They are key. But there are other influences out there. Nike officials said their company is staying the course with sports. There are plenty of positive characters, role models even, in sports. With its new ad campaign, Nike is in the odd position of attempting to focus attention away from many of the problems in sports that the shoe companies are seen as having helped create.
Wood blames the media for emphasizing the negative.
My advice to readers of The Oregonian is that if you're losing your religion on sports, go see a good high school basketball game. But it's professional sports, not the high school level, with which Nike has most closely aligned itself. As such, it will be subject to similar scrutiny and cynicism.