No Losses

Probably the hottest New Balance x Undefeated collabo since the "Desert Storm" NB 1500...the UNDFTD x Colette x LaMJC NB 580.

UNDFTD (Los Angeles) worked with Collette and LAMJC of France to put out this banger.  The suede on these are top notch, especially for a US-made NB.

Two pairs of extra laces -- I'm digging the brown the best to contrast the heel...

What I love about 580s are that they are tanks, hence why they put out so many rugged versions of this shoe like the Alpine Guide edition NB 580 from West NYC or the Gore Tex "Flight Jacket" pack by Mita.  Perfect for brutal Chicago winters.

And being a Cubs colorway makes me love these even more!  (Well, I guess they look more like the Houston Texans colorway, but whatevs) 

Shuttle-worthy

Its NBA Opening Night...and despite Lebron rocking his "Ring Night" LBJ X and Dwyane Wade debuting his Li Ning sig, all eyes are on Ray Allen's debut because of these sick Air Jordan XVI PEs.

A sign of things to come?

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Last year Nike released the Shield Pack, a line of water resistant running shoes you could even wear if you wanted to run through Superstorm Sandy.  The pack was comprised of a Nike Free Run, Lunar Eclipse and Lunar Glide (I loooooved that Lunar Eclipse).

This year Nike expanded the pack to five shoes, adding the Structure Triax and Pegasus.  I decided to try out the LunarGlide 4 and I believe I found my outdoor training shoe for my 2013 Miami half marathon in January...

This shoe has it all...

 ...Lunarlon cushioning (almost same feel as last year's LunarEclipse, which is one model up from this)...

...neutral anthracite colorway to allow for casual use along with running shoe usage (looks more flint grey than anthracite to me -- a plus!)...

... dynamic Flywire for an adaptive, glove-like fit... 
 

...and best of all: it's water resistant!

I plan on using the Chicago Marathon version of this shoe for my Miami race; this is the perfect compliment for training during the nasty Chicago winter months. 

My Favorite Number

The ninth edition of the Nike x Doernbecher Freestyle Collection was unveiled today...and like all prior 8 years, the Air Jordan model is the most coveted of the bunch.

If you don't know anything about the collection, Nike partners designers & developers with Oregon Health & Science University's Doernbecher hospital patients to create shoes unique to each patient. The kids get to choose the colors, materials and details for each shoe to detail their individual life story. The program has raised over $4 million dollars thus far.

11-year-old Oswaldo Jimenez was diagnosed with severe pulmonary hypertension. He was given the opportunity to design the Air Jordan IX.  The inspiration for his shoe was his family; his nickname “Pollito” (meaning "little chicken") is found on the tongue and lasered in a feather pattern on the mudguard. His name can be found stitched on the heel tab, along with his favorite number 17 (my favorite number too, for my favorite baseball player Mark Grace) and birthday (Sept 13 on the inside of the tongue).  The red & green outsole pays homage to his hometown of Queretaro, Mexico.

You can find these AJ IXs and the rest of the Doernbecher collection 11/30 at Nike stores across the country and at nikestore.com; all proceeds from sales of the shoes benefit the hospital.

Live & Die In L.A.

One of my favorite casual shoes is the L.A. Trainer by adidas.  Originally a mesh/nylon uppered shoe created for the Olympic Games in 1984 in Los Angeles, it was a performance beast that featured a peg system for cushioning.

The peg system was officially called the Vario Shock Absorption System, which hides a series of small cylinders encapsulated in the midsole, working as cushioning devices. 

The original L.A. Trainer never had the inscribed model name on the Three Stripe til 1989.

An adidas Original!

"O" Really?

Where did these come from!?  The Nike Air Jordan IV "Oregon" Away... 

Sniff, Sniff

I'm not happy.

I'm going to miss the drop of the Asics Gel Saga "Foot Patrol" and the restock of my coveted New Balance 999 Concepts/SEAL tomorrow AM at St. Alfred.

I am going to cry myself to sleep now...

The League

The NBA starts next week and the signature shoes of the League's biggest stars have been unveiled....

 
...Kevin Durant (Nike Zoom KD V in the "DMV" colorway).  I hope these fit better than the IV, which I found to be narrow and hardly comfortable (especially compared to the super comfy III)...

...Kobe Bryant (Nike Zoom Kobe VIII).  Very disappointed in these.  Looks like a mash-up of the AZK V, VI and VII.  Yawn...

...LeBron James (Nike LeBron X).  Have yet to try these on, but I bet they are performance beasts.  Well, they better be for $200 MSRP...

...and last but not least, Derrick Rose (adizero Rose 3 "Night Before XMas").  Sucks that we won't see D Rose in action for awhile (still recovering from his ACL injury), but I would like to give these babies a test drive to see what the price jump was about ($110 to $160).

Tigres v. Gigantes

Game 1 of the MLB World Series starts tonight.  Who ya got? 

As a Cubs fan, I'm just glad St. Louis didn't make it.  My prediction...Tigers in 7.

Champagne Wishes

Yes, that is cork...and yes I would like a pair BADLY.  Lebron X "Cork Edition" by NSW, dropping in December.

Gym-boree

Today the "Gym Red" Jordan Spiz'ike drops in stores.  It probably the third most anticipated Nike shoe dropping today (Air Trainer 1 "Chlorophyll" & Kobe 7 "Invisibility Cloaks" re-issue topping it) and may still be chastised by OG Jordan purists, but it's definitely a hybrid shoe that has stood the test of time.

The Spiz'ike originally dropped in October 2006 as a tribute to Spike Lee's relation to Air Jordans.  His character Mars Blackmon from "She's Gotta Have It" became synonymous with early Air Jordan commercials.  The shoe is a mashing of the Air Jordan models 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 & 20.

I wanted to show you my top five colorways of the Spiz'ike shoe (which may get rearranged after this Gym Red version is had!)

5. White/Cement colorway: Long before the 2012 white/Cement IV retro dropped, the 1999 issue was all that we had for a classic colorway till these released in 2007.

4. "Kings County" colorway: Brooklyn sits in Kings County, the hometown of Spike Lee, and this colorway represents where he's from. Ugly in pictures, solid on your foot.

3. "Mars Blackmon" colorway: I can't begin to tell you how many people thought I was wearing Fire Red 3s whenever I would wear these. A nice cluster of OG colorways on this bad boy.

2. "Black/varsity red/classic green" colorway: A flip on the original white colorway, this pair was my go-to winter shoe for awhile. Tanks!

1. "The OG" colorway: The Spiz'ike that started it all.  This white/varsity red/cool grey/classic green colorway dropped in 2006 in limited numbers in New York (4,032 pairs, hand numbered). I believe proceeds of this shoe went tohis alma mater Morehouse College.  Word to my man Rich "Maze" Lopez of Kix & The City who helped me land this pair. My favs!

Title IX

This past weekend, Nike Chicago released the entire Johnny Kilroy Air Jordan 9 pack ahead of all release dates.  But the AJ 9s that most caught my attention were the ones NFL players were wearing this weekend for Week 6.

Michael Crabtree, Josh Freeman, Dwight Freeney, Andre Johnson, LaMarr Woodley, Hakeem Nicks and Charles Woodson all donned AJ 9s in their team colors.  How about those Crabtree lows!?

If I had to pick one favorite, its the Andre Johnson pair he wore against the Packers last night.

Barca Baby!

24 Kilates is a sneaker shop located in Barcelona, Spain.  They best are known for their Gel Lyte Speed collabo with Las Tres ZZZ. They haven't done a collabo with any brand lately...

Two years ago they collaborated with New Balance to release two colorways of the 577 model; one in grey/blue & one in grey/red.  I was finally able to get my hands on a pair. These are so pretty in person!

Made at the Flimby factory in the UK, this thing boils over with quality products: supple suede in the toebox and lace overlay and glossy leather along the mudguard, with perfectly-placed hits of blue.

"24 Kilates" means "24 carats".  These shoes will definitely be a diamond in my collection.  More pics below.  If your Spanish is up to par, peep their blog.

Rejoice!

The OG Nike Huarache runner will drop again in 2013 in original colorways.  No Free sole...just wholesome, unadulterated Huarache-ness.

I'm going to throw a party now and figure out how I will pay for ten pairs of lime/royals...

His/Hers

Size 10 for me, infant size 2 for Olivia. #NB993