#BoycottNike?
In case you’ve been living under a rock these past few days, there’s some controversy around Nike.
First, Let me start by saying that I have no intention of making this a political article, but I have to give props to athletes who speak their mind and use their massive platform to try and enact social change. The “shut up and dribble” attitude is something athletes have to deal with daily and shouldn’t be discounted… like the message or not you have to respect someone for risking personal gain to stand by their convictions.
Now that brands are more and more starting to get involved in social issues… we need to stop and take a deeper look into the brand supporting a message before we throw our unwavering support on them. Instead of making this a left and right issue, we need to be able to criticize a brand for ethical issues without getting hit with political backlash. At the end of the day, Nike knows what it is doing! this is a total pr move that Nike knows will play well to their key demographics… which isn’t the people burning their clearance shoe Nikes… see #boycottnike meme
And oh boy does Nike have some ethical issues to answer to in the Track & Field world alone. I’m not going to go into scandals in other sports, or the supply chain scandal they had a few years back… just type Nike scandal into google and look at the autocomplete.
I go deep into everything on this week’s Running Through It Podcast:
However: I really want to focus on the John Capriotti saga which kind of ties up all of their recent scandals in a tidy bow. For Instance, Outside has an article recapping the time Capriotti was charged with assault for threatening Brooks coach Danny Mackey. Now I will apologize for the language in this next quote but I think it is necessary:
“We gotta talk right now,” Capriotti is quoted as saying.
Mackey appears to have attempted to diffuse the situation, telling Capriotti to “relax.”
“You know what you fuckin’ did,” Capriotti is quoted as saying. “I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you.” Capriotti is also quoted in the report as calling Mackey a “pussy,” “liar,” “scumbag,” and “shitty person.”
Over the course of the altercation, Capriotti allegedly made physical contact with Mackey multiple times, in addition to inviting Mackey to “step outside” on several occasions.
In the report, Mackey says the argument was over Capriotti’s name being mentioned in the Nike Oregon Project controversy in which the team, its coach Alberto Salazar, and its athletes were accused of misusing prescription medications.
The Capriotti allegations are the second time in two years that a Nike employee or contractor has become physical at a USATF national championship. At the 2014 USATF Indoor Championships, Salazar was forcibly restrained in an altercation with another coach, according to an eyewitness account.
I go into it more on this week’s podcast episode but the fact that Nike has stood by Capriotti through all of the shady controversies he’s been involved in… it’s kind of unreal to me. Nike stands by Capriotti, they stand by NOP, they stand by as their legal team threatens and bullies the entire sport of track and field with their USATF/IAAF contract.
Anyways, I hope you will give this week’s episode a listen.
Happy Running,
Justin
