The Chronic Consumer

I cannot stand the standard headphones that come with Apple iPods. They always seem to fall apart on me even though I’m not particularly hard on them. This happened again very recently, and instead of getting some cheapo replacements, I decided to spring for a two-pack of Missouri Tigers SportBuds.

These SportBuds are just your standard headphones that fit MP3 or DVD players, but they come in school colors and have the school logo imprinted on them. The Missouri Tigers pack came with one black pair of headphones and one gold pair. The black headphones have the Tiger head logo on them, while the gold pair has the “M” logo. They also came with a black wind-up carrying case with “Mizzou” imprinted in gold letters.

I wasn’t expecting much as far as sound quality goes, but these Tigers SportsBud headphones are actually pretty good. There’s no noticeable difference between these and my iPod headphones — with the exception that I can’t receive radio broadcasts on the Nano’s FM tuner. But that’s not even a feature I use at all, so it doesn’t matter to me.

These SportBuds were rather pricey at $19.99 for the two pairs. But since I always have my iPod with me, whether I’m hanging out at the beach or nervously waiting on one of those bariatric exam tables at the doctor’s office, I think I’ll get my money’s worth. Plus, they are a great conversation piece, as I’ve already gotten numerous comments from people about them. Hey, it’s always cool to show school spirit!