2011 Countdown: #1--Jordan XII "Playoffs"

Playoffs? You kidding me? You wanna talk about playoffs?

Actually, yes. I do want to talk about playoffs.  Finishing off my 2011 countdown of my favorite Jordans, at #1 I have the Jordan XII "Playoffs:"

Unlike the Jordan IV's I wrote about a couple of days ago, I do have a story about this shoe.  

I lived in Indiana for a few years but instead of Indiana Pacers games, local TV always showed Chicago Bulls games so I grew up a Michael Jordan fan and a Chicago fan.  Fast forward to 1997--it's game 1 of the NBA finals with the Bulls up against the Utah Jazz.  This feels like a situation we'd seen tons of times.  Close game, final seconds, Chicago with the ball.  Who else is going to take the final shot?  Word is coach Phil Jackson said to "Give the ball to Michael and get the *bleep* out of the way."  Of course, MJ comes through in the clutch again with a buzzer beating jumpshot to give Chicago a 1-0 lead in the series.

Fast forward to about 6:00 min. in for the magic.

Besides that though, I remember noticing his shoes.  There was nothing too fancy about them--just a black shoe with a white toe but for some reason, they stood out. *Sidenote--in case you're wondering, the design of the XII came from the Japanese flag:

When the best player has a unique tool, you want to somehow be a part of that. You want to experience some of that same magic.  The XII and specifically the Playoff XII is the shoe that drew me in to the whole sneaker craze at a young age.

  

Unfortunately, it wasn't until about 10 years later that I was finally able to find a pair.  A friend of a friend was moving and had to get rid of his whole collection pretty fast so he sold me his pair for a great price and even overnight shipped them for free!  It was one of the best days of my life, right up there with riding Space Mountain at Disneyland for the first time and filing my taxes </sarcasm>.  A few of my friends really like this shoe too and the good thing is, these are coming out again in April of 2012.

Hope you've enjoyed the countdown. See you all in 2012!

2011 Countdown: #2--Jordan XI "Breds"

We're almost done counting down my top 5 favorite Jordans! It's incredible that 2012 is upon us so soon.  Some people think we won't see the world again once 2012 hits (they're in all likelihood, wrong).  Those same people probably thought we wouldn't see Jordan play basketball again once he retired back in the 90's (they were wrong...TWICE).

When Jordan came back the first time, things didn't go all that well right away--although they made the playoffs, they lost to former teammate Horace Grant and his Orlando Magic.  Then MJ said, "NOPE--I'M STILL THE BEST" (ok not really but he was playing like it).  You might remember that as the "72-10" season, a record no other team has approached to this day.  This was *the* shoe for that season.  In at #2, I have the Jordan XI, "Bred" edition:

Black + Red = "Bred"

Again, this is a shoe that I haven't played in myself but come on.  If you don't appreciate the flashy but elegant style of the XI, you must like crocs. I don't have a lot to say here.  This is a shoe that, unlike pretty girls, is something that's ok to stare at. So here's one more for you:

We might see an NBA team win 70+ games in the future, but I'll bet they won't do it with quite the swagger of the Jordan-led Bulls of 1995-96.

You try winning 70 games this season (#nbalockoutjokes)

2011 Countdown: #3--Jordan IV "Cool Greys"

I usually have a story behind why I got a particular pair of shoes or some special moment from MJ's playing days that I can connect with. Yea, no that's definitely not the case here.  I just like these a lot.  In at #3 of my 2011 countdown of favorite Jordan's is the Jordan IV:

the "Cool Greys"

The IV is one of the few Jordan models to get the Cool Grey treatment, the others being the XI (which caused total madness with their re-release in Christmas of 2010) and the IX.  

I did a little research (aka consult with my favorite professor, Professor Wiki(pedia) and his assistant, Señor Google) and the Cool Grey retailed for $100 during it's original release!  Yes, $100 is still a lot for sneakers but it's chump change compared to what current releases retail for these days.

I know I said that on-court performance is a factor in whether or not I like a shoe.  I've even said that a shoe that looks good but hurts your feet is like going out with a hot girl with a crappy personality.  That being said, I just like how the IV looks.  Tell me you haven't fallen for the hot girl once even though she was a total idiot.

2011 Countdown: #4--Jordan XVIII (Black/Royal)

Continuing my countdown of my favorite Jordans as of 2011.  At #4, I have the Jordan XVIII:

Most people probably think of the "Last Shot" XIV's as the the last shoe MJ wore during his playing days but the XVIII is the shoe he officially wore in his last NBA game as a player for the Washington Wizards.  

Every Jordan model takes inspiration from some aspect of Jordan's game or life and the XVIII is no different.  This shoe takes its cues from Jordan's passion for motorsports (you'll notice the heel of the shoe looks a lot like tire treads).  The ideas for the sleek and luxurious look of the XVIII comes from the Lamborghini, an elegant but powerful machine in it's own right.  Nike packed in some extra goodies to add to the premium feel of the shoe (and to try and justify the price tag):

brush, towel, and "driver's manual"

Performance is a big thing for me in considering what makes a shoe "good" but I haven't taken these out for a run on the courts.  Jordan himself never wore this color; the suede upper would keep in too much heat.  He did wear the white/royal colorway frequently and my thinking is if it's good enough for MJ, it would be good enough for me too:

I definitely remember him wearing the white/royal colorway while playing in his last all-star game and giving us that excitement one more time (take a close look at the last replay and you'll see him wearing these):

2011 Countdown: #5--Jordan XX "Quickstrike"

I've always wanted to do this. It's the end of 2011 and I'm counting down my top 5 favorite Jordans. At number 5, I've chosen the Jordan XX in the "Quickstrike" colorway.

The word quickstrike doesn't really describe the colors of the shoe.  Instead, quickstrike just means that the stores who sold the shoe didn't get much advance notice that the shoe was being released.  Customers hoping to get the shoe had to either constantly check their closest quickstrike store or rely on word of mouth (the internetz).

The XX's are a polarizing shoe because of the ankle leash.  Some people really like it and like the innovation. Others think it's ugly as hell.  I'm somewhere in between here.  You don't really notice it if you wear socks that match the leash color anyway.  

The main reason I like the XX's is for their on-court performance (oh yea..Jordans are for playing basketball, remember?) They actually didn't feature any air cushioning. Instead, they used something called Independent Podular Suspension (I.P.S.) -- not to be confused with the I.M.S. from Call of Duty

this:

not this:

IPS is technical shoe speak for "bumps that cushion your feet in the right places."  This actually works out really well.  If you look closely, you can see that the pods on the outsoles of the XX's still have the familiar herringbone pattern for traction and yes, they do give you the "squeaky-squeaky."  

There's some other cool things about the shoes designed by Tinker Hatfield (who most notably designed the Jordan XI that people are still going nuts over).  Again if you look closely, you'll see some laser etched images and numbers all over the shoes.  Each of these celebrate some aspect of Jordan's career or life over the span of 1985-2005.

Performance + elegance make this one of my favorite Jordans to this day.

Beautiful Shoe Brings Out Our Ugly Side

Just look:



All this madness over a pair of shoes. Iconic yes, but worth all the trouble? No. It's crazy how similar to black Friday these scenes are but the difference is there's *no* discount to be had here. I feel a little hypocritical by contributing to the hype and getting a pair but at the end, I know they're just shoes and if I didn't get em, it wasn't meant to be. Never gonna risk my safety over something material.