The Come Up

So I've decided to share some of the deals I've been coming across over the last couple days because I know that there are a lot of sneakerheads wandering around in a daze, with extra money in their pockets from missing out on Yeezy 2s. A lot of y'all are still angry as shit over the Yeezys...



Well get over that shit because there are plenty of other great kicks to be had at great prices.

First off, you gotta head over to Nice Kicks new shop site shopnicekicks.com. They got all kinds of Kobes, LeBron 9 Lows, AM 90s, New Balances, and other great finds for 50% off. If you're looking to cop Nikes or Jordans, you'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to place a phone order. You can still browse the inventory to see if your size is available. If you're copping any other brands, order away.

Here are a few other sites that you may or may not know of that I like to browse for come ups:

Sole Supremacy Specials - This is a Bay Area sneaker consignment store that has a separate "specials" page where they list some pretty good deals that go quickly. You can find a hidden gem here every now and then,

Cork Cloth - If you don't know Cork Cloth, bookmark them right now. These dudes got the outlet game on lock. Whenever anything worthwhile hits the outlets, they're on it and they'll provide the phone number so you can make a phone order. I really admire what these cats do. It's a true labor of love for the sneaker community.

Hopefully you find something you like. Keep it locked here because I'll always post any resources and deals I come across. Feel free to share any pick ups you make from any of these links, or any pickups you may have made this week and I'll compile them into a post. I look forward to seeing what y'all cop.

Stay golden, sneakerheads.

Ray Allen Is The Last "Team Jordan" Samurai

     

     We are just under two weeks away from the release of the iconic "Olympic" Air Jordan VI. I've had a few people ask me why this shoe is so iconic even though it isn't an "OG" colorway. I don't think you can single out just one reason as to why this shoe is so legendary, so I'll run down a few.

     First off, the shoe is fucking amazing. The Air Jordan VI is one of the most highly regarded Jordan models, plus this has color blocking similar to the "Carmine" VIs, which is arguably the best Jordan VI ever. The contrast just looks so dope.

     My second reason for this shoe being iconic is that it was worn in the Olympics by...

RAY FUCKING ALLEN! Ray Allen is a G of the highest order. I'm a lifelong Laker fan, but I can't deny how ill Ray Allen is. Greatest jump shot ever. His J is like a samurai who is so quick with the blade that you're already bleeding out by the time you notice you got cut. I'll always remember Ray for many great accomplishments.

- NBA's all time leader in 3 pointers made.

- NBA champion with the 2007-08 Boston Celtics.

- Most 3 pointers in a NBA finals game (8 in game 2 of the 2010 finals at LAL)

- Olympic gold medalist at the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia.

- Epic three way with two white girls in the Spike Lee film "He Got Game"

- Sex scene with legendary fly tenderoni, Rosario Dawson in the Spike Lee film "He Got Game"

- Oh yeah, he starred in "He Got Game"

I told you, Ray's done a lot of cool shit. But one thing that stands out to me as a sneakerhead is that Ray is the last man standing from the original "Team Jordan". Back in 1997 when Jordan became it's own brand within Nike, Jordan recruited five up and coming NBA players to rock the first "team" Jordans. Those players were: Eddie Jones, Vin Baker, Derek Anderson, Michael Finley, and Ray Allen. Peep the commercial spot:

     As long as Ray is balling in ill Jordan PEs, I'll always think back to the beginning of Jordan Brand and how cool I thought those five dudes were, how dope team J's used to be, and a golden era in kicks. The Olympic VIs, to me, represent the last Samurai of the OG Jordan roster. All those other dudes were very good players, but Ray is the last man standing. To me, Ray is the last player from the era when Jordan Brand really was the shit, not how all it can move now is poor quality retros.

     Salute to team USA, salute to the Olympic VI, and salute to the OG, Ray Allen. Good luck copping yours, fam.

Quality Cop: Nike Lunar Flow Woven

"Quality Cop" will be a weekly feature on this blog where I post about a shoe that is flying under the radar, but still very dope and easy to pick up. This post is hype free, just solid quality, nice shoes.

     This right here is the Nike Lunar Flow Woven QS. I love this fucking shoe. I don't usually like when Nike messes with a classic like the Air Flow, but this shoe is almost entirely different from the OG Air Flow, so I don't consider it a fusion.

     These shits are like yoga warrior shoes, if yoga warriors wore shoes to begin with. I copped the green pair recently and I couldn't be happier. The materials on this shoe are solid and it's definitely different from what most of the sneaker community is rocking these days. 

     This shoe is a great summertime shoe. Light, incredibly comfortable, and perfect for all day wear. As of right now, this shoe might be in my top ten drops of 2012 so far. The woven upper has plenty of detail and gives the shoe a dope camo feel, but not that "I take myself too seriously like I'm 'bout that life" camo feel. 

      Do your feet a solid and quit wearing uncomfortable ass Jordan retros when you take your lady out, because you know how women wanna walk all over the damn place. Wear some comfy shit and diversify your collection while you're at it.

    I fucks with this shoe, and so should you. You can cop these from Extra Butter in NYC via phone order for $90 shipped, I believe, so give them a call at (516) 632 5150. 

Nike Zoom Kobe 7 "What The Kobe?"

Yo, I can't wait for these to drop. There's doesn't appear to be a scheduled release date, but when they come out and I cop...I'll be like this:




UPDATE: July 7th is the release date!

Spalding Rubbish

Did any of you notice Mario Chalmers rocking these while he was destroying the Thunder last night?

This shit has zero appeal. I can't even figure out who Spalding's target market is when it comes to kicks. Are they payless priced?

I know they also got Jimmer Fredette wearing these shits, but he'd have to get on the court for anyone to even notice. I'd rather hoop in Starbury joints than this lame ass shit.

Man, if my agent tried to convince me to sign with Spalding his ass would be fired yesterday.

My Thoughts On The Jeremy Scott x ADIDAS Controversy

   

     The biggest story in the sneaker world for the last couple of days has been about Adidas designer Jeremy Scott's latest design, the "Handcuff" JS Roundhouse Mid (pictured above). There has been some controversy regarding the shoe, as some feel like the shackles are insensitive and are symbolic of slavery. When I first saw the shoe before the mainstream controversy erupted, I wasn't upset by the shoe but slavery/prison were the first things that came to mind. Now that this has become a mainstream story, everyone has an opinion on these shoes so I may as well share mine.

     I do not believe that Jeremy Scott or Adidas are racist, nor do I think the shoe is racist. Adidas can produce whatever they want, but they do so at the risk of alienating certain groups. I personally would never wear these shoes because I'm not going to willingly put on shackles at a time when our prisons are overcrowded with young, Black, and Latino men like myself. Fuck that. Plus they're ugly as shit, but I wouldn't rock a shoe I liked if it had some shackles on it. With that said, I don't begrudge Adidas for making this shoe. I find people's reactions to the controversy much more upsetting than the shoes themselves.

     I've seen countless (mostly White) people on twitter and other sites dismissing those who think the shoe is racist as "stupid". While I agree that the shoe itself isn't meant to be racist, I feel like the dismissal of how someone feels about a racial issue is uncalled for and insensitive. Dismissing claims of racial insensitivity is a classic tactic used by racists to make victims look like they are whining or "pulling the race card". It just upsets me to see people act as if they are arbiters of what is and is not racist. I'm of the opinion that it is possible to be offended by something that is not necessarily racist, which is what we have with this shoe. But that doesn't make the opinions of those who are offended wrong either. I think anyone who is offended by this shoe has every right to complain just as Adidas has every right to make the shoe. It just kills me to see people on twitter make everything so black and white (no pun intended).

     There is one thing about how Adidas has handled this that upsets me. I have a very hard time believing that none of the higher ups at Adidas brought up the potential for racial controversy with this shoe. Plenty of people of all races can look at the shoe and see exactly why people are upset. So the fact that Adidas went forward with this shoe tells me that they didn't mind some controversy, even if it meant scrapping the shoe, as long as it gets people talking about the shoe and the brand. This is unacceptable. To build hype based on the anger and emotion caused by the symbolism of slavery is tasteless and cheap. Adidas has a strong history with the African American community from Run DMC to Patrick Ewing to Derrick Rose, so I would hope they think twice about using such a sensitive subject to generate hype in the future.
   

   

The Air Jordan XV and Getting Cock Blocked by "Hollow Man"

     
It was late in the summer of 2000. I was 15 years old and had just finished recovering from a broken jaw that I suffered while playing in a flag football tournament on the last day of my freshman year of high school. I had my jaw wired shut for the first six or seven weeks of the summer. So instead of spending my time hanging out and trying to get girls to make out and touch my junk like every other 15 year old boy ever, I was spending the summer drinking soup and protein shakes through a straw and searching Napster for music.

When the time came to take the wires off my jaw, I was determined to make the most of the couple weeks of summer I had left before having to report to Hell Week for football. I was gonna do my best to get some kind of action. I was going to need to look fresh, so I started by assembling an outfit. My Dad had a bunch of connects at Footlocker from having been a longtime manager when I was younger, so I copped the new Jordans at that time, which were the Obsidian XVs.

People hate this shoe. A lot of people think the collar area of this shoe looks like a vagina, and I kinda agree. However, when I bought these I wasn't well versed in vagina so I didn't notice. I liked the shoe because the colors matched my school's colors and I loved the woven upper. These shoes sat on shelves, so it isn't like I actually needed my Dad's Footlocker hookup, but the employee discount is always nice.

Now it was time to get a date. I asked out this really cute girl who I had been flirting with over AIM while I was on broken jaw lockdown. I was gonna take her to Johnny Rocket's and a movie. I was brimming with confidence. I paired the kicks with some grey Mecca jeans and this button up shirt that had some kind of graphic design on it. Shit was fresh back in 2000.

We met in Old Town Pasadena and she was looking good. I was ready and I could tell she was feeling my outfit and overall presentation. I was pretty sure the night would play out really well for me. We got some Johnny Rockets. Two cheeseburgers, no onions...NICE. When a girl orders no onions on a date, you know what's up.

We agreed to go see "Hollow Man" with Kevin Bacon and Elisabeth Shue. This movie was basically a new spin on "The Invisible Man". I was expecting a typical summer blockbuster with some action and maybe some scary parts that would have my date looking for manly comfort. This was NOT THE CASE.

"Hollow Man" is this movie where Kevin Bacon is a scientist who turns himself invisible and uses his new powers to be creepy and go around raping people. Shockingly, watching a movie where invisible Kevin Bacon goes around raping people does not make chicks want to make out. This shitty movie ruined a golden opportunity for me to get a handjob or something on that level. Instead I went home with nothing but that debilitating teenage horniness that makes teenage boys do crazy shit. I still got them J's tho!

So now whenever I think about the Jordan XV, I also think of "Hollow Man" and the handjob that got away.

The Inspiration

     I've been a sneakerhead since 1995. I was ten years old at the time and my Dad was a Manager Trainer for Footlocker. I had always had the hookup but never had a huge interest in shoes until 1995, when I got the first pair of an awesome run of heat that dropped between '95 and '98. I got the Air Jordan Columbia XIs, followed by the Nike Air More Uptempo in all white, the Nike Air Penny II, the Air Jordan XII Playoffs, the Air Foamposite One, and the Air Zoom Flight (The Glove). These are the shoes that made me fall in love with kicks and are some of my all time favorites to this day. This was the Golden Age of Sneakers, in my opinion. Times have changed a lot since then.

     I'll always remember June 2012 as the month that many longtime sneakerheads decided to call it quits. After the releases of the LeBron 9 Elite "Miami Vice" and the Air Yeezy 2 on consecutive weekends, many OG 'heads were dismayed by the ridiculous hype, inflated prices, and overall hassle that one has to endure to cop a sought after pair.

   I completely agree with many of the now "retired" 'heads views on what the community has become, I'm not willing to give up something I'm passionate about because others choose to corrupt it. Since the sneaker culture has become so mainstream, I've found myself seeking older and less hyped shoes. I can still enjoy the pursuit of an elusive pair without having to deal with unruly lines, twitter RSVPs, and other fuckery that has saturated the sneaker world.

   
     This blog will be a look into how I see the sneaker world and how I have adapted and maintained my love, despite some of the ugliness that has infiltrated the game. I'll be posting things like outlet pickups, underrated kicks, some of my Dad's Footlocker stories, and some personal stories that have shaped my tastes in sneakers. Expect a lot of opinion based content and plenty of humor. This is my sounding board about a passion that is supposed to be fun and I hope that I can help restore and/or maintain that love for others that love kicks like I do.