Email this to a friend. As grownups, we're supposed to be above that peer pressure. I'm still stuck on the sneaks. Last month, it was announced that West Virginia University's athletic department signed a deal with sport shoe behemoth Nike to provide uniforms for the Mountaineer football team. But to have the company that made Michael Jordan a household name tab my alma mater for an endorsement feels like a gold star on a grade-school test.
Somebody likes our work.
Of course, it shows what a slave I am to clever marketing that I would feel privileged to have a multinational corporation deign to pay us to wear its product. I ought to be more resentful or at least unimpressed because, Lord knows, I've chafed at the Nike uber alles domination of the sports industry. And stories of working conditions at their overseas factories always disappointed me. I usually read off-season news tidbits like tea leaves for signs of a bright future. But the winter hiring of a coach who preaches a novel, pass-happy offense would suggest my tea cup may runneth over.