Michigan signs 8 year deal with adidas

[Unibomber]

How often does Oregon pull in a top 10 recruiting class?

How often does Oregon win championships? Pac-10 or National?

My point is that Oregon is a blip on the top 25. Is your argument that you would be ranked #60 if it weren't for your uniforms? Because I truly do not see Oregon winning anything noteworthy any time soon, in SPITE of uniforms and an amazing campus. Junior college RB's like your uni's. Congrats. 4 star RB's like the winged helmet and a century of tradition which, coincidentally, does not involve prancing around in fairy uniforms. Keep wearing your all white so opposing teams can get them nice and dirty.

Yes, I realize Oregon beat the hell out of Michigan last season. I also realize Oregon was crap without Dennis Dixon. But at least he liked the uniforms.

1. Oregon's had, I think, one top-10 recruiting class in the last 10 years. But it's not just about Nike or the campus...do you know how many football players the state of Oregon produces? Here's a hint: Oregon and Oregon State combined to sign 3 Oregon kids to letters of intent last year.

2. See, the Pac-10 does that nice little thing where they play everybody, but this leads to a lot of co-conference titleists. I think Oregon has three Pac-10 titles in the past ten years, which is pretty good considering that USC dominates everyone at everything football. The Pac-10 is not to be trifled with.

No national championships, obviously, but you'll still hear many comments on the 1999 team getting robbed.

3. I'm not knocking Michigan's traditions because those are obvious; hell, any historical program automatically has a leg up on a program like Oregon, which barely registered a blip on the radar screen until the 1994 game against Washington at Autzen Stadium. My point is that kids notice this kind of stuff, and regardless of how retarded it may seem (OK, very) it matters. Granted, it's probably going to be different for Michigan, who will never change the basic design of their uniforms like Oregon has, and rightly so; I really never considered that fact and that's probably part of my undoing. But kids these days still develop some brand loyalty.

I also did not get across very well that uniforms will not make the difference between, say, Michigan and Ohio State. Nor should they. But there's an influential factor there.

Kids see Oregon play, listen to the announcers talk about the uniforms, make a mental note, and file it away. That's all I'm saying happens.

4. Oregon was crap without Dennis Dixon...and five other players who suffered ACL injuries. And twelve other players lost with season-ending injuries. But no one cares about those because Oregon's offense put up eye-popping numbers and it started with the quarterback. And no one listens because it's the West Coast, and you fuckers probably think we play with a round ball out here.

[Glenn]

You make some good points and some well thought out posts, too.

I just think Oregon is about the worst possible example that you could have picked for why Nike vs. Adidas matters to the University of Michigan, which is what the big debate here was about in the first place.

Oregon's obviously a very unique case.

[Artermis]

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...roney39/UM.jpg

This is a much better representation of what the uniforms will look like.

[Zekyl]

The blue one's look relatively the same. The white one's are just adding that yellow stripe. Not much of a change.

[MoTown]

I was hoping they would change the helmet. Nothing special about that stupid thing...

[Timone]

And that fight song? GAY.

[Unibomber]

You make some good points and some well thought out posts, too.

I just think Oregon is about the worst possible example that you could have picked for why Nike vs. Adidas matters to the University of Michigan, which is what the big debate here was about in the first place.

Oregon's obviously a very unique case.

Thanks, although you're probably right in that my credibility is shot the moment I walk in the door. But hey, I figured it was a worthy discussion.

The blue jerseys look fine; that piping looks retarded. That's one thing all apparel companies NEED to go away from.

[Jethro34]

You have to go back to 2005 to find the last 5 star recruit Oregon has hauled in - Jonathon Stewart - plucked from the state of Washington when that program UW's program was on life support. Problem is, the uniforms followed it up the next year with a class of 21 recruits - nice size, but when only 1 is a 4 star, 12 are 3 stars, and 8 are 2 or less, you have a difficult time winning games and keeping the momentum going. The two years since have actually been recruited very well at Oregon, ranking 11th and 19th nationally. Not bad.
But I would imagine that if all of this were REALLY that big of a deal, that Nike, the uniforms, Autzen Stadium (while smallish in capacity is one of the greatest stadiums in the country and voted as the #1 most intimidating stadium according to this writer http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn....php?p=1009234 ), Phil Knight and the draw of the track program...

...with all of that, why was the team 7-6 the year after the uniform combinations were introduced?

Meanwhile, USC - which has history but was dead for over a decade - could sign a multi-year deal with British Knights, Airwalk, asics, or New Balance and still manage one of the top 5 recruiting classes every year.

Sure, it matters for a handful of wavering recruits. But for 220 of the top 250 kids, it means nothing.

[Wizzle]

Ann Arbor area retailers happy with first batch of Adidas-branded Wolverine gear
A year after Adidas became the University of Michigan's official athletic sponsor, retailers have started getting their first shipments of Adidas-produced Wolverines gear.

And so far, they say, they've been pleasantly surprised.

"Any fears we may have had have gone by the wayside," said Doug Horning, co-owner of the M-Den stores, which specialize in selling U-M products. "The quality, so far, has been great, and the lettering has been exactly what we asked for.
"We think the fans will be very pleased with the new product."


Last July, U-M ended a 13-year relationship with Nike and signed an eight-year contract with Adidas.

That new contract - worth an average $7.5 million a year - included a one-time $6.5 million signing bonus. It also has yearly payments of $3.8 million cash, $2.2 million in merchandise and equipment and a guaranteed $600,000 in royalties from retail sales - with the opportunity to receive additional royalties.

That made Adidas the only company that can produce sideline gear for U-M athletes and coaches - and the fans who want to dress like them, Horning said.

"As soon as (fans) see it, they want to buy it. ... They'll say, "I saw Jake Long wearing that shirt on the sidelines. Where can I find it?" Horning said.
Only certain stores can sell the official sideline gear, adding to the exclusive appeal of the apparel. Anxious customers were contacting Moe's Sports Shops, a local retailer that sells the official gear, in the weeks leading up to its first shipment, said Jeremy Gove, assistant manager at Moe's.

"When they saw the quality, everyone settled down," Gove said. "It's actually a little cheaper so people warmed up pretty quickly. We just have to get used to the three stripes as opposed to the swoosh.

"But Adidas has done everything Nike did and then more; they really stepped to the plate."

[Glenn]

Nice, Wizzle.