Kentucky-bound recruits Dakari Johnson and Andrew Harrison said that they'd beat Michael Jordan in a 1-on-1 game in his PRIME. Said Johnson: "I’m taking him to the post every time. He’d stop me a couple of times, but I’d just keep going back down there. I’d just contest his jump shots and pray that he’d miss. I think in the end, I’d get him though. I’m too big down there."Said Harrison: "I think he’d get a couple buckets here and there, but then I’d start to lock him down and give him buckets. Yeah, I think I’d get him."Johnson is an elite center and Harrison is the nation's most coveted point guard, but the idea they'd get more than a bucket or two off early-90s MJ is laughable. After all, 50-year-old MJ reportedly had his way with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist recently, and I'd take my chances with Kidd-Gilchrist against either Johnson or Harrison in a game of one-on-one right now.
Okay but honestly is it even comparable? Boarder-line vulgar to ask if Kobe Bryant or LeBron James would beat Michael "His Airness" Jordan in basketball if you ask me. Its constantly being brought up but I must say, each of the 3 greats are in entirely different era's, the game is constantly evolving and they are all before their time. Kobe is easily the most fundamental basketball player in the league, LeBron has gone off all season and is just a ruthless beast, and Michael Jefferey was the two combined. Talk to MJ once you have 6 titles.This discussion could be endless, I just want to know what you readers think, then I will add my 2-cents.
P.S. - Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team as a sophomore, a true testament that YOU can do anything!
I am student at the University of Northern Iowa and
associated with the Make A Wish Foundation through UNI. We are promoting the
event called “Swishes For Wishes,” a basketball tournament to help raise money
for Make A Wish of America held on April 20th. Many colleges across
the nation have a Make A Wish Club at their schools putting on similar charity
events for the Foundation. You may have heard or seen each year for a week ESPN
has “Make A Wish” daily special on children who are facing unbelievably
troubling times who get the chance to spend a day with their sports idol. It’s
something that definitely hits home with me as I have had a friend that went chemo and got to meet his NBA idol all made
possible through the Make A Wish Foundation.
It’s a fun event and a really cool way to help out the
children of America, if you haven’t heard of it and would like to get involved
here is a link to Make A Wish’s homepage to find out more details and definitely
check out if there’s a Swishes For Wishes event being held near you. It’s
always good to get involved!
PEPSICO Company launched a new advertising campaign in early
2012, their idea: create viral buzz to promote the launch of a new product. If
you notice, Pepsi has always familiarized their name brand with humorous promotional
media most often acquainted with popular icons. Take for example the Super Bowl
commercial in 2012 featuring Elton John and Melanie Armaro, an
attention-getting introduction that finishes with a strong message Pepsi gets
across, superior taste to everyone. Something a consumer on the outside looking
in will forever remember, they will link the commercial to the Pepsi name brand
and their new product. It’s something that works. If you’ve exhausted all avenues
of promotional techniques there are always endorsements to be handed to media
figures to advertise your company. Any marketing department can do, just as
long you can afford the actor, singer, or NBA star and that your company doesn’t
solely rely on the endorsee to sell the product. As I found out in my Digital
Advertising course if you invest into a celebrity to market your company, if
you don’t have the product/service/resources to back it up, it is recipe for
failure.
Pepsi has nothing to worry about and have only excelled in
the marketing management area. One thing they do extraordinarily well is find
trends in the market and advertise catered to their consumer. Last year Pepsi
endorsed Kyrie Irving, the point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers to promote
Pepsi’s new beverage, Pepsi MAX. One marketer might say what Pepsi is doing is
a marketing fundamental “no-no,” it’s not! Pepsi aired a commercial with
Irving, disguised as a 70 year-old man (“Uncle Drew”), go to a basketball court
and take young kids “to school.” What’s not to love? You have teens getting
their “ankles broke” by someone that looks the age of their grandfather. I’ve
been called out for enjoy commercials entirely too much, but hey I’m a
marketing major and if your commercial has humor in it you have mine and
everybody’s attention. Where does Pepsi fit in? The last five-seconds of the
commercial, saying “Try NEW Pepsi-Max and check out the full version of Uncle
Drew at Pepsi Max. com or visit us on Facebook at Pepsi Max”
It’s genius. About everyone has some form of social media by
now, from my 12 year-old sister to my 82 year-old grandfather. Pepsi looks at
how people respond to an event by how they turn to social media. Enough people
see what you saw, tweet about what you tweeted, and within 5 minutes it’s a trending
topic. Consumers almost advertise it for the company. Not only that but now you
have ‘hooked’ the viewer who wants more and the only way to do that is visit
the Pepsi Max website or their Facebook page. It gives the consumer incentive
and has literally driven consumers to your destination page. A catch phrase in
the video “I Get Buckets” was a trend on topic and everyone follows to see what
the buzz is about and follow the link. Now marketers can measure how successful
their campaign is and will be in the future and how to react. Just a simple
video that has gone viral with “Uncle Drew” created 5.4 million views and a
week and counting. Consumers follow up with Pepsi and has created mass-media so
Pepsi has created yet a second video this time featuring Kevin Love and Pepsi isn’t
looking back. Success
P.S. - has Kyrie Irving and Nike released a shoe yet?
Last Tuesday night during halftime of the Los Angeles
Lakers/ Dallas Mavericks game, the Los Angeles Lakers held a ceremony to retire
one of the greatest NBA basketball players number. A tribute to the number 34
of Shaquille O’Neal into the NBA Hall of Fame. You may formerly know him as:
Shaq, Shaq- Daddy, Shaq-Fu, Diesel, The Big Aristotle, Superman, MDE, The Big
Maravich, The Big Fella, The Big Shaqtus, The Big Cordially, Big Shamrock,
Manny Shaq-iaou, Kazaam, or Dr. Shaq. I hope that rings a bell.
During the ceremony, despite their differences, Kobe Bryant
made a video that was played on the big screen congratulating his former
teammate. The dynamic duo accounted for 3 consecutive titles together (2000,
2001, and 2002) under Coach Phil Jackson who was in attendance and spoke as
well reminiscing on all of the good times Shaq and he had shared. A highlight
video of Shaq’s early days as a LA Laker followed. The prodigy himself spoke on
his love for the Laker franchise. Finally, the unveiling of O’Neal’s jersey on
the Lakers Hall of Fame wall. Shaq’s jersey is framed next to the 9 other
retired greats of Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Jamaal Wilkes, and
sportscaster Chick Hearn.
check out the entire ceremony here:
P.S. – the framed jersey that is currently hung now has “O’Neal” and “#34” on the front of the jersey not the back, whoops?
March is a pretty spectacular month if you ask me. Living in
the tundra of Iowa the weather is bound to change, Easter, a much needed Spring
Break, and oh yeah only about one of the greatest sporting events occurs. You
know what it is; it’s the NCAA Men’s/Women’s Basketball tournament. What makes
it so enjoyable? Hmm. Its basketball, it’s 2 week non-stop games, it’s some of
the greatest athletes competing to prove their school, it’s the dunks and
‘buzzer-beaters’, the upsets and
Cinderella stories, but it all revolves around one thing: your March Madness
bracket.
The science of picking which NCAA team you think will
survive the razzle-dazzle to ultimately win the National Championship, also
known as Bracketology.
There are various ways fans go about making their selections
on who will go on to win the “Big Dance.” For example, some fill out 20 so they
can gloat to friends about how their bracket was perfect (which is always
annoying cause it’s like well ‘every squirrel finds a nut eventually Todd’).
Some pick the team which they favor and would like to see win. Or some may take
my sisters approach of picking the team that has “prettiest colors and
uniforms,” which worked out to her advantage in 2006. Some are just basketball
guru’s that know their hoops. One thing is for certain and that’s being able to
pick which major teams will be majorly upset (pun-intended). I must ask you, the readers, what is exactly
is your scheme?
The upsets we know as “Bracket busters.” Thanks a lot
Georgetown. We can agree on not foreseeing Gonzaga going down in the fashion
they did. I should’ve known a guy named Kelly with hair longer than my mother’s
wasn’t going to pull it off for his team. All jokes aside, if you are a college
student, fluent in social media, you can’t escape hearing about the tournament.
Whether it’s your friend’s bracket is ruined, a 1-seed goes down, or Kevin Ware
breaks his leg social media exploits it. Between March 29 – April 4, the
hash-tag “MarchMadness” was ranked 7th and Kevin Ware was ranked 4th
in the top ten trending topics.
P.S. How did your bracket fair? Mine is still alive with
Louisville taking all the marbles.
I can just hear it now, “Drink all of your Milk to help
build strong bones!” Kinda like the “Eat all of your carrots for better
vision.” Statements commonly asserted by mothers to encourage and instill
healthy habits to their children. If there is some truth to these antics, it
may not always protect you and your body from uncontrollable freak-accidents.
A “freak-accident” something a sophomore playing for the
Louisville Cardinals basketball team might know a little all too well. Unless
you live under rock, by now you have heard the unfortunate story of Kevin Ware.
The Cardinals were playing Duke in the Elite 8 game of the Midwest Region. In
the first half with 6 minutes left to play, Ware lunged to contest Thornton’s
3-point shot attempt. As he was mid-air he turned his head to see if the shot
had gone in taking his eye off where his foot would land. His right foot, which
hit the hardwood first, changed direction in the air landing on the outer-side
and inevitably rolling his ankle. With all of his body-weight and inertia falling
on his rolled ankle, Ware broke his tibia in half, shooting the shattered bone
through skin.
After an interview with ESPN, Ware describes his brutal
experience. He mentions that because of the intense adrenaline when it happened
he just felt as if he rolled his ankle. He watched the shot go in, as he
started to get up and before looking at his leg he say his coach Rick Pitino
walk over to help him up. As he was making an attempt to stand up, he saw the
change in expression of his coach, Ware looked down and saw what everyone was
grimacing about and immediately went into shock.
As trainer’s and paramedics were getting him on the
stretcher, he knew his devastated team could do it without him and they must
play on despite his hardship. Lying on the court holding his teammates’ hands
he repeated “win this game, win this game.” Louisville did just that.
Its crazy to think that Ware didn’t feel any of the pain of
shattering his bone, and how could a young healthy athlete’s bone be so
vulnerable to such a break? There was enough force on Ware’s right leg he
suffered a compound fracture. It was said that because he had played basketball
all of his life, each time Ware landed hard on his leg it caused minimal
hairline fractures, subject to one big break. Endurance athletes often harbor stress fractures in their bones, especially in their lower extremities, that result from overuse. A major contributing factor that is common found in
such fractures could be related to bone density, diet, Vitamin D and Calcium
levels. Recent studies showed that most Americans have low levels of Vitamin D, in part because they spend more time indoors and dont take advantage of the natural synthesis of Vitamin D when skin is exposed to the sun's rays. Poor diet may also play a role in weaker bones, particularly among younger kids, with some researchers suggesting that children drinking too much soda or not eating enough vitamin-rich foods are vulnerable to more brittle and thinner bones.
God works in mysterious ways and for Ware being a sophomore
and having as clean of a bone break as he did will have a chance to come back
and play again next year. It is expected for a healthy athlete sustaining an
injury of his caliber to take up to 3 to 6 months to fully heal and a year of
physical therapy and recovery time. Ware must come to terms with the
opportunity he is given. His return next year after a small speed-bump will
shed light to stay on the ‘straight and narrow’ after being suspended for the
2013 season exhibition game and the game against Pittsburgh earlier this season
for undisclosed violations of team policy.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Is anyone not familiar with that name? It
doesn't matter what city, state, country you’re from. Whether you even know the
slightest amount about the sport of basketball you know who this freak of an
athlete was and chances are you won't forget his name in all of your lifetime.
Jordan's name through his class, his legacy, and his brand will forever live
on. This Sunday MJ will be turning 50 years young and I, myself who is a huge
fan, wanted to spend this blog to reflect on his unforgettable impact.
Assuming everyone
knows his history from UNC, then as a Chicago Bull, his small baseball career,
and coming out of retirement to play 2 years for the Washington Wizards. We all
know I could talk all day about his 6 NBA titles, 5 MVP awards, All-Defensive
First Team 9 times, 2 Olympic gold medals, the list is endless. I want to focus
on the amount he put into the city of Chicago, his ever-growing 'Jumpman 23'
brand (more specifically his shoes), and its manifestation to social media and
marketing today.
When Jordan played in Chicago for the 1998 season the team was
worth more than $200million. By the 1996-97 season, his yearly salary just from
basketball alone skyrocketed to a close to $33million. I guess that’s what
winning will get you. 1985 was the first year of Nike's Air Jordan which
grossed over $130 million. That’s before the Jordan shoe game even blew up, after
a single year and grossing that amount of money is some serious cash.
Something, along with his game records, that will forever be untouchable. By
1998, Jordan had reportedly made over $130 million just from the endorsement
with Nike. Jordan's name had generated $10 billion in revenue just for the game
of basketball. A career salary at $93.7 million in the NBA isn’t to shabby. He
is now worth $500 million with age at half of a century. The Nike Air
Jordan brand of shoes is responsible for over $1 billion in annual sales for
Nike. I wonder if Adidas ever second-guessed their decision not to offer a shoe
deal with him, hmm.
But ‘It Must Be The Shoes!’ As MJ’s big birthday is right around
the corner he has released countless shoes. The retro III ’88 which were also
the first shoe to have the famous ‘Jumpman’ Jordan logo stitched on. One in
particular is the XII’s in navy and electric yellow known as the ‘Squadron Blue’
which I suppose should note sold out everywhere in just a short 10 hours. Two
different colors of the original Jordan I plus a Melo pack, a Black History
Month Pack. I’ll be quiet for a second and just take a look for yourself:
I personally think it’s insane the amount of rave the shoes still
get. If he drops a new shoe or the same shoe just with different colors or a re-released
retro shoe it makes national headlines and trends on twitter for days. For
example, the Jordan XI ‘Concords’ that released at the end of 2011, where
people camped out days in advance much like Black Friday just for a $180 pair
of shoes. It was one of the most anticipated shoe releases of all-time, the
shoes would later go on to sell for close to $1000 on eBay. There was even once
a rumored death in the D.C. area just for a pair of shoes. I’m a huge
sneaker-head and not a lot comes in between us and our shoes I know this but “death
over designer” is to the extreme. Twitter blew up and the pair of kicks trended
for a week.
Its no wonder Michael Jordan is a household name for the amount of
impact he has had in the hearts of fans, the fashion world, and the game of
basketball.
I can only imagine
what he may surprise us with on his birthday Sunday and the amount of trending
topics about his legacy and the epic shoe releases. It will be interesting to
watch and I will keep you posted with updates of trending topics about the
latest MJ news this week on the anticipation of his 50th.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter:
@PostScriptSport
P.S. all this
Jordan shoe talk makes me want to add to my collection, I think it’s time to
purchase the Jordan XII Cool Greys. Agree? Disagree? Comment back and let me
know what your favorite Jordan shoe of all time is.
