Posts Tagged ‘Soccer’
Nike Mercurial Vapor IX
January 18th, 2013 by Dave HoldenWill Nike Mercurial Vapor IX Give Cristiano Ronaldo Luck?
Fans and followers of Cristiano Ronaldo were treated to a Tweet from the Superstar, “Got my Mercurial Vapor IX for today’s match. Hope they give me luck”. Whether or not Ronaldo needs a good luck charm is debatable.
Ronaldo enjoyed an incredible past season, with personal triumphs surpassed and record breaking goals scored. Nike chose to celebrate his exceptional achievements via the new Mercurial Vapor IX worldwide launch. Only 100 pairs of the exclusive Mercurial Vapor IX CR SE were manufactured!
A devoted advocate for the brand, Ronaldo has worn the Mercurial Nike soccer shoe throughout his brilliant career. With a white golf ball textured upper and pink swoosh, “CR” is featured on the medial side of the Mercurial Vapor IX CR SE.
In a seemingly surreal tribute, an attention-grabbing row of numbers is also imprinted across the lateral side of the Nike soccer shoe.
What is the significance of what appears accidental numbers? Each number symbolizes a milestone Ronaldo crossed during the past season!
• 1 = 1st Spanish Championship
• 9 = 9 goals on behalf of Portugal
• 14 = played 14 games for National Team
• 19 = 1st player to score against the entire 19 La-Liga teams
• 27 = celebrated 27th birthday in 2012
• 55 = number of games played for his club in all tournaments
• 60 = number of goals scored for his club in all tournaments
The Nike Store advertises Mercurial Vapor IX Nike Soccer cleats for $265.00. Some online stores that carry the Nike soccer line start at $202. The Mercurial collection spotlights three eye-candy colors – Fireberry, Sunset and Platinum.
Bottom Line: Luck may or may not be intrinsic in Nike’s Mercurial! Regardless, Ronaldo will leave a legacy calling-out a complex challenge for future players attempting to outclass the superstar. Never mind what brand of shoe they wear!
Nike Mercurial-Vapor-IX-Christiano Ronaldo
Nike Surpasses $2 Billion in Soccer Sales
July 1st, 2012 by sourcedNike Inc. (NKE), the world’s largest sporting-goods maker, says its soccer business generated sales of more than $2 billion for the first time as it takes advantage of increasing interest in the sport in the U.S. and Asia.
Nike, which said soccer sales rose 14 percent for the year ended May 31, has been battling the market leader Adidas AG (ADS) for supremacy in the world’s most popular sport. Nike, based in Beaverton, Oregon, got $1.8 billion in soccer sales last year. Total revenue rose 16 percent to $24 billion this year.
Read the rest of the article at Bloomberg.com.
World Cup Fever Simmers in US
June 29th, 2010 by Ben RemingtonAdmittedly, I did not see much of the U.S. vs. Ghana World Cup game this last weekend, but the ratings were good. The U.S. was clamoring for something to believe in, something to once again hang our hat on in world athletic competition. Unfortunately, we got beat by a country the size of Minnesota, with the population of Texas, and a less than fearsome soccer resume.
Alas, if only we really cared. I’ve thought long and hard about why Americans haven’t caught onto football yet, and I think there’s many reasons-
Europe likes it. A lot. Therefore, it would be weird of us to like it.
- The whole faking an injury to draw a red card thing. American men are raised to pretend like they aren’t hurt, even if their leg has been snapped like Joe Theisman, so pretending that you are hurt when you’re not, is not only foreign to us, it’s downright despicable.
- South America likes it. A little too much. Therefore, it would be unoriginal of us to like it.
- The lack of scoring. Let’s face it, a game where they rarely score more than 3 times a game just isn’t appealing to Americans. Just ask Gary Bettman.
- Africa and Asia and Oceania like it. Therefore, well, you get the point.
These are just a few off the top of my head. I think another part of it is the lack of high level competition in the US. Who wants to watch an MLS game when you know that the players on the field aren’t the cream of the crop? We wouldn’t accept that kind of competition in the NFL or MLB. The outrage over mediocre players leaving the NBA and NHL for Europe proves that. All in all, I don’t see the U.S. jumping feet first into soccer, ever. Never say never, but as long as we have our beloved [Insert Home Team Here], we just won’t really give a hoot about soccer. Is it unfortunate? Perhaps. The U.S. could bring its stable of athletes who chose other sports over soccer to the table and be a world power in the sport, but as long as there’s still millions to be made in the big 4 professional sports, I don’t see that happening. It is just another rift between us and the rest of the world? Perhaps. But we’ll just keep being the quirky kid that doesn’t understand the global obsession.
Which is just fine by us.
To follow up something I wrote a few weeks back about players complaining about the Jabulani ball from Adidas, Scientists have recently proven that the problem with the ball is its perfection- the heat bonded seams that give the ball its perfect sphere shape make it too perfectly round, and therefore, less aerodynamic. I think it’s something along the lines of a golf ball without dimples, but I’m not a soccer scientist.
Jabulani vs The World
June 4th, 2010 by Ben RemingtonIts seems as though the world’s elite soccer…er….Football players are upset. The world cup starts next week and everyone is talking about the ball provided by Adidas, named ‘Jabulani’ which means ‘Rejoice’ in Zulu, which may be a little ironic, considering how little rejoicing is going on when this ball is mentioned. But then again, in 2006 the same players were complaining about the Adidas Teamgeist ball, but that didn’t seem to affect the World Cup at all, at least not as much as blindside headbutts.
The problem with the new ball, according to reports, is that is flies unpredictably through the air, in Tim Wakefield knuckleball fashion. The problem may lie with the thermally bonded panels that replace the traditional stitched seams that you find in a typical soccer ball, and was designed to give the ball a more accurate and truer flight. Go figure. Adidas claims the ball has been tested at the high altitude that South Africa provides and that team have had the ball for months and there has been no negative feedback until now. If you want to decide for yourself, finding an authentic Jabulani ball may be rather difficult, as they are very high end soccer balls that will not see the shelves of most retailers, but finding a lower priced replica ball will be much easier, as most soccer retailers have had them for months.
Sizing-
If you are looking for a Jabulani ball or any soccer ball for that Football Fanatic in your life, there are three sizes used in gameplay-
Sz 3- This one is for the little tykes, noticeably smaller for kids under the age of 8
Sz 4- The tweener ball is a step up from the 3, and typically is used for ages 8-12
Sz 5- This is the big daddy that everyone age 12 and up uses, all the way to the World Cup Finals in Johannesburg this summer.
As far as price goes, you are likely getting what you pay for, as the price will vary based on the materials used to construct the ball itself, as there are many different materials used in the bladder, stitching, and cover of each ball. The material varies along the spectrum of synthetic leathers, as real leather balls are nonexistent anymore, and the more expensive the ball, the more feel and durability you’re likely to get. Typically, most soccer balls will start around $8-$10 for the practice variety and move up to at least $40-$50 for something game worthy. If you want to find who carries soccer balls in your area, I recommend Sportrabbit.com for obvious reasons, then you can give the ‘ol football a boot and see how it flies.