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Sports Then and Now



Waiting For The Weekend: Power and Greed Edition 1

Posted on November 06, 2009 by Dean Hybl
Power and Greed seem to be running rampant in sports.

Power and Greed seem to be running rampant in sports.

In a week in which the New York Yankees claimed the World Series title it seems fitting to look at greed and power in the world of sports. Unfortunately, it isn’t very hard to find, even in the case of college athletics.

It’s All In The Shoes

Given that his father is synonymous with the company, it is likely that Marcus Jordan had a Nike swoosh on his pacifier as a baby and certainly grew up wearing shoes and clothes designed by the famous sports apparel company.

Now a freshman basketball player at the University of Central Florida (UCF), the young Jordan has become a central figure in a “shoe war” even before playing his first college game.

Seems that UCF has a long-term relationship with adidas and recently agreed on a new 6-year, $3-million deal that called for all UCF athletic teams to wear adidas apparel and equipment.

Evidently, at the time Jordan was being recruited to UCF, he asked if he would be able to wear a Nike shoe endorsed by his father instead of the adidas shoes provided to the school. According to all accounts from UCF, the regional adidas representative gave approval for Marcus to wear Nike shoes during games. I’m willing to bet it was an important component of why he ultimately chose UCF.

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      The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.

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