Ryan Powell scored four goals for the second consecutive week to help the Portland LumberJax secure a berth in the 2008 Edge NLL Championship Game.

LumberJax surge in fourth quarter to top Roughnecks, 16-12

The Portland LumberJax defeated the Calgary Roughnecks, 16-12, at Pengrowth Saddledome on Saturday to advance to the 2008 Edge NLL Championship Game.

Portland meets the Buffalo Bandits next Saturday, May 17th at 7:30 PM ET at HSBC Arena.

The Jax led for nearly the entire game, grabbing a 6-3 lead after one quarter and an 8-6 lead at halftime. The Roughnecks chipped away at the deficit in the second half, holding Portland to just one goal in 19 minutes. Calgary was able to tie the game at 9-9 after three quarters, and grab their first and only lead of the game on Kaleb Toth’s goal at 3:55 of the fourth quarter.

Portland responded by peppering Steve Dietrich with six straight goals, giving the Jax a 15-10 lead with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.

Dan Dawson finished with five goals and five assists, while Peter Morgan and Ryan Powell chipped in four apiece. Derek Malawsky quarterbacked seven assists and scored once.

Veteran goaltender Dallas Eliuk (35 saves, 8 goals against) was in goal when the final buzzer sounded. Eliuk relieved starter Matt Disher (6 saves, 4 goals against), who suffered a strained MCL in the second quarter.

Toth and Jeff Shattler each scored three goals, while Scott Ranger and Curt Malawsky chipped in two apiece. Dietrich (33 saves, 14 goals against) was credited the loss.

Ryan Powell scored four goals for the second consecutive week to help the Portland LumberJax secure a berth in the 2008 Edge NLL Championship Game.

Check out our PRESS section to read all about it!

InsideLacrosse.com 

Lacrosse has been growing at an exponential rate for some time now, and the major manufacturers and retailers are beginning to take notice. With each season, there are more games on television and more people picking up the game than ever before. Nike is one of the biggest companies in the world, and when it came time to market their new ‘SPARQ’ trainer program, they decided to include MLL players Ryan Powell and Kyle Harrison in the campaign. The ads, available for viewing here, here and here represent the highest profile campaign the game has ever been featured in, as Nike has run the ads on both major networks and ESPN on a frequent basis.Recently, Inside Lacrosse editor in chief John Jiloty traded emails with Ken Dice, Nike Vice President and General Manager for USA Brands, about the future of his company’s involvement with the game of lacrosse.

With all the big names you could have included, and all the potential options you could have run with, why did lacrosse make the cut in this commercial? What does lacrosse being in this ad say about the sport’s place and awareness/recognition at the company?

“We were certain that lacrosse athletes would be a perfect fit for this campaign due to the very nature of the sport and its connection to dynamic training. The opportunity to demonstrate the training elements of speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness provided a perfect platform for Lacrosse.”

“We really feel that the ad reflects an authentic delivery of the core principles of Lacrosse that has great appeal to Lax players and other atheltes.”

Do you feel lacrosse has reached a point where it is recognized as a mainstream sport in the nation’s overall consciousness?

“There’s no doubt that it’s well on the way. The popularity of Lacrosse is increasing at a rapid rate as indicated by the expanding national media coverage of key weekly match-ups and the Final Four. Additionally, there has been a tremendous amount of growth in participation at the youth and H.S. level and not just regionally, but on a national level.

Those two elements in combination have helped to elevate the game to a level unequaled in the past. Just as lacrosse has grown in consumer interest and participation, I fully expect that we will see a significant rise in popularity.”

If this commercial was made 5 years ago, would lacrosse have made an appearance?

“Probably not, but again I believe that lacrosse is the ideal sport to feature the effort that athletes currently devout to dynamic training; and how that training directly correlates to on-field performance.”

How would you describe Nike’s interest in lacrosse moving forward?

Nike has been involved in Lacrosse for the past 20 years. We plan to be very aggressive in our efforts to provide quality and innovative products that assist Lacrosse players in their on-field performance.

Lacrosse is a great sport that we are excited to be a part of and we look forward to its continued growth.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 BRENT HUNSBERGER

The Oregonian Staff

Under Armour Inc.’s ad in last month’s Super Bowl ended with a phrase, “We are Under Armour. The future is ours.” The phrase was widely considered to be aimed at Nike.

Nike’s response? A 60-second ad for competing cross-trainer shoes with the opening line, “My better is better than your better.”

With that, the latest sneaker war reaches the battlefield. Nike on Monday flexed its better-financed marketing muscle by launching perhaps its broadest multimedia campaign ever, focused on a new line of shoes in an otherwise dying cross-training category.

Nike’s ad blitz features a Web site offering interactive advice from certified trainers, a 60-second spot airing on TV’s most popular show, “American Idol,” and, for the first time, professional lacrosse players. Its new line — which Nike now calls “performance trainers” — looks starkly different from its predecessors or competitors’ midtop designs.

The moves, analysts say, are aimed at countering Under Armour’s entry into shoes and deflecting the Baltimore company’s influence among teen sporting goods consumers.

“This was definitely an all-out attempt to stop Under Armour in its tracks,” said John Horan, publisher of trade newsletter Sporting Goods Intelligence. “They want to make sure they don’t get surprised on this category.”

Under Armour made a name for itself offering athletes a tight-fitting, synthetic T-shirt that wicked away moisture. The so-called compression apparel quickly became a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year, one that 13-year-old Under Armour still leads.

More recently, Under Armour entered the relatively small cleated-shoe market, grabbing a surprising one-fifth of the football shoe market and one-tenth of baseball shoes, each in less than a year.

This year, Under Armour is trying on noncleated cross-trainers, a category that makes up 6 percent of the nation’s $20 billion athletic footwear market, according to The NPD Group, Inc., a market research firm. Cross-trainers generated $1.2 billion in sales last year, slipping behind sales of skateboarding shoes ($1.5 billion) for the first time, NPD Group figures show.

Nike already commands half the cross-trainer market, according to Matt Powell, an industry analyst with SportScanInfo, and essentially created the category in the 1980s with its memorable “Bo Knows” TV ads featuring multisport star Bo Jackson. But the industry is closely eyeing Under Armor’s foray, analysts say.

“There’s a whole generation of kids for whom the Under Armour logo is what the Swoosh was to people my age,” Horan said. “You get over 30, and Nike is still the big thing. But you get to kids that are under 18 . . . and it’s really that Under Armour logo that’s driving a lot of the magic. Which drives Nike crazy.”

Nike is launching its “Sparq trainer” shoes more than a month before Under Armour’s trainers becomes available in stores in early May. Nike designed, developed and manufactured the line in 14 months — four months faster than most past shoe lines, said Jay Wilkins, Nike’s category footwear leader for men’s training.

Nike also is corralling its considerably larger marketing budget for the release. In its fiscal 2007 ending Aug. 31, Nike spent $1.9 billion companywide on marketing — dwarfing Under Armour’s $605 million in total net sales last fiscal year.

Online, the Beaverton-area shoemaker has posted videos of interviews about the training regimens of sponsored athletes, including Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy, Madras native and Boston Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and Portland LumberJax forward Ryan Powell.

It will also offer online visitors a chance to enter questions to be answered by certified trainers that work through 4-year-old Sparq Inc., based in Portland. Nike sponsors Sparq much as it does athletes, spokesman Derek Kent said.

On TV, Nike is launching two spots created by Portland’s Wieden+Kennedy starting Wednesday on widely watched “American Idol” and during college conference basketball tournaments. The “My Better” spot, airing Wednesday during broadcasts of college basketball tournaments and Fox’s “American Idol,” features high-definition footage of pro and amateur athletes moving in varying speeds to Saul Williams’ blistering tune “List of Demands.”

Powell’s appearance, along with Los Angeles Riptide midfielder Kyle Harrison, in a 60-second spot marks the first time Nike has used pro lacrosse players in a TV ad, said Joaquin Hidalgo , company vice president for global marketing. Powell gets about as much face time in the spot as Roy, an NBA All-Star.

Nike’s online advice marketing could position the brand as an authority on training, which could lead consumers to conclude its products are the best, said Marian Friestad, associate marketing professor at the University of Oregon.

Research shows the longer consumers interact with a product or remain in a particular store, the more likely they are to purchase something, Friestad said. Nike likely is hoping for the same results online, she said.

Nike’s shoes are departures from cross-trainers it has peddled in the past and those Under Armour has made. Gone are the straps and midhigh ankle collars.

Nike footwear researchers have concluded that sharp-edged heels and higher ankle collars actually hinder “the foot’s ability to train,” Wilkins said. The new line includes low collars, lower heels and curved bottom edges to enable cutting on turf, he said.

Nike’s five different models will retail for between $70 and $90; Under Armour’s “Prototype” trainers are priced between $80 and $100.

Both launches come at a hard time for retailers, who’ve reported tepid holiday and 2008 sales. But Nike’s Hidalgo brushed off concerns about a recession, saying even in downturns “people tend to regroup and go back to pastimes they really love.”

Brent Hunsberger: 503-221-8359; brenthunsberger @news.oregonian.com blog.oregonlive.com/playbooksandprofits

Luke Llewellyn of Portland, OR is our new raffle winner! Luke will receive a Powell Lacrosse prize pack! Enter our mailing list for your chance to win! Congrats Luke!

March 06, 2008
from press releases

NIKE SPARQ TRAINING REPRESENTS A YOUTH MOVEMENT IN TRAINING; THE BIGGEST IN NEARLY 20 YEARS

NFL Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson Headlines Nike Event Unveiling New Dynamic Training Campaign, Breakthrough Footwear

WHAT:

Nike is ushering in a new era in athletic training as it introduces its dynamic training platform - Nike SPARQ Training (Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness) - at a media event featuring some of today’s top professional athletes, including All-Pro NFL running back Adrian Peterson along with 75 athletes from New York and New Jersey area high schools taking part in an intense Nike SPARQ Training drill session.Today’s new age athlete is training 365 days a year. Nike SPARQ Training builds better all-around athletes through training and standardized testing, superior training footwear, apparel and equipment, and a digital training environment that brings it all together. The latest Nike SPARQ Training footwear will debut at the event.

Journalists in attendance will get a first glimpse at Nike’s new and exciting SPARQ print and television campaign that features several prominent athletes such as Kevin Durant, Hope Solo, Landon Donovan, Steve Nash, Diana Taurasi and LaDainian Tomlinson. The television ad will debut nationwide on March 12 while print advertisement supporting Nike SPARQ Training is set to debut March 4.

WHO:

Adrian Peterson, NFL All Pro Running Back (Minnesota Viking)
Lindsey Harding, WNBA standout player (Minnesota Lynx)
Ryan Powell, National Lacrosse League All-Star (Portland LumberJax)
Amobi Okoye, NFL First Round Draft Pick ‘07 (Houston Texans)

WHEN:

Sunday, March 9
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
1:30 pm media check in

WHERE:

Altman Building
135 West 18th Street (Between 6th and 7th Avenues)
New York, NY

CONTACT:

Nike Media Relations, (212) 367-4447
Weekend contacts: KeJuan Wilkins (646-469-7567) or Dean Stoyer (503) 572-2350