Follow Up on “Too Sexy for What Shirt ?”

On this blog on June 11, 2019 I wrote a piece entitled “Too Sexy for What Shirt ?”, the story of my receiving an orange T-shirt made by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, and his wife, Penny. These shirts were given to any 1972 Olympic Track & Field Trials qualifiers, who visited the Nike store in downtown Eugene. I qualified and went to Eugene for the Trials. I got and kept the shirt. This April someone at Nike learned that I still had my shirt and expressed Nike’s interest in obtaining it. So, on October 23, I flew to Portland, OR and visited the Nike campus in Beaverton. My visit to Nike was hosted by Craig Masback, who has run multiple sub-4-minute miles, is former head of US Track & Field, and is now a TV sports commentator and head of Nike Asian operations. I had a wonderful visit. I toured the campus and the main buildings, visited the archives, and filmed a long interview on my memories of running in Nikes. Nike wanted the shirt for their archives, but would not be displaying it. I guess they preferred to display something from Steve Prefontaine…go figure. Qualifying for the Olympic Trials Marathon as a 3rd year medical student is one of my proudest moments so I decided to keep the shirt and to display it in MY museum, my home office. I have always loved Nike shoes and apparel. The shoes fit my feet and are fast. Experiencing Craig’s hospitality and observing Nike’s commitment to track and field has made me an even bigger Nike fan. Actually, my visit to Nike ranks high on my “best life experiences list”, not far behind the 1972 Olympic Trials themselves.