By Mark Kiszla
Denver Post Sports Columnist
Sometimes a brave man must make a bold stand on principle, even if it's in his stocking feet.
Although Jerry Nichols stands a muscular 6-feet-6 in socks, he might be undersized to take on the $2.5 billion U.S. basketball shoe industry.
But my hat's off to him. To say nothing of my Adidas.
Nichols, a senior at Arkansas State, has walked off his hoops team, refusing to lace 'em up at practice.
The reason for the protest?
His feet hurt.
The Indians of Arkansas State exclusively wear Adidas. Why? Three reasons: money, money, money. The shoe-manufacturing giant has signed a new deal with the Sun Belt Conference school.
Nichols, however, is a devoted Nike man. Loyal to the tips of his toes. In fact, I've seen him sporting his favorite kicks at the University of Denver gym.
He ain't wearing no stinking Adidas. Not ever.
So what we have here is a nasty sneaker war. Swoosh vs. Stripes. Let the squeaking begin.
"Adidas shoes are part of our uniform," athletic director Dean Lee informed The Sun newspaper of Jonesboro, Ark.
Although Nichols is the top returning scorer for the Indians, he has been banned indefinitely from preseason workouts with the squad for what amounts to a dress code violation.
You can order a scholarship athlete to remove his earring before a game, and kick him out of bed in the morning to attend some crummy geography class.
But don't go messing with a dude's shoes. Ever watched a young man deep-clean the leather of his sneakers with a toothbrush? That's true love.
"The contract says I have to wear Adidas or do not play. This whole thing is all messed up right now," Nichols told an enterprising local reporter, who noticed the guard tried to sneak through recent practices with tape covering his swoosh.
Busted.
Dean Wormer of "Animal House" might have a softer heart than Dean Lee of Arkansas State, which coldly informed Nichols if the player did not wear Adidas and like it, then his rubber of choice could hit the road.
So Nichols stiffened his back, knotted his Nikes and walked.
Is it me, or has basketball gone stark raving mad from an obsession with uniforms? Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson is bickering at NBA commissioner David Stern, dissing the league's new dress code by grousing, "Just because you put a guy in a tuxedo don't mean he's a good guy."
And football can be just as goofy for fashion. On any given Sunday, it's possible to spy a powerful shoe company representative cheering loudly in an NFL press box, his eyes darting among televisions beaming all the games, switching his allegiance between teams in mid-play, his sole loyalty a weird foot fetish for whichever player endorses Reebok. Which is precisely the scene I witnessed in Colorado last weekend. It was twisted.
Maybe Nichols should ask Dr. Scholl's to write an excuse that will allow his reinstatement to Arkansas State's team. The player claims his phobia for Adidas is real, because Nichols wrecked a knee in 2001 while playing basketball in the brand of shoes that now scares him.
There's no arguing with irrational fear.
Nichols is threatening to sue the school if the Indians remain intent on sacrificing his senior season to make a point, not to mention a buck.
Arkansas State coach Dickey Nutt is stuck in the middle, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Long ago, rappers Run-DMC penned a passionate ode to the current sneakers of choice at Arkansas State, shouting out: "Me and my Adidas do the illest things ... I wear my Adidas when I rock the beat."
Unswayed, there's a militant guard at Arkansas State convinced the only way to rock the boat is by kicking up the heels of his Nikes.
That's sick - which can be interpreted as good or bad, depending on which side of the corporate desk you're standing.
Nichols has made his own declaration of independence.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of comfortable shoes.
Somewhere, Imelda Marcos must be smiling.
When Nike was doing battle with Reebok and others in the late '80's and early '90's, the business atmosphere was likened to 'a war with pretty footsoldiers' (pardon the pun). If you ever met a rep from a major shoe interest, you'd know what I mean. Hot, 20-something, with all the compassion of a sorority recruiter during hazing or some of those saintly high-schoolers from the cast of 'Heathers'.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if these big, big college contracts evolved out of that era of manic corporate instability. Big contracts, like huge universities, ease the day-to-day burden of bit-sales to health clubs, sponsored sports camps and such.
We were supposed to be assigned t-shirts at work to wear during home games as in years past (we do a wicked home-game business). Laughable was the fact that this year, the logo and shade of purple had shifted again, this time to be consistent with the nike-borne jerseys assigned to the players. For cost-cutting reasons, the T-shirts were never disseminated, and employees appear to be sporting instead individually-purchased thrift-store models (selection aplenty). Much more retro and ecclectic, I'd say.....
They change uniforms something like 80 times a year in professional sports these days, and i guess collges have gotten the bug now too. The boho team spirit at your work is something to see I'm sure. Pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteThe only positve apect of Big Sportswear courting colleges is the free clothes and sneakers for the team. That's about it. Other than that, there's a sinister element, not allowing for any individuality.
This kid who didn't want to wear Adidas is being reprimannded, and for what, so that Adidas's full team coverage will be stifiled by a single player whose shoes his feet will not fit comfortably? Gimme a break.