The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page C005

PAGELABELTAG THE PALM BEACH POST REAL NEWS STARTS HERE I TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2015 C5 SPORTS Stoda Hurricanes hot' r-----1, ....4... rmi' 4 07---- 0 1 A 4- cl'- ipoe' ,...4 k. pp-- 4 .,41 a.n I Jr ir OUT WITH THE NEW: UM will no longer Ail --liillw I' 07 wear the Nike football (IR uniforms such as this IN one on Standish Dobarc during the Independenc Bowl unveiled before -1. 4 .4., 4, this past season. STACY 1 REVEREGETTY IMAGES OUT WITH THE NEW: UM will no longer wear the Nike football uniforms such as this one on Standish Dobard during the Independence Bowl unveiled before this past season.

STACY REVEREGETTY IMAGES continued from Cl Nike, Adidas and Under Armour poured more than $250 million into college deals last year, the Portland Business Journal reported. Last football season, those three companies outfitted all but one of the 65 Power Five conference programs. Nike had contracts with 45, while Adidas had 11 and Under Armour eight. Georgia Tech is outfitted by Russell Athletics. Sources said Adidas, which pays the four most lucrative contracts in college athletics according to a Portland Business Journal study, is expected to pay UM somewhere in the range of the eight-year, $33.8 million pact it announced with Arizona State last month.

Adidas pays Michigan nearly double that: an average annual value of $8.2 million per year. UM is a private institution and is not required to disclose its financial dealings. James confirmed UM would announce its new apparel partner Thursday, but did not specify whom. Portland Business Journal reporter Matthew Kish said UM is a strong fit for Adidas, which doesn't have any football presence in Florida (or anywhere in the South, aside from Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Louisville). "Adidas will give Miami a lot of attention," Kish said.

"It also will be in a Craig Biggio had 3,060 hits, but he should have to buy a ticket for entry. and a 3.19 earned-run average; Martinez was 219- 100 with 3,154 strikeouts and a 2.93 ERA. Beyond the numbers, though, there was an aura about Johnson and Martinez that counted for something on the field. Both were fierce and intimidating competitors who were showmen as performers. They represented the best of their generations, and unfailingly brought the game into tighter focus whenever they were part of it.

The closest calls and close calls are outs are Biggio, who amassed 3,060 hits, and catcher Mike Piazza, who was an offensive force (427 home runs, .308 average) but lacking defensively at an important position. Smoltz deserves some sympathy as well for his pitching versatility. But my criteria keep them out. Oh, and spare me the calls for no-chancers such as the likes of Gary Sheffield and Nomar Garciaparra. The baseball museum should house only the very best of the best.

And, yes, Pete Rose should be in it. gstodapbpost.com Twitter: gregstoda 2:30 PM '( 1114414.4'llgi ,41 es, 'sm7 N. continued from Cl How's that for absurd? The point of all this now is that a new class will be announced today, and there is widespread speculation that it might be the largest group ever chosen. That's difficult to understand. Are there that many sure things? Craig Biggio was an excellent catcher before he became an excellent second baseman.

He batted .281 and hit 291 home runs. Tim Raines was a fine outfielder who batted .294 and stole 808 bases. John Smoltz won 213 games and saved 154 more. They all had long and illustrious careers, but none seems to me worthy of Hall inclusion. (Nor, of course, does anyone carrying the strongest stench of the Steroid Era, and Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and a few others know who they are.

Feel free to disagree and call me unfairly judgmental.) In my book, a player has to be a lock to make it. There are two of them this year, and both are first-year candidates Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez. Would you debate either man's credentials? Johnson and Martinez both were dominant starting pitchers of their era. Johnson was 303- 166 with 4,875 strikeouts CITAMPIONS CLUB 1 '1 $39.00 I 8 loved the idea, since no brand had ever "owned the school," as he called it. That relationship helped spawn today's AAU basketball culture, in which top high school basketball recruits are often steered toward certain colleges because of connections their AAU teams have with shoe companies.

UM men's basketball coach Jim Larranaga said Monday certain players "feel very, very closely associated with a certain shoe company because that's the shoe they've been wearing throughout their high school and AAU seasons. "So it does become a factor in recruiting." Larranaga's incoming recruit, guard Anthony Lawrence tweeted his displeasure about UM's reported switch to Adidas. Lawrence, whose Each 1 Teach 1 AAU team is sponsored by Nike, wears a Nike sweatshirt in his Twitter profile photo. Louisville coach Rick Pitino said Nike AAU teams "put a heavy emphasis" on steering players to Nike schools. When asked if his school's Adidas contract has a negative impact on recruiting, Pitino said it's not "the players as much as the AAU handlers, runners, agents they're all involved in it somehow and it's a problem that won't go away because they're being very competitive," Pitino said.

"We're taking a lot of money from these shoe companies, so we can't complain as well. It's something that's there. The NCAA doesn't think it's a problem, so I'm not going to think it's a problem." mporterpbpost.com t. 6 ON US way a signature school for Adidas. There's a really strong loyal football fanbase in Florida, and Adidas doesn't have a school there yet." All Hurricanes athletics teams will receive new uniforms, meaning UM will no longer wear the Nike football uniforms unveiled before the 2014 season.

The Adidas deal also means new Nike Hurricanes products may no longer be available in retail stores. A new contract often gives a retailer exclusive rights to official merchandise. The Hurricanes became a signature Nike program in 1987, when UM attorney Robert Ades called former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro known as the "sneaker pimp" who signed top college basketball teams to shoe deals. Ades' pitch: Nike would outfit all teams from head to toe. Vaccaro SPECIAL COMETO BINKS FOREST GOLF CLUB WHERE WE hREHOLDING BACK RATES OF WINTER.

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