61 Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman once thought the large swoosh made the shoes appear heavy.
62 According to market research company The NPD Group, sneakers priced over $100 made up only $611 million of the $8 billion that customers spent on footwear during 2005.
63 Skate legend Tony Hawk and MTV jackass Bam Margera skate in Adio footwear, a sneaker company based out of Cali.
64 Nike SB sneakers have monthly drops rather than hard release dates, making it harder to predict when they\'ll arrive in stores.
65  The big sneaker companies, such as Nike and Adidas, own viewing boxes at most large sporting events like the U.S. Open and NBA Finals. However, should you step into their box wearing the sneakers of a competitor, you may be promptly asked to go barefoot- or offered to exchange your shoes temporarily for the host brand\'s.

66  Adidas helped win a World Cup.
At the 1954 World Cup, Adidas founder Adi Dassler made a halftime adjustment even Phil Jackson would be proud of. The underdog West German soccer team was down 2-0 to Hungary\'s "Mighty Magyars"-undefeated since 1950-and having trouble with the stadium\'s sloppy turf. "Adi had a very close relationship with the team and worked with them," says Ben Pruess, Global Head of Heritage for Adidas. "He introduced a new piece of footwear with a screw-in stud, which gave players better traction." Germany pounced with two quick goals to tie the match 2-2, and with six minutes left, Helmut Rahn scored the game winner after Hungary\'s keeper slipped on the wet grass. It was Germany\'s first World Cup, but more importantly, inspired a nation devastated by war. "This sporting event really gave them pride," Pruess says. Proof positive, a dramatic feature about events surrounding the game, Das Wunder Von Bern, was released in Germany in 2003. Adidas is for the children! (TG)

67 MTV refuses to play Nelly\'s "Air Force Ones" clip.
"Air Force Ones" were the three dirrty words Nelly couldn\'t say on Music Television. In early 2003, MTV, MTV2, and VH1 banned the "Air Force Ones" video due to excessive product placement. For those MTV die-hards who refused to watch BET, which did show the video, here\'s what you missed: Nelly and the St. Lunatics perform an impromptu concert after fans interrupt their shopping spree. How did you live without that? (TG)

68 Adidas\'s Stan Smith is named after a tennis player who won two U.S. Opens and Wimbledon in the early \'70s, not the titular character of Fox\'s \'American Dad.\'
69 In August 2005, Adidas acquired Reebok for $3.8 billion-the deal should be finalized by this summer.
70 Reebok and Pharrell share a love akin to Eminem and Kim. After falling out and threatening to sue each other, the two reconciled and went back into business together. You scream, I scream, we all scream for Ice Creams!
71 Until 1966, Converse All-Stars were only available in black and white.
72 The 1992 film Sneakers, which starred Robert Redford and River Phoenix, had nothing to do with sneaks. FYI, the forthcoming documentary Just For Kicks, does.
73 New Balancesneakers were emblazoned with "Made in the USA," but the company has factories in China and was taken to court over the claim.
74 Reebok is named after an African gazelle called a rhebok.
75 Skechers and L.A. Gear are both the brainchild of Robert Greenberg. Say what you say, he\'s rich.
76 Adidas\'s three-stripe logo is rumored to represent the three sons of Adidas founder, Adi Dassler.

77 On the Coq
It might not produce an anthem like "My Adidas," but legendary rapper DMC has found his new fit in upscale French sneaker brand Le Coq Sportif. After seeing Run\'s "Time For A Change" Phat Farm sneaker campaign and undergoing personal revelations (he recently discovered that he was adopted), D went searching for a shoe that would match his new persona. When a friend brought him to Le Coq Sportif\'s showroom, he immediately knew he\'d found a sneaker for an older Darryl "DMC" McDaniels. "In the \'80s, I was always afraid to mess with it because it was too fly for me," D remembers. "I can get fly now." While artists like the Fresh Prince and LL Cool J were known to rock the triangle rooster in the \'80s, the brand (which was actually owned by Adidas until 1995) has been largely unknown to American consumers in the last 10 years. "DMC is known for making Adidas what it is today," says Jennifer Delevante, Marketing Communications Director of newly launched Le Coq Sportif North America. "He considered Adidas to be part of his great past, but he\'s reinventing himself, and he needed something new. He\'s become a brand ambassador." While the company\'s new ads will be tied to the release of his new album, Checks, Thugs and Rock \'n Roll, D is more than just a public face. With input in colorways, cuts, and styles, he\'s helping to define the future of the brand. "I\'m not just another rapper with a sneaker line. That\'s the worst thing that I could ever do," he says. "We didn\'t do Adidas for any commercial reasons, that\'s what we wore. This is what I wear now." Just close your eyes and imagine a concert hall with thousands of 40-year-olds holding their Le Coq Sportifs proudly over their heads. (BF)

78  The Nike Air Max 95 design was based on the human body.  The midsole represents the spine, the graduated panels represent the muscles, the lace loops are the ribs, and the mesh  represents the skin.
79 In 2005, Reebok pulled a 50 Cent commercial because it showed 50 counting from one to nine, referring to the nine times he was shot. Reebok thought it was a positive message, but a mother whose son was shot to death complained, so the company pulled the ad.
80 Keds was the first company to call its rubber-soled shoes "sneakers."

Home » SNEAKERS » Sneakers - Features » 101 Things You Didn't Know About Sneakers: 61-80