Shoe Dog: Young Readers Edition

The final chapter of Shoe Dog: Young Readers Edition is the most heavily abridged version of the text. Onitsuka gives Knight a notice of termination, and Nike is now on its own, “with an unproven source of supply and a brand no one ha[s] heard of” (233). The actual debut for Nike comes at both the 1972 Sporting Goods Show in Chicago, where retailers place orders more heavily than expected, and at the 1972 US Olympic Trials, which are held in Eugene, Oregon, for the first time. At the Trials, many athletes train in Nikes, and about “25 percent of the marathoners [are] in one model or another of the new Nike racing flats” (234). The highlight of the event, however, is the 5,000-meter race, which pits Prefontaine against three-time Olympian George Young. While both runners break the American record, Prefontaine pulls away at the end and wins. Knight decides after the race that Nike will be resilient and courageous like Prefontaine: “He would be our exemplar, our North Star” (235).

Later in the year, Onitsuka sues Knight for breach of contract, and he in turn countersues in the US and has his cousin Houser represent him on a contingent free basis. The trial begins in Portland in 1974, and their case is that while they said that they would not sell competing shoes, with the change in ownership of the company, Onitsuka said that they would not sell to Blue Ribbon’s competitors. Onitsuka’s case, on the other hand, is that Knight had actually asked to be taken over and that their communications about competitors was really just market research. While the trial is going on, Nike has an increase in annual sales from $4.8 million to $8.4 million, thanks to The Waffle Trainer shoe, which incorporates Bowerman’s new waffle sole. Judge James Burns rules in favor of Knight and finds that Nike is entitled to the names of the shoes that they originated, adding that a special master will be appointed to determine money damages (240).

In 1975, Nike is on the way to nearly doubling sales again, and Knight remains committed to keeping his creditors at Nissho happy because they have a subordinate position to the bank in case disaster happens. By the spring, however, after Knight and Johnson open a new factory in Exeter, New Hampshire, Nike owes Nissho $1 million, and its relationship with Bank of California is terminated. This results in an audit by Nissho, which ultimately decides to pay off Nike’s Bank of California debt. On Memorial Day weekend, a highly publicized track meet is organized in Eugene that will feature Prefontaine taking on Olympic marathon gold medalist Frank Shorter in the 5,000-meter race. Pre narrowly defeats Shorter in the race, but following a post-race party, he is involved in an auto accident and is killed.

Sales continue to boom in 1976, led by Bowerman’s Waffle Trainer, so Knight begins searching for cheaper production possibilities (because of the increased value of the Japanese yen) and finds a factory in Taiwan. The Olympic Trials in preparation for the 1976 Montreal Summer Games are once again held in Eugene, and Nike now has “a complete complement of spiked and flat running shoes” (246). At the 1972 Trials, no runners wearing Nikes make the Olympic team, but this time, all three qualifiers in the first event are wearing Nikes. In the spring of 1977, Knight meets Frank Rudy, a former aerospace engineer, who has invented an air midsole for running shoes. Knight tries the shoes on a run and reaches an agreement with Rudy that night. He writes, “[N]ow forty years later we have sold some 400 million pairs of air-soled shoes” (248).

Later in 1977, Knight receives a bill from US Customs for a past due amount of $25 million. The bill references an old American Selling Price (ASP) law that applies duties at a much higher rate to certain products made overseas. Knight decides to fight it and hires an attorney from his cousin’s firm. The ASP fight dominates both 1978 and 1979, and Knight begins commuting to Washington, DC, to be on hand. There, he is able to convince a number of high-profile legislators that the case is a result of underhanded manipulation by their competitors. Ultimately, US Customs lowers its past due amount to $9 million, which Knight agrees to pay.

With the ASP case out of the way, in 1980, Knight revisits the idea of going public and doing so in such a way that he will not lose control of the company. In July of 1980, Knight receives a formal invitation to visit China, where he and his associates meet with the Ministry of Sports “to make a deal for their track and field team” (259). According to Knight, four years later, the Chinese team competes in the Olympics for the first time in 25 years, and “they [are] wearing Nike track shoes and warm-ups” (260). Upon returning to the US, Nike gets the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission and makes its public offering in December at $22 dollars per share.