Shoe Companies Dumping All-American Camps

If you were a big shoe company 15 years ago there was pressure to get in the business of running high school all-american camps.  Now the trend is to get out of that business.  Reebok pulled its name from the camps this past summer. Adidas announced a few weeks ago that they were no longer going to run their camp.  It is expected that Nike will make the announcement that it no longer going to run its camp.  These camps use to signal the start of the summer evaluation period for college coaches.  While coaches are unable to make contact with there target players during these camps, it is a chance for the coaches to evaluate talent.  At the Nike camp in 1996 a guy named Tracy McGrady came out of nowhere to gain recognition amd eventually a first round draft pick out of high school the following draft.  These camps use to be like this, every year there was one guy would come from nowhere to make a name fo themself.  These camps also allowed the shoe companies to get an advantage in the race to sign players.  While the shoe companies couldn’t sign players because they were still in high school, the camps competed to get the best players, because the camps were all held the same week.  Being able to land a big high school talent at your camp meant you were the company he was going to be exposed to and were seen as the frontrunner if the kid went pro.  Now league rules prevent high schoolers from entering the draft, this may be one reason the companies have decided to get out of this business. Another reason is because most of the big name players have already made commitments to colleges before the camps and not many players have come from nowhere to dominate.  Both Nike and adidas plan on running smaller instuctional camps for high school players but the recruiting camps are going to have to find other sponsors.

Image, What Image?

The NBA has had trouble improving their image over the years.  NFL players have gone to jail for murder and major league baseball is in the center of the steroids scandal yet the NBA has the worst percieved image of the major sports league.  The biggest reason they have this bad image is because they continue to give bad characters chance after chance to play in the league.  In the early 90’s “The Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons were popular for their dirty style of play on the court. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s the Portland Jailblazers, were filled with great talent but poor character. The likes of Isiah Rider(Weed), Damon Stoudimire (Weed and Gun charges), and Rasheed Wallace (All-time Technical foul Leader) were the face of this franchise and all three have had their share of run ins with the law.   Then you have Ron Artest, this guy is just plain crazy.  The guy went into the stands after a fan which resulted the biggest malae in american sports history.  After that he requested time off from basketball so he could promote his new recording groups album.  This guy doesn’t have his head on straight at all.  That brings us to Stephen Jackson.  This is the guy who was the first player to go into the stands to protect Artest by throwing haymakers at anyone close to him.  His latest incident happened last week when he and some of his teammates were at a shoe modeling establishment when an altercation between the group of players and another group of men broke out.  One of the men tried to run over Jackson and his teammates so Jackson pulled out a hand gun and fired shots in the air.  In light of this incident, the NBA has yet to suspend Jackson for this.  Jackson has a long wrap sheet of character issues yet the NBA values talent over image. At the University of Arizona Jackson was kicked out of school for his conduct before he ever played a single game.  While in San Antonio he was viewed as uncoachable and no effort was made to resign him when he was a free agent despite the fact that he was the teams 3rd leading scorer and best clutch shooter.  He was pushed out of Atlanta because they didn’t want him influencing their young talent and he is still in the league because the Indiana Pacers have become the new Jailblazers

Let The Season Begin

The NBA season is upon us as training camps began this week. Here are a few things to watch as the season progresses.  First, the NBA has decided to change their ball after 35 years.  The ball is now being made of a composite leather which the league claims has a better grip than the old ball.  The ball hasn’t been welcomed by several players including Shaq.  I know the ball feels different but Shaq’s game isn’t exactly built on touch and feel.  As a matter of fact I don’t think the ball can hurt his shooting too bad.  Nevertheless it will be interesting to see how much effect this ball will have on the game.  The next story will be to see how Lebron and Carmelo handle the pressure of getting deep into the playoffs. Their friend and fellow 03 draftee D. Wade set the bar high and it will be fun to see how hungry Lebron and Carmelo will be.  It will also be interesting to see Kobe’s quest for another ring.  Kobe really wanted to get another ring before Shaq but thanks to D. Wade, Shaq has those bragging rights.  The Lakers came on at the end of last year to make the playoffs and played well in the playoffs. This was because Kobe’s game developed into the unselfish star, let’s see how long it takes him to go back to trying to play one-on-nine.  A couple of other questions to ponder:

• When and where will Iverson be traded?
• Will Isiah Thomas make it to the All-star break?
• Will KG be moved by the trade deadline?
• Which rookie is the real deal?
• Which Young Player will breakout this year?
• How many games will pass before Ron Artest goes crazy on someone?