High On Films
Red and Big Z weigh in on the newest Red Sox uniform.

The one constant through all the years, Red, has been baseball. For the past 90 years, the Red Sox uniforms have been nearly as constant. Sure, the Bosox font on the front of the jerseys and on the cap has been tweaked a bit since the days of Ted Williams, they wore red hats for a few years in the ’70s, and refreshed the road unis in the early ’90s. But you could watch any Red Sox game since World War II and immediately recognize them. This uniform feels like a stunt. A stunt better left to the Astros, Brewers and Rays of Major League Baseball.

This design just doesn’t do it for me. I understand the reference to the Boston Marathon (even though it won’t be run on Patriots Day this year), but couldn’t they use a little more, um, red for the Red Sox uniform? This looks like a random Boston shirt you could buy above Park Street. It’s a Boston Marathon softball uniform, not a Red Sox uniform.

What’s even more irksome is that this uniform feels like it is trying to one up the most significant addition to the Red Sox wardrobe since they ditched the pullovers after the Bucky Dent game. The original (This is Our Fucking) City Connect jersey:

Boston Waves Goodbye to David Ortiz: 3 Reasons We'll Never Forget Big Papi - The Prompt Magazine

No word if UCLA and/or Adidas will try to block this obvious copyright infringement:

UCLA Baseball: Bruins are the #1 team in the country

I know the Sox are trying to stay under the luxury tax threshold again this year. Hopefully they can sell a few of these jerseys at the souvenir store to raise a few more bucks. I know times are tough for John Henry and company. Maybe they could have a bake sale next.

Rovell says six more teams will unveil similar City Connect uniforms this season. Let me know when teams like the Dodgers, Yankees and Tigers participate in these shenanigans.

What Do We Think of These New Celtics Jerseys?

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I think the Celtics/Nike got spooked by the reaction to last year’s Irish Pub City Edition jerseys (that Enes Kanter leaked) because people were massively split on those. They were fine (aside from the blue/green debate), but I think a lot of people saw them as pandering to the Irish fans in New England. I mean the team is called the Celtics so I get it, but still.

Now lets take a closer look at the just unveiled 2020-21 City Edition jerseys.

These new jerseys are an explicit homage to the 17 banners hanging from the rafters, which is a pretty cool idea when you think about it. But, when I see it on a jersey I don’t know, it doesn’t really translate for me. I think this is something that is better in theory than in actual practice. I give the team credit for mixing it up and being creative without just rehashing a slightly different throwback or doing a vomit inducing jersey with different colors. This jersey is clean and simple, but the block letters and stacked Boston Celtics on the front do sort of make it look like a knockoff.

You won’t see it during most games when the jerseys are tucked in, but there is an excellent subtle feature to these tops though; a quote from Red Auerbach in the bottom corner.

“The Boston Celtics are not a basketball team, they’re a way of life.”

A+ attention to detail here.

It was definitely a smart bet to play it safe this year as the Celtics have had some truly ghastly alternate jerseys over the years:

Full disclosure, I dig and own a pair of the grey shorts

One of my favorite jerseys to this day was the old Christmas Day uni that Nike canned when they took over in 2017 in favor of City Edition jerseys they can pump out every single year. The cursive lettering with the snowflake on the back collar was perfectly simple. Good luck finding one of those gems these days.

Maybe I’ll feel different when I see Jaylen Brown slam down a dunk wearing this, but until then I am an enthusiastic “meh” on these unis.

The Patriots New Jerseys Are Officially Coming On Patriots Day

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I blogged about this a couple weeks back as we broke down the best jerseys in franchise history and pondered what the Patriots could potentially do with new unis. My campaign for the throwback red jerseys was pretty quickly killed by Mike Reiss who reported the jersey tweaks would be minor. However, this teaser video the Pats just tweeted out has me rethinking all that.

I know the cynics out there are bitching that so many teams are only changing their jerseys (Pats are the 4th team this offseason by my count) because Nike wants to hawk more gear, but sometimes a little change is a good thing. Especially with the end of an era and TB12 now in Tampa Bay, I am not opposed to something new. So help me God if this is a Jay Glazer-esque hype train only for it to be much ado about nothing. I’m not going to take my pants off for new piping accent colors, this isn’t Uni Watch.

The countdown is on and there really couldn’t be a more appropriate day for the Pats to make the announcement: Patriots Day. We’ll be back to break it down after the reveal and potentially blow some stimulus check funds on a fresh new jersey.

‪Nike Just Unveiled the Official Home Whites of Side Chicks Everywhere

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I literally did a double take when I saw this on the Gram last night and had to check that it was actually from Nike and not some meme account. I don’t know why, but a hoodie that says FREAK on it is just laugh out loud funny to me. I fully expect this to become the home white kit for side chicks everywhere. I understand that Nike is referring to Giannis Antetokounmpo, but I’m sorry this is a hoodie for chicks proudly walking to the T at 7 am with disheveled hair and makeup running down their face. Might as well be a choker.

If Zion Williamson Was Wearing Starburys This Injury Would Have Never Happened

By on • ( Leave a comment )

CNN – Nike is playing damage control after Duke basketball phenom Zion Williamson tore his sneaker in a game Wednesday evening. Nike’s (NKE) stock was down more than 1% on Thursday. Nike builds its reputation around creating premier shoes and clothes for athletes, but that image took a hit with Williamson’s sneaker snafu.

I’m pretty sure I could hear Phil Knight pounding his fist on his desk all the way in Oregon when this happened the other night. Obviously Zion is not your typical consumer, but having your shoes explode on national TV injuring the guy NBA teams are blatantly tanking just for a chance to draft is a bad look.

Nike’s stock has fallen after the paper mâché shoe fell apart in front of the country. Makes you wonder, whatever happened to good, quality basketball sneakers? I’m not talking about that low top bullshit that Kobe nearly broke his ankle in either. No I’m talking about the GOAT basketball shoe; the Starbury.

The greatest shoe of all time, made by one of the wildest dudes in the history of the NBA in Stephon Marbury. All for the low, low price of $14.98. As a broke as college kid I appreciated the Starburys. Unfortunately I could never find my size in AJ Wright. Sigh. Even eBay hates us 5’8″ dudes. Stephon my man, hook me up with a size 10! I respect what Steph was trying to do though. A revolutionary if you ask me. If only Zion had the same pair of kicks we wouldn’t be talking about a knee injury, we’d be talking about the most dominant college basketball player in the country in a pair of shoes cheaper than a 30 rack of Natty Lite.

The New Celtics City Edition Uniform Is Damn Near Perfect

By on • ( Leave a comment )

NBA City Edition uniforms are a mixed bag. Some, like the Timberwolves uniform, are great. Others, like the Suns uniform, suck. They all feel like an obscene cash grab. Still, this Celtics uniform is damn near perfect.

It can be easy for Nike to get a little too creative and make these uniforms too busy and look like costumes. Last year’s gray Celtics uniform is a good example. Others feel a bit dull. This year’s Celtics City Edition uniform strikes a perfect balance.

The Celtics can’t really wear throwback uniforms because they’ve basically worn the same uniforms for 70 years. They’re the Yankees of the NBA, in more ways than one. This uniform feels like a throwback, though, when compared to the Celtics’ old warmup jackets:

Image result for celtics warm up jacket

Some people might call these Celtics uniforms dull, but the introduction of a third color for them is huge. The yellow is a nice touch, much better than going the easy route and just adding in more black. I would have preferred Celtics on the front instead of Boston, but I guess they are “City Edition” uniforms.

The Celtics will wear these uniforms 11 times this season. And of course, they’re on sale now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phoenix Suns Unveil Uninspired City Edition Uniform

By on • ( 1 Comment )

On Thursday we discussed the Minnesota Timberwolves Prince-inspired city edition uniform. It’s clear that considerable thought and effort were put into the design of that uniform. The result is a fresh look, and a clean finished product that includes just enough nods to the Minneapolis legend. It’s also clear that the Timberwolves are carefully crafting Prince theme nights for when they break out their city edition jerseys.

On the other end of the city edition spectrum is the Phoenix Suns city edition uniform. They could’ve just trotted out the Charles Barkley era uniform and every millennial sports fan would have raved about how great the Suns city edition uniform was.

Image result for charles barkley sunsInstead, the Suns city edition uniform looks like a middle school Spanish project that was hastily completed 12 hours before it was due.

I understand that they are going with “Los Suns” to pay homage to the Hispanic heritage of their community, but they couldn’t do better than just adding the Spanish word for “the” to their jerseys? The Milwaukee Brewers do heritage jerseys the best. When they hosted Cerveceros Day this past summer to honor the heritage and importance of Latin American culture to baseball, they wore jerseys that said Cerveceros. Cerveceros is literally brewer in Spanish.

Image result for cerveceros milwaukee

Why couldn’t the Suns go with “Soles?” They do realize these jerseys literally have the word “LOSS” on the front of them, right?

Minnesota Timberwolves Unveil Prince City Edition Jersey

By on • ( 2 Comments )

ESPN – When Prince died in April 2016, Nike pitched the Wolves an alternate “city edition” jersey for the 2017-18 season that would honor him. The Wolves concluded it was too soon. They were already finalizing their 2017-18 jerseys, which would kick off a full-on rebrand — new jerseys, new logo, new court, tweaked color scheme.

But they decided then to prioritize a Prince jersey for this season. They set aside some of Nike’s other proposed Minnesota-centric motifs: jerseys paying homage to Bob Dylan, the Mississippi River (which runs through Minneapolis), and the original Minneapolis Lakers, Johnson says. (You might see some of those ideas down the road.)

In case you haven’t heard, Prince is a big deal in Minnesota. A really big deal. When I lived in Boston, I hardly ever heard Prince on the radio. Living in Minneapolis, though, I can’t go a day without hearing him on the radio. And that’s not a bad thing. As I wrote on Prince Day last year, I was wrong about Prince. Prince is definitely an acquired taste, but he had an incredible list of hits and I wish I had paid more attention to him and his work while he was alive. He was an incredible musician and performer.

It can be nauseating to see some of the half-assed Prince promotions the teams in Minnesota run. Giving out purple hats and playing Purple Rain during the 7th inning stretch is the definition of a half-assed promotion. Thankfully, it looks like the Timberwolves are going above and beyond.

First, they made the right choice of which direction to go in for their city edition jersey. Minneapolis Lakers inspired jerseys? Really? Can you imagine the Baltimore Ravens wearing Baltimore Colts throwbacks? There’d be a revolt in the stands, and understandably so. Second, the jersey itself looks very well done.

If the script font looks familiar, here’s why:

Image result for purple rain

A very nice touch.

And third, the Timberwolves will do much, much more than most teams to actually make their Prince nights a special experience. From Zach Lowe on ESPN:

The Wolves will wear the jerseys eight times this season, five at home. The in-arena trappings at those home games — giveaway shirts, signage, lighting — will turn purple. Tom Thibodeau, the team’s coach and general manager, even let team officials take the players for a separate day of shooting to prepare a special Prince- and purple-themed pregame video that will run on the scoreboard — not a small concession if you know Thibodeau. The team thought about producing a purple court, but opted against it, officials say.

As yet unannounced halftime performers will pay tribute to Prince, and the broader Minneapolis music scene, team officials say. The team will present donations to some of Prince’s favorite charities.

The Timberwolves Twitter feed offers a good look at the special photo day Lowe mentions:

Also, it’s nice to see some restraint from a Nike production like this. No clutter on the jersey and a wise move to skip the purple court. Overall, this looks to be some A+ promotional work from a team that could use some good press. Maybe now the classic rock stations in Minnesota can stop cutting out the best part of Purple Rain on the radio.

Nike Deserves Applause for Choosing Colin Kaepernick as New Face of “Just Do It” Campaign

By on • ( 4 Comments )

Image result for colin kaepernick

I see you, Nike. Pretty ballsy move here…and I am ABSOLUTELY on board.

On Monday, it was announced that Colin Kaepernick would become the new face of Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign, which is set to enter its 30th year. The decision was announced on Twitter via Kap’s agent, Mark Geragos:

Image result for bold strategy cotton

And HO-LEE SHIT did it start a firestorm.

Not only did the company’s stock drop a few percentage points as of Tuesday morning, but all the social media warriors out there have already made sure to show off just how much they’re “sticking it” to Nike by burning/destroying shoes and other apparel made by the company which THEY ALREADY OWN AND HAVE SPENT MONEY ON.

(If you want a good laugh, Uproxx posted a wonderful piece this morning which features many of those posts as well as the hilarious responses to them from the sane and witty Twitter crowd.)

Honestly, it’s the hypocrisy of it all that kills me. These same people who decry that kneeling for the anthem is the most disrespectful thing an American citizen could do are the same people who will gladly order a chicken sandwich from Chic-fil-A without even thinking twice – because after all, these people are about FREEDOM, UNITY, and EQUALITY for EVERYONE, under one nation…unless of course you’re a homosexual, right?

And after that they’ll go to Wal-Mart – one of the country’s truly most destructive and corrupt corporate entities – and purchase a knock-off patio set that they’ll use (maybe) twice all year just to try and keep up with Bob and Jane next door, who just put in an in-ground pool with their disgusting amount of disposable income.

Oh! And then they’ll need to make sure to stop by a Mobil gas station on the way home to fill up the tank in their precious luxury vehicle. (Do I really need to get into ExxonMobil?)

Image result for seriously meme

My point is there is an inexhaustible list of other corporations out there which should be shamed much more so than Nike, but people are CHOOSING to view the entire movement that Kap started as something it’s not. As a result, it’s causing them to overlook some very real and very serious issues – both related to Kap’s cause and otherwise – due the irrational and completey misguided anger that’s currently consuming them.

I’m just going to say it, and I cannot be clear enough: KNEELING FOR THE ANTHEM HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE VETERANS OR DISRESPECTING THE NATION AS A WHOLE! (That is just simply how some are CHOOSING to view it.)

Let’s take a second to let that sink in…

OK. Everybody clear now? Great. Let’s move on.

The protest was meant to bring attention to an extremely important issue that is often overlooked – or outright ignored – by those who don’t experience the prejudice and suffering many in our nation face each and every day. I don’t think I need to go into a diatribe on race relations in the United States; if you’re that ignorant or you disagree with the fact that things truly aren’t equal for every citizen in this country, then I’m not even sure it’s worth wasting my breath on trying to convince you at this point.

But at least Nike’s trying. Nike’s trying to piss people off. Nike’s trying to create controversy. Nike’s trying to push the envelope.

That’s what the players are trying to do as well. Because, let’s be honest, what’s going to get your attention more: a guy on TV in a suit giving a charismatic speech about the Black Lives Matter movement, or some of your beloved sports stars kneeling before a symbol you have loved and respected (and rightfully so!) your entire life? Obviously, it’s the second one. You know it. I know it. THEY know it. That’s the point!

Image result for well duh meme

Also, it’s not an entirely meaningless gesture either. The whole point is to demonstrate the fact that they believe a lot of what the American flag is supposed to embody is a farce in our current society. They didn’t choose this route just to be dicks.

Still, some feel as though it simply goes too far, and I will admit that a part of me initially felt the same way. Anyone who unabashedly hates the country or supports any animosity/violence toward law enforcement or our service members in any way should absolutely be shunned (and, if necessary, punished to the full extent of the law). I don’t think anyone, NFL players included, would argue against that.

(Side note: I know a lot of people want to bring up the time Kaepernick wore pig socks to training camp in August 2016 – aka the first time he brought up the issue of police brutality – and I can’t say I support him on that move at all. However, it does seem like he’s matured significantly since then, and he’s done some pretty proactive things outside of the protest that deserve a lot of credit. I truly believe his heart’s now in the right place.)

Nike, just like the various players throughout the league supporting Kap’s cause, is simply trying to start a conversation. (OK, sure, they’re absolutely trying to make more money in the long run, too; I’m not gonna B.S. you on that.) But still, the courage they displayed by making this move is something I respect the hell out of, and it’s refreshing to see a multi-million-dollar corporation choose to take a hit in the pocket at first just to show their support for a truly noteworthy cause.

And maybe if more people would listen to the actual message, we could make a difference for the better. But until that happens, I guess all we’re going to get is charred Jordans and swoop-less socks – and, above all, a divided nation that could so easily be saved with a simple little conversation.

So good on ya, Nike! You’ll come up flush for this in the long run, and hopefully we all will, too.

Brighton’s Very Own New Balance Looking to Scoop Up Gordon Hayward With New Shoe Deal

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Yahoo – When Gordon Hayward can start meeting with sneaker companies about his next endorsement deal in August, expect New Balance to make a strong push for the All-Star, according to Nick DePaula of ESPN.com. The Celtics forward has spent the bulk of his career playing in Nike shoes, but he has the chance to join a new brand before this upcoming season.

New Balance, which has its headquarters in Boston, partnered with the Celtics on their new practice facility recently as part of the company’s attempt to gain more traction in the basketball world. Currently, the shoe company does not have a section on its website for basketball sneakers.

Please make it a high top. Thats all I ask.

But in all seriousness this move would make perfect sense. The New Balance headquarters is a literal stone’s throw away from the Celtics brand new practice facility, which they partnered with to build. Odd move for a company without any basketball shoes right?

Hey if PUMA can get back into the NBA world then why not New Balance? Sure, PUMA may have Jay-Z leading the way, but Gordon Hayward would be a pretty good start for New Balance.

Now the real work here is in New Balance selling Gordon Hayward on them as his brand of choice in the prime of his career. I mean a tractor trailer full of cash always helps, but if I’m New Balance I’m pitching the fact that my CEO works 20 feet from where you practice every day. Phil Knight probably ain’t flying out to Brighton to take meetings.

Whatever you do just don’t give Gordon the Vinny Chase free agency pitch.