Kevin Garnett has been wearing
rubber wristbands in NBA games since
1998. [ photo by Tom Lynn,
Millwaukee Journal-Sentinel ]

ESPN published a terrific summary of the success of that the LiveStrong campaign has experienced this summer. In this article, you'll learn that:

• Lance Armstrong initially thought they'd sell 500,000 LiveStrong yellow wristbands, "at best",
• wristband sales steadily increased during the Tour de France, but exploded during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and
• the Lance Armstrong Foundation sold 410,000 wristbands on August 24 and 25 alone.

Other organizations have noticed the success of the LiveStrong program and are looking to emulate it, at least on a small scale. Examples include:

• Keep Pounding: a cancer fundraising effort sponsored by the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League in honor of Mark Fields, a player who is a Hodgkin's Disease survivor. [ Grey and blue wristbands ]
• Team United: an effort by the Virginia Tech varsity football team to support the United Way. [ Orange wristbands ]
• Recording artist Lil' Flip apparently wears a wristband similar to a LiveStrong yellow wristband in his U Gotta Feel Me music video.

The article also says that the connection of LiveStrong-like wristbands to sports can be traced all the way back to Kevin Garnett of the NBA in 1998. Garnett began wearing rubber bands with printed sayings on them on his wrist when he was in high school.