New Yorker piece on Under Armour

It's definitely true that not all apparel companies, even the national brands, are created equally.

On the strength of having a player being recruited by a dozen or so Division I basketball programs, one of our local schools got free shoes and gear in exchange for hanging an And1 banner in their gym. Halfway through the first game, many of the shoes began to split along the seams, so they took the banner down, returned the gear, and went back to NIKE.

 

My 8 year old daughter to me -- "only old people like you wear Nike".

Based on what I've seen when I do drop off or pick up, I'd guess that on any given day, well more than 50% of the boys and probably around 20% of the girls are wearing an Under Armor sweatshirt or t-shirt.

 

Kids absolutely do love UA. My son's about to turn 9 and that's all he wants. Hoodies, Ts -- he also wears UA soccer cleats and I'm sure he'd insist on UA hockey gear if they made it (do they?).

I actually like their stuff for my own workout clothes a lot better than Nike. I find their shirts fit me a lot better. At least they do now -- their wicking Ts used to be way too long, with short sleeves that were also too long and wide, which is a huge pet peeve, but they seem to have fixed that.

The one thing no kid wants under any circumstances is Reebok. Amazing how uncool they've become and how quickly it happened.

 

Yeah, Reebok has pretty much disappeared from the NBA. Shaq and Iverson were both Reebok guys, but I don't think any current NBA stars are.

 

Reebok is still big in the hockey world.

 

My son has Reebok elbow pads, but NOBODY wants actual Reebok apparel. Maybe a jersey if only because your favorite team wears Reebok jerseys.

 

I think they signed Nerlens Noel.

 

I guess you're right. But seeing as how he's yet to play in an NBA game, I'll hold off calling him a "star."

 

Oh, I wasn't challenging your statement that they no longer have any NBA stars, I just remember seeing that Noel had signed with them and thought, WTF? who still signs with Reebok?

 

An Auburn basketball player said the Tigers won't be able to compete as long as its an UA school, which I assume is about the Nike and Adidas AAU coaches steering players to schools that rep those brands.

 

Sadly, he may be right... I'm guessing hoops is the only sport where something like that could have that kind of impact.