Archive

I'm JUST Saying... (The business world and our sport)

  • cruiser_96
    Folks, you can do what you want. I can't make you do anything. And I don't want to make you do anything either. What I want to do is shed light on a situation concerning the sport of wrestling.

    Aside from our sport being threatened to be cut from the Olympic Games (a true crime in and of itself), our sport, at the D-I college level, has been decimated over the last 35 years due to programs being dropped. Many will argue that Title IX has much to do with this. While this is true (although I think most would agree that it is a gross interpretation of the law), what are we to say about a university which, on whim at best!, cuts its program. Read more about that here. Check out #2 on that list. Moreover, consider how it went down.

    Now, check this out. (Please read the other article first.)

    Please remember this as the "Back to School" sales approach and new shoes - be it for school or sports - need purchased.

    Again, you can do what you want, and Phil Knight and his crew are free to spend THEIR money how they choose. But do not expect me to aid in the process of building up other programs AT THE EXPENSE of a sport I cherish! And what is worse, his company has the audacity to profit from shoes for a sport his company chose to axe!?!?!?

    Whatever dude.

    (NOTE: Since reading the first hyperlink offered, I has sworn off the purchasing of anything manufactured by that company.)

    ps: Under Armor AND D1ck's Sporting goods are FINANCIALLY invested in the #KeepOlympicWrestling campaign. Again, Just sayin.
  • Bitterrunner-up
    I don't know where I fall on this. I totally agree that Nike is shady in a lot of areas. Frankly, they have practices that are much more damaging then just not supporting a sport I happen to love. While I tend to speak my mind, I don't have an activist's mentality. And frankly, I like their wrestling shoes. I'm sure the right thing to do would be to research all the companies that produce products that I use and if they do things that I disagree with I shouldn't buy their stuff...but it's just worth the trouble to me. Does that make me a bad person, or a bad citizen?

    Bottom line, if I was going to start boycotting companies for their practices, Nike would be pretty far down on the list. Corporations do some pretty crazy stuff around the world. When the kinds of dollars we're talking about with a company like Nike are getting tossed around, there are bound to be decisions made that segments of the population don't agree with. One thing I will say is that a company like Nike is about one thing and one thing only...making money. Whatever they do with regard to wrestling is grounded in that, in making money. Like Michael Corleone said, "It's not personal, it's strictly business".

    It is food for thought though.
  • cruiser_96
    I readja, bitter. Nike, like ALL companies, exist to make a profit. And I'm glad they do. I certainly do not want to make my own shoes or travel all over God's green earth to buy them. So it's nice when they use some of the profit to build a factory, pat some of my family a living wage to make the shoes, provide a wage to my uncle for driving the finished product across the nation to a show store near me, etc. that's 3 on the plus column!

    But - and there is always a but - the company's owner and his best friend cut, out of shear "WhoKnowsWhat", a program with a rich tradition and bright future. And then, an this is the kicker for me, still manufacture wrestling shoes for te sport they cut!!!!!

    But I will always defer to the individual for shoe preference - even in this case.

    Unrelated: does John Smith still wear Brute?
  • Shoot and Sprawl
    Cruiser, Several Websites that sell wrestling shoes put an announcement out earlier this year, saying that Nike is discontinuing the manufacturing of wrestling shoes after this year. I can't swear this is true (and not just something these sites did to sell shoes), but if it is true, it seems the boycott some have on Nike Wrestling gear since Oregon cut the program may have taken a toll. It will be interesting to see what Nike Sponsored university's like tOSU will do for shoes.
  • cruiser_96
    SnS: Yes!!!!! Success!!!!!

    Also, I thought I read somewhere that this was the last year of the Nike contract? ...maybe that is true but the university will renew the contract. Oh well... I'm still standing strong.
  • cruiser_96
    Lastly, as to what tOSU will do for shoes... One word: Asics!

    What does Indiana have?
  • Shoot and Sprawl
    cruiser_96;1482461 wrote:Lastly, as to what tOSU will do for shoes... One word: Asics!

    What does Indiana have?
    ADIDAS....he wasn't going anywhere that wouldn't let him wear his teals.
    (And yes, these are the kind of things an 18 year old considers when making an important life choice. <eyeroll >)
  • cruiser_96
    Ha! Very nice. Important decisions are what life is all about. :D
  • Shoot and Sprawl
    Cruiser is ahead of our sports major media. Should have put it on "inside the circle" and gotten a copyright. http://www.intermatwrestle.com/articles/11899
  • cruiser_96
    Dang it!!!! Inside The Circle needs to get its head on straight!!!

    I'm still sticking with the hashtag of #BringBackOregonWrestling
  • said_aouita
    [Insert disparaging comment about Phil Knight]
  • cruiser_96
    said_aouita;1484894 wrote:[Insert disparaging comment about Phil Knight]
    Like. Retweet.