Anthony Epps, Antoine Walker, and Ron Mercer know that March Misses Converse

Anthony Epps, Antoine Walker, and Ron Mercer remember when Kentucky was a Converse school.  March Misses Converse.

Thursday Throwback: Converse in the NCAA aka Louisville Hate Day

Around Kentucky and all other places in the BBN, Big Blue Nation for those of you that don't know, today is Louisville Hate Day.  This is one of my all time favorite holidays as it signals the nearing Kentucky vs Louisville football game. 

However, Louisville isn't all bad, historically speaking.  There was a time before Ricky P that Louisville was one of the teams sponsored by Converse.  That was back in the day when Converse wanted to promote their basketball products and used college basketball teams to showcase their shoes and later jerseys.  Anyway, I thought it would be nice to show off what that used to look like and I found a great picture with U of L players wearing the Converse Springfield and Dr. J 2000 along with some other React shoe that I can't identify.

This picture is the only picture I want to see Louisville celebrating in for a long long time.  Happy Louisville Hate Day and Happy Thursday Throwback.

Thanks for checking out the blog and remember to follow along on twitter @TheConverseBlog and on Facebook too.

Converse Kentucky Classic Middle School Tournament

Update 10:50, the live feed can be found at the Converse Kentucky Classic website.

he Bluegrass State Games and iHigh will be hosting a statewide Middle School Basketball Tournament this year in Frankfort around the Christmas Holiday. It is open to all Middle School Teams, both boys and girls, across the state and will be conducted as a part of the 2010-2011 Bluegrass State Games.
Tournament Details:

Dates:Girls' - December 20-21 (Monday-Tuesday), 2010
Boys'- December 27-28 (Monday-Tuesday), 2010

Locations:Frankfort Convention Center

The Tournament is designed to provide opportunity for all Middle Schools in Kentucky to compete in a Middle School Tournament under the Bluegrass State Games program. The Tournament is constructed in a double elimination format which guarantees all participating teams two (2) games.

There will be t-shirts for all participants, medals for winning teams, award/recognition for the top student athlete from each team, awards for All-Tournament Team as well as Tournament MVP.

Games will be broadcast on Tuesday and Wednesday live on iHigh.com and sent out around the world on America's largest school sports Network, iHigh.com.


Check back later today for another blog post!!!!  Thanks for checking out the blog, don't forget to follow along on twitter @TheConverseBlog and now on Facebook at The Converse Blog

DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins rocking some Chuck Taylors.

I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but DeMarcus Cousins showed up at John Calipari's Pro Camp wearing some Chucks.  This by it no means he's signed with Converse, but it is interesting to note.  I've never seen DeMarcus wear anything outside of Nike and Jordan. Lets just say that I've got my fingers crossed

pics from Kentucky.com

Follow along for more updates on twitter @TheConverseBlog

'S Friday Flashback: Converse B-M600

FRIDAY!  Can you tell that I'm fired up?  I love Friday's so much that in my classroom I've renamed Thursday as Friday Eve.  Welcome to the Converse Blog's Friday Flashback.  Today I'm bringing you a Converse running shoe from the 80's.  It goes by the name of the Converse B-M600. 

 

 

 

I'd never seen these shoes until they showed up on eBay and then a week or two later another colorway showed up.  I'm loving the use of the square star scripted Converse logo.  College Football is live this weekend.  I'll be in the Nasty for the Rumble on the River between Miami Ohio and My University of Kentucky Wildcats!

Follow along on Twitter @TheConverseBlog

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!

Converse gives some love to UNC

Hi all, I am coming live from sunny warm freezing Lexington, KY.  Even the cold temperatures can't cool the fire that was built with the announcement of a new head coach at Kentucky.  By all accounts it's been wild few days with players de-committing and committing.  However, everyone is still excited about the future of UK basketball. 

Speaking of UK basketball, we're feeling the heat from North Carolina.  They recently passed UK for all time NCAA tournament wins and moved closer to total national championships.  Now that the dust is all kicked up with UNC tournament run we'll have to wait to see who commits where and who goes pro.  So when all of the dust settles UK and UNC will be racing to be the first university with 2000 wins.  Right now UK as 1988 and UNC stands at 1984.  This race should be over by next season and I can't wait to see how it plays out. 

Now how did Converse give some love to UNC, well check out 64Fingers.com for your answer.  I meant to link this micro-site earlier but I just lost track of time.  Enjoy and thanks for checking out The Converse Blog.

'S Weapon Wednesday: Plus Dwyane Wade to play in Chucks tonight.

Sorry for the later post today. I've been enjoying Coach Calipari Day here in Kentucky. If you haven't heard, Calipari accepted UK's offer of 8 years and 31 million to coach the Wildcats. It's a great day to be a UK fan that's for sure. I am so fired up for next season, but I am even more excited for Football season that really kicks off today with the first Spring practice.

Anyway, you don't come here for UK sports, so lets get going with today's Weapon Wednesday. These Weapons just popped up on TaoBao and are one of the better Chinese exclusive Weapon's I've seen in a while.

 

  

  

 

There is a lot going on with these shoes but I am sucker for Neon Yellow and Teal on anything so I am digging these.  Not really a fan black as a main color for a shoe, but it really helps to bring out the colors I mentioned above so it works really well here. 


Some late breaking news, I just got word that Dwyane Wade will be wearing Chuck Taylor All Stars tonight, at least to start the game.  From what I've heard Dwyane Wade lost some kind of wager with Udonis Haslem and whoever lost had to wear some Chucks in tonight's game.  Hopefully I can post up some pictures tomorrow.  

Thanks for checking out the Converse blog and Happy New Month!

'S Friday Flashback: University of Kentucky Practice Jersey.

What a difference a year makes.  This time last year people were looking forward to the second year of Billy Gillispie.  We had just finished our surprising run that got us into the NCAA tournament and Coach Gillispie had just won Co-Coach of the year in the SEC.  Now, today Gillispie is out as head coach at the University of Kentucky.  I've gone back and forth on this issue since midway through the season when we started dropping games like rain drops falling from the sky.






So who will replace Billy G?  Well I am not quite sure, but if it was up to me we'd go after Sean Miller of Xavier.  However, I am hearing that Billy Donovan is the #1 choice.  Oh well, there is a new conference for UK at 4:30 and Billy G is having his own news conference tomorrow morning at 11.  Sounds like chaos to me, but it sure is exciting.


So what does this have to do with Converse?  Directly, probably not much.  It's been well documented on this site that Kentucky is traditionally a Converse school.  I would love for Kentucky to return to Converse someday soon.  However, Kentucky is in the first few years of an 11 year contract with Nike.  I can dream can't I?  Which brings me to today's Friday Flashback, Converse Kentucky practice jerseys from what I think was the 1995-96 season.  


 

Check out Kentucky Sports Radio for all of your UK Coaching updates.  Thanks for checking out the Converse blog and enjoy the madness that is a coaching change at the University of Kentucky. 

Converse Lady Pro Leather Ox

Man, it has been a crazy week here in Kentucky.  Not only have the Wildcats fallen to the ranks of the NIT, but Louisville has the overall number 1 seed in the NCAA.  Is this bizarro-world or what?  With the exception of the 1998 Championship that Kentucky won, it seems as if we've been going down hill ever since we switched from Converse to Nike.  I am just saying, Converse = 6 Championships, Nike = 1 Championship.  Come on Mitch make the Switch...to Converse.  

 

(By the way, I support the University of Kentucky and it's players and not just a coach and yes I have an agenda to get them back in Converse)

Those are some state wide issues, locally it's been crazy too.  Last Tuesday Corbin won the 13th region championship to earn a spot in the state tournament, known as the Sweet 16.  We were scheduled to be out of school this Thursday and Friday for the tournament.  Then we end up getting the best snow of the winter last Friday.  Now we're having to make up that half day this Thursday during the tournament.  Everyone is going donkey kong, students and teachers alike had already made plans for that Thursday.  So who knows, it wild down here, but everyone is fired up for the Sweet 16.  

As confusing as that was to read, imagine how confusing it is to live it out.  Anyway, you're here for some Converse and Converse is what you will get.  Today's post is for the Ladies, the Lady's Pro Leather that is.  Here are two ox versions in a black/black/white colorway and White/White colorway.  There are also some high colorways but I will post those later. 

 

Thanks for checking out the blog, and don't forget to vote on the Weapon poll on your way out. 

Converse All Star Fresh Cut Grass Sample

Sorry for the lack of a Friday Flashback as I had to work yesterday and had to go to the funeral home before the dinner plans I had last night.  All of that resulted in no time to do a post yesterday.  However, I thought I would try to make up for that with a post today.  

I am not sure what the weather is like wherever you are, but here in Kentucky it's 70 and beautiful outside.  Heck, I even saw a few yard sales going strong this morning.  Which means it will only be a matter of time before the sound of lawnmowers strikes out across the bluegrass.  Speaking of grass, these sample Chuck Taylor All Stars are perfect.  With these shoes you can go ahead and throw out those beaters you've been mowing in for years because these shoes come with the grass stain build in.  You can have the comfort of new shoes without worrying about staining them green.

 

 

 

I am not sure if these will ever release, but it is a really interesting take on the All Star's. I also want to wish my Kentucky Wildcats good luck against the Gators of Florida, because we really need to win!  Thanks for checking out the blog and please tell everyone you know to check out The Converse Blog.

The Converse Blog's Memory Monday: Converse Speedpull

So I totally missed Flashback Friday because I called in to sub for a kindergarten class. What an experience, let me just say that I am glad I switched majors to middle school. Anyway, since I didn't have a Flashback Friday I am going to bring out the first Memory Monday...I've got a thing for alliteration if you didn't know. One of the good things about not having my main computer is that I found some pictures on the laptop that I forgot about. So I am going to show you some of them today. So without anymore delay, here is today's Memory Monday of the Converse Speedbull.

On a side note, you've got to love the Deadstock Dust. I've got my fair share of CONS with some Deadstock Dust, it doesn't get any better. Also you've got to enjoy the crazy names of the 90's era basketball shoes, for example the Speedpull. I mean what the heck is a Speedpull. Then you've got the shoes colorway...black/Blue Grass Green. Being a member of the commonwealth, I am loving the blue grass green.

Anyway, that's it for Memory Monday. Thanks for checking out the blog and for you continued support through these computer less times. Hopefully things can get back to normal soon.

The Converse Blog: Kentucky All Stars in What If Pack Wade 3.0

Over the weekend the Kentucky - Indiana All Stars took the floor for the second game of their two game series. I was unable to see any pictures from the first game but I did see some video. It was clear to me that the Indiana All Stars were wearing New Balance Zips from a few years ago. However, I couldn't tell for sure what the Kentucky All Stars were wearing.

As it turns out they were wearing the Converse Wade 3.0, and not a normal colorway either. In fact they are from the What If Pack, which isn't even being sold here in America. The pack also includes the Converse 0100 and the Converse Revolution.


Kentucky's Monique Reid, center, drives to the basket as Indiana's Deja Maddox, right, blocks her way during first-half action of the Kentucky Indiana All Star Classic at The Gardens, Sunday June 15, 2008, in Louisville, Ky. Timothy Easley / AP

Kentucky's Janae Howard shot over Indiana's Felisha Johnson in Louisville Gardens on Sunday. Howard, a Louisville signee, had 15 points and the Kentucky All-Stars led by as many as 44 points in the second half. Photo by Matt Barton

So it goes: Kentucky Miss Basketball Tia Gibbs (left) gets past Indiana All-Star Maggie Boyer during Kentucky's dominating win Sunday. - Timothy Easley / Associated Press



Indiana's Tyler Zeller and Kentucky's Darius Miller, the states' Mr. Basketballs, went for a rebound. Photo by Matt Barton


If you click on any of these links you'll see that the Kentucky All Stars won both games last night for the first time since 1991. It's pretty cool that they got these exclusive kicks for the game and the red really pops out on them.

Anyway, I thought I'd show some love for my state today. Thanks for checking out the blog and don't forget to vote the NBA draft is coming very soon.

The Converse Blog: Friday Flash bulb & Elton Brand!

I know, I know. You're probably wondering where the flashback is, or better yet why the use of a Flash bulb. Well today I am going to recap some of the Converse pics we've seen over the last week or so and even a very surprising video. Also if you read the title of the post, you might have an idea of who is in the video. Lets start with the pictures.


A couple of games ago, the 76ers played the Magic, and this happened. Now I am not sure what the end result was, but I do know it was a perfectly timed shot. Here Andre Miller is wearing the 099 and Maurice Evans is wearing the Hops.


It took some time, but Kyle Korver has finally been rolling out in some PE Converse Hops. Both feature the light blue of the Jazz.

Yesterday Marquette handed Kentucky their first round one defeat since 1987, and they did it with PE Converse Team Wades.




Some very exciting pictures have surfaced. Below Mr. Elton Brand is shooting before a recent Clippers home game. It's kind of hard to tell, but it looks like he's wearing the Converse Hops.

So then I found a better picture on Getty Images, and it really looks like he's wearing the Converse Hops.


Better yet, I found this video and around the 1 minute mark, well just watch.



Yes, he is most certainly wearing the Converse Hops. Elton Brand with Converse?, that would be amazing. Hopefully he'll see some action before the end of the Season. Well, that's it for this week. I hope you've enjoyed what you've seen. Thanks for checking out the blog and remember to vote in the poll...and cheer on Western Kentucky today against Drake.

The Converse Blog: Catching up with Wade

I haven't spoken much about Dwyane Wade on here recently. He has shut it down for this season, something that probably should have happened sooner. He never really looked healthy all year, so this is really good for Wade, the Heat, and Converse. It is believed that Wade will be healthy enough to play in the Olympics. Were he might debut a new shoe or a new colorway of the Wade 3.0. Either way, the next Wade shoe to debut will be when Marquette plays Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.


Recently kicks and the city posted video of the shoes, and here are some pics. These are the Converse Team Wade. They will be released in team colors for next basketball season. I can't wait to see Marquette on Thursday come out in these unique shoes made just for them.







It looks like Kentucky has a sizeable lead on the poll, but anything could happen between now and the end of the voting. Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog, good luck in filling out your brackets!

The Converse Blog's Friday Flashback - Odessa

The as I mentioned on Wednesday the weather is changing. It's getting warmer now that March is here. Which means people will ditch their treadmills for a more natural walk, jog, or run. On a side note, do people still jog? Anyway, back in the early 80's Converse was all about the running and jogging. I am not mistaken, this shoe was one of the first tome come from the Converse Bio Lab in early 80's. Yes I am talking about the funky Converse Odessa.

I only have one pic, but it shows you all you need to see. Funky side lace system. But the main reason I love this shoe is the use of the Star in Square logo. If you've been reading for a while, it is my all time favorite Converse logo. And this is one of the only shoes I've ever seen where this logo was the primary logo.

I don't know much else about the shoe, but I do know that this needs to be re-issued, soon. I really think it would be a nice addition to the Converse Century collection. Only time will tell though, but I sure hope to see them again someday.

Before I go I want to give some love to BounceMag.com, last night they ran an interview I did with Jeremy Ripley. Big thanks you Jeremy for not only contacting me about this opportunity but for posting Converse stuff on BounceMag.com. Well, I am out for the weekend.

Oh, I almost forgot, I want to take the time to thank all of the good Wildcat fans from Catspause that have stopped by to vote for UK in the poll. Please take a few minutes and read through some stuff, I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by the Converse Blog!

The Converse Blog: Breaking News! WKU in Converse

Over the summer, when this blog was still going by the name of Converse NCAA, I posted about Western Kentucky's fashion show. During their fashion show of all of there new Russell gear, the men's basketball players were wearing the White/Red Colorway of the Converse 099. I made a post about it but, I cautioned that a source I had said that it would be Nike when the season started. It would appear that between now and then something changed, and my source is trying to figure out what happened. So I'll get back to everyone when that information comes in, but I wanted to go ahead and get the pics posted up.


Below you will see pictures from a recent game, where the WKU' players are wearing both the White/Red colorway of the Converse 099 and the Converse Wade TFC.

This is a really big development for Converse in the NCAA. This is really exciting because the Marquette deal was almost a given, but this shows that Converse is getting more serious about getting back into the NCAA. When I first got hooked on Converse in the mid 90's I could tune in and see a good number of teams wearing Converse and Converse Jerseys. This goes back to the APEX deal that ended up being more trouble than it was worth. However it did make for some really interesting jerseys through the few years. I'll get to some of them one of these days. Anyway I just wanted to update and let everyone know that there are now two teams in D-1 basketball wearing Converse this season. I am trying to keep my eyes peeled so if you see another team let me know. Thanks for the checking out the blog, big numbers the last few days so keep telling your friends.

Converse NCAA's Friday Flashback: Kentucky Edition 1

Action shots from http://www.bigbluehistory.net/

Hello all and welcome to Converse NCAA's Friday Flashback. I was thinking about which direction I wanted to take this Friday and then it just came to me last night. I am starting mylast semester at the University of Kentucky on Wednesday. So this will be my last Friday Flashback before I am back in Lexington. While I will eventually cover the UK Denim Converse shoes and Jerseys, I thought I'd take a different approach today.

Today I want to focus on Kentucky's last Signature shoe, that just happened to come from Converse. In the 1996-97 Season Kentucky dropped the Denim Jerseys and went to a more traditional look.

That season players wore The Converse All Star 2000, Dr.J 2000 and the Converse All Star Hall of Fame.

Today's Friday Flashback:

Converse All Star Hall of Fame

The Converse All Star Hall of Fame was a shoe made for the University of Kentucky. While it did come in other colorways to the best of my knowledge no other school wore them. This is an extremely clean shoe that looked fast even when it wasn't moving. I actually had these shoes but it was before I was a collector, so I have no idea where they got to. If I remember correctly they had React Juice in the heel. I really enjoyed the feel of these shoes. You got a really snug and comfortable feel with the inner heel tap area and the elastic straps in connecting the insoles to the tongues.


I also really enjoyed the Chuck Taylor patch without the outer circle. I am pretty sure this was one of the only shoes that this design was used. The simple design was a nice chance of pace for Kentucky. In previous years Kentucky had worn Jerseys with cat scratches and denim colored shoes.




At the end 1996-97 season Kentucky lost in the Championship game to Arizona. However it was not all Kentucky would lose, soon Rick Patino left to coach the Boston Celtics. Then Kentucky decided to sign with Nike, ending years of tradition and individual attention received from Converse. Since then Kentucky has worn cookie cutter jerseys and shoes. This was no more evident then the recent jersey updates that seemingly every other Nike school received.



Okay so that came off a little bitter, but oh well. Thanks for reading today's Friday Flashback, let me know what you think. If you remember these shoes, had these shoes, or anything else about these shoes, converse, or the blog please leave a comment. Thanks again and tell everyone about today's Friday Flashback.