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.