Play Him Off, Waylon: Randy Moss, Good Ol' Boy

While people pile on Randy, just remember that his uncouth behavior has always been in his Appalachian blood, and has always been part of his charm.

One of my favorite commercials ever...

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Waiting for Godunk: Hype Music

This week at SLAM, Kevin writes about the correlations between music and athletics.

Waiting for Godunk: Hype Music - What music gets hoopers ‘game ready’?

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Cadillac Mescallade: Nike Hosts LA Send Off Celebration for Manny Pacquiao

Arguably the hottest boxer in the world, Manny Pacquiao hosted a send off this past weekend at the Montalban Theater in Los Angeles. The event was run by Nike who has taken over the Theater in recent weeks to help promote their new AW77 Pound for Pound campaign. Pacquiao is set to fight Miguel Cotto this Saturday in Las Vegas and looks to improve on his 49-3-2 record. Pacquiao has been on a tear as of late, having not lost a fight since 2005 - and that was in a decision to Erik Morales. Coming off a relatively easy win over Ricky Hatton in his last bout, some are already setting Manny's sights on a bigger fight post-Cotto, perhaps a Pacquiao-Mayweather battle.


Regardless, this day was all about Manny and his fans. Pacquiao is huge in the Filipino community and has a done a great deal for his homeland. Filipinos were out in forces to celebrate one of their heroes as fans were treated to Manny (a versatile actor, politician, and performer) singing a duet with Melissa Reyes. Five lucky fans of Manny were also able to work out for a day as Manny does and there was a taped sendoff for Manny featuring luminaries such as Mario Lopez (AC Slater) and Mark Wahlberg (say "hi" to your mother for me).

After all the hoopla, there was a fan Q and A with Manny along with his training team including the legendary Freddie Roach, Buboy Fernandez, and Alex Ariza. Most every question was directed at Manny. When asked about what if feels like to be number one? Manny simply replied "Number one is number one!" As for training for this fight, he's been working on it for the last two months in the lead up, and when pressed by the fans who he'd like to fight past or present, perhaps Mike Tyson, he said he'd fight Tyson...in the video game. That brought a good laugh from the crowd.


As the event wrapped to a close, fans headed out grabbing the remaining free candy and drinks that were supplied and lined up to get their shot at some Manny gear. If you see a few more "Pac Man Knows" Nike t-shirts around LA this week, you'll know where they might have come from. Overall this was a fun fan event for those that support Manny. For anyone that knows me, I have enough Nike gear to be on an unofficial endorsement deal so it's always great to check out the newest products.


Pacquiao takes on Cotto this Saturday evening at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in the welterweight division. Fight is available on HBO Pay-per-view.

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Nike Golf's 8 > 9 Campaign Put to Test

Nike is bragging that its new SQ DYMO STR8-FIT and SQ DYMO² STR8-FIT drivers, with a choice of eight club head positions, will outperform all competition including, namely, the Taylor Made R9.

We decided to tap HHR's resident golf expert, DJ Virg, to put its claims to the test.

Nike SQ Dymo STR-8 –FIT vs. TaylorMade R9

Each club tested met the following specs:

Head Size: 460cc
Degree: 8.5◦
Shaft: Stiff

DJ Virg's Review

I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to test out these 2 drivers. Both have the ability to change the lie and angle of the club head to adjust for certain shot types (e.g. draw, fade). Certainly this ability could benefit a golfer greatly, but with time restraints I decided to test these drivers out with a neutral head position. I am looking for a driver to add a little distance and cut down the severity of my missed shots. If I could find it in one of these drivers in the neutral head position, having the ability to change the position of the club head would definitely be a bonus.

Let me give you a little bit of my golfing background before I get to the results...

Years played: 13
Handicap: 6
Avg. Swing Speed (driver): 118 mph
Avg. Ball Speed (driver): 178 mph

The strength and weakness of my game is off the tee. I have a lot of distance but am not very accurate, and my missed shots are almost always un-findable. So in comparing these clubs I tested on 3 aspects of a golf shot: feel, distance and distance off center line.

Round One: Feel

The feel test consisted of hitting a dozen golf balls with each club. Have to say both clubs set up to the ball nice and had great overall look. The first swing with the Nike sounded like an explosion; the ball jumped of the clubface. The rest of the swings with the Nike felt very solid even a few missed shots off the heel and toe sounded and felt solid. The club was very forgiving. The Taylor made was also a very solid club, when the sweet spot was hit; however the miss hits felt awful. Miss hits were a lot less forgiving.

Winner: Nike SQ Dymo STR-8 - FIT

Round Two and Three: Distance and Off Center Line

Distance test was done using a virtual driving range at Golf Galaxy in Langhorne, PA. The machine calculates many statistics such as distance, ball flight, spin rate, launch angle and distance off center line. To complete the test I hit 5 drives with each club. Here are the numbers:


The numbers show that on average the Nike driver was about 17 yards longer and about 20 yards closer to the center line. The off center line numbers for the TaylorMade are very consistent with my typical tee shots, long and off the radar. For the Nike driver, my off center line numbers were by no means perfect, but showed a big difference from the TaylorMade and also my current driver. The Nike might not help me hit every fairway, but I will definitely be in play. Additionally the Nike had a much lower spin rate which in turn means greater distance.

Winner: Nike SQ Dymo STR-8 - FIT

Overall
The Nike SQ Dymo Str-8 FIT out-performed the TaylorMade R9. The Nike gave me more distance, accuracy and was lot more forgiving on missed shot.

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Look What I Found at the Niqui Factory Store This Weekend

Arriba la raza, all day and every day.

Nike Cracks World's Most Innovative Company List Top 10

The March 2008 issue of Fast Company magazine ranked Nike the #6 most innovative company in the world.

The magazine's Mark Borden writes, "You expect fancy footwear from Nike. But its latest masterstroke is social networking, online and off. From events to the Web to unique retail hubs, Nike is blurring the line between brand and experience."

He's not kidding. I consider myself on top of most sports-related and pop culture happenings.

Most Nike innovations profiled by Fast Company, I'd been in the dark on. (Granted, I'm not as hip as I once was).

For instance, "House of Hoops."


Nike and Foot Locker launch New York’s new temple of basketball.

All eyes were on 125th Street in Harlem today as Nike and Foot Locker teamed up to celebrate New York’s long legacy of basketball greatness with the opening of the new House of Hoops concept store. Dedicated to everything basketball, the store features Nike, Jordan, Converse products all under One roof, player exclusive shoes, apparel and sporting goods endorsed by the greatest athletes to ever player the game.

According to the magazine, Nike plans on launching 50 stores nationwide.

Among the other inititaitves highlighted were:

Run Americas
Nike Women's Marathon
Nike+ Supersonic
NikeiD Studios
Nike ProPlayers Top
Nike Total 90 Laser



Sumo2 5900
Nike Amp+ Watch

And lastly, Nike Native N7, which just about blew my mind. Talk about forward thinking and identifying niche markets...

When Nike learned many Native Americans were wearing shoes that were two sizes too big to accomodate their generally wider feet, they set about cornering an unserved niche market.

While other apparel-based businesses cracked the top 50, none were as sport-centric or iconic as Nike. Which, despite constant efforts by others to overtake, remarkably remains top in its field.

Commercial CRitic: Nike & Reebok Love Losing

Talk about kicking a man when he is down.

Nike and Reebok both made commercials celebrating the Patriots' loss in the Super Bowl. Both were insistent on poking the entire New England region in the eye with the word "perfect."

The overarching theme of the commercials are snide. It is one thing to congratulate a team for a great Super Bowl win, it is completely another to hark on the other side of the ledger celebrating a loss. Do Nike and Reebok now celebrate failures?

Sure, both spots make mention of the Giants, but they are overwhelmingly pro-loss than pro-win.

Another problem is that Nike's spot doesn't make sense. Is there an English major in the ad
department?

Perfect terrible beginning. (To this commercial)
Perfect injured Plaxico.
Perfect second loss.
Perfect broken Shockey.

??? I understand the chronological theme, but can't they make phrases that are literate. I don't even know what they are grasping for or how I am supposed to read it in my head. Is it...Perfect, Shockey's injured again.

Reebok!?! What are you doing giving Mercury Morris airtime. Isn't it enough that we had to suffer through him the entire postseason. I can't believe you were suckered into paying him.



If I were a New England fan, I would be looking at Adidas for my athletic wear.

Commercial CRitic: Nike Leaves Nothing but Questions

Nike attempted to replicate its magic.

Nike unveiled one of the best commercials of the year at the beginning of the football season with an animated sequence of Shawn Merriman and Steven Jackson titled Leave Nothing. The commercial was innovative and fun to watch. I turned my head to watch it when I heard the music, similar to the Burger King commercials a season before when you heard The King's music.

For the Super Bowl, Nike took a short cut and created a Madden version of the commercial for Strahan and Osi Umenyiora's trip through the playoffs. It flopped.



The animation starts well with the Umenyiora sequences against Tampa Bay, good DE moves. But then makes a wrong turn with Strahan. Is Strahan playing Strong Safety? Then he gets up to cover a kickoff?

It was as if the animators took their time doing the first two animations and then their feet were put to fire to finish it.

Strahan sacked No. 6 on the Packers. I checked, there is no No. 6 on the Packers. It would have made more sense to put Brett Favre on a stretcher throwing the ball in the NFC Championship game.

On a side note, it is nice to see when the animators for Madden are paid good money for a commercial they still can't have the offensive linemen make a block on their man. Watch the Left Tackle for the Packers trip while blocking air. Classic.

Nike forced this one and dragged down the Merriman/Jackson piece and Madden with it. I hope they have something better for the actual Super Bowl.

Time to Deflate Air Jordans

AP: Nike kicks off Air Jordan 23, the last?

HHR: One can only hope.

If you are sucker enough to shell out $230 for an ugly pair of athletic footwear, you're a far richer and far stupider person than I.

Michael Jordan's role and his relationship with Nike was revolutionary and nothing short of historic - both for the sneaker industry and for African-American athletes as pitchmen.

But in terms of the shoe line itself, it's continued popularity simply proves that people will sacrifice common sense and good taste for what they deem as "cool," even as the star endorser himself fades from everyday relevancy. This wouldn't be such an issue had it not been for two main factors:

1. They are high-top basketball shoes.

2. The price.

I'm not an old fuddy duddy bitching about the price of shoes. I'd spend a few hundred bones on a pair I liked. But they wouldn't be a pair I'd wear with sweat socks that would be out of date in a year.

Acknowledging that the 80's through mid-90's will unlikely be heralded as a high point in fashion, I can almost forgive the Air Jordan designers exploiting the public's warped sense of style. Some of the early ones were cool in the day, even if (in retrospect) they are laughable.

As the line continued, so did its audacious designs and colors.

It was a good run. You fooled a lot of people a lot of the time and made a lot of money in the process. Can't say I fault anyone for that.

Now it's time to hang them up.

NiceKicks.com has a nice little site. Go take one last trip down memory lane and pay your respects.

Take us out, Mars.