Word: cross
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...None of them, not Letizia's teddy bear of a divorced-but-dating father, nor her firebrand of a grandmother, nor even her tragic youngest sister Erika, who killed herself in February 2007, got as much attention as Telma. Young, pretty, apparently good-hearted (she works for the Red Cross) and best of all unattached, Telma made perfect fodder for what the Spanish call "the pink press." When she showed up at the royal wedding looking lovely in a pale apricot suit and a broad-brimmed hat that would have done Lady Astor proud, the rags could barely contain their...
...know, one that sounds like a roaring, rollicking Swoosh? Nike, the $18 billion sporting giant, knows a tough competitor when it sees one, and when it sees one, it attacks. So it surprised no one that as Under Armour announced it would try to revive the long-dead cross-training category (which basically describes shoes you can use to run, lift weights, jump rope or channel surf), Nike pounced. The company launched its SPARQ trainers--as the company puts it, kicks built for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness--a month ahead of the May debut of Under Armour...
Nike is trying to relaunch cross-training and deny the space to Under Armour. (The aerobics craze made Reebok, remember.) The Swoosh blitzed the airwaves with SPARQ ads during the NCAA basketball tournament; MY BETTER IS BETTER THAN YOUR BETTER went the tagline. SPARQs retail for $70 to $90, while Under Armour's shoes are in the $80-to-$100 price range...
...weights and sprinting. At Nike.com athletes can access drill videos from "SPARQ Master Trainers": You're a basketball player, and you want to improve your quickness? Have your coach drop tennis balls at your feet, and catch them before they bounce above your knees. Under Armour will also post cross-training drills on its site this summer. "Nike is going after them with a vengeance," says John Shanley, an analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group. "They want to make sure the introduction of the cross-trainer is as painful as possible for Under Armour...
Plus, as Under Armour moves beyond cleats to sneakers with broader appeal, it is picking an ideal entry point: the training-shoe market is ripe for a revival. Nike popularized cross-trainers in the late '80s and early '90s with its famous "Bo Knows" campaign, which depicted the multisport star Bo Jackson playing hoops, football and tennis and weight-lifting in his Nikes. Since that heyday, the sporting life has become more specialized but training more diverse...