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Broke Guy Day Care: The $15.99 Adidas tracksuit is back!
I'm starting to become that creepy parent at the park. Except instead of hitting on the moms or playing too enthusiastically with random kids, I have one annoying habit: Walking up to parents of children wearing this and saying the words "$15.99 Costco tracksuit?"
"Send us your worst tracksuit photo" winner, Year 2042.
Since I wrote about the garment a few months ago, I've been seeing a lot of kids wearing them -- distinguishable from non-Costco tracksuits by the unique Adidas logo stitching pattern on the back. The last mother who I confronted said the word "Ummmm, no," and quickly walked away. But I know she's a freaking liar, or at least a horrible bargain hunter. Because after not being on the shelves for a few months, THE TRACKSUITS ARE BACK!
I learned this about two weeks ago when my mother-in-law walked in with two dark blue Adidas tracksuits -- size 5T and 2T -- for my sons, which will probably fit them both in the summer or early fall. (They run a little big.) Since then, I have received at least three e-mails, and one blog post comment, from loyal readers letting me know that they're back.
And thankfully, they're the same price. Because the query "$16.59 Costco tracksuit?" just doesn't have the same ring to it ...
Read More 'Broke Guy Day Care: The $15.99 Adidas tracksuit is back!' »| February 04 2010 at 07:02 AM
Broke Guy Day Care: The $15.99 kid's Adidas tracksuit
If you've noticed a spring in my blogging step lately, it's because my older son has finally caught tracksuit fever. My wife and I are firm believers that a family that tracksuits together stays together, but for about a year and a half my son didn't play ball. His attitude took a 180 last week, when my wife and both boys were running an errand at the Richmond Costco.
"We make a mean team my Adidas and me ..."
It was there that they found children's Adidas tracksuits for $15.99. $15.99! I don't want to sound like a publicist for Costco or Adidas, but that's an insanely low price. That's less than it costs to park for two and a half hours in downtown San Francisco (or an hour during Fleet Week and Giants games). That's less than a pound and a half of pork tenderloin at your favorite yuppie grocery store. That's less than a half tank of gas in a mid-size sedan. And with such an awesome tracksuit, your kid will want to jog everywhere anyway!
When my wife called to tell me she bought a $15.99 tracksuit for our son, I assumed it was crappy material (like most clothes at K-Mart, which I've always suspected are made out of tightly woven corn husks) or looked really outdated and cheesy (like the typical Al Davis tracksuit). But it was completely fly -- the type of tracksuit that a Tenenbaum boy might wear. Our only complaint is that beyond the black Adidas that we bought for our older son, the color selection wasn't spectacular.
Normally this is where I tell you to rush out and take advantage of a huge parenting bargain, but it's too late. By the time you're reading this I've been to Costco, grabbed every tracksuit in the store and muttered "my preciouuuus" as I dragged them to the nearest checkstand. I'm planning to purchase enough tracksuits in different child sizes so both boys will be able to wear one at every stage of development until college. (At $15.99, we can't afford not to buy 47 more.) Read More 'Broke Guy Day Care: The $15.99 kid's Adidas tracksuit' »
| July 15 2009 at 07:52 AM
Michael Lewis rocks the parenting tracksuit
Please check out the Q&A; with Michael Lewis in today's Chronicle written by my colleague and sometimes pick-up basketball teammates Justin Berton. Lewis, the Berkeley father of three who wrote "Moneyball," is promoting a parenting book called "Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood."
Courtesy Tabita Soren
Nice.
I try not to write stories about the latest parenting book, because I'm afraid I'm going to have that nightmare again where I have to write about all of them. But Lewis does deserve special notice, partly because he's one of the great sports writers -- but mostly because he chose to wear a tracksuit for the photo that appeared in the Chronicle.
If you're mistaking this for sarcasm or just wondering how the tracksuit in-joke started, click this. And this.
Honestly, I'm not blown away by his choice, which is a bit shiny and baggy for my tastes -- more Al Davis than Uma Thurman. But he's still my new favorite writer, just for having the guts to rock a red Nike jogging suit for his book photo. I'd love to have been there for the conversation with his wife Tabitha Soren (yes, that Tabitha Soren -- this gets more awesome by the minute) when she took the picture. Should I wear a nice pink rakishly unbuttoned Oxford? Already did that. A T-shirt with a kid-friendly rock band logo on the front? Neal Pollack beat me to it. Screw it. I'm wearing the tracksuit. And I'm not going to even take the keys out of my pants pocket ...
Read More 'Michael Lewis rocks the parenting tracksuit' »| June 14 2009 at 02:15 PM
Great moments in tracksuits: Fidel Castro edition
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I realize that blogging about Cuban presidente Fidel Castro is quite possibly as far away as we can possibly get from our stated mission as "the Chronicle baby blog." But longtime readers know that The Poop would be more accurately described as "the Chronicle parenting, Bay Area nostalgia and tracksuit blog" -- and not necessarily in that order.
So when I woke up this morning and saw a TV clip of Castro rocking the tracksuit during his first public appearance in more than five months, I couldn't wait to share it with you.
Castro is no stranger to tracksuits -- here's a photo taken a few years ago. I'm not sure whether this new suit is an argument for or against tracksuits, but I'm leaning toward a positive review. While he does have a little bit of an Al Davis thing going, I like how he's ditched the Adidas wear for something much more communist-looking, looking sort of like the generic non-name brand athletic clothing at Mervyns. It's definitely a tracksuit from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
Sure, at 82 Castro doesn't look as superfly in his tracksuit as, say, Mary's son. But this is definitely the type of super-stripey, stylish and comfortable garb that I'd like to be wearing when the end is near.
Your fashion critique in the comments ...
| June 18 2008 at 02:02 PM
Beating a dead tracksuit
I just added some reader-submitted images to the Tracksuit 2: Electric Boogaloo post. Check them out here. (For those who feel left behind, read this post, where the TS madness started. Make sure you get through the comments.)
us.movies1.yimg.com
Tracksuit power salute.
I realize some of you are probably getting tired of this subject, but look on the bright side. There was a point on Tuesday when I almost turned this from a parenting site into a 24/7 tracksuit specialty blog. Ultimately, we just couldn't think of a tracksuit-themed name that's better than "The Poop."
Still, I'm not quite sick of the topic yet. I'm thinking of treating it as a secondary subject, kind of like those people in college who major in Liberal Studies and minor in 19th Century Native American Literature.
Thanks to everyone who sent suggestions. Some of the photos support the pro-tracksuit argument and some don't, although I think the Grandmaster Flash painting -- which makes a nice screen-saver, by the way -- pretty much ends the argument.
| November 11 2007 at 06:04 AM
Tracksuits 2: Electric Boogaloo
After the attempted The Poop comments section coup earlier this week, we need to settle this tracksuit debate once and for all.
mtv.com
Still want to disrespect the tracksuit?
I'm still maintaining that the tracksuit is the greatest creation in fashion history, combining style, comfort and stripeyness into one perfect super-sexy body cocoon. But after the post about my 2 1/2-year-old son's hatred of tracksuits led to several The Poop regulars taking his side on the matter, we're entering the territory of wounds that won't heal.
Included after "Read More" are several of my strongest photographic arguments in favor of the tracksuit. And since I'm supposed to be an objective journalist or something, I've also included a few low points in the history of the garment. When you anti-tracksuiters scroll down and see the crazy-awesome photo of Lee Majors, then feel a flood of regret wash over you, just remember -- you people started this.
Feel free to send links to your own favorite tracksuit photos from popular culture -- that make the argument for or against the garment -- to phartlaub@sfchronicle.com and I'll add them to the collection below. (Please only send links to photos of celebrities. No small photos and no photos from people's personal Web sites.)
Read More 'Tracksuits 2: Electric Boogaloo' »| November 07 2007 at 06:06 AM
A father's shame: My boy hates tracksuits
I was getting a little bit annoyed at my 2 1/2-year-old son, and unlike previous outbursts, this time it was for good reason.
"In this house, we wear tracksuits on Saturday," I said sternly, moments after he angrily pulled his sweat pants down to his ankles. The little blue tracksuit jacket lay on the floor halfway across the room, where he threw it a few seconds earlier.
wutang-corp.com
My son will never be a member of the Wu-Tang Clan.
I knew this day would come, when my son would challenge his parents' values. But I figured it would be much later, and a more traditional form of rebellion -- like stealing our car, or wearing his pants too low, or listening to Creed.
The tracksuit embargo began a few months ago, shortly after we bought an awesome little Puma sweatsuit for my colleague's soon-to-be-born son, Cipriano. When our son pulled it out of the gift bag, we took it away, explaining that the garment was for the baby.
A few days later, when we were all heading out to one of The Poop movies, and tried to dress our son in one of his tracksuits, he shut us down. ("No. It for little Cip.") Pressed further, he explained that "it doesn't fit," which was total crap. That's the beauty of tracksuits. No matter how much weight you gain or lose, they always fit.
Read More 'A father's shame: My boy hates tracksuits' »| November 05 2007 at 06:07 AM
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