CBSSPORTS.com's Ben Golliver reported Jordan Brand last night debuted a two-minute TV ad that paints the locked out NBA players "in a better light than any Billy Hunter interview could." The spot, building on Nike's "Basketball Never Stops" tagline, "aims to show how devoted the players are to their craft." It depicts Heat G Dwyane Wade, Hornets G Chris Paul and Knicks F Carmelo Anthony "competing in a variety of pick-up games and intramural leagues near their home NBA market." The ad concludes with the three gathering together for an exhibition in Beijing before the words "Love The Game ... No Matter What" appear on-screen. The ad first appeared during the third quarter of ESPN's Jaguars-Ravens "MNF" game (
CBSSPORTS.com, 10/24).
JERSEY SCORE: RIVALS.com’ Graham Watson noted Ohio State TE Reid Fragel yesterday “tweeted a photo of the new helmets his team plans to wear for this weekend's game against Wisconsin” as part of the school's Nike Pro Combat series uniforms. The helmets “actually look pretty fresh with silver sandwiching a red panel down the middle and the player's numbers on either side” (RIVALS.YAHOO.com, 10/24)....YAHOO SPORTS’ Greg Wyshynski notes Team Canada “will have a ‘throwback’ sweater for the 2011 World Junior Championships this season.” The early 1990s logo “conjures images of standard-def hockey games on tape delay, with bad CGI scoreboards.” Wyshynski: “We dig it from a kitschy nostalgia perspective; it's like buying an old Winter Olympics shirt for the time-specific style and design” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/24).
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? EPL club Manchester United has “added Zong, one of Pakistan's major mobile telephone companies, to their portfolio” of partners, making it the “first time they have joined forces with a Pakistan-based organisation.” As the EPL club has done “in many other countries, United will supply exclusive club content to mobile users” (London TELEGRAPH, 10/25).
