Under Armour’s Founder
The Under Armour Innovation Center is behind two security doors in a building on the company’s campus, across a set of freight train tracks from the building that houses Plank’s office. Kevin Haley, the company’s head of innovation, an athletically built guy with close cropped blond hair, walks me down a hallway past sewing machines and 3 D printers used for rapid prototyping, including one he calls the Big Daddy. About 30 people work in the innovation department, focusing exclusively on the most forward looking and longest gestating projects. Under Armour also throws the place open to outside inventors from time to time; the company sponsors a business competition every year at the University of Maryland, Cupid’s Cup, named after Plank’s collegiate rose delivery business, designed to spotlight up and coming entrepreneurs. Plank says he wanted Under Armour to be a welcoming place to anyone with an interesting idea; if some 23 year old kid comes knocking on the cheap nfl jerseys door, "there’s not some bureaucrat who’s sitting there going, ’Oh, no, no, no; let me tell you how the process works.’ They’re going, ’Hey, man, that’s pretty cool.’ And they’ll know, ’Come to Under Armour and we’ll give you a fair shake.’"
Plank told me a story about how this process can work: A few years ago, he found himself in the New York Rangers locker room after a game, and he noticed the players wearing a type of compression short he’d never seen before. "I’m like, ’Why aren’t these guys wearing our shorts? What’s that product?’ It’s the Coreshort. It’s this guy named Greg, a physiologist. Who wears it? Everybody. Everybody on the Rangers? No, everybody in the NHL. Like, all right. We can knock him off. We can buy it. Or we can license it." And that’s what cheap prom dresses online they’ve done: Under Armour now sells hundreds of thousands of Coreshorts at twice what Greg was selling them for. "We should be the platform," Plank said. "I want everybody in the world to think of cool ideas. If you can do it yourself, great. But if you’re concerned, or if you want validation? Come to Under Armour."
Haley and I arrive at a wall where several shirts are hanging. They have circular holes in the center where computer sensors would go to monitor heart rate and other performance data. "These are our early Frankenstein prototypes for our 39 project," Haley says. Five years in the making, it launched in March under the name Armour39. Named after the original compression shirt prototype No. 39 Armour39 is an interesting window into where the company is heading. The day when our computers and our clothing fuse together seamlessly is not that far off; Under Armour dramatizes this in a commercial playing in the lobby featuring "Future Girl," a woman who pushes a button and changes the color of her clothes. It’s an open question whether the technology companies or the clothing companies will define what this fusion looks like and thereby control the market. With all the disclosures lately about how tech companies like Google and Facebook are handing over customer data to the National Security Agency, are customers likely to trust them to manufacture things they actually put next to their skin? "Am I supposed to give that [market] away to the computer guys?" Plank says. "Who does the customer trust more? Who’s going to be leading that charge? Will it be Facebook? I don’t know. I know we’ll be there in some way, shape, or form."
Haley brings me to a small workout area draped in black fabric. This is where they’ve been testing Armour39, as well as what he calls a "revolutionary" new bra and a new kind of shoe that’s going to "revolutionize the footwear industry."
Under Armour has been trying to break into footwear for seven years now, without a lot of success. footwear pie 2 percent. The desire to make shoes was always there, says Fulks; they’d never be as big as Nike if they didn’t make shoes. "Just wait until we make shoes," they used to say to each other. "It’s gonna blow up." Adds Fulks, "Obviously a little naive." Cross trainers, basketball shoes, running shoes nothing has seemed to stick. athletic footwear market and 90 percent of the basketball shoe business.
Nike has loomed large for Plank since the very beginning; he used to send Nike CEO Phil Knight a Christmas card every year, writing, "You will hear about us one day." Plank doesn’t talk much about Nike anymore. He calls them "the guys from out West," as in, "The guys from out West are valued at $50 billion. Are they nine times more valuable [than us]? I don’t know about that." (Nike’s market cap is $50 billion; Under Armour’s is $6 billion.) Plank makes sure to tell me he thinks Knight is a good man, and respects him. "He’s also nearly 40 years older than me. So it gives me at least 40 wholesale nfl jerseys years."
The cards have changed a bit over the years. Under Armour isn’t just a start up staffed by Plank’s bros anymore, although the bros are still around; he’s been able to lure top talent from Nike, Reebok, and other major fashion brands. After seven years of struggle, Plank finally believes they’re ready to take on footwear this time with a new kind of running shoe called the SpeedForm.
I’m introduced to Dave Dombrow, senior creative director for footwear, a young former Nike employee with a shaved head, a plaid Under Armour shirt, and a soothingly inspirational style of speaking. He shows me the SpeedForm. The shoe’s distinguishing feature is a completely seamless heel, which gives it an ultraclose fit. Dombrow hands me a pair; they’re incredibly light and look like slippers. Under Armour likes to show off this shoe because, for one thing, it seems distinctively Armour ish in a way that its other shoes didn’t; with its bra cup like heel, the SpeedForm is basically a compression sock for your foot. But the shoe also gives Plank a chance to talk about Baltimore. A typical shoe requires 100 to 200 sets of hands to make, which means chasing cheap labor all around the globe. The SpeedForm requires only 40 or 50 sets of hands, because it’s made in a bra factory, not a shoe factory, using manufacturing methods not usually used for shoes like "ultrasonic" welding, a way of fusing material together without stitches. "We think we can get it down to 20, 30 sets of hands," Plank says. If so, it may be cost effective to manufacture in America instead of China.
"The public markets do not value jobs the way they once did," Plank says, leaning back in his chair. "In the early 1970s, GM was the most valuable company in the world. Sixty billion dollars. They had jobs for a million Americans. You take the four horsemen of Silicon Valley? Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook? That’s 150,000 jobs. And collectively posting a trillion dollar market cap. So where are the jobs here? Does everybody work at McDonald’s?"
Suddenly, Plank starts reeling off growth percentages; that’s how guys like him keep score. Under Armour grew by 24 percent in 2010, 38 percent in 2011, and 25 percent in 2012. "I’m not guaranteeing it, but if we grow at least 23 percent for the next seven years, we’re a $10 billion company. So that’s five times from where we are today. What if we could just find a way to bring 25,000 jobs back to Baltimore city? Can you imagine what that would mean? Actually find a model that can invigorate the city of Baltimore again?"
This is where you start to involuntarily nod along with the guy. Plank isn’t Wall Street; he’s not a social media company. He’s not hawking credit default swaps or some dipshit app. He’s a guy making shoes and shirts, actual physical products, things that come from factories and create jobs. At the same time, he’s so passionate about what innovation can do that it’s easy to forget what it can’t do. For instance, innovation probably can’t do anything to protect the shy sack of mayonnaise that is the human brain if the human it belongs to is hitting another human with a force of 15 to 20 Gs, which is the force that a lineman generates on every play, and which is about equal to a car hitting a brick wall at 30 miles per hour.
Earlier this year, Under Armour joined the Head Health Initiative, a $60 million partnership with the NFL and General Electric to reduce brain injuries in the league. The effort isn’t very far along, but there are reasons to be skeptical that it’s an earnest attempt to solve a problem and not just a public relations move to deflect criticism and liability. (At the time the initiative was announced, more than 4,000 former players were getting ready to sue the NFL over head trauma; the suit has since been filed.) When I call a couple of medical experts who study chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease that doctors have found in the brains of dozens of deceased NFL players, they tell me that it’s likely that no technology in the foreseeable future will be able to blunt the massive forces inherent in the game of football.
Plank doesn’t supply the NFL’s uniforms. Nike does. The contract is worth an estimated $1.1 billion. The initiative stands to strengthen Plank’s relationship with the league. It "represents another way in," Forbes has written, "and a chance to be a hero."
When I relay the medical experts’ skepticism to Plank, he darkens. "I love the sport. And I hate seeing it under attack. I think it’s important that we put the strongest resources that we have to defend it." He says maybe there’s some angle we haven’t thought of, some technology from an Army helmet or a shoe or a boat. America is a smart, resourceful country, he says. If we can put a man on the moon.

Sarasota museum surpasses its fundraising goals
Nearly 10 years later, the $22 million campaign has come to a successful close, exceeding its goal by more than $500,000. Renovation of the historic Sarasota High School, situated just south of downtown on Tamiami Trail, will begin in July, with a planned opening in January 2016.
has been an incredible journey, said Wendy Surkis, SMOA president. over $22 million is, in my mind, a testimony to the people of this community. And for me, it really both a personal and a community triumph. It packersauthenticofficialshop.com/DAVANTE_ADAMS_SUPER_BOWL_JERSEY.html a fabulous achievement. museum, which will be a combination contemporary art museum and visual arts education center, is under the umbrella of the Ringling College of Art and Design, which has leased the onetime high school building from the Sarasota school district for 99 years.
executive director that we are looking for will come in and give form and shape to how this new museum will be for us here, and we need that expertise, said Surkis, who has been a volunteer on the project from its inception.
Although fundraising began nearly a decade ago, it really started in earnest just as the Great Recession was wreaking havoc with potential donors portfolios. RCAD got the to the castle, in Surkis words, in 2009. Money rolled in until it reached the $16 million to $17 million range, said Larry Thompson, president of Ringling College.
But then it stalled.
Two years ago, the college hired Michael E. Moore as vice president for advancement. After spending a year getting to know the philanthropic community, Moore kicked his efforts into high gear. A million dollar matching gift in January by Elaine Keating, an RCAD trustee and founding member of the SMOA board who had given $1 million early in the campaign, was matched within six weeks. An anonymous donor in March issued a million dollar challenge grant with about $2.5 million left to be raised and a May 31 deadline.
A letter to donors announcing the successful completion of the campaign was mailed on Thursday. The total raised was $22,540,603.
think the key moment was probably about a year ago when we started having a change in attitude, the psyche of everyone involved in this, said Moore, who came to RCAD from the University of California system.
Patrick Dougherty Stickworks installation on the lawn in front of the school, titled in Front, renewed public and donor interest in the project.
may not like that type of installation art, but something was happening there, Moore said. Lisa Hoke installation last winter a monumental paperboard collage in Randall Cobb Super Bowl 49 Jersey a classroom, lighted at night and visible from the Trail continued the momentum.
Both exhibits are temporary and will come down when renovation reaches that point, said Surkis.
Renovation of the building, which was built in 1927 in the Collegiate Gothic style and is on the National Register of Historic Places, will begin with the brick exterior. It needs up, said Surkis. That means tuck pointing the brick, replacing windows and making sure all is weatherproof.
can do the inside of the building until the exterior is really shored up, she said.
Interior renovation, which includes classroom, gallery and studio space and a cafe, will begin as soon as the exterior is secured. The building second story will be a museum of contemporary art with traveling and temporary exhibitions; no permanent collection is planned for the near future. Don Lawson of Lawson Group Architects is the project designer; Willis Smith Construction will handle the project.
Moore said he confident that the $14 John Kuhn Super Bowl 49 Jersey million allocated for construction will be adequate.
at what had been proposed in the design phase, the current architect said there are newer materials, costs have come down, we can gain some efficiencies, said Moore. Original plans, from an architecture firm that went out of business in the recession, called for an elevator inside the building. But the new plans place it on the outside, in a glass addition on the east side, rather than up through the interior. saved like $700,000, Moore said.
In all, 1,362 gifts were made to the campaign, ranging from $5 to more than $1 million. In the 2013 fiscal year, there were 436 gifts; in the 2014 fiscal year, which ended Saturday, there were 401. The first gift in 2004 was $500, from an RCAD employee, said Moore.
think people saw, well, the money coming in and maybe we will get these things done, Moore said. really has been a broad based community effort. said the last five months have been filled with genuinely touching moments for her.
had some, I must say, some meaningful and heartwarming things that did happen, like in my mailbox at home, a handwritten note, on the outside it would say this helps and it would be a check from a person.
it would be $50. Somethings it would be $5,000, she said. just touched my heart.
Sarasota museum surpasses its fundraising goalsBy SUSAN L. RIFE
Nearly 10 years later, the $22 million campaign has come to a successful close, exceeding its goal by more than $500,000. Renovation of the historic Sarasota High School, situated just south of downtown on Tamiami Trail, will begin in July, Randall Cobb Super Bowl Jersey with a planned opening in January 2016.
has been an http://www.packersauthenticofficialshop.com/JULIUS_PEPPERS_SUPER_BOWL_JERSEY.html incredible journey, said Wendy Surkis, SMOA president. over $22 million is, in my mind, a testimony to the people of this community. And for me, it’s really both a personal and a community triumph. It’s a fabulous achievement. museum, which will be a combination contemporary art museum and visual arts education center, is under the umbrella of the Ringling College of Art and Design, which has leased the onetime high school building from the Sarasota school district for 99 years.
executive director that we are looking for will come in and give form and shape to how John Kuhn Super Bowl XLIX Jersey this new museum will be for us here, and we need that expertise, said Surkis, who has been a volunteer on the project from its inception.

most realistic football video game ever
for the PS3, 360, Wii and Vita (The Wii U will be out in Q4 2012). "Madden NFL 13" was available for EA Sports Season Ticket subscribers for three days starting on August 25. "Madden 13" was developed by EA Tiburon and published by EA Sports, and it is rated E (Everyone).
The official demo for "Madden 13" came out on August 14 for Xbox Live and PSN, featuring the 2012 NFC Championship game between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers.
The genre of "Madden 13" is an American Aaron Rodgers Super Bowl Jersey football sport simulation game. Single player, multiplayer and online are the major game modes in the game. Calvin Johnson, current starting wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, is the cover athlete for "Madden 13". Also, the announcers this year are the guys from CBS (Jim Nantz and Phil Simms).
There will definitely be more establishments in the series and its predecessor is "Madden 12". "Madden 13" is the twentieth installment in the "Madden NFL" series (twenty fifth if you begin with the "John Madden Football" series). The first game came out in 1988 and it is called "John Madden Football".
The biggest change from last season’s version is Connected Career. It’s called that because you get to play offline or online as a coach, player or created character. It lasts up to thirty seasons and all http://www.packersauthenticofficialshop.com/EDDIE_LACY_SUPER_BOWL_JERSEY.html of the off season stuff is included. The practice has been improved with specific things that you can work on to earn XP that is applied to a player or team. A fictional Twitter is also included.
There is no more halftime show, just halftime stats. The lighting changes per play, as opposed to only quarter breaks. There are over two hundred cutscenes. Replays have more of a dramatic effect. All the new Nike uniforms are included. Motion blur www.packersauthenticofficialshop.com/JORDY_NELSON_SUPER_BOWL_JERSEY.html from "NCAA Football 13" is also added.
The passing game has made several improvements, particularly with quarterbacks and play action plays. Also, receivers probably will not make the catch if the pass is thrown when their icon is grayed out. Receivers will look for the ball if the defender is not guarding them close.
The defensive AI has made several improvements as well. Defensive backs no longer blind swat and do not run towards the ball unless they expect it going in that direction. The new Infinity engine helps make tackling more realistic and the way players interact.
More than eighty two hours of audio commentary is included, making the commentary less repetitive than it was in the past. The theme for "Madden 13" is played during specific times of gameplay and an orchestrated soundtrack replaces the past music tracks by artists on all menu screens and specific game modes. NFL Films gave the developers sound bites and crowd noise is more realistic.
Special teams coverage has been improved. The control scheme on "Madden 13" is finally the same as "NCAA Football". Draft classes cannot be imported from "NCAA Football". Kinect is available for the 360 and includes audio commands only. Tebowing is included in gameplay (Michael Young).
Positives for "Madden 13" include Connected Careers, overall gameplay, better graphics, physics engine, lighting changes, high dynamic range lighting, motion blur, adlibbing commentary, main menu screen, wide receiver/defensive backs attentiveness, multiple pass trajectories and music orchestra. The similarity between the game and the real thing on Sundays is sometimes uncanny.
Negatives for Clay Matthews Super Bowl Jersey "Madden 13" include Kinect voice support, fans, handoffs, pixilated crowd, repeated commentary and weird tackles. The disappearance of importing draft classes and the halftime show is also bad.
Metacritic gave it a Metascore of 82 out of 100 for the 360 and 86 for the PS3 (the other versions have not yet received scores).
Even though "Madden 13" has some downsides, it is still worth buying, unless you already have "Madden 12" and/or do not care about football video games. For those who don’t fit those qualifications, this game is perfect for you and can be Clay Matthews Super Bowl XLIX Jersey purchased here in St. Louis.
"Madden 13" is about $60 for the 360/PS3, $50 for the Wii and $40 Aaron Rodgers Super Bowl 49 Jersey for the Vita at Target, Walmart, Sears, Kmart, Best Buy, Toys "R" Us, Hastings, Amazon and GameStop. At Target for this week only, you can buy one bag of Doritos and "Madden NFL 13" for the PS3/360 and receive a $10 gift card to Target.
A pre owned game from GameStop can be purchased for a discount, though not many currently exist. The official player’s guide is also available for $20 at Best Buy and GameStop and $13.50 at Hastings. Bundles that include "Madden 13" and hardware are available at different stores at different prices. Check each link for exact prices, carried versions and in store/online only purchases.

Regina Eddie Lacy Super Bowl Jersey Current http://www.packersauthenticofficialshop.com/AARON_RODGERS_SUPER_BOWL_JERSEY.html Stories
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Seattle Seahawks select LB Kevin Pierre
The 6 foot 1, 232 pound Pierre Louis ran a 4.46 second 40 yard dash at the NFL combine in February. He played linebacker in college, but the Seahawks could view him as a potential backup for Kam Chancellor at safety, as many scouts believe he has he potential to play as an cheap red bottoms in the box safety in the NFL.
While he never played a traditional safety’s role at Boston College, louboutin shoes replica Pierre Louis did line up at multiple positions, including some linebacker roles that had him covering slot receivers and tight ends. He believes his varied skill set and experience will help him in Seattle.
"They like my versatility," he told reporters after the pick, "and if you watch their defense, they’re going to red bottom shoes give you a bunch of looks. Their players are quick, they’re fast, they’re agile, they’re players that pretty much don’t fit a particular mold."
That certainly applies to Pierre Louis, who ranked among the top 10 louboutin replica tacklers in the ACC in all four seasons at Boston College, racking up 360 in his career (214 solo). He also accounted for 8 sacks and 23 tackles for loss.

What Does The Number 44 Mean
The number 44 has a large number of meanings depending on the context in which it is used. The many meanings include mathematics, astronomy, telecommunications and history.
In numerology, the number 44 is considered to be an important or potent number. It is said to be an excellent number for business, and it is also said to be connected to careers in the military. Many Chinese people would find significance in 44 because it is one way of expressing the number 8 (4 plus 4) and eight is considered a very lucky number in many Eastern countries.
In mathematics, the number 44 is what is known as a "happy number". The definition is of such a number is one where you take the individual digits, multiply them my themselves (square them), add the Cheap Michael Kors squares and repeat the process until the number either equals 1 or loops endlessly. (Numbers that end up as one are called unhappy numbers or sad numbers).
In physics, the number 44 is the atomic number of the element ruthenium, a hard white metal similar to platinum that is used in the manufacture of electronic components such as resistors.
In astronomy the object listed in the Messier star catalogue as object 44 is a cluser of stars in the constellation of Cancer which is also known to astronomers as the Beehive Cluster.
In history, the year 44 AD is remembered for a number of events. In Britain, the king of a celtic tribe called the Iceni, called Prasutagus, became married to his new bride name Boudicca or Boadicea, and later famous as the leader of a rebellion Michael Kors Outlet against Roman rule.
Finally, the number 44 is significant in the fields of both telecommunications and firearms. Interestingly, 44 is the number you must dial to talk to anyone in Britain as it is the international dialing code for the United Kingdom. And who can forget that the fictional Inspector Replica Sunglasses Harry Callahan carried a .44 Magnum "the most powerful handgun in the world".
Well, I am a Christian too, and I have been seeing the number 44 and 444 since May 2011. I was reading a Creflo Dollar post on Face Book about the end times, and 444 people "liked" it and there were 44 comments at the time I read it; it got my attention. Ever since then, 44 and 444 are everywhere!! Now, those who are also my Christian sisters are seeing it everywhere too. My one friend went on a bus trip and the name of their group was "44 we roll!" Clocks, license plates, money, house numbers; I even realized that my home address was 44 until they changed it for 911 address. When I prayed about it, I was given Mathew 24:44 to read. I don’t believe in coincidences, so. I just know God must be trying to get our attention.
I can’t believe Cheap Replica Sunglasses this! I believed that me and my ex girlfriend were the only people who see this number every place!
I decide to google it, and wow, we are not alone!
This started when we were dating, someday we had chosen it for our number, for an unknown reason. Since this day, we wrote it everywhere, and we see him everywhere too.
She has the gift to see spirits, and I have a very strong spirituality, I feel good when I’m close to God.
Last december, we broke up, but it happened so strangely, that makes me believe that our history has not ended at that moment. I still love her and I feel deep down she still loves me, but I don’t know if the 44 has to do with it.
I just know that this number follows me all the time, it seems to be some message, but do not know what or where.
I have been seeing 44 all the time for some time now. I see it at least 3 times a day I see 4 all day long. I was born on April 4th , 4/4 so it has been my lucky my whole life. I really started seeing it in the past yr. I’m amazed at all the stories I have read with similar experiences. From seeing it so much lately I do think it is some sort of a sign. Glad I’m not the only one. I do know a sad fact about it thou. Martin Luther King was shot on April 4th 4/4 Its the only sad thing about my birth date I have ever noticed. Please keep commenting on this. Dec 21 10