I did not see this anywhere . . . .Interesting - Rocket River -------------------------- http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/baw_commentary_news/14046 Did Marcus Jordan Do the Right Thing? Date: Friday, November 06, 2009, 6:15 am By: Zack Burgess, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com The Bible tells us that the sins of the father will visit the son. And in "Hamlet," Shakespeare thoroughly showed us the problems of a man’s struggle with his past. A father’s actions, his conflicts, his strengths and, unfortunately, his weaknesses will somehow rear their heads. We see it with our presidents, our doctors, our lawyers, and now with the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball – Michael Jordan. If you haven’t heard by now, an uproar has been caused by Jordan’s son, Marcus, a freshman guard at University of Central Florida. Young Marcus refused to wear the team-mandated Adidas sneaker in favor of the shoe his father made famous, the Nike Air Jordan. The younger Jordan’s actions caused Adidas to sever its sponsorship ties with the school altogether. That means UCF will be forced to buy its own clothing, shoes and equipment - for all 15 of its sports - at full price. “The University of Central Florida has chosen not to deliver on their contractual commitment to Adidas,” said Adidas spokeswoman Andrea Corso in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “As a result, we have chosen not to continue our relationship with them moving forward.” Many are wondering, how did a university and its head basketball coach allow this to happen? How can one young man cause a university to lose a six-year, multi-million dollar contract? Sports fans had a lot to say, but no real answers. “As part of the team, he needs to wear what the school supplies, said Mark Ricks of Laurel, Maryland. “The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. What has he accomplished that deserves all this uproar?” According to The Orlando Sentinel, UCF's contract with Adidas represents about 1.4 percent of the UCF Athletics Association's projected income this year. Apparently, the deal with Adidas was reported to be worth $3 million and last up to six years. UCF would have received all its merchandise from Adidas free under their new proposed contract, a change from the current deal that called for UCF to buy some items from Adidas at wholesale prices. Nike has not expressed interest in taking over the UCF shoe contract, with the company well-represented in the Florida market, thanks to agreements with the University of Florida, Florida State University and Miami University. "There should be a radical change in amateur athletics in America, because it's a farce," Sonny Vaccaro, who many consider the godfather of basketball and pioneered paying college basketball coaches for exclusive apparel deals and later made similar agreements with universities, told USA Today. "Amateurism lost its virginity a long time ago." In 1984, Vaccaro convinced Nike to sign a young point guard from North Carolina. Air Jordan was born. And the rest is history. How did Michael Jordan allow this? Maybe it’s one of those things where a child is looking for his father’s approval, admiration and attention? After all, you never really know the true inner workings of one's family dynamics. What's clear here is that lessons in humility, gratitude and the spirit of teamwork appear to be lacking in Marcus' Jordan playbook. “I think it's unfortunate that he's been brain-washed and he believes he must align himself with Nike,” said Roger Moore Jr. of London, England. “His father was their corporate puppet based on his contract with them. However, on what principle is HE making this stand? Exactly, what has HE accomplished? He better get a triple-double each game.” UCF head basketball coach Kirk Speraw defended his embattled young guard's actions in Conference USA's preseason basketball teleconference. "The thing about Marcus that I really need to make perfectly clear is Marcus is an outstanding young man. ....
pure selfishness on Marcus's part. he doesn't represent NIKE. now he's gonna cost the school AND his teammates money (which they probably can afford anyways, but it's the principle.)
I agree He made HIMSELF BIGGER THAN THE TEAM . . BIGGER THAN THE SCHOOL Unless Nike has a WINK WINK deal . . . .this is pretty sh***y Cause not alot of other sports will have to struggle becuase he made a decision. Also . .the Coach . . the AD . . someone should have told him . .. OH H*LL NAW!! Rocket River
if he told UCF this was part of the deal of him signing, then fine. but he didn't. and now he screwed them over. his daddy should sponsor the team.
We're talking about a guy who is too busy playing golf to run his NBA team, and who tries to charge little kids 50 bucks for an autograph.
Blame his dad for "brainwashing" him. The guy sews patches and puts tape over any logo that isn't Nike. Corporate branding is the worst part of sports.
While the kid might be dumb, couldn't the coaches and school just suspend him or something. No reason it had to escalate to Adidas ending their sponsorship right?
Agreed. This should have ended with UCF saying "if you don't wear official team gear, you're not playing".
exactly. You've gotta wear the team uniform if you want to play on the team. But how messed up is it that this kid considers wearing a certain brand to be showing his father respect. Very telling about Jordan as a father.
I understand where you're coming from and I do agree. But it just makes me uneasy to think about what we're teaching kids with that move. You do well in school. You do well on the court. You've done what you're supposed to do. But because you're not wearing Adidas shoes (not that you're going barefoot or anything) we're going to let you go from the team.
The coach in Orlando has no backbone. NCAA sponsorships do need to be examined. Most people have no inkling how these contracts are structured with each school. Which school gets more money? Which get equipment for free? Which contracts are up? (also, in this guy's blog he confused Miami University with University of Miami. Minor error, but it's inexcusable when it comes to journalism -- which is why blogs are not journalism).
yeah. why aren't college athletes paid, i mean schools are raking in a lot from them. companies should be allowed to sponsor schools but players should be allowed to wear whatever product if they purchase it themselves.
True - I understand that view, but how far do you take it? What if the kid wants to wear a Carolina Blue jersey instead of the UCF jersey? Ultimately, it's part of the uniform. If every other kid is required to wear them, there shouldn't be any exceptions for Marcus Jordan just because of who his father is. I wonder what happens at other schools? Texas is sponsored by Nike. If Colt McCoy decides he doesn't want to wear Nike shoes, can he do that? (I really have no idea)
I lost respect for Jordan after he did Houston's own Chamillionaire dirty. (I still don't really know what that means, but I like saying it)
You mean Jordan wasn't just super-patriotic when he covered up that Reebok logo back with the Dream Team? Come to think of it, who do you think Michael Jordan had sewing patches over all those adidas/Reebok logos over the years? Who is responsible for his kids' Nike brainwashing? My bet is that Marcus Jordan has quite a prominent tailor's thumb callus.
Spoiled punk that has done absolutely nothing in basketball. Air Jordans gonna make you better than adidas. Lol give me a break
The were talking about this on First Take a week or two ago. Apparently, UCF told him he could wear Air Jordan's when they were recruiting him. So there's some blame to go around. Kid wanted to wear his dads shoes. School told him he could. Kid signs with school. Adidas finds out and threatens to void it's contract with the school. School is caught in the middle because they made conflicting promises to both sides. I guess UCF could have prevented Marcus from wearing the shoes if they really wanted to but they kept their word to him. So UCF put themselves in this position and they sided with Marcus. I don't feel sorry for them. Also, from what I've heard, it's not like Marcus is a great player or anything.
