An interesting situation developed this week in Florida, where Heir Jordan (Michael's son Marcus) cost the University of Central Florida (UCF) its $3 million sponsorship with Adidas. Marcus felt it necessary to wear Nike (NYSE: NKE) basketball shoes, since they were his father's Nike Air Jordans.

Jordan took to the court in an all-white pair of Nike Air Jordans, which differed from the school's normal black-and-white Adidas basketball shoes. Jordan wore ankle braces with the Adidas logo displayed, but this was a cursory move made to placate Adidas. In fact, the move may have been made so he could say that he was wearing Adidas, just not the shoes. Quite honestly, there is a little soap opera surrounding the situation, so let's take a deeper look.

What would St. Patrick's Day be without finding a way to help my readers wear a little bit o' the green?

Turns out that Adidas (OTC: ADDYY) is combining two of my favorite things: the classic Campus 80 gym shoes and Irish Rap pioneers The House of Pain. Yes, you read that right.

This afternoon in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Concepts will be releasing The House of Pain X Adidas Campus 80 to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

If you love Adidas' clothing and footwear then I have some good news for you. Adidas is eying to open about 2,300 new stores in China by 2010, lifting its total number to 6,300. The company's decision came as a result of strong demand from China even in times when we might expect to see some downturns.

Frederic Seiller, a vice president in charge of retail operations for Greater China, stated that the the global economic slowdown had no impact on Adidas's sales in China. In addition, the company is optimistic about its further gains, and forecast a nice demand from the local sportswear market. From this point of view, total sales in China are expected to come to 1 billion euros by 2010.

As well as getting growth in revenue, by opening its biggest store in the world in central Beijing Adidas aims to beat rival Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE). Back in 2007, China became Nike's second-largest market, and its Chinese sales reached $1 billion in 2008.

According to Trey Thoelcke's coverage on earnings reports, Nike (NYSE: NKE), a competitor of Adidas (OTC: ADDDY), beat Wall Street expectations for its Q4 results. Analysts thought that Nike might be good for earnings of $0.96 per share, but the footwear entity booked $0.98 per share, beating estimates by two cents (thankfully, it wasn't the proverbial penny, which definitely gets boring after awhile). Investors didn't seem to be too keen on the results, as the stock sold off in after-hours trading on Wednesday, dropping almost 5%.

Let's take a closer look at the results. For the fourth quarter, the top line increased by 16% - not a bad revenue jump. And that $0.98 earnings per-share figure represented an increase of 14%. The fiscal year actually looked pretty good, too. Revenues increased 14%, and net income expanded by 28% to $3.74 per share. Gross margin expanded, and worldwide futures orders were up 11%. I like all these double-digit numbers, and I like the fact that the company paid out more in dividends this year than last, and I can see that Nike is taking advantage of the weak dollar through its international exposure.

Nike's stock has performed well, over the last five years, but lately it's not been as strong. Investors would certainly be justified in having a cautious stance with a company like Nike considering the current economic climate. Sneakers obviously might not be worth a lot of discretionary income in a time of high energy costs and slow growth. But with numbers like these, I have to say that Nike knows how to leverage its brand equity to full effect. This was a great yearly report, and if the stock pulled back a little further, I would definitely consider it.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

Welcome to the 65th installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions, and just a bit of everything else when it comes to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart.

This week, I'll be taking a look at product quality in relation to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT. As you may have read by now, Adidas AG, the second-largest maker of sporting goods globally, has said that a house brand of shoes sold at Wal-Mart may injure those that wear them. Now that's quite a statement about product quality, yes?

Adidas specifically said that Wal-Mart's Athletic Works shoes should not be worn or used by runners, as they may cause injury. I've never heard of a shoe or sporting goods manufacturer state that a particular type of show would injure a runner, but there you have it. These Athletic Works shows are "not suitable to run in," according to Adidas. How was this claim determined -- and what about other Wal-Mart products that may have inferior quality? Read on.

English soccer star David Beckham came to America earlier this year, joining the Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy with a base salary of $5.5 million and guaranteed compensation of $6,5 million, making him by far the highest paid soccer player in the United States. Throw in some marketing opportunities and profit-sharing options offered by team investor Anschutz Entertainment Group, and he's in a league of his own: Nearly 30 percent of MLS players are paid either $17,700 or $12,900.

Beckham's former team, Real Madrid, had paid him nearly $32 million annually. So, why the move for less money? Beckham is not just an athlete, but a fairly successful pitchman. His biggest endorsement, Gillette, pays him an estimated $9 million for three years, and he also lends his image to Pepsico (NYSE: PEP) products, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Adidas and -- yep -- Brylcream. Playing around the United States will give him a higher profile in the only market he hasn't conquered yet: ours.

B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.

Be sure to check out more Money Winners of 2007.

This week in Advertising Age:

A freebie tool, TrialPay, is a new web tool created to serve the desires of customers to get free stuff, and companies wishing to push its product by giving away freebies. For example, if while browsing a participating retail site you found an MP4 player you'd like, but don't want to pay for, you can select Checkout by TrialPay, which might respond with an offer from an online music sales site offering to buy the MP4 for you if you buy X number of songs from them. You end up paying, for sure, but you might save a few bucks along the way.

Viral marketing, creating web content appealing enough that it inspires peer to peer recommendations, is a hot segment of web marketing. AA lists the 10 most prolific viral marketers, according to Competitrack -- Nike (NYSE: NKE), Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Volkswagen, Axe, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Adidas, PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) and McDonald's (NYSE: MCD). Getting ready to move? Be prepared for an onslaught of pitches. AA finds that pre-movers are also big spenders, fixing up their houses, buying new furniture and appliances, and so on.

This post is part of our Money Face-Offs feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.

Celebrities -- they're more than superior human beings, they're money-making machines. If these celebrities were stocks, which would be the shrewd buy?

Tiger Woods, unarguably the world's greatest golfer, or David Beckham, the world's best-know soccer player -- in which would you invest?

The industry that is Tiger has shown consistent growth in earnings, with PGA winnings in his first 13 years as a pro exceeding $70 million. His presence in a golf tournament boosts television ratings by 50% or more. He almost single-handedly established Nike in the golf equipment world. He holds the #5 place in Forbes' Celebrity 100 and was #2 in press clippings in 2005. Nike (NYSE: NKE), Buick (NYSE: GM), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Accenture, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Tag Heuer are among the companies that shovel buckets of cash his way in return for his endorsement.

David Beckham is no slouch in the cash category, either. The Times estimates the soccer star brings in a cool $40+ million for endorsements, including Adidas, ESPN, and Motorola (NYSE: MOT). Even in soccer-lite America, he has 51.9% recognition, more than twice that of NBA MVP Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs.

German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas AG (FRA:ADS) posted a whopping 52% jump in revenue for FY 2006 to $13.23 billion (over 10 billion euros), the first time Adidas has broken the 10 billion euro threshhold. The increase was fueled mainly as a result of tremendous sports clothing sales for the 2006 World Cup played on its home country turf and by the acquisition of sport shoemaker Reebok. 4Q earnings topped $17 million versus $4 million in losses in 4Q 2005. 4Q sales were up 48% to just under $3 billion. FY 2006 earnings were $649.76 million.

Adidas has ambitious plans for Reebok, the official sponsor for the National Football League. Reebok has lost market share in recent quarters, posting weak sales and small profit margins.The order backlog at Adidas fell 4% in 2006, and a much larger 18% for Reebok, meaning that production has consistently outstripped demand. Adidas bought Reebok in order to compete more effectively against Nike and Puma in the American market.

Adidas executives continue to be optimistic, forecasting 2007 sales to increase modestly, gross margins to increase 45-47%, and net income growing at 15%.

Being in London for a few days gives one a perspective of how outsiders view our markets and other general trends. I had a meeting with a British portfolio manager, James, who partially specializes in US retailers. He is the co-manager of a $3 billion US growth fund for a major mutual fund company based in London. He travels to the US five to six times per year to visit companies and attend various growth conferences. He is an absolute seller of the Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS) and is using those dollars to buy and add to his Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) position.

As a quick backdrop, I wrote in my book "Stop Losing Money Today" about various companies that serve a niche market, or a fad market; and companies that become absolute phenomenons. One such company that I highlighted was Nike. Nike began as a niche sneaker maker/marketer that migrated to a fad during the "joggers" period of the 70's to an outright phenomenon in the 90's as it expanded its products to apparel, shoes for men and women, and opened its extensive retail stores. Today Nike sells over $16 billion worth of merchandise.

The Gap, on the other hand, has become a has-been concept in the retail world. The distribution channels are massive for the Gap, with over 3,000 outlets representing the Gap Stores, Banana Republic and Old Navy. But they have miscalculated the fickle consumer and underestimated the competition from players like Abercrombie and Fitch. The Gap has had senior management issues (never a good sign) and has retained a senior search firm to find a new CEO. The holiday season was very disappointing for the Gap concepts.

At one time in the 1990's, the Gap Stores "was it". They owned the teenage and twenty-something markets. They really infused the nation with the comfort and casual look. But eventually, the Gap became an old and passe concept and did not keep up with changing tastes and trends.

Nike has led the athletic apparel and footwear market and has withstood the fierce competition from Russell, Adidas, Reebok and now the hot manufacturer Under Armour (NYSE:UA). Nike has consistently portrayed an image of quality yet cutting edge. Nike realized early on that the decision makers for footwear and apparel are teenagers, not parents, and they aligned themselves with major university athletic programs. The brilliance of Nike was to open the retail stores as they can control all aspects of the purchase. Customers coming in to buy a pair of shoes, invariably walk out with t-shirts and other accessories added to the purchase.

Nike has never sat pat on any of their footwear or apparel lines. They are constantly tweaking the offerings and keeping them fresh and appealing. Interestingly, both Gap and Nike sell about $16 billion of merchandise annually, but Nike is growing and solid, while Gap is struggling and unfocused.

James did confess to me that he wears Reebok shoes himself!!

Georges Yared is the author of "Stop Losing Money Today" and "Baby Boomer Investing...Where do we go from here?"