Dear Jody in Seattle-I just now forwarded JC's column to you in case you missed it...Please sell the team to Phil Knight ASAP...thank you...Your Friend Robb (ex season ticket holder)
yes Jordan got Nike "over the top" so to speak, but the "Bo Knows" Ad campaign also was very instrumental in keeping the focus on Nike, as was Tiger, and Ken Griffey Jr. Deion Sanders not nearly as much. (IMO).
Apr 4, 2023·edited Apr 4, 2023Liked by John Canzano
Saw the film at a screening Sunday it’s very good. I respect Knights business foresight to an extent although Wieden Kennedy is the secret sauce in Nike which is really a marketing/PR company disguised as an apparel co. And because he’s such an influential figure in the PNW he gets treated with reverence and seems immune to fair questions about his business model. I’m a capitalist and believe in open markets but as a minority, I see thru Knight. Here’s a guy who made shoes overseas where he could get the cheapest labor (read: sweatshops. Fact) marked up said product by 500% plus, specifically targeted a demographic (read: poor black kids) and then used their heroes to sell it to them. How many Black mothers could afford to pay for overpriced shoes for their kids? How many of those kids have literally gotten murdered on the streets over their shoes (fact. Happens routinely) Knight the Philanthropist? It’s called a tax write off. I don’t know. Guy gets a huge pass and he’s certainly no criminal but I also think the means he used to rise to prominence……
Film is great. Huge Jordan fan. Phil Knight? Complicated legacy if we are being honest. Next chapter to your point John: Not sure but it won’t include a Ducks CFB national championship despite a billion spent.
Apr 4, 2023·edited Apr 4, 2023Liked by John Canzano
If you're going to take a cheap shot (it definitely was) at Phil Knight & Nike. Then why not take shots at Adidas, at Tiger, at Reebok, At Asic's, At Converse, etc because they ALL did the same thing...Why? Because you're intellectually dishonest and myopic, that's why. Because to you, Nike=Phil Knight=Oregon, and you elitist Spoiled Children fans can't help yourselves. If SC isn't the main topic of conversation, you take offense and cheap shots...Elitism is in your DNA, it's all you've got, it's what you do. Good luck with that. Oh and BTW, Phil Knight is a great man, a once in a generation man.
Yikes, SCDS (SC Derangement Syndrome) alert! All this poster pointed out was a more complete picture of a famous man. Nothing that many haven't already noted about Nike's controversial business practices. Perfectly legal and in a Capitalistic system, smart, creative, and advantageous for success. It's certainly open for discussion, as many in the Progressive landscape of the PNW have before, not just SC fans.
The column was about Phil Knight. That was the topic. So when Canzano next writes about Adidas or Tiger you can put your theory to the test. Breathe buddy, breathe.
LOL, you said the column was about Phil knight, yet you prattle on about sweat shops, targeted demographics, feigned racism (black mothers not being able to afford the shoes), and a shot at the U of O (not a national championship in CFB). USC=Hypocrisy, dishonesty and elitism...it's what's for dinner at the University of spoiled children.
Wow, now I remember you took the same childish shots at me when we had a difference of opinion. I don't agree with all that scforthewin said, but he is correct on many points. Complicated genius for sure. Dial it back Grant's dad... you are over your head in this discussion.
I could not disagree with you more. But I respect your right to make value judgments on other posters. That's your right. What are your business bona fides?
For a USC guy to question anyone's or any company's business ethics is laughable.
Between the nonstop patter of rain on his roof, and mostly the reverberated din coming from the echo chamber he lives in- Grants dad can not hear opposing ideals or even opinions. Someday poor Grant may ask his dad, “what’s a contrarian view, dad?”
Do you know the man or is this simply an off-the-wall dump on someone you do not know?
Do the words 'self-righteous' mean anything to you? How can you possibly judge someone by what they post?
And again, I respect your right to state your POV. I simply think that it is sad that people can no longer disagree without being disagreeable.
How many enterprises are USC graduates involved in that have exported their labor to nations with a lower cost of living and a lower cost of product creation and distribution?
How about you exhale and go away sooner rather than in 2024?
Honestly, why should any Pacific Conference fan give a whip about what backstabbers think? You conspired with a liar, Kevin Warren, and FOX to undermine the Pacific conference. Carol Folt lead the opposition to taking in the B12 'orphans.'
SC and UCLA never gave the Pacific conference a chance to negotiate a media deal including the LA schools with a bigger cut for USC and maybe, for UCLA.
And you have the nerve to question PK and Nike's business ethics?
“Great man” is subjective. Maybe you like him because he’s bought your favorite program some relevance. He’s a very rich man. I’m not sure he’s a “great man”
Outside of the money I’d argue he’s a very typical man. Gives to charities in a very loud public way. Funds structures with the caveat they are named after friends or family. Donates but withdraws and pouts if his agenda isn’t met. All of this by the way is his wont and what most would do or demand in his situation. I remember in 2011 SC came to town and Phil brought LeBron and Carmelo Anthony to the game to parade them around. Made sure he himself was highly visible on the field before the game. I had to laugh. Billions of dollars but at heart- the most stereotypical Oregon Duck fan ever: “I have cool black friends- look at me look at me!” As I recall all that money and posturing didn’t win that particular game just as a title has and always will alude him. He’s not a bad guy. I respect his foresight as a businessman and I’m certain he’s also done a lot of good with his resources. But at heart he ain’t all that different from you pal. The vicariously living thru sports figures or granting them elevated esteem is akin to the Brits who worship the very flawed and very average/vanilla Royal Family.
LOLOLOL, finally... the arrogant SC fan with the tiny penis syndrome comes out. I was wondering when you could no longer hide behind your foolish rhetoric and the truly, intellectually dishonest, and morally bankrupt USC (and to my surprise, racially bigoted) fan would come to the surface.
Yes the "Great man" IS subjective. I never said it wasn't. But that is my true belief. Phil knight is loyal to the University of Oregon to a fault...similar to you and your allegiance to a corrupt USC...but I digress...Phil has donated a few hundred million to Stanford, tens of millions to OSU. secretly paid the salary upgrade to keep Pat Casey as baseball coach at OSU. Donated Over a billion dollars (in salaries and infrastructure) to the University of Oregon athletic department. Built the law school at the U of O, built the Children's Medical Research center at the U of O, collaborated to build the Portland Satellite campus. Built the knight Cancer research center at OHSU in Portland. So yes, in my mind he's a great man, and a loyal, yet humble man.
And you our resident usc troll, are nothing more than a low life bigot, looking at all things through the bigoted lens of the typical USC fan with their entitlement chip. good luck with that.
Full disclosure: I also am pro business and a capitalist and agree with much of what you write. I would like to ask, after MJ's original shoe contract, would he have considered pricing the shoes at a lower price to make them more affordable and work with shoe stores as well? Sadly, i think we know that answer, kinda like asking Ticketmaster to lower their fees from 20%+ to 3-5%, but i stray, lol. Also, some resp. to the parents/guardians to address the affordability with their kids, and make the tough decision.
While I don't fully agree with what you said, I appreciate the perspective, and it is one I had never thought about. That said, the advertising model you postulate isn't exclusive to Nike and Phil Knight. I acknowledge the article was about Nike and Phil, however the lack of that context that what you point out isn't unique to Nike, is problematic to me.
Hey .. your crap don’t fly here man. You wanna talk BS like that then reveal your true identity. You are farting into the wind and the only thing one can detect about you is that you stink.
I'm no Phil Knight fan any more than I was a fan of John Arrillaga, but give me a Haas or a Bechtel and I will jump for joy....hahahaha.
That said, can any movie or book about Knight not mention Steve Prefontaine. Back in 1974, Nike was hunting for an athlete to wear their running shoes. They found Steve Prefontaine and signed with him for $5,000. I guess I am old enough to remember that way before Jordan...
John. If you haven’t but I bet you have, read Shoe Dog before seeing Air. What a gutsy innovative ingenious entrepreneur he is. I remember in 1968 one of his reps coming into our gym at Sunset High and pitching Onitchka’s (sp) to us on the track team. Blue Ribbon was made up on the spot! I so hope he gets his hands on the Blazers.
Oh Lord Mr. USC. Your charges against Nike/Knight/Oregon Ducks are hilarious and typical for USC. I am an Oregon alum and worked at Nike during the time Air Jordan was created. I have lived in Southern California for the past 40 years and have enjoyed the annual scandals that USC enjoys. Yes, you have a winning football team. Where is Reggie’s Heisman, where did Pete run to? How long were you on probation? How much will it cost me to buy my grandson into your vaunted University? He can pretend to row crew as well as the Hollywood kids. How much is your scandal with the Medical School costing your alum? Prostitutes and crystal meth enjoyed by your Dean of Medicine. Are you adding it to the cost of your school’s gynecologist? Accepting bribes from LA City Councilmen? Fight On. P.S. is that a swoosh on your uniforms?
Oh my, so well said. The only thing to add is to read “Bad City: Power and Peril in the City of Angels,” by Paul Pringle which really dishes the lowdown on the institutional disgrace of the University of Spoiled Children. Plus do not forget the institutional racism and anti-Semitism they practiced until the late 1970's, early 1980's.
Certainly Phil Knight handing the Quacks a billion or so comes nowhere near that kind of stuff :)
Probably not a great or even an accurate analogy, but it appears Phil Knight is to sports marketing what Warren Buffet is to market investing. An icon in every sense of the word.
well articulated. This column is an "around the corner" look at the next iteration for Knight. Question...is there a smoldering rift between Allen and Knight. Perhaps Columbo might know.
Spring, 1984 and Nike was no sure thing as an investment. They were struggling with market share (remember when only a few higher-end retail outlets carried Nike shoes?) and stagnate product line. Their most recent innovation, the air sole insert, was new to market and unproven. I remember all this because as a 2nd year MBA student at the U of O, our group was assigned to analyze the athletic shoe business and one of our props for the presentation was an air sole insert on a keychain.
The rest, as they say, is history. I highly recommended reading "Shoe Dog", the story of Phil Knight and Nike. Then go see "Air".
Apr 4, 2023·edited Apr 4, 2023Liked by John Canzano
My favorite Nike story, and as someone growing up in Albany and running track and field and x-country at the time of its creation, I have a few, is about my track buddy (and he still is), Jake. He bought a very early pair of Nike running "waffle" shoes. The soles were literally right out of the waffle iron Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight used to invent the shoe and is a big part of the book "Shoe Dog" and likely the movie. Prefontaine was still running for the Ducks (this is the fall of 1972). The salesman, working out of the back of his station wagon parked in back of our HS was Kenny Moore (I think, could have been Jeff Johnson; long time ago), who was a 1960s Ducks marathon runner. All of us wore Adidas in that time, pre-Nike. We thought Jake was crazy to buy these untested shoes out of the back of a car. Our first meet where he wore the shoes, the soles fell off about one mile into the race. He took them off and threw them into the nearby field and finished the race barefoot. What would those shoes be worth today if he had held onto them?!!
There is no way to know if Nike would have killed it without MJs endorsement. Phil Knight, with his personality, would have kept on trying with other athletes. He already had that endorsement formula as he had Pre promoting his track shoes by 1974 and Ilie (Nasty) Nastase and others promoting tennis shoes. But it is fun to speculate.
I am not absolutely sure it was Kenny. It may have been Jeff Johnson who also drove around to high schools selling Nike's for Phil. I know it wasn't Phil. This was 50 years ago and I was 16. I had no idea about any of these runners, except Steve Prefontaine who was already Oregon legend with the times he put up at Marshfield HS
Yes....that is possible, too. Another famous Duck runner from that period. I have to say, I wouldn't remember the face if I saw it. In Shoe Dog, there were a few ex-Duck runners selling for Phil from their car right after college. Hollister passed on in 2012 at 66. That is my age now. Makes me feel like I won't live forever (I hate that feeling!)
For a significant part of my career, negotiation was part of how I added value at work. For the last 5 years or so, it was the major part of what I did at work. The most difficult negotiation is one where the other party doesn't really know what they want or are not smart enough to let you know what they want, without in their mind undermining their negotiating position. I'm not sure how Phil will solve that riddle unless he is willing to write a check that is way over the Blazers fair market value. That said, the fact that the new collective bargaining agreement is about to wrap up, and the draft will be completed on June 23rd, should help the valuation of the team become more straightforward. Maybe after June 23rd we see progress? As a fan, since their inaugural season, I certainly hope that is the case.
Perhaps the Pac-10 should engage PK to consult (take the lead) on the new media deal negotiations. If negotiations are ongoing?
The rope-a-dope strategy worked for Ali. Will it work for the Pac-10? The conference is getting pounded by 3rd parties and who do we hear from? The president of Arizona. The president of ASU. And the Utah AD. Crickets from the commissioner.
The marketing of the conference unlike NIKE helping Oregon with marketing over the years is vapid. The 'Elite Club' has turned into a joke.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Kliavkoff deemed it necessary to hire an assistant commissioner. The assistant commissioner is going to protect the commissioner from getting sucker-punched by Kevin Warren, the B1G, FOX, Carol Folt, USC, UCLA, and the B12 commissioner. I very much doubt it.
Would this have happened to PK had he been in charge? I doubt it.
"I'm mad as hell but I'm going to have to continue to take it." Or, hope for an Oregon invite from the B1G.
I knew Sonny back in the day when I worked in Las Vegas and I am looking forward to watching the movie. However, I have less and less faith in the Pac-10 holding together.
I agree I think that would be a dream. Come true for Uncle Phil to run the Blazers. I hope it happens soon though due to his age, but also with a couple other sports teams out there like the commanders and the hornets for sale, I bet the blazers price tag will be at least 3 million. GO BLAZERS!
A buddy of mines father back in the mid 60’s could have bout in for $5k. He couldn’t come up with that amount due to a growing young family. That investment would be worth $2-3 mil. today.
Dear Jody in Seattle-I just now forwarded JC's column to you in case you missed it...Please sell the team to Phil Knight ASAP...thank you...Your Friend Robb (ex season ticket holder)
yes Jordan got Nike "over the top" so to speak, but the "Bo Knows" Ad campaign also was very instrumental in keeping the focus on Nike, as was Tiger, and Ken Griffey Jr. Deion Sanders not nearly as much. (IMO).
Saw the film at a screening Sunday it’s very good. I respect Knights business foresight to an extent although Wieden Kennedy is the secret sauce in Nike which is really a marketing/PR company disguised as an apparel co. And because he’s such an influential figure in the PNW he gets treated with reverence and seems immune to fair questions about his business model. I’m a capitalist and believe in open markets but as a minority, I see thru Knight. Here’s a guy who made shoes overseas where he could get the cheapest labor (read: sweatshops. Fact) marked up said product by 500% plus, specifically targeted a demographic (read: poor black kids) and then used their heroes to sell it to them. How many Black mothers could afford to pay for overpriced shoes for their kids? How many of those kids have literally gotten murdered on the streets over their shoes (fact. Happens routinely) Knight the Philanthropist? It’s called a tax write off. I don’t know. Guy gets a huge pass and he’s certainly no criminal but I also think the means he used to rise to prominence……
Film is great. Huge Jordan fan. Phil Knight? Complicated legacy if we are being honest. Next chapter to your point John: Not sure but it won’t include a Ducks CFB national championship despite a billion spent.
If you're going to take a cheap shot (it definitely was) at Phil Knight & Nike. Then why not take shots at Adidas, at Tiger, at Reebok, At Asic's, At Converse, etc because they ALL did the same thing...Why? Because you're intellectually dishonest and myopic, that's why. Because to you, Nike=Phil Knight=Oregon, and you elitist Spoiled Children fans can't help yourselves. If SC isn't the main topic of conversation, you take offense and cheap shots...Elitism is in your DNA, it's all you've got, it's what you do. Good luck with that. Oh and BTW, Phil Knight is a great man, a once in a generation man.
Yikes, SCDS (SC Derangement Syndrome) alert! All this poster pointed out was a more complete picture of a famous man. Nothing that many haven't already noted about Nike's controversial business practices. Perfectly legal and in a Capitalistic system, smart, creative, and advantageous for success. It's certainly open for discussion, as many in the Progressive landscape of the PNW have before, not just SC fans.
How exactly is this derangement?
I was addressing "Grant's dad's" response to you...
(Wait for it…….)
The column was about Phil Knight. That was the topic. So when Canzano next writes about Adidas or Tiger you can put your theory to the test. Breathe buddy, breathe.
LOL, you said the column was about Phil knight, yet you prattle on about sweat shops, targeted demographics, feigned racism (black mothers not being able to afford the shoes), and a shot at the U of O (not a national championship in CFB). USC=Hypocrisy, dishonesty and elitism...it's what's for dinner at the University of spoiled children.
Wow, now I remember you took the same childish shots at me when we had a difference of opinion. I don't agree with all that scforthewin said, but he is correct on many points. Complicated genius for sure. Dial it back Grant's dad... you are over your head in this discussion.
I could not disagree with you more. But I respect your right to make value judgments on other posters. That's your right. What are your business bona fides?
For a USC guy to question anyone's or any company's business ethics is laughable.
Between the nonstop patter of rain on his roof, and mostly the reverberated din coming from the echo chamber he lives in- Grants dad can not hear opposing ideals or even opinions. Someday poor Grant may ask his dad, “what’s a contrarian view, dad?”
Do you know the man or is this simply an off-the-wall dump on someone you do not know?
Do the words 'self-righteous' mean anything to you? How can you possibly judge someone by what they post?
And again, I respect your right to state your POV. I simply think that it is sad that people can no longer disagree without being disagreeable.
How many enterprises are USC graduates involved in that have exported their labor to nations with a lower cost of living and a lower cost of product creation and distribution?
Why do YOU make everything about YOU??? insecure much?
How about you exhale and go away sooner rather than in 2024?
Honestly, why should any Pacific Conference fan give a whip about what backstabbers think? You conspired with a liar, Kevin Warren, and FOX to undermine the Pacific conference. Carol Folt lead the opposition to taking in the B12 'orphans.'
SC and UCLA never gave the Pacific conference a chance to negotiate a media deal including the LA schools with a bigger cut for USC and maybe, for UCLA.
And you have the nerve to question PK and Nike's business ethics?
Take a look in the mirror.
“Great man” is subjective. Maybe you like him because he’s bought your favorite program some relevance. He’s a very rich man. I’m not sure he’s a “great man”
Outside of the money I’d argue he’s a very typical man. Gives to charities in a very loud public way. Funds structures with the caveat they are named after friends or family. Donates but withdraws and pouts if his agenda isn’t met. All of this by the way is his wont and what most would do or demand in his situation. I remember in 2011 SC came to town and Phil brought LeBron and Carmelo Anthony to the game to parade them around. Made sure he himself was highly visible on the field before the game. I had to laugh. Billions of dollars but at heart- the most stereotypical Oregon Duck fan ever: “I have cool black friends- look at me look at me!” As I recall all that money and posturing didn’t win that particular game just as a title has and always will alude him. He’s not a bad guy. I respect his foresight as a businessman and I’m certain he’s also done a lot of good with his resources. But at heart he ain’t all that different from you pal. The vicariously living thru sports figures or granting them elevated esteem is akin to the Brits who worship the very flawed and very average/vanilla Royal Family.
LOLOLOL, finally... the arrogant SC fan with the tiny penis syndrome comes out. I was wondering when you could no longer hide behind your foolish rhetoric and the truly, intellectually dishonest, and morally bankrupt USC (and to my surprise, racially bigoted) fan would come to the surface.
Yes the "Great man" IS subjective. I never said it wasn't. But that is my true belief. Phil knight is loyal to the University of Oregon to a fault...similar to you and your allegiance to a corrupt USC...but I digress...Phil has donated a few hundred million to Stanford, tens of millions to OSU. secretly paid the salary upgrade to keep Pat Casey as baseball coach at OSU. Donated Over a billion dollars (in salaries and infrastructure) to the University of Oregon athletic department. Built the law school at the U of O, built the Children's Medical Research center at the U of O, collaborated to build the Portland Satellite campus. Built the knight Cancer research center at OHSU in Portland. So yes, in my mind he's a great man, and a loyal, yet humble man.
And you our resident usc troll, are nothing more than a low life bigot, looking at all things through the bigoted lens of the typical USC fan with their entitlement chip. good luck with that.
Full disclosure: I also am pro business and a capitalist and agree with much of what you write. I would like to ask, after MJ's original shoe contract, would he have considered pricing the shoes at a lower price to make them more affordable and work with shoe stores as well? Sadly, i think we know that answer, kinda like asking Ticketmaster to lower their fees from 20%+ to 3-5%, but i stray, lol. Also, some resp. to the parents/guardians to address the affordability with their kids, and make the tough decision.
While I don't fully agree with what you said, I appreciate the perspective, and it is one I had never thought about. That said, the advertising model you postulate isn't exclusive to Nike and Phil Knight. I acknowledge the article was about Nike and Phil, however the lack of that context that what you point out isn't unique to Nike, is problematic to me.
Absolutely not exclusive to Nike. And becoming more and more the corporate MO, agreed
Hey .. your crap don’t fly here man. You wanna talk BS like that then reveal your true identity. You are farting into the wind and the only thing one can detect about you is that you stink.
Profoundly thoughtful analysis. Well played. Charlie
Thank you very much Charlie
I'm no Phil Knight fan any more than I was a fan of John Arrillaga, but give me a Haas or a Bechtel and I will jump for joy....hahahaha.
That said, can any movie or book about Knight not mention Steve Prefontaine. Back in 1974, Nike was hunting for an athlete to wear their running shoes. They found Steve Prefontaine and signed with him for $5,000. I guess I am old enough to remember that way before Jordan...
John. If you haven’t but I bet you have, read Shoe Dog before seeing Air. What a gutsy innovative ingenious entrepreneur he is. I remember in 1968 one of his reps coming into our gym at Sunset High and pitching Onitchka’s (sp) to us on the track team. Blue Ribbon was made up on the spot! I so hope he gets his hands on the Blazers.
Outstanding book, excellent recommendation.
Oh Lord Mr. USC. Your charges against Nike/Knight/Oregon Ducks are hilarious and typical for USC. I am an Oregon alum and worked at Nike during the time Air Jordan was created. I have lived in Southern California for the past 40 years and have enjoyed the annual scandals that USC enjoys. Yes, you have a winning football team. Where is Reggie’s Heisman, where did Pete run to? How long were you on probation? How much will it cost me to buy my grandson into your vaunted University? He can pretend to row crew as well as the Hollywood kids. How much is your scandal with the Medical School costing your alum? Prostitutes and crystal meth enjoyed by your Dean of Medicine. Are you adding it to the cost of your school’s gynecologist? Accepting bribes from LA City Councilmen? Fight On. P.S. is that a swoosh on your uniforms?
Oh my, so well said. The only thing to add is to read “Bad City: Power and Peril in the City of Angels,” by Paul Pringle which really dishes the lowdown on the institutional disgrace of the University of Spoiled Children. Plus do not forget the institutional racism and anti-Semitism they practiced until the late 1970's, early 1980's.
Certainly Phil Knight handing the Quacks a billion or so comes nowhere near that kind of stuff :)
Comments as much fun as the article! Thanks to the fans...
Probably not a great or even an accurate analogy, but it appears Phil Knight is to sports marketing what Warren Buffet is to market investing. An icon in every sense of the word.
Two eminent businessmen. The opposite of the folks running the Pacific conference for a decade plus
This is not tea and crumpets; this is Big Business being run like a lemonade stand.
well articulated. This column is an "around the corner" look at the next iteration for Knight. Question...is there a smoldering rift between Allen and Knight. Perhaps Columbo might know.
Spring, 1984 and Nike was no sure thing as an investment. They were struggling with market share (remember when only a few higher-end retail outlets carried Nike shoes?) and stagnate product line. Their most recent innovation, the air sole insert, was new to market and unproven. I remember all this because as a 2nd year MBA student at the U of O, our group was assigned to analyze the athletic shoe business and one of our props for the presentation was an air sole insert on a keychain.
The rest, as they say, is history. I highly recommended reading "Shoe Dog", the story of Phil Knight and Nike. Then go see "Air".
My favorite Nike story, and as someone growing up in Albany and running track and field and x-country at the time of its creation, I have a few, is about my track buddy (and he still is), Jake. He bought a very early pair of Nike running "waffle" shoes. The soles were literally right out of the waffle iron Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight used to invent the shoe and is a big part of the book "Shoe Dog" and likely the movie. Prefontaine was still running for the Ducks (this is the fall of 1972). The salesman, working out of the back of his station wagon parked in back of our HS was Kenny Moore (I think, could have been Jeff Johnson; long time ago), who was a 1960s Ducks marathon runner. All of us wore Adidas in that time, pre-Nike. We thought Jake was crazy to buy these untested shoes out of the back of a car. Our first meet where he wore the shoes, the soles fell off about one mile into the race. He took them off and threw them into the nearby field and finished the race barefoot. What would those shoes be worth today if he had held onto them?!!
There is no way to know if Nike would have killed it without MJs endorsement. Phil Knight, with his personality, would have kept on trying with other athletes. He already had that endorsement formula as he had Pre promoting his track shoes by 1974 and Ilie (Nasty) Nastase and others promoting tennis shoes. But it is fun to speculate.
Absolutely LOVED Kenny Moore's writing.......
I am not absolutely sure it was Kenny. It may have been Jeff Johnson who also drove around to high schools selling Nike's for Phil. I know it wasn't Phil. This was 50 years ago and I was 16. I had no idea about any of these runners, except Steve Prefontaine who was already Oregon legend with the times he put up at Marshfield HS
Also could have been Geoff Hollister, who sold me some out of his car way back in the day.
Yes....that is possible, too. Another famous Duck runner from that period. I have to say, I wouldn't remember the face if I saw it. In Shoe Dog, there were a few ex-Duck runners selling for Phil from their car right after college. Hollister passed on in 2012 at 66. That is my age now. Makes me feel like I won't live forever (I hate that feeling!)
So you were a high school runner, too? Where? What years? And did your shoes hold up, if the hand-built ones from early 70s
For a significant part of my career, negotiation was part of how I added value at work. For the last 5 years or so, it was the major part of what I did at work. The most difficult negotiation is one where the other party doesn't really know what they want or are not smart enough to let you know what they want, without in their mind undermining their negotiating position. I'm not sure how Phil will solve that riddle unless he is willing to write a check that is way over the Blazers fair market value. That said, the fact that the new collective bargaining agreement is about to wrap up, and the draft will be completed on June 23rd, should help the valuation of the team become more straightforward. Maybe after June 23rd we see progress? As a fan, since their inaugural season, I certainly hope that is the case.
Great stuff. Thanks, JC.
Perhaps the Pac-10 should engage PK to consult (take the lead) on the new media deal negotiations. If negotiations are ongoing?
The rope-a-dope strategy worked for Ali. Will it work for the Pac-10? The conference is getting pounded by 3rd parties and who do we hear from? The president of Arizona. The president of ASU. And the Utah AD. Crickets from the commissioner.
The marketing of the conference unlike NIKE helping Oregon with marketing over the years is vapid. The 'Elite Club' has turned into a joke.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Kliavkoff deemed it necessary to hire an assistant commissioner. The assistant commissioner is going to protect the commissioner from getting sucker-punched by Kevin Warren, the B1G, FOX, Carol Folt, USC, UCLA, and the B12 commissioner. I very much doubt it.
Would this have happened to PK had he been in charge? I doubt it.
"I'm mad as hell but I'm going to have to continue to take it." Or, hope for an Oregon invite from the B1G.
I knew Sonny back in the day when I worked in Las Vegas and I am looking forward to watching the movie. However, I have less and less faith in the Pac-10 holding together.
I agree I think that would be a dream. Come true for Uncle Phil to run the Blazers. I hope it happens soon though due to his age, but also with a couple other sports teams out there like the commanders and the hornets for sale, I bet the blazers price tag will be at least 3 million. GO BLAZERS!
MAGIC JOHNSON TURNED KNIGHT DOWN HIS ROOKIE YEAR IN THE NBA. THE NIKE CLASS A STOCK THAT KNIGHT OFFERED WOULD BE WORTH BILLIONS TODAY
A buddy of mines father back in the mid 60’s could have bout in for $5k. He couldn’t come up with that amount due to a growing young family. That investment would be worth $2-3 mil. today.
Knight and Nike really did change the world. Jordan was/is a huge part of that.