Last week, Nike began hosting some the top high school football talent in the country at their Beaverton campus, as part of “The Opening.” To reward the kids after a day of hard work, one night they were treated to a performance by rapper Ace Hood, who brought down the house while, as you’d expect, sporting plenty of Nike gear (including a pair of the Nike Trainer 1.3 Max). Hit the jump to check out a video showing part of the performance, as well as a little behind-the-scenes look at Ace Hood’s time on the Nike campus.

Anyone who ever wondered what kind of value Justin Bieber could add to a pair of shoes, take note. The pictured shoe has been worn and autographed by the lil fella then donated to his alma mater, Stratford Northwestern Secondary School. The standard Nike Toki runs around $75, depending on exclusivity. The Justin Bieber-autographed Nike shoes will exceed $10,000 on eBay sometime this afternoon. I don’t really think that NikeBlog’s readership and Bieber’s demographic overlap, but if that’s the case and you’re looking to place that $10,000 bid, hit the auction here.

Justin Bieber-Autographed Nike Toki

Justin Bieber-Autographed Nike Toki

Justin Bieber-Autographed Nike Toki

I have no idea what the connection between hip hop and action sports is, but check out the new RZA Nike 6.0 Ads, where he creates a soundtrack for the 6.0 riders doing their things. Your boy The RZA really is clowning man, especially in the Ryan Dungey commercial. Two more beneath the cut.

Start making travel plans, Tyreke Evans will appear this Saturday, June 19th at the House of Hoops in the Cherry Hill Mall in, you guessed it, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The event will be hosted by Izzo, of 100.3 The Beat, and will feature DJ Truuf spinning.

As Maria Sharapova is as much a style icon as an athlete, it makes sense that Nike made her the most elaborate apparel, and as usual Maria had a great deal of input on the Dri-FIT Nike Clay Court Dress. The colors, deep burgundy and soft grey, were used to compliment the red clay at Roland Garros, and the wrap style and waist-gathering design are inspired by the fashion capital of the world, Paris. Check out several detailed looks after the jump.

While there’s no official confirmation yet from the Swoosh or Camp Tebow, it looks like Tim Tebow has signed an apparel and footwear deal with Nike for a little under $300,000/year, although certain incentives could dramatically increase that sum. While his ability to play QB at the NFL level is a huge question mark, thus meaning Nike may have just signed a 4th-round pick for $300K, Tebow’s legacy is exceeded only by his popularity and this could wind up being quite a bargain for the Swoosh if either or both carry over at all to the pro level. Plus it only takes one team to fall in love with him, so I’d virtually guarantee he doesn’t slip past the second round. (And he could definitely go in the first.) Anyway, while this hasn’t been confirmed by Tebow’s people yet, I’d expect that confirmation by tomorrow. AP Photo by Dave Martin.

With the idea in mind of creating a fresh art concept based around the technical brilliance of the new Mercurial Vapor Superfly II, Nike commissioned innovative Sølve Sundsbø to do what he could with their groundbreaking new soccer boot. The results are beautiful, featuring a surreal style that seems to showcase the boot’s traction technology. Check out both images before and after the jump. Via NikeStadiums.com.

In the New York City area Sunday, March 4th and interested in playing some stickball? Swing on by Nike Sportswear’s 21 Mercer St. location and join the NSW Stickball Tournament. In addition to the tournament, there will be a screening of the Yankees’ season opener against the BoSox as well as a Q&A with the New York Emperors Stickball League. And if you’re not a big fan of baseball, or don’t particularly care for the Evil Empire or the just-about-as-evil Empire, stop by for the food or live music by Q-Tip.

I hate sharing super-tight shoes like this because the fact of the matter is that, as disappointing as it is, you’ll never get this shoe. There are only two pairs of the Ferrari Murakami Nike Trainer SB in the world, the shoe having been made for Murakami aka Ibn Jasper, an “image consultant” responsible for a lot of stuff you see Kanye wear. The only pair permanently calling the US home is at Revive (revivemi.com), and it’s really something to behold. Featuring Kermit green, pink and yellow amother other colors and a slew of textures, this is one of the more unique shoes you’ll see. By definition I suppose, due to its exclusivity. More pictures after the jump.

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So at some point in the very near future I’m going to start doing a newsletter. This is a good thing because all media is good, and media that is delivered to you for free is better. Everyone knows this. It’s why RSS feeds get us all warm and tingly. Also, I’ll be conveniently summing up information for you in a small space, and will have an easier format for reminding you of release dates or amending/updating information, as well as a good method to run some contests when I decide to do so in the near future. And emails are easier to deal with from a mobile device than is a not-so-mobile-friendly blog. (Depending on what kind of phone you have of course.) And you can marvel at my stunning rhetoric and the superior vernacular unique to NikeBlog.com. So point being: you should sign up for the newsletter. I’ll wait to send it out until I have enough enrollments to necessitate it, but it doesn’t look like that will take too long. And feel free to comment below or drop me a line if there’s a particular type of information or feature you’d like to see included in the newsletter. You can always click on the little image to the left to sign up, or click here if you’re averse to scrolling over six inches.

I’m an unabashed fan of viral ads and all types of guerrilla and social marketing, so I’m really digging these posters as they more or less fall into the first two categories, even if they are a bit on the ridiculous side. As you’re probably aware, Kobe’s new colorway of the V was inspired by two of Bruce Lee’s more famous films—Game of Death and Enter the Dragon—so Nike has put together a series of posters featuring Kobe and clearly influenced by old Kung Fu movie posters. Check out all four below. The Zoom Kobe V “Bruce Lee” release date is set for this Saturday, February 6th.

I love a nice Nike Sportswear video. This minute-long commercial features Kobe Bryant, Maria Sharapova and seemingly half the soccer players signed to the Swoosh, including somewhat-official (NIKE)RED spokesperson Didier Drogba, all sporting the Red and doing simple tricks pertaining to their chosen vocation. Enjoy.

This Saturday, January 30th, join Nike Sportswear at the Montalbán in Hollywood for a Project(RED) x Nike “Lace Up, Save Lives” benefit concert featuring Fabolous, Asher Roth, All-American Rejects, Pac Div and others. Four dollars and a high school ID will get you in the door and a pair of Nike(RED) laces. Profits from this event (and always from the sale of laces, available at Niketown) will go to help fight and raise awareness of AIDS in Africa. Great cause, cool laces and a memorable event: how can you go wrong?

Pharrell was spotted at the NRJ Music Awards the other day, dressed largely like a lumberjack—plaid button-up, puffy vest and mustache included—and for some reason saw fit to wear the Nike Zoom Force 1 DK-YS. Yeah, that’s Danny Kass’s snowboarding boot. Maybe next time he’ll show up wearing some Jordan Brand Derek Jeter cleats. Close up after the jump.Photo from DayLife.com

Pharrell in Danny Kass Snowboard Boot

Nike Sportswear and Futura are getting together to create a Syracuse Collection, inspired by designs styles and pieces from NSW and Futura and the logos and colors of the Orangemen. (Well, actually they’re the Orange now.) The launch party for the collection will take place tonight at 21 Mercer in NYC and will feature a live screening of the Syracuse–Georgetown game, Q&A with designers and an appearance by ESPN personality Jay Corbin. Also, the first line of NSW x Futura x Syracuse N98 track jackets (pictures after the jump) will be available at the event, which starts at 6p.