'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!  

's Friday Flashback: The Converse Mountain Club CMC 3000

With the temperature finally going above freezing today, I've had an urge to be outside and enjoy the warm sun beating down on my face.  Too bad for me I had to work today, like most of you probably had to do as well.  But tomorrow is shaping up to be an even better day, weather wise that is.  Which got me thinking about today's Friday Flashback.  These shoes are from the late 80's I believe, but with a unique Converse logo it is hard to be for sure.  What I do know is that they were designed to be used in the great outdoors, or the city streets which ever jungle you prefer. 

 

 As you can see these shoes look pretty similar to Chucks, which should come as no real surprise.  However, the midsole seems to be constructed in a more rugged fashion.  You can also see from the outsole that the traction pattern, if there is one, is nothing like what you would find on a pair of Chucks.  There is also a really nice rubber heel cup on CMC 3000 as you will see below.  The tag line on these shoes was, "When your heart longs for the hills and your feet live in the city."  

  

 

  

  

You can't read it from this picture, but this is what is written below.

"Finally, a shoe that lets you be in two places at one time, follow your heart to the Converse Mountain Club.  Five high-styled canvas colors that live for the city and long for the great outdoors."


It's been a rough week for Converse, first Jameer Nelson goes out with a separated shoulder and will miss the All Star game and maybe the rest of the season.   Then Elton Brand shuts it down for the rest of the season with his shoulder as well.  This leaves only 7 active NBA players wearing Converse.  However, Marquette continues to roll on as the only undefeated team in Big East play.  Thank you for checking out the blog and for your continued support and comments.   Enjoy your weekends!