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Monday, June 29, 2009

Converse All Star Stencil.

Recently Converse released a special make up the All Stars featuring a stencil spray paint design. You can find all three of these shoes at Converse.com, which is where I got these pictures from.  One of the aspects of this release that I really enjoy is that it's not over the top.  Besides the ankle patch placement there a few other areas that are hit with the spray paint.  It's also nice that you can wear this without having to go out and buy something to match it, as all three versions come in either white/black/red or Black/white/red colorways.  However, the best part of this release is in the ox version.  This is one of the few, if not the only, All Star ox that features the iconic Chuck Taylor ankle patch. 









Thanks for checking out the blog, follow us on twitter @theconverseblog.  

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Converse Update: Nike CEO Mark Parker just made my week.

I've been cautiously optimistic about Converse the last few years.  I've had high expectations and sometimes they've been met and sometimes they haven't been met.  While growing up as a fan of Converse I sometimes found myself in Bad News Bears mode.  Which is the famous line "Wait til next year," cue music and the little glass bottles of beer showering down. 

With that being said, I am very excited about the upcoming line of hoops shoes for next season and I am anxiously waiting to see what additions will be made to the Converse roster of Schools and Athletes.    Now comes some exciting news from the Nike quarterly reports.  With everyone seemingly freaking out of the decline in Nike revenue for the quarter some rather positive news for Converse has been lost in the shuffle.

In the last year, Converse revenue grew 26 percent to $915 million.  To put that into some perspective, in 2003 Nike bought Converse for $315 million.  Keep in mind that the $915 is revenue, but it's only domestic revenue.  Converse global revenue for the last year was $2 Billion, with a B. 

What is even more exciting for me is that Nike CEO Mark Parker recently reviewed Converse product in the pipeline and was very impressed.   Parker said of the future product that it was,"incredibly strong and diverse" and "our most commercially-potent product ever created."

Read that statement again, because it took me a second to grasp it's real value.  Mark Parker said that future Converse product is, "our most commercially-potent product ever created."  If you're a fan of Converse that should fire you up.  It is exciting for me not only because of the statement, but because of who made it.  I am not sure if I've ever heard Mark Parker say anything this exciting about Converse.   

I got all of these quotes from Shop-Eat-Surf.com, go check it out for more info.  Thanks for checking out the blog, check back Monday for a new post.  Unless something breaks over the weekend about one of the NBA Rookies. 

Friday, June 19, 2009

'S Friday Flashback: Converse A-Train

A few days ago I found a shoe that I had almost forgot about. I say almost because as soon as I saw it I was taken back to a wonderful memory of when I first saw the shoe. I am talking about today's Friday Flashback the Converse A-Train. It all kind of runs together, but I am pretty sure that these came out before the more popular Converse Cynch. I was in Indianapolis going to a Dolphins and Colts game when I found these in a mall. I bought up a pair right quick, except mine was in a white colorway, but you get the idea from this Red/White/Blue colorway.







I can't remember who posted these up on eBay but thank you for the pics and the memories. Just a few more days until the draft, but there is plenty of time to vote in the current poll at the top of the page...I'll wait...go ahead...thank you. Also follow us at Twitter, which I'll be updating while I am away.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

'S Weapon Wednesday: Weapon Skate White-Oasis

Welcome to the Converse Blog's Weapon Wednesday. Today's Weapon is a current model of the Weapon Skate. You can find it over at Eastbay. I am a big fan of the white and Oasis colorway, mainly because I've never seen this Oasis color and I think I like it.








Sorry for the lite post today, but I am actually out of town for a few days I'll be in Lexington for a few days hanging out with my college roommates who are about to move away. Then I'll be in Louisville this weekend and the beginning of next week for the Southern Baptist Convention. I am looking forward to a very interesting week.
Align Center

Monday, June 15, 2009

Kentucky - Indiana All Star Game

Well the 2008-09 season is officially over and for the 15th time the Lakers are champions. Congratulations are in order for the fantastic job that the Lakers and Magic did in getting to the finals. While I was for the Magic, I am still just thrilled that Cleveland didn't win. However, the NBA wasn't the only basketball going on over the last few days. Besides the WNBA, the Kentucky and Indiana All Stars took the floor for their annual two game series.

The boys from the Hoosier state won both games but by all accounts it was a great weekend of All Star basketball. Below are three pictures from the game. As you will notice the Kentucky All Stars wore the Converse Wade Slash, which is why they're getting some love from The Converse Blog.

Below from AP Photo/Michael Conroy, Kentucky's Seth Faulkner and Corey Wildford are going for a loose ball.



Above from Kentucky.com, Future Kentucky Wildcat Jon Hood is seen taking a shot during his 20 point performance in game 1.  Below from Kentucky.com is Kentucky All Star Ridge Wilson is going after





That's it for today, thanks for checking out the blog and voting in the poll.  Check us out at Twitter too!

Friday, June 12, 2009

'S Friday Flashback: Converse Starion Japan Re-issue

If you watched the game last night then you know that Orlando let the game and probably the series run down their collective legs last night.  I am not sure I've ever been as frustrated about a basketball game before.  Make your free throws and you win the game.  Foul Derrick Fisher and you probably win the game.  It's one thing to just get beat like it game 1, but in games 2 & 4 you had opportunities to win.  Oh well enough about that, we'll just have to wait until Sunday to see what happens.

For those of you with an eye for all things Converse, you might have seen a version of this shoe recently.  The original Converse Starion was a basketball shoe from the 80's, but today's flashback is of the Japan Re-issue from a few years ago. 




One of the great things about these shoes is how the design lends itself to some outstanding colorways.  For example the shoe I have today is in a Orange/Navy colorway.  I also really enjoy the ankle strap which personally I can never get enough of.  Converse Japan has continued to release different colorways of this shoe over the years so you might find some other colorways floating around in the world wide interweb.  








As soon as I publish this post I am going to put up the poll so check back in a few minutes and vote!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Dominic James' search for employment.

I love sports drafts, fantasy football drafts, and rough drafts. For fans of sports drafts, June is the most wonderful time of the year. In June you have the MLB, NHL, and NBA drafts. While I enjoyed watching the MLB draft and I look forward to the NHL draft, it's all about the NBA draft for me.

When I was younger I would tape each draft and I would write down all of the information about each player drafted. I would then take the relevant information and create all of the new players on NBA Live. I didn't care that a new game would be coming out a few months later, I wanted the new players right then.

I also love that you never know what's going to happen. Who is going to be picked sooner or later than they were projected? Who is going to be traded? Will this guy ever actually play in the league? But more than anything else I've always enjoyed seeing people advance to the next level of their profession.

Which brings me to a little bit of a personal matter that I want to share with you all. After spending a year in the D-League, also known as substitute teaching, yesterday I accepted a 6th grade teaching position here in Corbin. It's safe to say that I am freaking out a little bit. However, I am very excited to take on this new challenge and take my "game" to the next level. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that I've been given. I was fortunate enough to beat out 65 other applicants to win the position and I give God all the thanks for this new opportunity.

Which brings me to today's post, Dominic James has had one workout for the upcoming NBA draft. James, the senior guard from Marquette, almost came out for the draft after his sophomore year but returned for two more years. Unfortunately, he broke a bone in his foot and missed significant time in his Senior year. No doubt that his draft chances would be better had the injury not happened. Never the less he is going strong trying to convince one of the NBA teams to select him in the draft.

For what it's worth, I'll be rooting for Marquette's James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews in the upcoming NBA draft.  Below are two pictures from that lone workout with the Bucks.  He's wearing the Converse Wade Slash that most of Marquette wore last season 










Thanks for checking out the blog, I haven't gotten to the new poll yet though.  As you can probably imagine it's been pretty crazy around here the last few days.  Look for that soon, along with a new Friday Flashback tomorrow!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

New Converse Layer Up Chucks!

We've seen many different models of the Converse All Star's, but something we haven't seen until now is a high and low combo shoe. This is more technically known as the Layer up model. I haven't found them anywhere besides Journeys so they could be an exclusive model. So far they come in Black/Red ( or is that Red/Black?) and Pin/Grey.




I've been wondering when this model would come out, I've thought it would be an interesting idea ever since the first pair of double high tops released.  If you want a pair then head over here to Journeys, where I got these photos.

I've got a new poll coming today so check it out, don't forget to follow us on Twitter! @TheConverseBlog !

Friday, June 5, 2009

Jameer Nelson is back, and so is Converse in the NBA Finals!

After taking a two year absence, Converse is now back in the NBA Finals thanks to Jameer Nelson returning to the Magic's line up.  Jameer has been out since before the All Star game with a shoulder injury and it wasn't likely that he would return.  Not much went good for Orlando last night, but if Jameer is healthy enough to play I think in the long run it will help their chances in this series.  What killed them last night was their awful shooting percentage.  Either way, it's still nice to see Converse back in the finals.  Here are some pics of Jameer surrounding the Finals.




Above Jameer is wearing some awesome Converse shorts and slides that I can't find anywhere or I would buy them. Below Jameer is at practice wearing the Converse Assist. 


Above is Jameer from the game last night also wearing the Converse Assist.  I am holding out hope that he'll wear the Weapon EVO's at some point in the Finals, but time will tell.

I've got a few tidbits to talk about here.  Led Zeppelin edged out The Beatles to win the latest poll on who should get a Converse collection next.  No one else was really even close, but there was a 3 way tie between Queen, The Rolling Stones, and U2.  I was really off on the Eagles, but someone had to come in last place.  Also I didn't use KISS because they've already had a Vans collection. 

I updated Weapon Wednesday two week ago, but I realize some of you may not have seen it.  So I want to give a big thanks to Fernando Berdones for hooking me up with the picture of those OG Yellow/White Weapons.

I got an email from a blog reading looking for info on a pair of Converse that he had back in the day. Here is what he had to say, "I bought them somewhere around 1997-1998, they were basketball model of course, mid or high (more likely mid), React, half black (in front) and the other half lf the shoe was white, and with the glowing yellow React window on the side."

I've searched my pictures and I can't seem to find anything that matches this, so I am calling on all of you Converse heads for help.  This man needs knowledge and pictures about this long lost shoe.  Thank you in advance the information, email it to me at ConverseNCAA@hotmail.com.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

'S Weapon Wednesday: The Weapon is up at ConverseOne

Finally it is here, the Converse Weapon is up and waiting for you at ConverseOne. I say finally because it was first previewed way back when the Pro Leather was put up at ConverseOne. By the way you can't find the Pro Leather's on ConverseOne anymore, I hope they aren't gone for good because they were great. But that's another rant for another day. Today is all about the Weapon, which currently is only available in the Hi version. I've got a pair coming my way, but I thought I'd go ahead and post some of the designs I came up with. 

The available colors are limited, especially apart from the ankle, Y bar, and laces.  What the Weapon lacks in color options it makes up for that in the personal ID section.  For the Weapons you get a whopping 15 characters for you to personalize.  Here are some that I designed with the finals in mind and some of my favorite colleges.  











Now you can Choose your own Weapon!  Thanks for checking out the blog!  Remember to vote we're in the last day of the current poll!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Rodney Rogers TNT Interview!

Rodney Rogers played 12 years in the NBA and the during the his last few years he wore Converse.  In fact he actually wore the re-issued version of the Pro Leathers one post season while playing for the Boston Celtics.  Recently TNT's Chris Webber did an interview with Rodney talking about his recovery from a Dirt bike accident late last year. 





I would've shown you guys this video anyway, but Rodney just so happens to be wearing a Converse track jacket and pants during the interview which for obvious reason I found to be pretty cool.  Thanks for checking out the blog!  Follow us on Twitter @TheCovnerseBlog.