Nike Oregon Project

Brand markings are funny things. There's something about certain symbols which push our buttons whether we want to admit it or not. With that button pushing comes a great amount of power and some brands show themselves to be happy to abuse that power. There's bound to be as many people disagreee with me as agree with me, and that's just fine, but, in my opinion, one of the greatest abusers of brand power today is Nike. Just as McDonalds and Coke have manipulated the food industry, Nike has take full control of the leisure industry and especially professional sport. Professional sport needs sponsorship but when the sponsor becomes the sport then it's gone way too far. I have watched Nike over the years increase and exert their control in sport and it's angered me more and more. Nike controls pretty much all of the US sporting industry today. Usain Bolt doesn't run in England because of the English tax laws. Those laws have been relaxed from the 2012 Olympics, so there's some hope for the future there. Usain Bolt doesn't run in the US. Why not ? Because he is a Puma sponsored athlete, not a Nike sponsored athlete. US international track events are a global joke. If you are a professional athlete and you are not sponsored by Nike, you don't get an invite to compete. Exactly how is that helping to promote sport to the public ? It's not, it's only about promoting the brand.

Pushing the brand at any cost is killing sport. Does anyone seriously believe that Nike knew nothing about Lance Armstrong ? Bullshit. Of course they knew. No one could be that tight and not know. The Nike Oregon Project is the next pharmacutical factory waiting to explode. NOP is the new Santa Monica Track Club or Athletics West. It's only a matter of time before this new doping regime implodes, but then the sponsors will simply move on to the next brand pumping opportunity. We all knew that Alberto Salazar was a doper, even before we knew what doping was. The ridiculous changes in the performances of his proteges shows that the apple hasn't fallen far from the doping tree. These people and companies have no interest in sport, it's all about how much they can get away with before they get caught. The thrill of the chase.

Watching a race at the World Track and Field Championships the other evening, it was obvious how loyalty to the brand has gotten so strong that it has finally overtaken loyalty to the country. The brand is now bigger than the country. That's a scarey thought. I watched 2 athletes running in a distance race together, competing for different countries. Both are employed by NOP, so I don't rate their results are any measure of genuine ability, and it was very clear that they were racing to team orders. Not country teams orders, mind, but to factory team orders. Team orders are nothing new, the Kenyans invented the concept. But this is the first time I've seen such a blatant display of employer first, country second, in sport. One of the runners was clearly doing everything he could to restrict the movement of other competitors in order that his fellow NOP employee could have the best chance of winning. It would have been obvious had they both been wearing the same uniform. As they were "representing" different countries, there was no visual connection between the 2 of them so the tactic was largely disguised. The tactic extended so far as to impede the progress of a fellow countryman in the race, one who was not employed by NOP.

NOP is not the first group to try and manipulate track and field through the use of performance enhancing medications, nor will they be the last. What makes NOP scarey is that they have the entrire resources of Nike behind them and that gives them the freedom to do what they want, and hide when they need to. That makes them way more dangerous than the culprits within Santa Monica or Athletics West. It's not going to last for too much longer, nothing that corrupt can. It's more worrying about what the damage will be in the mean time and how many good athletes will never get the chance to be fairly rewarded in their chosen sport. There's not much I can do to change things. Nothing really. I make a point not to buy anything Nike if I can possibly avoid it. It's my silent protest and a small gesture not to further fund the corruption of professional sport. No brand is squeeky clean but the others don't even come close by comparison.