No not Mike Jordan, another Mike, Michael Jackson.
That's right, Michael Jackson is 50 years old today. The man is responsible for inspiring a generation of singers and dancers much like Michael Jordan inspired a generation of basketball players and athletes.
Just take a look at the super stars in the NBA, they all in some way try to look Like Mike on the court. Now look at the super star singers and dancers of today, they all try to move Like Mike, sound Like Mike, dress Like Mike. Without Michael Jackson we would not have people like Usher, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake and a long list of others that have followed in Mike's footsteps.
Although Mike's personal life in the last 15 years have been a well documented freak show, he is still my favorite artist of all time without question.
I'm taking all the way back to 1974 with this video of Mike and his brothers performing one of my all time favorites, "Dancing Machine" live on the Merv Griffen show.
Mike killed it, popping and locking, doing the robot, spinning and sliding across the stage. It's a classic example of why Mike is and always will be the best that ever did it.
Brand Jordan has quietly introduced a collection of watches in the Air Jordan Flight Club. The set of watches take on inspiration from the initial three colorways of the Air Jordan XX3, including the ultra exclusive White Titanium-University Blue colorway. The XX3 Alarm Chrono watch is a sophisticated water-resistant timepiece that celebrates Air Jordan’s landmark 23rd anniversary.
The watch itself features date and chronograph stopwatch functionality in a stainless steel casing and K1 mineral glass crystal. This collection is the ultimate accessory to match the amazing Air Jordan XX3 collection of sneakers.
Chicago Sun Times reporter Cheryl Jackson covered the final filming shoot last Saturday for the upcoming "Jordan Heads" movie .
Enjoy.
"For Air Jordan aficionados, it really is the shoes".
August 24, 2008
Heeding the call of moviemakers documenting the cult of Air Jordan sneakers, they trekked from across the country Saturday to stand in front of Michael Jordan’s statue at the United Center.
About 150 devotees of that Nike brand sported their favorite selections, while carrying other pairs in backpacks and original boxes and special packaging to show off — for a scene in “Jordan Heads,” a documentary about their subset of sneakerhead culture.
“They take this a bit more seriously than the average sneakerhead,” said Calvan Fowler, director of the Daydream Filmworks production. “There’s a man and a legacy involved.”
Filmmakers also interviewed a Chicago area 17-year-old who works three jobs to feed his Jordan addiction, a mom who had a specially secured room built for her kid’s Jordan collection, and a local man who has 402 pairs of Jordans, in an attempt to translate the love of the shoe to movie screens.
“What’s not to love?” said Damien DeAnda, 16, of Chicago. “You can wear them to ball; to the mall; to go out. Michael Jordan flew above and beyond, and it’s reflected in his shoes.”
Between shots, this gathering of Jordan fans — on the 23rd, by the way — admired each other’s kicks. A pair of Georgetown team shoes that a Bulls staffer came out of the United Center to show off, and a pair of Fusion 3’s that won’t be available for purchase until next month but were sported on the feet of one participant, drew much attention.
The documentary (www.jordanheadsmovie.com), expected to be completed next year, is unlimited in its appeal, asserted Fowler, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y.
“It should appeal to anybody who has an interest in popular culture, Michael Jordan or sneakers in general,” he said. “I’ve done this all on my own dime. It’s definitely a labor of love. I’ve refinanced my house twice.”
You don’t like Kobe’s ego, Carmelo’s braids, or Dwight Howard’s free throw percentage, but the facts are the facts. It is sacrilegious to say it, but it is the truth. At this high level of basketball skill, athleticism will win out, and Michael Jordan is the reason that the ‘92 Olympic team could not beat the ’08 Olympic team in a seven-game series.
Confused?
Let me explain...
It all started on a sunny day in May.
Michael Jordan hits “The Shot” in front of Craig Ehlo as a 4-year-old LeBron James watches his Cavaliers from Akron and a 7-year-old Dwayne Wade cheers in Chicago. Little did Jordan know, the killer instinct and will to win he showed in that game would mold a generation of basketball players that would drive the NBA in years to come.
Michael Jordan was not the first athlete of his type to play professional basketball. He was the first player that we saw use his athleticism to physically dominate championship basketball games. Today’s “Redeem team” is the product of that sort of athletic ruthlessness and modern training methods.
I present to you the “Redeem Team”.
Kobe Bryant (aka, Jordan with a better perimeter game)
Dwayne Wade (aka, smaller Jordan)
Lebron James (aka, bigger Jordan)
And Carmelo Anthony (aka, older Jordan with a lot less defense)
The matchup problem that Jordan caused for his contemporaries on offense is the same matchup problem that these four players will cause for the ’92 Dream Team no matter who guards them including Jordan and Pippen.
Dwight Howard (aka, giant Jordan who can’t shoot free-throws or dribble) will dominate the middle against David Robinson and Patrick Ewing with his whopping 44-inch vertical (as reported by SI.com) and freakish strength. Dwight Howard’s strength is comparable to a young Shaq’s (who dominated both Robinson and Ewing in his early NBA years) and he has much more vertical leap. Those attributes would make him the king of the paint in any era.
Remember, Hakeem Olajuwon was NOT on the “Dream Team”! Hakeem played on the 1996 Olympic Team.
Chris Bosh playing the 4 & 5 position will also make the “Redeem Team” very hard to penetrate defensively. His level of quickness at 6’10” is something you simply don’t see often, and he is very capable offensively. Think John Salley plus 20 points per game.
Like any series with NBA players, the difference maker will be the matchups. The athleticism of the “Redeem Team” is going to be a real problem for the “Dream Team” in a seven-game series.
The “Redeem Team” will be able to guard the “Dream Team” better than the “Dream Team” will be able to guard the "Redeem Team”. No matter what five players the “Dream Team” puts on the court, the ’08 Team will be able to matchup well with them defensively and have the advantage offensively. It simply is not the case the other way around.
The “Dream Team” will win in the first game without doubt. Just like the ’02 Finals, Jason Kidd will be laid off of and forced to score, and the ’08 Olympic Team will lose because he doesn’t want to shoot and is only a good shooter on some nights.
“Magic” hanging back in the lane will get an easy triple-double because he will rebound and start the “Showtime” for his team without effort. “Magic” will also cause problems for wing players attempting to penetrate off the dribble, because he’s guarding an offensive non-threat.
The early lead they gain will not be surmountable after Jordan takes over late. If these teams played one time, I don’t begrudge you that the “Dream Team” will win with Jason Kidd starting at the point, but it will only be because of “Magic”.
After the adjustments are made and Coach K settles on playing Chris Paul and Deron Williams at the point, the series will make a quick turn, and the “Redeem Team” will make light work of the team that we thought was unbeatable, the 1992 Olympic Gold Medal “Dream Team”.
In this battle of basketball era’s, the now beats the then, thanks to Michael Jordan.
When Michael Phelps was a boy growing up in Baltimore, a popular television advert of the time featured basketball star Michael Jordan together with the slogan "I want to be like Mike".
Now, when children all across the United States are saying they want to be "like Mike", they mean Phelps after the swimming star rewrote the record books here at the Beijing Olympics by winning eight golds.
But, despite his success, there remains a schoolboy sports fan lurking inside Phelps that still reveres Jordan.
"Growing up, I always remember the 'I want to be like Mike' ads with Jordan. I remember putting my hand on the Gatorade jug (the sports drink the NBA legend was advertising). If I am able to inspire kids, I'm honoured to do it.
"It's an amazing feeling," he also told reporters here Monday.
"One of the people I've always wanted to meet in person is Jordan. I've never met him. What he did in the sport of basketball, is what I am trying to do in the sport of swimming. He completely changed the sport of basketball."
However, while Jordan may have long ago opted for retirement, the 23-year-old Phelps insists he still has goals he wants to achieve in the pool even though his career haul of 14 gold medals - he collected six in Athens four years ago - is more than anyone else has won in Olympic history.
As if to signal his intent that his extraordinary career still has some way to run, the undisputed star of the Beijing Games won't be in the Chinese capital come the closing ceremony but thousands of mile away in London, the host city of the 2012 Olympics.
"I am going to London to do the handover for the next Olympics and hopefully prepare myself the way I did for these Games and be ready to compete in London.
"There are some times I still want to hit before I retire. That's what's keeping me going and I want to try some new events.
"Whether it's the backstroke or the 100 metres free, there are some other things Bob (Bowman, his coach) and I are going to try out and work on over the next four years. It will definitely be fun, a change and be interesting.
"Bob said to me, serious training starts in the New Year."
One consolation for Phelps's rivals is that, having now broken fellow American swimming great Mark Spitz's record of seven golds at a single Games, set in Munich back in 1972, is that he has no plans to match or even surpass his Beijing mark in four years' time.
"It would be a lot harder, I'd be older."
The poster boy of swimming faced a barrage of questions from the world's media but one which would have struck a chord with young sports fans all around the globe was, "what's it like to hold eight gold medals at once?".
Phelps answered by saying: "Today was the first day I held all eight together. It's pretty cool. I was able to hold eight in Athens but these are all gold.
I found these pictures of the CDP XXII's on NikeTalk today. Not 100% sure these are the actual XXII's from the XXII/I CDP but I love the color scheme.
Every Air Jordan and Nike basketball sneaker with black uppers and white soles are always a favorite of mine. I'm not saying I would run out and drop $310 on the CDP but I really like this color scheme instead of the typical black and red colorways that have been dropping in most of the CDP's.
Thank NikeTalk member "160jordansdeep" for the pics.
During my never ending pursuit of mindless Michael Jordan crap for the blog I came across a video of a sports reporter from CBS 13 named Arran Andersen. Last year he was chasing Mike around on a golf course trying to get an interview.
In the process he ended up getting some great people to interview including Sterling Sharpe, Mario Lemieux, Emmit Smith, Kevin Nealon acting like was MJ, and even former Vice Pres. Dan Qualye.
In the end he finally did get a few words with MJ.
No codes to post the video but you can copy and paste this link.
For everyone that works a 9 to 5 in front of a computer screen the early morning roll thru your favorite sneaker websites is a daily routine.
This morning I checked out one of my favorite sites, KixandtheCity.com, I was peeping the post on the Pippen Retro's that drop this month and to my surprise on the side of the screen is an advertisement for a site that sell nothing but fakes!
That's like finding a link to an abortion clinic on a pro-life website!
Just a little reminder about the August 23rd filming for the "last shot" for "Jordan Heads".
Here's the info for everyone that does not already know the deal:
*Originally posted on July 23rd.
For many Michael Jordan fans the number one thing that connects themselves to the legacy Mike left on the court are the sneakers they proudly wear on their feet.
Air Jordans.
And finally all the Air Jordan lovers have a documentary to show the rest of the world the millions of people that are proud to call themselves "Jordan Heads".
The crew of Jordan Heads have been hard at work for the last few years gathering footage and interviewing people, they are just about to wrap up filming on the project. For the “last shot” of the film, The Jordan Heads crew wants to capture Jordan heads outside of the United Center.
On August 23rd, heads are invited to gather outside of the United Center by the Jordan statue. Everyone is asked to bring their favorite pair to hold up for the shot.
Besides being a part of this movie, hopes are to also break a world record and have this moment documented in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Please be prompt at 10AM the day of the shoot as a large crowd is expected.
Here's the trailer for the DVD for everyone that has not heard about the Jordan Heads DVD yet.
