When 23 year old Chris Bryant was dared by his buddy to jump a car, he never knew that a successful jump would mean so much. Five years later, with a little help from Ellen DeGeneres, Bryant has taken his unique jumping ability to new heights.

In September, Bryant appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to show off his knack at leaping over cars. During the interview he told Ellen that he had always wanted to be in a Nike commercial. Right then and there, Ellen called the CEO of Nike and pitched the car jumper ad. Three months later, Chris Bryant has his Nike commercial and even designed a pair of running shoes called the Nike Shox NZ, which he wears in the commercial.

Kudos to Ellen, Nike and Chris Bryant. What a great story! See his Nike ad above.

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I just came across an article at MSNBC that spoke about the coolest ski gear that’s on the slopes this season. The article covers gear and gadgets to totally outfit a skier. Here is some of the equipment talked about.

• Spherical PPX goggles by Zeal Optics
• Volkl Tigershark 12 Foot skis
• Atomic Hawx 110 ski boots
• LEKI Vision Venom SL Trigger S poles

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The 2008 Australian Open is still about a month away, but that hasn’t stopped Nike from releasing the outfits some of their stars will wear while they are down under. Here you see the outfit Serena Williams will wear in the first major tournament of 2008.

It’s a one-piece, white tunic-style dress with royal purple accents on top of a pair of purple lycra biker shorts. You can read more about Serena’s Nike tennis outfit, which she had tons of input in designing, at the TennisWeek blog.

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The Nutty Buddy is the brain child of ex Major Leaguer, turned inventor, Mark Littell. More on his new revolutionary athletic cup later, but I had to show you the video immediately. For those of you with short attention spans, the “meat” of the video is at the 1:30 mark.

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Currently the Nike Zoom LeBron V is available in one color, White/Navy/Gold. That is unless you are lucky enough to have found the Chinese version of the shoe that was launched back in October. Well, later this month (December 30th, LeBron’s birthday) Nike is releasing a new color scheme that pays homage to his high school alma mater, Saint Vincent-Saint Mary’s.

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Last week, Nike and Foot Locker banded together to form a bricks and mortar retail experience like no other. The two companies opened their first House of Hoops retail store in New York City on 125th street.

The nearly 4,000-square-foot store, which also serves as a kind of community basketball hangout, features Nike, Jordan Brand and Converse brands, with each getting a branded area.

Over then next 3 years the two companies plan to open 50 stores. The House of Hoops locations are the only place to find shoes with the precise designs of such NBA stars like Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Lebron James and more. There are also a few other cool in-store features that include

Among other areas, the store has a Hoops Essentials area and a VIP area, where visitors can read magazines, or watch commercials and behind-the-scenes interviews with the players on a 65-inch TV screen. The store also has a community section with an electronic community board and a ticker posting real-time scores from local high school basketball games, relevant basketball news, and information about upcoming store events.

If any of you NYC’ers can sneak a few pics of the new store and send them my way, I would truly appreciate it.

Source [MediaPost’s marketing Daily]

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I just found an interesting video on how trail runners (any runner for that matter) can prevent blisters from forming on their feet. The video is a little under three minutes, and well worth your time.

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If you’re a female runner with a wide foot, New Balance has some options that will make you very happy.

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I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 8444087

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Chad Campbell won the PGA tour stop last week at the Viking Classic. Here’s what was in his bag:

• Driver: Nike SasQuatch (8.5 degrees; UST Accra XC75 shaft with AXIV Technology)
• Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Burner 3-wood (13 degrees)
• 2-Iron: Nike Pro Combo OS
• Irons (4-9): Nike Pro Combo Tour
• Pitching Wedge: Nike Blade
• Wedges: Nike SV (51, 56 and 61 degrees)
• Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist prototype
• Ball: Nike One Black
• Footwear: Nike Golf
• Apparel: Nike Golf

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Yes, I know this isn’t real, but it’s just downright cool. Kudos to Frosted Flakes for incorporating tennis and baseball.

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I must buy this! This is what I need to walk amongst the kids in my neighborhood as a superior. It has nothing to do with my 20+ years of age and experience, it all has to do with the cool stuff I can buy for their Wii game console. I can already kick their butts in Wii Tennis, but now I’ll look even cooler doing so with my Prince Wii controller.

The rackets will cost $14.99 and should be available for purchase mid November, 2007.

Thanks to Erwin over at Tennis Served Fresh for bringing this to my attention.

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I just completed my first 5K, and I can tell you that running in a cotton shirt sucks. It’s hot, sweaty and weighs 18 pounds by the time you’re finished. The easy thing to do is go out and buy an actual running shirt, one that is designed to keep you cool and dry. Another option you can take, if you want a little more flare or personalization, is to go shop at Running Banana.

Running Banana allows you to upload personal images or slogans that they will print on your running shirt for you. Think Cafepress on steroids with a protein bar in hand. Their shirts will wick sweat away, keep you running cooler and could quite possibly make you the talk of the race. My personal fav from their gallery is this shirt worn by a police officer in a race.

Shirts start at $23 and go up to $37.

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If you want water during a race you do one of three things.

1. You only drink at water stations.
2. You carry water in your hand.
3. You strap water to your hips or back, G.I. Joe style.

Now, thanks to The Body Bottle, you can strap that water bottle to your arm and carry water in a less cumbersome and and less restrictive way. You can find specs for the bottles at their website above or follow along with product enhancements and R&D at The Body Bottle blog.

The Body Bottle retails for $10.95 and you can get it at their website.

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Have you ever wondered what a soccer shoe, designed by kids would look like? Maybe, maybe not. But, to outfit an English midfielder with new shoes, school kids were given the opportunity to participate in a contest to design a soccer shoe.

As part of the Premier League ‘Creating Chances’ community programme, North East school children have had the chance to develop and market a football boot for Middlesbrough midfielder George Boateng.

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