Nike will now supply the National Football league with all of its team uniforms and accessories
NIKE’S LATEST MARKETING WIN: A CONTRACT TO DESIGN THE NFL’S OFFICIAL UNIFORMS. HERE’S A TASTE OF WHAT’S TO COME.
Nike’s ascendancy to mega-brand status began with basketball, on the feet of Michael Jordan. But, on April 5, 2012, the company finally unveiled a dramatic new branding strategy: Nike has now replaced Reebok as the official uniform sponsor of the National Football League, and will be charged with designing uniforms for all 32 NFL teams.
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It’s the crown jewel of a push that Nike has been making into football for years, through college football, and their Bowl-season designs for the University of Oregon have become a mini event. None of the designs rolled out yesterday have that same crazy visual flair. But they did reserve a bit of extra sauce for the NFL team closest to home: The Seattle Seahawks. The flourishes there display nods to Native American art. Otherwise, the other teams got only minimal refreshes, though you can bet that we’ll soon see redesigns rolling out in force--especially given all the positive buzz that’s surfaced from players such as Jermichael Finley saying that the Seahawks unis are the "best in the league."
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Tech-wise, the uniforms are something Nike calls the Elite 51, a “body-led” design that utilized heat mapping, sweat mapping, and motion capture “to understand exactly what the athlete needs and where they exactly need it,” according to Todd Van Horne, Nike’s creative director of football and baseball.
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The uniforms are made out of super lightweight fabric that’s woven to stretch equally well in any direction, while stretching as tight as possible over padding, to reduce grab-points for opponents. Nike Pro Combat, the uniform’s base layer system, is outfitted with a raised honeycomb construction, which likewise is meant to conform to a opposing player’s hit. In addition, the pads themselves are placed a bit more intelligently, so that the base layer doesn’t constrain airflow to places that give off the most heat, "so you get airflow from underneath and around the torso and exiting out the lumbar area,” Van Horne tells Co.Design.
Last come the hands and feet. Players will get new cleats; gloves display the team logos (a move that first appeared in the Oregon Ducks uniforms), and the socks have padding for arch support and texturing at the heel, to lock them in place once a player’s cleats are on.
Its all clever stuff. But clearly, the real news is yet to come--Reebok was never able to make a uniform redesign into a major event, but Nike probably can. We’re hoping to see a design war as teams begin trying to outdo each other, backed by Nike’s design might.
COMMENTARY: The Seattle Seahawks uniforms are really, really ugly, and their fans have a very, very bad team. The San Francisco 49ers beat them twice in 2011, and the Niner uniforms are the best in the NFC West.
While we are on the subject. Here's a great video of the exciting S.F. 49er 36-32 win over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC playoffs. Who Dat? Enjoy.
It really pisses me off that the New Orleans Saints coaching staff paid out bounty rewards to its players if they hurt or knocked certain 49er players out of the game during the 2011 season NFC playoffs.
The NFL came down hard on the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday, March 20, for their pay-for-pain bounty system. Football Insider’s Mark Maske has a comprehensive breakdown of the Saints punishment according a knowledgeable NFL insider:
New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton was suspended for one year.
General Manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for eight months.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely for a bounty systemthat provided the team’s players payments for hits that injured opponents.
The Saints were fined $500,000.
The Saints lose two second-round draft choices, one in this year’s draft and one in 2013.
No-fin freediving world champion is seen here playing with two dolphins
Fifteen times freediving world record holder William Trubridge calls for better protection of the world’s rarest marine dolphin.
William Trubridge is a New Zealander and feels a special connection with Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins, which live nowhere else. He says.
“Hector's Dolphins are the world's smallest and most endangered dolphin. One of its two subspecies, the Maui's Dolphin, has a population of less than 80.”
“Hector’s and Maui’s dolphin numbers have been dwindling towards extinction for more than 30 years, mostly due to the deadly gill nets and trawlers that operate in their territory. Instead of defending this beautiful species, the current government has caved in to the fishing industry and further reduced their protection.”
Hector's blue dolphins inhabit the coastal waters off of New Zealand and are an endangered species. Let's help save this beautiful sea mammal from extinction (Click Image To Enlarge)
To launch his new role as worldwide Hector’s and Maui’s dolphin ambassador Mr Trubridge recorded a unique under water video message at his winter training ground in the Bahamas. Facing the camera without breathing equipment, he urges everyone to do their bit to save this troubled species by signing a petition to the New Zealand government and by joining the Facebook group Hector’s and Maui’s Dolphin SOS. William also asks people not to buy fish caught using nets that harm the species, and to think twice about visiting New Zealand until the government acts to protect them.
“We don't have long to fix this. Saving this species is a race against time. Commercial and recreational gill nets and trawling must be banned in the dolphins' range for any water shallower than 100 meters. Otherwise Maui's and Hector's Dolphins will be the first species of marine cetacean (dolphins & whales) to become extinct due to human causes. We can't afford to lose a single one”.
Maui's dolphins are the rarest dolphins in the world. They inhabit the waters off of the island of Maui in Hawaii. They now number less than 80 and are on the verge of extinction. (Click Image To Enlarge)
William was the first human to reach a depth of 100m without the use of fins, rope, weight, or any other form of assistance. It was the 15th time that he broke a world record. Another dive to 121m earned him the world record in Free Immersion (line-assisted freediving). Even the dolphins can’t follow him that deep. William’s other breathtaking accolades include his nomination as New Zealand athlete of the year in 2011, winner of 2010 and 2011 World Absolute Freediver, an annual prize for freedivers with the highest combined score across six disciplines, and being the highest ranked athlete at the Team's World Champs in 2010.
NABU International’s Head of Endangered Species Conservation, Dr Barbara Maas says.
“NABU International is delighted about William’s support. We hope that the backing of this world-class athlete, with his genuine affinity for the sea and the dolphins, will inspire people around the world to call for their protection”.
COMMENTARY: William Trubridge is without any doubt one of the greatest athletes in the world that competes in the most dangerous sports that many people don't know. You will find William Truebridge's Facebook page HERE. You can also find him on Twitter @WilTrubridge.
The above video is a plea to all people everywhere to help save these incredible, graceful and beautiful sea creatures. The Hector and Maui dolphins are on the verge of extinction. We must not let this happen for the sake of future generations.
William Trubridge is not only a no-fin free diving world champion, but a great person, very active conservationist and environmentalist trying his best to help save endangered sea life around the world. You can read more about William Trubridge in my blog post of August 9, 2011. If you saw the film The Big Blue, Wil is the real deal.
I hope you will join me in signing the by signing a petition to the New Zealand government and by joining the Facebook group Hector’s and Maui’s Dolphin SOS.
Nike CEO and designer Mark Parker unveils the new Flyknit shoe (Click Image To Enlarge)
THE NEW FLYKNIT SHOE WAS THE PRODUCT OF FOUR YEARS OF R&D, WHICH YIELDED NEW MACHINES FOR A FABRICATION TECHNIQUE THAT NEVER EXISTED BEFORE.
When most of us think about what we want in a shoe, a sock probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Sure it has comfort, but what about stability? And how about some support?
Nike is filling in those blanks with its newest line, Nike Flyknit, which will make its big splash in the Olympics. Four years in the making, Flyknit is the product of an entirely new shoe-making process that can produce a single, lightweight knit upper (tongue included). The resulting intricate patchwork of yarn, cables, and fabric boasts a heretofore unseen look and feel.
Flyknit was powered by athletes’ input, says Tony Bignell, director of footwear innovation at Nike’s Innovation Kitchen. And what they wanted, head-scratchingly enough, was a sock. Bignell explains.
“A sock fits great, feels snug, goes unnoticed, and you get no irritation. So the idea was, how do you engineer a sock into a high-performance shoe?”
A simple enough conceit, but one that proved harder to execute. Ben Shaffer, studio director for Nike Innovation Kitchen says.
“We had no interest in just creating a shoe that looked knit. This is where we found our first biggest challenge: There was no technology in the world available to do this for footwear.”
The intricacies of the work--building static structures and support into a dynamic knit--demanded entirely new machinery and software, Shaffer tells Co.Design.
“We were challenging a fundamental way of making shoes.”
Nike gathered a team of programmers, engineers, and designers to build technologies capable of micro-level manipulation. With machines in place, designers could engineer exactly where they wanted to add structure and flexibility to the knit upper. The next step was figuring out what yarns and fabric variations to use, requiring what seemed like an “endless” amount of prototypes, Shaffer says. The team settled on a feather-light, high-quality polyester yarn of varying elasticity, durability, thickness and strength (and all softer than anything you’ll find at the bottom of your sock drawer).
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To provide structure, Nike Flywire supportive cables are weft into the knit. The cables loosen and contract with your foot, offering the comfort and ease athletes were looking for. A Lunarlon cushion sole completes the shoe.
Shaffer and co. have come a long way from the original prototype--a tube sock stitched to a sole. Shaffer tells Co.Design.
“In one layer, you have only the essentials built into a fabric.”
That one layer has some spillover benefits: Since the upper doesn’t require the usual cutting, stitching, and gluing of shoes past, it reduces waste. The Flyknit is also 19% lighter than the traditionally crafted Nike Zoom Streak 3 (worn by the gold, silver, and bronze winners at the 2011 World Championship’s men’s marathon).
The warp and weft of the shoe’s texturized knit also opens up the possibility for some interesting color combinations. Nike CEO and designer Mark Parker says.
“You have to almost think three dimensionally about the colors.”
The Flyknit Racer (Click Image To Enlarge)
The Flyknit Racer will be worn at the Olympics by marathon racers from the United States, Kenya, Russia, and the U.K. Nike is also releasing a limited edition run of the line called HTM Flyknit, a collaboration between influential stylist Hiroshi Fujiwara, Nike Vice President of Creative Design Tinker Hatfield, and Nike CEO Parker that provides a streetwear-friendly application of the technology. The three-shoe line (see below) will be sold for a few weeks in New York City, Tokyo, and London.
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COMMENTARY: The Nike Flyknit running shoes are absolutely beautiful. I like the fact that they are formfitting and very light. If you are a runner, these shoes will turn eyeballs whether you are running on the street, on a trail, or just walking around in a shopping mall. Sorry, no prices yet. If anybody knows, post a comment.
Courtesy of an article dated February 23, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design
Nike's lead footwear designer tells Fast Company about creating the 2012 Air Jordan with jazz-age styling.
Nike’s 2012 version of their Air Jordan shoe will have wingtips--and what a brilliant pun that is--which we would have all labeled as anachronistic just a few days ago.
Nike Senior Footwear Designer Tom Luedecke tells Co.Design.
“The inspiration from the Zoot Era was important for us--as an anchor to focus on the Audacious, Confident and Daring Style that the Youth and entertainers brought forth during that time. We see a new wave of this mind-set today. It was a break with tradition, a bold departure from the status quo.”
It’s a hook for what’s maybe the most iconic shoe brand that uses little more than a Jordan icon to brand itself. Luedecke acknowledges that Air Jordans aren’t known for specific design cue carryovers from year to year or decade to decade, like your average Porsche, but are defined by “combining performance and soul” and “attention to the crafted details.”
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The new shoe is more modular than its predecessors, with the most premium version ($223) including two for inner sleeves and three new options for midsoles, meaning the shoe can be configured six different ways by play style. Thus, in the days of a hyper-competitive marketplace and increasingly fickle sneaker heads, the Jordan brand/Nike is opting for the strategy of mass customization--something akin to the Nike ID program, but this time, with the very fit of the shoe.
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The midsoles are branded to “fly through, fly over, or fly around opponents.” As a consumer, it’s a tough choice to make, inducing the Pokemon “gotta catch ‘em all” syndrome. I don’t even play ball at my local Y, but now I have an extreme compulsion to fly every which way my 12-inch vert will take me. In practical terms, Nike is offering various configurations and shock absorption, suggesting tacitly that every player probably shouldn’t be wearing the same shoe. Whereas a center may be more likely to land somewhat flat-footed (and thereby benefit from “Air Bag” heel to toe air pockets), a point guard flying for the hoop may be more likely to land hard on the heel (and thereby benefit from a “Nike Zoom” in the heel--tensile fibers within a pressurized bladder).
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Luedecke writes.
“A modular product allows our athletes to think creatively about their next game or practice, try out a different cushioning system or adjust the product to work for them in very specific situations. It is performance customization brought to life in footwear and puts the athlete in control of the fit and feel of the product.“
If nothing else, the customization looks fun, though let’s all acknowledge that it’s hard to imagine Dwyane Wade switching out a midsole before the last play of the game. He’s circled with his team around the coach during their final time out, studying a clipboard intently whilst hopping on one foot, sweaty particles of cotton sock dropping on the court while one of those dry mop assistants scurries around him to gather up the tidbits.
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But what a fantastic clause it would make in Wade’s next endorsement renewal.
COMMENTARY: Nike's Air Jordan 2012 modular and customizable basketball shoes have to be the best I have seen so far. I like the "zoot suit" inspired wing tip design, modular design and ability to customize the shoes for big and small basketball players and different playing situations. Nike has done a truly masterful job of combining great design, color, technical innovation and foot comfort into the design of these new shoes.
Here's Nike's official press release:
BEAVERTON, OR (February 7, 2012) – Today, Jordan Brand, a division of NIKE, Inc., unveiled the AIR JORDAN 2012, the 27th shoe in the AIR JORDAN franchise. The all-new AIR JORDAN 2012 is designed to encourage today’s athletes to rethink performance. This year’s model builds upon the AIR JORDAN 2011’s two midsole modular system by featuring two interchangeable inner sleeves and three interchangeable midsoles for performance customization. The AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE will be available in two colorways nationwide on Wednesday, February 8 for a suggested retail price of $223, with the AIR JORDAN 2012 Flight System launching on Saturday, February 25 for a suggested retail price of $180.
The AIR JORDAN 2012 draws inspirational cues from the legacy of Michael Jordan and continues to be one of the best performance shoes available by combining innovative technology and premium materials. The AIR JORDAN 2012’s modular system gives athletes the ability to customize for their unique playing styles and for fit preference by offering 6 different configurations.
"Through comprehensive research we saw an increasing need for footwear that could be customized to meet the needs of the world’s best athletes," said Tinker Hatfield, AIR JORDAN 2012 co-designer and Vice President, Special Projects and Creative Design for NIKE, Inc. "Last year’s AIR JORDAN 2011 began the modular story for the brand with two interchangeable midsoles, but we took it a step further this year by introducing two interchangeable inner sleeves and three interchangeable midsoles to help players 'fly through', 'fly over' or 'fly around' their opponents."
For the player that would like to 'fly around' their opponent, the green midsole features a Nike Zoom unit in the heel for lightweight and responsive cushioning. The blue 'fly over' midsole incorporates a Nike Zoom unit in the forefoot and an encapsulated Air Sole unit in the heel for the perfect blend of responsiveness and impact protection. For the player that would like to 'fly through' their opponent, the orange midsole houses a full-length encapsulated Air Sole unit that provides lightweight cushioning and impact protection for hard landings in the paint.
The AIR JORDAN 2012 also features two interchangeable inner sleeves, one for the player that needs to be quicker on the court and needs more freedom of motion in the ankle, while the high inner sleeve provides more protection around the foot and advanced ankle support.
With legendary shoe designer Tinker Hatfield and Tom Luedecke, Senior Footwear Designer for Jordan Brand at the helm, the shoe's design continues the tradition of using premium materials on the upper by combining Flywire technology with rich, full-grain leather overlays for lightweight support and a premium crafted look. In addition, the AIR JORDAN 2012 features an innovative "Flight Carbon" plate in the midfoot that is made with a combination of glass and carbon fiber and is contoured to the natural shape of the foot for optimal support.
"As a basketball player, I always wanted a shoe that adapted with my game," said Michael Jordan. "On any given night I had to adjust my style of play for countless reasons and the AIR JORDAN 2012 meets those needs with six different configurations. I’m proud to say there is not another shoe like it in the market."
The AIR JORDAN 2012 FLIGHT SYSTEM will be customizable at retail based on the consumers style of play and will feature one inner sleeve and one midsole for a suggested retail price of $180 and will be available on Saturday, February 25. In addition, the AIR JORDAN 2012 will be available on Nike iD on Tuesday, February 14 for a suggested retail price of $205.
AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE information
The AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE will feature the two inner sleeves and three midsole options allowing for six different shoe configurations for a suggested retail price of $223. The AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE will be encased in a premium three-tier package:
• The top drawer will feature the AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE outershell with one high and one low inner sleeve option.
• Once you dertermine your fit, the second drawer will house the additional high and low inner sleeves.
• The third and final drawer highlights the three midsole options to allow you to customize your flight.
• Options include: Fly Around (Quick), Fly Over (Air) and Fly Through (Explosive)
About Jordan Brand
A division of NIKE, Inc., Jordan Brand is a premium brand of footwear, apparel and accessories inspired by the dynamic legacy, vision and direct involvement of Michael Jordan. The Jordan Brand made its debut in 1997 and has grown into a complete collection of performance and lifestyle products. The Jordan Brand remains active in the community through its corporate responsibility program, WINGS for the Future, which inspires and enables youth to play sports.
You can view Nike's entire Air Jordan 2012 image gallery by clicking HERE.
Courtesy of an article dated January 10, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design
Social TV startup Bluefin Labs said it saw 11.5 million comments during the game, up six fold over last year.
The official Super Bowl Twitter account has just 37,871 followers. Some 50 employees and volunteers manned the Super Bowl Command Center for social media.
Verizon added 400 additional 3G and LTE antennae for 3G and LTE service. AT&T added 200 new cell sites in Indianapolis.
InMobi reported that 40 percent of respondents to its survey said they used mobile devices in response to TV ads and 45 percent estimated they would spend 30 minutes or more on their mobile devices during the game. About 39 percent said they would use their mobile devices in response to TV commercials. About 27 percent said they downloaded a Super Bowl mobile app; and 30 percent said they used mobile devices most during commercials.
During the 6:30 pm EST to 8 pm EST time block, H&M’s Super Bowl commercial site was the fastest with a response time of 1.7 seconds to load the whole page, while Honda’s was the worst with 40 seconds required to load the full page, according to the SmartBear AlertSite.
For the first time, the Super Bowl was shown online via legal streaming technology, giving home viewers the option of watching the game on the web or on the TV. In advance of the showing, federal authorities took control of a number of domains for unauthorized sports-related streaming sites, no doubt helping NBC and the NFL get more views. We don’t have numbers yet on how many people watched via the web.
COMMENTARY: It's unfortunate that my hometown team, the San Francisco 49ers lost to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game, and failed in their bid to go to the Super Bowl, but I did watch most of the Super Bowl 20120game between the Giants and the New England Patriots. After watching the game, I am very confident that the 49ers with their incredible defense would've beaten the Pats handsdown. Would love to get a second shot at the NY Giants.
Madonna may have sparkled, M.I.A may have offended, and the New York Giants may have outplayed the New England Patriots, but one Super Bowl winner is less controversial. Whether it’s the overweight pooch on a mission or Darth Vader’s cameo, Volkswagen’s “Dog Strikes Back” came in as Adbowl’s top dog.
It marks the second year in a row Volkswagen took top honors, and last year’s “Imperial March” has come to be regarded as one of the most popular TV ads ever.
But overall, Steve McKee, president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland and founder of the Adbowl, which kicked off in 2001, tells Marketing Daily this year’s ads weren’t all that hot.
“The quality of the game greatly surpassed the quality of the ads, although I do think a close game keeps people glued to their TVs and that's a good thing for the advertisers -- especially those in the third and fourth quarters. And a strong halftime show only adds to expectations -- not that they could be much higher.”
Doritos’ murderous Great Dane came in second, followed by Bud Light’s Rescue Dog, M&M’s Ms. Brown and Skechers’ Mr. Quiggly. (And, yes, that means dogs star in four of the top five spots.)
McKee’s favorites included the Acura ad with Jerry Seinfeld, the Chevy Silverado ad, and the NFL Timeline ad. The duds? He says.
“I thought the Century 21 ad was very disappointing, especially after all the teasers they ran setting expectations. Samsung spent a lot of money to draw attention to Apple, and GoDaddy, H&M, Fiat and Teleflora took the easy way out, relying on sex rather than an idea.”
I loved that VW TV commercial. The dog doing exercises to lose weight was just hilarious
Courtesy of an article dated February 5, 2012 appearing in VentureBeat and an article dated February 6, 2012 appearing in MediaPost Publications Marketing Daily
Super Bowl party hamburgers made from ground turkey
Beer! What would a Super Bowl party be without it? And what recipe wouldn't be better with beer? From tacos to queso, we've got ten tantalizing recipes that will be the rave of your party, and all of them are made more flavorful because of beer.
You'll find recipes for chili, brisket, pulled pork, tacos, fried chicken, soup and dip. And they all use beer -- lager, ale and stout. Any of these recipes can be served at your next game-day party -- they make great appetizers or main meals. And many can be made in advance, so you don't have to miss the game by being stuck in the kitchen.
Chili Con Queso
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This version of chile con queso includes beer for a flavor boost. The recipe is made with a white sauce base to ensure the dip stays creamy -- it also cuts down on calories since you don't use as much cheese. Make it up to 3 days ahead of your party and reheat on the stove-top or microwave. Get the Chili con Queso recipe.
Beer-Braised Turkey Tacos
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For a leaner version of tacos, try this recipe for turkey tacos. The dark-meat turkey is braised in beer and spices including a cinnamon stick, which lends a warm flavor. Serve in warmed tortillas and top with cilantro and chopped red onion. Get the Beer-Braised Turkey Tacos recipe.
Beer-Battered Buttermilk Fried Chicken
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If you crave the most tender and crispy fried chicken, this is your go-to recipe. Soaking the chicken pieces in buttermilk tenderizes them. The batter, of course, contains beer, which creates that crusty, crispy exterior. Everyone will be fighting for the last piece. Get the Beer-Battered Buttermilk Fried Chicken recipe.
Beer Beef Stew
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Beer lovers will appreciate this comforting beef stew recipe, which uses one cup of Belgian ale. Start the stew off on the stove-top and move it to the oven to finish cooking. Serve over noodles or mashed sweet potatoes. Get the Beer Beef Stew recipe.
New England Fried Shrimp
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A beer batter made with pale ale and whole-wheat pastry flour creates the crunchy jackets on these fried shrimp. Instead of deep frying them, try shallow pan frying, which produces just as good of a crunch but without all the oil. Serve as an appetizer with lemon and cocktail sauce. Get the New England Fried Shrimp recipe.
Cheddar-Ale Soup
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Cheese and ale were made to pair together. This comforting soup will please both cheese and beer lovers. Make it with store-bought chicken stock or vegetables stock. Serve in mugs with crusty bread or crackers. Get the Cheddar-Ale Soup recipe
Guinness-Marinated Bison Steak Sandwiches
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These open-faced sandwiches are great for tailgating or game-day parties. A marinade of Guinness, soy sauce and molasses lends a sweet and savory flavor to the bison steaks. The recipe can be made on the grill or grill pan. Boil down the marinade to create a sauce to top the sliced steak. Get the Guinness-Marinated Bison Steak Sandwiches recipe.
Beer-Braised Brisket
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Pureed dried chiles and Mexican lager add lots of flavor to this braised brisket recipe. The brisket is seared on the stove-top and then transferred to the oven to finish baking. Add beans, if you like, and serve as an appetizer with tortilla chips or use as a filling in enchiladas. Get the Beer-Braised Brisket recipe
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Smoky Chili Dogs
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Chili dogs are a surefire crowd-pleaser and this recipe feeds sixteen. In addition to beer, the recipe includes chipotles in adobo and pickled jalapeno, which give the chili a smoky and tangy flavor. Make the all-beef dogs on either the grill or in the broiler. Get the Smoky Chili Dogs recipe.
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Beer And Tequila Carnitas
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This recipe includes 1 cup of tequila and 2 bottles of Mexican beer to create the most mouthwatering carnitas. Serve the pork in warmed corn tortillas with a choice of different topping and let everyone assemble their own tacos. Make the recipe up to 3 days in advance. Get the Beer and Tequila Carnitas recipe.
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Ultimate Beef Chili
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This chili recipe has everything going for it. It's loaded with flavor from beer, spices and even sun-dried tomatoes, which lend a touch of sweetness. Instead of ground beef, it's made with chunks of beef for a real hearty meal. Serve topped with grated cheese, cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Get the Ultimate Beef Chili recipe.
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Pulled Pork Sandwiches
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You don't have to be a tailgater to make this pulled pork recipe -- our version is cooked in the oven. It's packed with spicy and tangy flavor from chili powder, beer, ketchup, cider vinegar and mustard. Serve in rolls with slaw and sliced red onion. Get the Pulled Pork Sandwiches recipe.
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Beer Can Grilled Chicken (Watch The Video)
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Watch the video for the receipe.
- COMMENTARY: On Sunday, January 22, 2o12, the NFC and AFC Championship games will be on television. Winners of each conference go on to meet in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. If you plan on having a football party, the above receipes are absolutely killer. It's all good. Enjoy.
The lede on an AP story in USA Today claims the Super Bowl is “still the hottest ticket in advertising.” But isn’t that kind of like saying that the $487.25 that "The Book of Mormon" commands for a prime orchestra seat less than 48 hours before show time is the hottest ticket on Broadway? They may be costly and they may be scarce but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a good deal for most people.
The Wall Street Journal’s Suzanne Vranica reported yesterday that marketers are paying about $3.5 million for a single 30-second spot and that spots during Super Bowl XLVI, the game, are sold out. The price represents an increase of 59% in the past decade.
Vranica writes.
“The increase in ad prices for the Super Bowl are a clear sign of how important the ratings juggernaut has become to advertisers as viewership for regular broadcast TV continues to shrink amid growing competition from cable and the Web.”
Seth Winter, SVP of sales and marketing for NBC Sports, says.
"The NFL continues to be the gold standard of all programming."
BestBuy Buy Back Program 60-sec TV Commercial - Super Bow3l XVL
Reacting to the story on The Atlantic’s site, Jordan Weissmann points out,
"The reason for the hefty surcharge is that as audiences have fractured in the age of Hulu and DVR, the Super Bowl is among the last of an increasingly endangered species: The truly mass audience live TV event. In good times and bad, that distinction has been worth a premium to advertisers.”
But he also says there’s “another important value proposition” involved in the equation: “People actually care about the ads. Deeply.” The evidence is all the Monday-morning quarterbacking about their quality that goes on around all the Keurig single-serve coffee brewing devices across our great land.
Another indication of the importance of Super Bowl advertising has to be the space the media dedicate to every minute detail. Ad Age’s "Special Report" is a prime example, with articles delving into everything from who’s buying what and why in 2012 to a complete gallery of last year’s spots.
Brian Steinberg wrote a piece yesterday that suggests that marketers -– “perhaps inspired by the two-minute 2011 Super Bowl ad from Chrysler, in which the automaker boasted that its vehicles were ‘Imported from Detroit’ while rapper Eminem toasted in the background,” -- may be moving toward more long-form advertising this year.
Doritos 30-sec TV Commercial - Super Bowl XVL
Besides the potential impact, technology plays a role in this school of thought. Steinberg writes.
“Giant but affordable TV screens provide a more appropriate canvas for epic ads and a better chance to catch the eye of audience members who tend not to pay attention during commercial breaks.”
Plus, the spots live on, not only in the trades and USA Today’s morning-after round-ups but ad infinitum, so to speak, on YouTube and Hulu. So far, though, only Volkswagen has confirmed that it will go longer than a :30 this year.
CNNMoney’s Aaron Smith reports that Go Daddy will advertise in its eighth consecutive Super Bowl this year with two 30-second spots -- one featuring driver Danica Patrick and the other trainer Jillian Michaels. These ads always make me cringe about hosting several domains at GoDaddy.
The piece also includes a video interview with Olivier Francois, Chrysler’s lead exec for marketing, about that long-form piece with Eminem, who he says was the perfect icon to represent resiliency –- personally, as well as for the city he grew up in.
Francois with an endearing French accent says.
“It’s about featuring the spirit of Detroit; even more the spirit of America. Detroit is a symbol of the fighting spirit. You can stumble but you always stand up.”
Ad Age also presents a cogent counterpoint to all the Super Bowl hoopla in the form of a “CMO Strategy” column titled “The Industry's Super Bowl Stumble” with the subhed, “Creating Ads to Appeal to the Greatest Number of Viewers Assures Content That Humiliates Our Profession.”
Jonathan Salem Baskin, the president of a marketing decisions consultancy called Baskin Associates, offers three reasons why booking a Super Bowl ad is probably about as good an idea for you as buying that $487.25 theater ticket:
It demands lowest-common-denominator content.
It creates a self-conscious ad experience.
It's not really social in a way that is useful to brands over time.
Meanwhile, over at the New York Times’ “You’re the Boss” blog, Tom Szaky has a different take on long-form advertising that will appeal to entrepreneurs with a video camera, Final Cut Pro and a few grand to spend on production and early-morning media buys.
The CEO of Trenton-based TerraCycle writes amusingly about an infomercial he produced five years ago that bombed miserably. But wait! There’s always a second act in the land of infomercials and Szaky tells us what he going to do, how he’s going to do it, and why it will succeed.
And the total cost is a lot closer to $487.25 than it is to $3.5 million.
COMMENTARY: $3.5 million for a 30-second TV spot is incredible, but let's look at what has happened to advertising rates between 1968 and 2010:
Why are advertisers willing to pay this kind of money for a 30-second TV commercial running during the Super Bowl? Eyeballs. Lots of them. The 1967 Super Bowl had 27 million viewers, but the 2010 Super Bowl had 107 million viewers.
During Super Bowl XVL in January 2011, Clearspring, the company that powers AddThis’s sharing platform, mined search and sharing data to determine what brands got the greatest lift from their ads. Posts mentioning Pepsi Max, for instance, received more than a 3,000% increase in shares, followed by Super 8 (~1,700%) and Carmax (~1,100%). Searches for the Chrysler 200 experienced more than a 1,300% increase in searches, followed by Pepsi Max (~950%) and Chatter.com (~900%).
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So is the $3.5 million advertisers are paying for a 30-second TV spot during the 2012 Super Bowl worth it? Yes, absolutely. It's not only about the prestige, the branding opportunity, but a great way to reach your fan base.
The New Orleans Saints won the 2011 Super Bowl beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25. Check my post dated February 14, 2011 to find out how they did it.
Courtesy of an article dated January 4, 2011 appearing in MediaPost Publications Marketing Dailyand an article dated February 7, 2011 appearing in Mashable
Why should wheelchairs stay boring when the people using them have so much personality? That is exactly what Bill Lasher when he created his first sporty wheelchair.
In the six years since that first garage tinkering, Lasher has built Lasher Sport, crafting custom wheelchairs and handcycles that can roll on sandy beaches, ski on snowy mountaintops and careen terrifyingly fast down the slopes of the Swiss Alps. The chairs are also one of only a handful of products fully manufactured in Alaska, though Lasher does contract to Lower 48 firms for some processes. They are sold to clients all over the world – from Guam to Germany.
The Lasher Sport ATH- All Terrain Handcycle, another addition to the Lasher Cycles line. On road, off road, where ever you want to go.
The chairs aren’t cheap – from around $5,000 to upwards of $10,000 for a custom chair.
Anything but medical-supply beige, they’re inspired by Orange County Choppers and mountain bikes, often tricked-out with chrome details that wouldn’t look out of place at a car show. They range from basic but sleek with vibrant oxidized colored aluminum – like a fresh custom car paint job – to fanciful, like one with a dragon motif that features gold and red details, fire-breathing dragon cutouts and a foot rest that looks like two gold coins.
COMMENTARY: Much more than an off-the-shelf handcycle with fat tires, the all new Lasher Sport ATH -All Terrain Handcycle- was specifically designed for use off the pavement, yet is still very adept on the pavement. A generous 6” of ground clearance helps you get over rough trails and gnarly terrain. That’s enough clearance to pop up or drop down a standard height curb when biking in the concrete jungle.
The frame is built from custom extruded ovalized magnesium for maximum strength and durability. The forks and backrest are built from 6061-T6 aluminum. The seat back connects to the axle with dual adjustable supports for additional triangulated rigidity.
The ATH comes with more wheel options than any other handcycle. The standard 26” mountain bike wheels can be outfitted with any 26” mountain bike tire sold in your local bike shop, so servicing the wheels is easy. The standard wheel set includes quick release 26” (559) rear wheels with Schwalbe mountain bike tires, the same wheel size as a 25” (559) wheelchair wheel, so you can use the same wheels on your wheelchair as you do on your handcycle. You may opt for the bolt on rear wheel option which can be outfitted with or without hydraulic disc brakes. You can also get an extra set of 650c road wheels and easily convert your ATH to a road bike. This will also lower the cycle an extra inch to the ground. You may choose a Spinergy 29er wheel set which adds an extra inch and a half of ground clearance… a whopping 7.5” of ground clearance! Or, if you’re into winter biking (or beach biking), you may choose to go with a 4” wide tire on an 80mm rim. This provides for 7” of ground clearance.
Wheel Sizes Options:
25" (559) wheelchair wheel
26" (559) mountain bike wheel
29er (622) mountain bike wheel
26" (559) 80mm wide winter wheel
650c (571) road wheel
700c (622) road wheel
Since the ATH is front wheel drive, the riding position is familiar and comfortable. With the seating designed to be more upright and forward, there is plenty of weight on the front drive wheel to get up relatively steep slopes without drive wheel slip. This bike wasn’t designed for extremely steep hills or crazy slopes, but it will perform exceptionally well when you want to go trail riding with your mountain bike friends.
The base ATH comes with Shimano SLX components (which are a pretty exceptional component set) and Avid hydraulic disc brakes, some of the best you can put on a bike. From there, you may opt for the Shimano XT or XTR component set. Or, mix and match each component individually. It’s your bike, so you can choose what goes on it.
If accessories are important to you, the ATH has got them. Your ATH can be outfitted with LED headlights and tail lights for night time riding, custom made frame mounted bag for cross country or over night trips, front and rear fenders, click strap seatbelt, integrated hydration system, cycle computer system from Garmin, even a headmount or frame mount ContourHD camera system to make your own YouTube adventure videos. The ATH was designed to accomodate all these accessories... and more are being worked on.
Finally, you want your bike to look good when you’re riding it. The ATH comes in 19 standard powder coat color choices, and 48 optional powder coat color choices for a total of over 60 colors!Then we put on our color matched reflective decals so your bike is more visible when riding at night.
If you’re looking for a handcycle that can take you beyond the pavement, this bike is for you!
The ATH All-Terrain wheelchair is one hell of a bike and gives individuals with disabilities and have lost the use of their legs hope and enjoyment in activities they thought were impossible. The folks at lasher sport have done a great job of designing an incredible wheelchair, or should I say wheelbike.
De La Salle High School football team celebrates after routing Westlake (Westlake Village, CA)O by a score of 35-0 on Saturday.
De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) won its third consecutive Open Division title at the Home Depot Center Saturday night, which wasn't a huge surprise.
The fact they all-but repeated last year's dominating performance was, as the Spartans throttled the nation's No. 7 team Westlake (Westlake Village, Calif.) 35-0 in front of 9,645 fans. To view the LA Times video of the game click HERE.
Once again, they were all put to sleep by midway in the third quarter. By that time the Spartans (13-1) were leading 35-0 and the fourth quarter started with a running clock. This in a supposed national showdown game.
Television sponsors must deplore that De La Salle gets picked for these games. It was the sixth-straight year the Spartans have made the Bowl Championships - no other school has played more than twice
This was their fourth victory and some didn't think it was possible following a 30-6 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in the third week of September.
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But behind one of the program's best defense and the reemergence of Wisconsin-bound quarterback Bart Houston, the Spartans rallied to win 11 straight by a combined score of 493-57. Houston was superb in his high school finale, rushing for two touchdowns and passing for 180 yards and another. He led the Spartans, ranked 19th nationally by MaxPreps, to all three Open division titles and finished 39-1 as a starter.
Joseph Te'O rushed for 98 yards and Tiapepe Vitale added 89 yards and two scores as De La Salle piled up 449 yards total to 243 for Westlake.
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The De La Salle defense, led by Cal-bound linebacker Michael Barton, shut down an explosive offense that averaged 47.6 points per game.
A week ago, Westlake had never even practiced against the veer. Never even watched much film on it.
It showed right away.
De La Salle marched right downfield on its first two possession to score with absolute ease and the murmur around the Home Depot Center was: "Uh-oh, here we go again."
This very much looked like a repeat of last year's 48-8 demolition of another Top-10 Southern California power, Servite, in the Open Division game.
The Spartans took just four plays to go 58 yards, capped by a 36-yard run up the middle by Vitale, who broke right up the middle and wasn't touched. After a Westlake 3-and-out, they went 75 yards in just six plays, finished off with a 2-yard TD sneak by Houston, who set up the touchdown with a 58-yard completion to Joshua Jenkins.
The two drives took 3 minutes, 15 seconds and Westlake already looked befuddled, bewildered and beaten, down 14-0.
Westlake moved the ball effectively the rest of the half, rattling off 14 first downs and 211 yards. But Westlake's impressive 6-foot, 175-pound junior quarterback Justin Moore fired a pair of interceptions at the goal line, one on a spectacular diving grab by Anthony Williams.
The other was a pass right before the end of the half right into the hands of junior linebacker David Moffitt.
By that time, De La Salle had taken a 21-0 lead on a beautiful 27-yard cross-pattern from Houston to junior tight end-linebacker Michael Hutchings.
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That touchdown came on fourth down and 12 yards to go. Houston waited for Hutchings' sprint across the field. He caught the ball at the 20 and sprinted untouched until tackled low, flipping into the end zone.
When De La Salle scored on its first possession of the second half on a 2-yard run by Vitale, this one was cemented. It capped a 47-yard drive and it looked as easy as the opening two drives to start the game.
dd
The win capped a historic career for Bart Houston. He quarterbacked each of the past three champion teams, putting an exclamation point on a phenomenal career for the Wisconsin-bound signal-caller.
De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur said.
"He can throw, he ran the game well, he ran the football well. He's done that the last eight weeks. Probably ever since that (St. Thomas) Aquinas game, he's stepped it up each week."
It was that 30-6 loss in South Florida in late September that really started the De La Salle machine in motion. The Spartans outscored their 11 subsequent opponents 493-57, leaving no doubt just how go
od they were when it came to playing in-state competition.
Ladouceur said.
"Even when we played in Florida and lost that game, (the defense) put us in a position where we could win. Our offense wasn't up to speed yet. They've been stellar all year."
That resurgence started with a defense that left Carson on Saturday with its imprint left firmly in De La Salle history.
Linebacker and defensive leader Michael Barton said.
"Each week we took bigger and bigger steps. This is the ultimate step."
Led by Barton, De La Salle continued to jar balls loose, make big plays and fly around to shut down the Warriors spread attack.
Minutes after beating Westlake-Westlake Village 35-0, De La Salle High defensive coordinator Terry Eidson pulled a folded-up index card from his wallet. Inscribed in blue pen was the goal set by his defense before Saturday's California Interscholastic Federation Open Division title game.
It said:
"Be the best De La Salle defense ever."
Those were the types of goals the De La Salle football team set for itself this season, and with Saturday's drubbing of the Warriors at the Home Depot Center, the Spartans (13-1) not only made a convincing argument that they achieved their goal but also claimed a third straight Open Division title. The Spartans' other state title, in Division I, came in 2007.
Eidson said.
"Without offending every other great defense we've ever had, it definitely ranks up there as one of the best we've ever had. There's no doubt about it."
Southern California schools won the first four bowls (D2 through D5) of the weekend and hold a 17-9 advantage over Northern California since the state bowls were introduced in 2006.
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COMMENTARY: In a previous blog post dated December 19, 2011, I introduced my blog fans to high school football powerhouse De La Salle High School (Concord, CA). DLS had just finished crushing Versite (Santa Ana, CA) 48-8 to win its second straight California Interscholastic Federation Open Division Championship. Well, you can make that a third straight championship for DLS after Saturday's 35-0 shutout of Westlake (Westlake Village, CA).
When California finally decided to adopt a playoff system in 2006 to pit the best Northern California high school football teams against those from the Southland to name a State champion, all I read was how De La Salle would finally meet its match against bigger, faster and stronger teams from the South. Some sports writers were saying, that if DLS played in some of the tougher leagues in the South, they might lose 2 games each year, even though DLS set a national record winning 151 straight football games. It came to be known as "The Streak," and catapulted DLS into the national school football scene. I think DLS has put any misplaced conceptions to rest once and for all.
Fact is, most Southern California high school teams are intimidated by DLS again. Those southern schools now know we are back on top, and that beating DLS is not going to be an easy task, as you have seen the last three straight years.
Courtesy of an article dated December 17, 2011 appearing in MaxPreps, an slideshow by the Mercury News and an article dated December 17, 2011 appearing in the Los Angeles Times
There's tantalizing data suggesting that biking could go a long way to solving America's obesity crisis. And much more.
Americans are getting fatter every year, and weight-related diseases kill us at a rate second only to tobacco. There's been lots of proposed solutions to that problem--rejiggering the food pyramid, advertising campaigns, soda taxes. But the simplest of all might just be bikes. Yes, bikes.
If you live in the suburbs where any bike trip would be riding along a highway, that probably sounds totally insane. But this infographic produced by Healthcare Management Degree actually provides several data points that suggest that bikes might not be so ridiculous after all.
A few stats immediately leap out at you: For one, 70% of America's car trips are shorter than 2 miles, which translates to about an easy 10-minute bike ride:
The stats really get eye-popping in the second half of the panel above: 13 pounds in a year, just from riding to work?! The second panel then looks at the obesity rates in various European countries and compares them to the percentage of trips taken by bike:
Obviously, correlation isn't causation, but given how much weight you lose by riding to work, the data is pretty compelling. Then again, could Americans really commit to the cultural shift that biking all the time entails? After all, it's not like our gas prices are going up to $8 a gallon, as they are in Europe, where gas taxes are huge. If you're trying to fight cars as an American politician, you'll be out of work fast. Especially since, as of this moment, only a tiny .6% of all errands and trips in this country are made via bikes.
But the last panel does actually suggest that change isn't totally impossible. Portland, which is covered with relatively new bike lanes, has 6% of its population commuting by bike; ridership across the country is growing.
There are suggestions that the government takes this trend serious: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has been making noises about making biking easier and safer across the country. But nonetheless, the degree to which motorists seem to despise those on bikes is pretty amazing--in New York's own fights over bike lanes, the backlash has been vicious. How do you make cyclists safer without making drivers feel like they're under attack? The answer to that question could hold the key to our biking future.
COMMENTARY: I lived in Portland, Oregon for a year and a half, and it's definitely one of the most pro-bike cities in the country. I don't miss the rain much, but Portlad is a nice town, with lots of parks and plenty to do, especially if you love to bike. I can still remember riding all the way to Sauvie Island:
If there are any Portlanders, post a comment and let me know what's happening.
Courtesy of an article dated December 14, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design
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