Shox treatment - SPORTING CHANCE By Joaquin M. Henson

When Vince Carter vaulted over 7-2 Frederic Weis to dunk the ball in the US’ 106-94 trouncing of France at the recent Sydney Olympics, Nike pashas credited the incredible leap to his new shoe. The word from Beaverton, Oregon — where the footwear and apparel company is based — was Carter’s Shox did the trick.

Carter barely beat the Sydney deadline in signing a five-year, $30 Million contract to endorse Nike, specifically the Shox — a revolutionary shoe that uses highly resilient foam in four spring-like columns at the heel and air in the forefoot to provide a trampoline effect or a feeling of propulsion like in a rocket booster.

It wasn’t easy for Carter to bail out of the five-year, $25 Million contract he signed to wear Puma shoes when he turned pro in 1998. Puma took Carter to court when Vin-sanity tried to break out of the contract. An arbitrator eventually ordered Carter to pay $13.5 Million in damages plus an additional amount to cancel a moratorium which would’ve prevented him from endorsing a product of Puma’s competitors for three years.

Carter’s highlight jam in Sydney was an eye-popper. He floated on air and jumped over Weis who didn’t know whether to clap or cry. "I think everybody was in awe," said Carter’s teammate Jason Kidd, quoted in Pro Basketball Today. "To me, that was probably the greatest play in basketball I’ve ever seen." And Carter did it in Shox.

What exactly is the Shox?

It’s a shoe that’s unlike any other. It doesn’t look like anything out in the market. The heel is cushioned by four foamed columns attached to a plate that forms part of the sole. The Shox comes in three models — a silver-and-black shoe for basketball with blue-colored columns, a grey shoe for cross-training with orange-colored columns, and a silver-and-white shoe for running with red-colored columns.

Believe it or not, the Shox evolved from the Nike lab after 16 years of development. It was inspired by the responsive, springy indoor running track at Harvard University. Harvard professor Thomas McMahon designed the track to improve the performance of runners, optimizing the spring, or returned energy, when a foot hit the turf. In 1984, McMahon used the same theory in assisting Nike researchers to design the first Shox prototype which featured springs on a metal plate – making the shoe unwearable because it weighed about five pounds. Eventually, Nike designers assembled a shoe that incorporated the "air" technology and the "spring" action using resilient but durable material — "jounce bouncers" that absorb friction in the chassis of Formula I cars.

"The shoe’s no gimmick," said Dennis Tan, Nike Footwear Manager for Southeast Asia. "It’s undergone the most comprehensive testing ever for a shoe. We’re confident we’ve finally created a shoe for the athlete to run faster and jump higher."

Tan said the Shox basketball shoe will be introduced in the Philippine market on Nov. 22, the running shoe on Dec. 6 and the cross-trainer on Dec. 20. Each model will retail about P6,500 — much less than what it costs to buy a $150 pair in the US.

San Miguel Beer star Danny Seigle will wear Shox for the first time in a game against Tanduay this Wednesday. Nike’s other local pro basketball endorsers are Alvin Patrimonio, Olsen Racela, Nick Belasco, Jun Limpot, Eric Menk, Jeffrey Cariaso, Andy Seigle, and Alex Compton.

Nike is bringing in only a limited number of Shox – about 300 pairs of each model — for local sale. The supply isn’t expected to last long on the shelves. When Nike launched the sock-like Presto shoes in six colors a few months ago, the pairs came in limited quantities and were gobbled up in a snap. That’s because Nike isn’t into mass production, explained Tan. The emphasis is on quality, not quantity.

Tan said the Shox columns are designed to grind over 2,000 miles. "They’re like rocket boosters," he continued. "In basketball, you’ll see the effect in your second jump — particularly when you follow up a shot from under the basket or when you go up for an offensive rebound. The shoe’s like a trampoline, absorbing impact and deflecting energy stored upwards. They also give maximum support cushioning for the heel and hold the foot in the center of the shoe for more stability."

The Shox is an alternative to Nike’s Air, launched in 1979. "The Shox and the Air, including the Zoom and the Max, are both excellent shoes," said Tan. "The Shox adds spring to your step, like a ‘boing." It enhances performance. The Air emphasizes comfort cushioning and impact protection. While each Shox model has the same spring technology, the running shoe is different from the basketball shoe and the cross-trainers. They’ve got their own distinct characteristics — for instance, the basketball shoe is for players who want to explode their game to the next level — in short, play like Carter — while the running shoe is extra-responsive — it acts as a suspension system, giving the runner a propelling feeling as if he’s running downhill with a tailwind — and the cross-trainers give a balance of cushioning, stability and lateral and linear support on a variety of surfaces."

There are several other exceptional athletic shoes in the market as the competition heats up to mesmerize the consumers. Adidas recently launched Kobe Bryant’s latest signature model called "The Kobe," in black or white, for $130. Reebok is introducing Allen Iverson’s new Answer IV in the US this week for $115 and Steve Francis’ Wink for $90 early next year. Fila is bringing out Grant Hill’s latest model, GH II Mid, next month for $65. And Jordan has several Jumpman models, including a University of North Carolina pair for $100, due for launching next month.

The consumers couldn’t be happier.