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.

'S Friday Flashback: Wyoming Cowboy Basketball Camp T-shirt

"It's Finally Friday, oooh what a Happy Day."

So I wasn't joking when I said that I loved the Wyoming Cowboys color combo.  However it wasn't until I sat down to do this post last night that I found these pictures of a Wyoming Cowboy Basketball Camp/Converse T-shirt.  This beauty was on eBay a little while back, but of course it was in a way too small of size for this guy.  

Well that's it for today, I'm double dipping for Football tomorrow.  First I'll be in Lexington for the UK vs     U of L game and then I'll be making the trip out to Bowling Green for the WKU game later on tomorrow night. Crazy weekend coming up, but you've gotta love football season!

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 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. 

The Converse Blog's Friday Flashback: Kentucky Wildcats 1996-97 Converse Jersey

I wanted to give some love to the poll winner today, but I also thought I'd change it up some and not post shoes. So I dug into my folders and came up with these pictures of the 1996-97 Kentucky Wildcats Home Jersey and Shorts. This was the last year Kentucky wore Converse and it was the season after Kentucky won a 6th Championship. This was noted by a special patch on the shorts. You can't really tell from these pictures, but the there is a monochrome stripe pattern down the jersey and shorts. It is similar to the new Nike Kentucky jerseys in which the pattern is the same color as the jersey. It was pretty interesting at the time, hopefully I can find some action shots for you all someday.

These Jerseys came out the same year that Converse switched over to using the Chuck Taylor logo on all of their basketball shoes. I had a pair of the shorts, or I should say, that I still have a pair of the shorts. I am just not sure were they are, probably in a box somewhere. That's it for now, thanks for checking out the blog and look for a new poll soon.

The Converse Blog's Friday Flashback: The Converse Stormgards

Sometimes you just can't make stuff up, you know truth can be stranger than fiction. I recently found these gems on eBay. I've seen a picture of them before, but that picture wasn't good enough to post. These however, are clear enough to show. I don't have a clue when they were made, although I assume that they released during the 70's give the nature of the Converse logo on the tag. When you look at these a few words might come to mind, ones that may or may not start with What The.... But the one word that should come to mind for everyone is the Warm.

See I told you these were crazy. Give these bad boys to John Varvatos and lets see what he can do with it. Anyway, I am out for the week. Big game this weekend between UK and Alabama so I am locked in for that one. Thanks for checking out today's Friday Flashback and don't forget to vote on your way out.

The Converse Blog: Converse Team 0100

7th Grade basketball, one of the best personal sporting experiences I've ever had. That year we wore the Converse All Star 2000 in a Red/White colorway. Yes, I said that correctly, the shoe was almost completely Red. I had some idea of what it must have been like when Chucks started coming in colors other than Black and White. This season Converse will be releasing the 0100 Team shoe and it is full of color, just like the first Red Chuck Taylor's.

















This also come in a Maroon/White and Orange/White colorway, but for some reason eastbay isn't selling those colors. At least their stocking most of the Converse team shoes this year, it's been forever since they've done that. I am partial to the Red/White colorway given my high school colors, but the Royal/White colorway sure would look nice running up and down Cawood’s Court in Rupp Arena. Thanks for checking out the blog.

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: 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.

Converse NCAA's Weapon Wednesday

Great few days around these parts as UK pulled out a close game against U of L and we're ranked for the first time in 23 years, yep right after I was born. With a win like that people are finally talking about UK, which is good, except we play Arkansas this week. Oh well, this isn't a football blog, this is a Converse blog. In fact it is Wednesday so it's a blog about a Converse Weapon.





These are some samples again from TaoBao, but there is something about these that I might actually like. I can't put my finger on it, maybe it's the design in the with the light blue/green. I don't know, if these are coming out or not, but I actually hope they do. Anyway, not a whole lot for today I've got to start studying for a math test tomorrow. Anyway, thanks for reading and check back on Friday for a flashback.









Thanks, hlwxpno1 for the pics.

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.