Fresh.  Simple.  Clean.  Dope.  Did we say fresh?  Cop this whole collection.  Dropping soon.

via Hypebeast

Unless you're completely unfresh, and spend your days under a rock, you should be fully aware that the Air Jordan 11's hit the pavement hard last week.  Space Jam Jordan's son.  People lined up for hours for a chance at a pair.  Foot Lockers were bum rushed by thieves and angry mobs vying for a pair of the beloved gems.  It was hysteria.  It made me remember why I fell in love with Air Jordans.  See long time ago before this internet thing was popping, you couldn't find a pair of kicks using Google.  You had to hunt.  Fresh is not lazy, Fresh is persistent.  If you wanted to be Fresh that meant waking up early, catching the bus, going to the mall, and standing in line.  It meant calling Eastbay two hours before the shoe was released, and stalling out a customer service representative until 8AM when the shoes were available.  It meant saving your checks from a months worth of working at the mall, and feeling good about dropping $175.00 for your favorite pair.  See I'm an avid Air Jordan collector.  I've been one since my Fresh was creeping out of puberty.  I know the difference between deadstock, and retro.  The Air Jordan 11's have a special place in my heart.  Back in 1995 when they first dropped they were madness.  Nike was riding high that year.  The Air Max 95's were already killing the game, but when Mike laced up those patent leather Carolina blue joints we knew it was going to be a problem.  I vividly remember watching the 1996 NBA All Star game.  This was when the All Star game really meant something.  It wasn't just a hodgepodge spectacle.  The players came to ball, and brought along their "A" game.  Jordan ran with the East squad, and had players like Shaq, Penny, and Grant Hill to ride with him.  The West was pretty nice that year too.  Shawn Kemp, The Admiral, The Dream, and Sir Charles were no joke.  I spotted Mike with them on during player introductions.  White on white, with the Carolina blue accents.  I was determined to be the first with a pair.  I called around to to Foot Lockers in my area, and got a confirmed release date.  Back then Jordan's came out on a week day.  These dropped on a Wednesday in 1996 to be correct.  Back in 96 I was a high school freshman, and without having access to a car getting my hands on a pair would prove difficult.  Moms wasn't about to let me miss a day of class for a pair of kicks.  I devised my plan with surgical like precision.  I would go to my first period class, sneak out, get the kicks, and come back to school.  The day came.  I checked into English like any normal day.  When the bell rang to signify the end of class I raced down the stairs, to the back door, and headed straight for Northland Mall.  When I got there the crowd was already on swell.  But I was determined to get a pair.  As soon as they opened the gates I ran full sprint into the store and demanded a size 13 pair.  I dropped down the birthday and Christmas money I had saved that year on the register.  I slid out of the Air Penny's I wore that day, and slipped on my Jordan's.  I wish Kanye had dropped this song back then, because you truly could tell me nothing.  I walked back into school in time enough for my fourth period class.  The looks of envy on the other kids faces as I walked through the hallway were priceless.  People marveled in awe.  Even the teachers had to stop and take notice.  For that day at least, those kicks made me an icon.  Just like the man that inspired the shoe.  So today we salute Air Jordan's.  The G.O.A.T of the shoe game.  There will be many to come after him, but no one will be able to top the impact left by the shoe.  In fresh memorial of the Air Jordans, we present our favorite memories.

*I know this has nothing to do with Air Jordans, but I had to post it.  Shaq took the The Admiral down by the water and baptized him in the 1996 All Star game.  I couldn't let this moment pass.  Enjoy.

via Complex

Via NiceKicks

My love affair with the Reebok Pump goes back, way back.  The year was 1989 to be exact.  I was a young lad back then.  Just beginning to come into my own fresh.  My priorities were much simpler in those days.  My life revolved around four basic things:  pizza consumption, Nintendo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and high top kicks.  I'll never forget siting on my bedroom floor watching the Atlanta Hawks take on beloved Detroit Pistons.  Dominque Wilkins checked into the game, and I saw THEM for the first time.  I immediately sat up at attention.  I didn't know what Dominiuque had on his feet, but I knew I wanted a pair.  I wanted a pair that very second.  I spent the next two hours affixed on Dominique.  The magical shoes seemed to make him jump higher, and sprint faster than everyone on the court that afternoon.  Can't tell you if my Pistons won or lost.  All I remember is that feeling.  I knew I had to have those shoes by any means necessary.  I commissioned a plan to get Mom's to shell out a few dollars, and get me those kicks.  The next Saturday we hit the mall.  I promptly guided her to whatever the shoe store du jour was back in that day.  I spotted them.  They were encased in a glass display near the front of the store.  I pointed to them with feverish anticipation.  Envisioning the envy that was sure to come when I marched into class that Monday with them tightly tied around my pre pubescent feet.  But as soon as Mom's picked them up and noticed the $90.00 price tag, my dreams were deflated.  Keep in mind this was 1989, and spending that type of dough on kicks was unheard of back then.  At least for my momma it was unheard of. I left the store with a pair of British Knights that afternoon.  Not a bad shoes at the time, but clearly not what I wanted.  I never forgot that feeling.  Wanting those shoes.  Up until that point in my life I never wanted anything so bad.   I'll never forget watching Dee Brown  pump them up before attempting one of the most overrated dunks in the history of dunks.  Being a trendsetter in undoubtedly fresh.  These shoes were ahead of their time.  Reebok had me believing that with three little pumps to each foot, I would be able to accomplish athletic feats never seen before by mankind.  This was Marketing 101 at its finest.  The pumps were a status symbol.  Wearing a pair of these in 1989, is like being chaffered in a Maybach in 2009.  You don't have to say sh*t, they spoke for themselves.  You get my drift though.  When I caught wind that Reebok would be dropping these again, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the shoe, I knew what time it was.  See my fresh has matured.  I'm a grown ass man now with a mortgage, car payments, and kids of my own.  But after all these years the feelings has not gone away.  The love is still there.  When I see them if feels like 1989 all over again.  So next Saturday I'm going to get up, drive to the mall and walk right into Footlocker.  I'm going to pick up the first pair I see.  Request a size 13 from the kid working the floor.  No, I'm not going to try them on.   I'm going to bang my Mastercard down on the counter, and tell her to throw it in the bag.  I might wear them, I might not.  But having them to gaze at will be well worth the 17.5% APR I'll be shelling out to Mastercard.  See some things change.  People change.  Love my come and go.  People walk in and out of your life.  But fresh memories, they live on forever.  Stay fresh.

The Air Jordan 2010 will release on 2/13/10 for $170.00.  Are you going to cop a pair?  Hit the comments, and tell us what you think.

via Nice Kicks