The Converse Blog Makes the Case for Big Baby

Thank you for stopping by this special investigative report from The Converse Blog.  Today we examine evidence that would seem to suggest that Glen "Big Baby" Davis has joined Team Converse.  There has been no official announcement, therefore all of this evidence could turn out to be nothing more but a Converse coincidence.



So I will be making my case to you this afternoon with visual evidence.  Exhibit A has already been introduced, which is the picture of Big Baby with Rondo last week wearing a Converse shirt.  

Exhibit B:  

Why this is good evidence:  Big Baby is seen below at one his charity events wearing a the Black Monochrome Chuck Taylor Ox.  Usually players wear their sponsors to events, but not always.


Why this is bad evidence:  Lots of NBA players from the likes of LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, and Kevin Durant have been photographed wearing Chucks, and unfortunately none of them wear Converse in the NBA.  Also he's wearing Nike socks.  

Exhibit C:

Why this is good evidence:  Big Baby is seen signing autographs on a Converse backpack for students.  Also you can see someone holding a bunch of them so it's not just this one kids' backpack in the picture.  This picture, along with the Exhibit B were taken at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library's event “Score Big with Books.”  Unlike other cities like Atlanta, Converse has not had a strong sponsorship presence in Baton Rouge.  The only direct link to the event for Converse would be through Glen Davis. 

Why this is bad evidence:  Converse has been known to work with events that do not directly feature Converse athletes, so this could be jumping the gun a little. 

Exhibit D:

Why this is good evidence:  Below is a grainy screen capture of Big Baby working out with his trainer.  You can however see clearly that he is wearing a Converse t-shirt.  It's not just any Converse t-shirt it's a I Chevron Star Boston T-shirt. 


Why this is bad evidence:  This piece of evidence might be lacking in power.  For starters Glen is simply wearing a t-shirt sold at Converse's Boston store, anyone could buy that and wear it working out.  Also you can't make out what shoes he wearing, but there is nothing that screams Converse about them.  Plus he's wearing Jordan shorts.  


Why this is good evidence with a counter point:  True, but have you tried on any of the current Converse tiny man t-shirts?  For Big Baby to have that much room in one of those t-shirts it's got to be a 6XL.  Converse's biggest shirt in their stores is a 3XL, and it's the same size as a normal XL, therefore this has to be a special made shirt for Big Baby directly from Converse.

Exhibit F:

Why this is good evidence: I've saved the most compelling evidence for last, the cardboard cut out.  Below is a cardboard cut out presented again at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library for their "Score Big with Books" campaign.  Big Baby is seen below wearing the Converse defCon performance basketball shoe.  As previously stated, athletes wear Converse Chuck Taylor's around all the time, but usually not their performance basketball shoes.  Plus he's wearing it for a promotional event, this seems pretty convincing to me.


Why this isn't good evidence:  This might not be the jury turning evidence that it's being made out to be.  During last off season Chris Bosh was videoed training while wearing Adidas basketball shoes, but when it came time for media day and the season he was back in Nike.  This doesn't prove anything.

Closing argument:  Honestly none of these piece of evidence alone are prove of Big Baby signing with Converse.  However, I feel pretty strongly that these are much more then simple coincidence.  I think the combined evidence is over whelming in favor of Big Baby signing with Converse.  However, it is quite possible that Converse has been courting Big Baby and that he hasn't signed yet, or maybe not at all.  I guess we'll just have to wait for official word from Converse...or as is more likely the case, just see him wearing Converse next season.

You be the judge, let me know what you think?  Is Big Baby with Team Converse or I am just wishfully thinking.

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

LSU Coach Les Miles goes crazy in some Converse Weapons.

A few months ago ESPN's Scott Van Pelt mentioned getting Les Miles some Magic Johnson Converse Weapons.  Turns out he actually sent him a pair and well Les being Les decided he would make a video about it.  Hope you enjoy!




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

'S Friday Flashback: John Wooden Basketball Encounter

March Madness is in full swing, I am sitting here watching Minnesota play Michigan State and I about to turn it over and watch my Kentucky Wildcats play LSU.  Yesterday while teaching 7th grade social studies I made a deal with the students that if they could stay quite for 5 minutes then I would turn the radio on.  Of course this was just an easy way to get them quite and to listen to Kentucky play Ole Miss on the radio.

If you love basketball like I do then you know that March is a word soaked in memories both enjoyable and gut wrenching.  As a fan of Converse this time of year has been bitter sweet for a while.  It was only last year that Converse finally returned to the NCAA after a 8 year absence from the stage in which it used to dominate.  Of the 347 division 1 NCAA basketball teams there are only a handful that wear anything besides Nike or Adidas.  Let me say this another way, 98% percent of the 347 D1 teams wear Nike or Adidas.  Marquette wears Converse, Boston College wears Reebok, and I think there are 3 or 4 schools that wear New Balance. Needless to say, there is room for Converse to grow beyond Marquette and I truly hope that they will.  All of this to say that there is hope, they've done it before and they can do it again. 


So what does John Wooden have to do with any of this.  Everyone associates UCLA with Adidas and rightly so, but that was not always the case.  In fact John Wooden used to be a Converse guy.  For proof check out this fantastic t-shirt below.      

I must say that the John Wooden Basketball Encounter is one of the coolest names for a camp I've ever heard.  Converse fans don't give up hope, cheer on Marquette and enjoy March.  Thanks for checking out the blog!  

Josh Maravich is that dude. Converse All Stars in Action

Sometimes I see something that just warms my feet, or is that my heart?  Either way a few days ago I came across these photos over at UniWatchblog.com.  This would be Josh Maravich, son of the legend Pistol Pete Maravich.  He recently played in a LSU alumni game and decided to rock his Father's floppy socks with some Chucks. 

You just really have to love everything about this.  Thanks to to fine people over at LSU's website you can view a photo gallery of the event.  However, they took it to another level and posted the entire game online, you can find the video and photo gallery here.  Thanks for stopping in for a visit here at The Converse Blog.

The Converse Blog: Showtime Low

The Converse Showtime is a shoe with legs, if that makes any sense. I've seen many different colorways and many different stores. The shoes have a good price point and they aren't over the top so the appeal to many different people. So it was only a matter of time that the Showtime, like last years Triple Duece, got the ox treatment. Below are the first pics I've seen and they came from taobao.com. I don't have a mid top Showtime in my collection, but I would be all over the Ox if they are actually released.











Thanks for visiting the Converse Blog. Don't forget to vote in the poll above and to tell all your friends about the blog.

Oh I almost forgot, go LSU!

The Converse Blog's Friday Flashback Converse Star Tech

Fri-DAY! Well I sure hope when you read that it comes off the way it did for me, either way it's that wonderful day when the week and the weekend do their dance of love around 5:oo Pm, and they'll be flirting all day long. So what is so exciting about this weekend, well Kentucky will scrimmage North Carolina on Saturday morning. I can't believe I am saying this, but more importantly is the SEC championship game. Ugh, I hate to admit it but I'll be cheering for UT to upset LSU this weekend...and no I haven't lost my mind. If the Vols can knock off the soon Les-less tigers than UK has a great shot at playing the Chick-F-ila Bowl in Catlanta. Not only would the game be inside, there would also be a stop at the Converse store Dawsonville, GA. I know it's not exactly on the way, but I am hoping it's close enough.

So what does that have to do with anything I am going to post up today? That's a pretty good to a great question to ask. Today's flashback, the Startech, is a basketball shoe from the 80's it came in low, 3/4, and high top. I've got a few other pictures, but I am going exclusively with the white/orange 3/4 top colorway to give a little added support for Smokey and the rest of the Vols.


Okay so this is a really crappy picture, for one that big logo is in the center of it, which I am too cheap to buy so, that you www.gettyimages.com. Second because when it shrinks down it's hard to make out the shoe that this Lady Vol is wearing, but it is in fact the 3/4 Converse Startech pictured below. So there is the proof that the Vols, did wear these shoes. So take that naysayers.

Classic 80's silver box with the square star, aka golden days. The Startech was the follow up to the Weapon and I am pretty sure it came out in 1987. I've seen many different colorways, one was on David Robinson while he was playing at Navy, in navy/white colorway.

These shoes are a classic, from the Chevron and Star, to the Square logo heel patch. I always thought that most 3/4 shoes were for Tennis, but once I found these I knew otherwise. I've never played in a 3/4 shoe, but maybe some day. Maybe that will be the next trend to re-issued like crazy.

Well that was that certainly easier than the actual rooting for Tennessee will be tomorrow, but I just have to remember it's for the good the Wildcats. Even then I am not completely sold. Well that's it for today, enjoy your weekend go Vols!?! Thanks for coming, please help spread the word about The Converse Blog!

The Converse Blog: Marquette, Kenny Thomas, Ron Artest

I'd be amiss to not start off by talking about UK. I've been very fortunate to experience a lot of sporting events in my life, but I can't think of anything that rivals what happened in Lexington on Saturday night. Then on the way home from the game it was reported that College Gameday will be in Lexington for the first time ever. All this leads me to realize how much I dislike Steve Spurrier. Anyway it was a great game and I can't wait to see Commonwealth come alive again for the Gators.

Also this weekend was Big Blue Madness, which from what I saw and heard from some people in attendance was not that thrilling. This was the first Madness I had every actually watched all the way through and I was a little disappointed. Especially with the lack of any exciting gimmicks to introduce the players and coaches. However, I will say that Patrick Patterson is a beast.

On Saturday night there was another Madness that I was really interested in. That would be Marquette Madness. It was crazy, Dwyane Wade showed up and surprised everyone. The team scrimmaged rocking various Converse models. Below in the introduction videos and then a picture showing all of the models worn. You'll see the Converse 099, Team Wade 1, Team Wade 1.3, and Wade Team TFC. I got this picture from MU Scoop.

Also you can go to http://www.gomarquette.com/ to find more pictures and videos of the event. Below is a little bit of Dwyane Wade's speech. This doesn't have the beginning of the video where it just shows Dwyane on the jumbo tron and then is says something like you'll aren't being loud enough and then he walks out which right where this video starts.

Now I've got to give some love the Ron Artest. Artest as you may or may not know signed with Converse as a rookie and wore He:01 shoes with Helium, the Converse All Star 2000 re-release, and also some Dr. J Pro Leathers his first season in the NBA. However I can't find any good pictures, this is the best one that I could find. You can see Artest wearing some Pro Leathers.

Then the other day the rest of the NBA media day pictures finally went up. Artest might have had the best Media Day pictures for his choice of footwear.

Yep that's right Ron Artest in some Chuck Taylor's. However, he's been wearing the Nike Air Force 25 in the actual Preseason games. Then I kept looking and it looks like another former Converse endorser has returned home.

Kenny Thomas wore Converse while playing for the New Mexico Lobos and then early on in the NBA when he was with the Rockets. Below here is Kenny rocking the Converse 099 in his Media Day photo.



As you can see I got most of these pictures from Getty Images, the Marquette stuff I got from Mu Scoop and the Video from HilltopperMU from youtube. Well that will be it for today, thanks for coming by please clicks some ad's on your way out and tell all of your friends.