'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!  

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 Friday Flashback: American Youth Soccer Organization Cleats

I don't have to tell you this, but I love sports. Basketball is by far my favorite, followed by SEC football and then all other types of football. One sport that I never played or watched growing up was Soccer. In fact it wasn't until my junior year in high school that I went to a soccer match. Some of my closest friends played soccer and so I went to support them. I've been fascinated with the sport ever since.

I got extremely fired up a few years ago when a pair of Converse Soccer cleats showed up on a few Converse websites from around the world. The closest place to show the cleats was Converse Mexico.

I was thinking about the big match between Chelsea and Manchester United, and I thought I'd show off a pair of Converse cleats for today's Flashbacks. These aren't the ones from a few years ago though, these are a little more flashbacked than that.

I don't know how old these are, but given the outsoles I'd say there from the early 70's. I have a vintage pair of Converse Soccer Cleats of my own, I'll post them up someday. For now, enjoy these cleats that had the official approval from the American Youth Soccer Organization or the AYSO. Thanks for stopping in, please vote on the way out.