November 07, 2009

Following his predispositions and not giving into Adidas’ pressure, Marcus Jordan wore his iconic Jordan shoes to his first UCF game. UCF had agreed and came to a conlcusion with regional adidas representitves that would allow for Marcus Jordan wearing his family’s brand to be an exception to the six year contract UCF had with Adidas, but higher level Adidas officials later contradicted the regionals’ decision; maintaining that Marcus wearing a competitors shoe is in strict violation of the contract.

In response to Jordan’s steadfast decision Adidas spokeswoman Andrea Corso said as a direct effect of UCF not delivering on their “contractual agreement,” with Adidas they are choosing to end the respective relationship with the University of Central Florida.

I feel that this decision is ridiculously harsh. In multiple photos of Marcus and the shoes he was wearing, the only way i could tell that he was indeed wearing the controversial Jordans, was because the caption said so. There were no prominent logos on the shoes that actually matched what the rest of the Knights players were wearing. On the other hand, he was wearing two large Adidas ankle braces that were very distinguishable by the large Adidas logo on them. This once again shows that he is not just acting under stubborn disregard of a lasting contract and its decorum, but a respectful denial to do anything that doesn’t support his family and its legacy. The Jordan family has a reputation that is renown all around the world and Adidas dropping a complete sponsorship of an NCAA basketball team over one pair shoes is nothing short of petty.

-Braxton