Happy 50th Bday Michael Jordan!!!!

Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. That is not a question. Before Lebron James, he was by far the greatest I have ever seen in my life. But MJ is much more than a basketball player. The dud helped usher in the new era of the NBA back in the mid 80s, and he helped change the status quo of what was accepted in terms of play and style. MJ had so much swag. The gold chain he rocked during the dunk contest? Gangster. The crazy colorways of his kicks, the baggy shorts and slouched socks? Signature MJ. Taking his shoe line to dizzying heights, and becoming the quintessential spokesperson for a plethora of companies (Mickey D's, Gatorade, Hanes, etc)? Getting money from all angles. And the 6 rings that he won for the Chicago Bulls? Proof ON THE COURT that the boy could ball. The dunks were gravity defying, the storylines (flu game vs Utah, getting Isiah banned from The Dream Team, etc) were legendary, and the sneakers .. oh my god the sneakers!!!! The sneakers may be the biggest contribution that MJ has had on my life, cause I have had at least 1 pair of each of the 20+ yearly editions that Nike has been putting out since MJs rookie year. I always wanted to hate MJ for what he continued to do to my hometown NY Knicks, but I couldn't because he was just too much fun to watch. Happy bday Mike... Check out some tribute videos after the jump....

The 'Home Bulls' Collection Celebrates 25 Years Of Jordans...

Over the past 25 years, Nike and Michael Jordan have paired up to make some of the greatest sneakers ever created. The shoes they have produced are not only technically sound, they are some of the flyest creations to ever be worn on peoples feet. In celebration of 25 years of making pure fire, Nike has announced a 'Home Bulls' collection of sneakers, featuring one model from each of the 25 years in similar colorways. All of the sneakers in the collection have a white upper base with red soles/liners and black laces. I own at least one pair of each of the 25 models (yeah, I have a problem buying shoes), but I have to admit that seeing all of these like this is really cool. Click after the jump for more detailed pics...

20 Years Ago Today My Life Changed Forever...

On November 7th, 1991 I was a very happy go lucky 12 year old teenage boy who had many obsessions: Video Games, Girls, and Jordan's were all very high on my list. But nothing came before NBA basketball. Nothing. Michael Jordan was just starting his reign as the greatest player ever, the Knicks were extremely competitive and breaking my heart year after year, and the Lakers were still Showtiming it all over the floor lead by Earvin "Magic" Johnson. As a Knick fan, I could not root for Jordan, Isiah Thomas or Larry Bird because of the natural enemies they played to my favorite team. But Magic was a different story. He was exactly that... Magic. Watching him play the game was like poetry in motion...

Click after the jump for the rest...

Commercially Acclaimed: Vol.#20 - Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley For Nike

TV commercials are a part of our everyday lives as TV viewers. Even though Tivo and DVR have allowed us to "skip through" the commercials, the advertising companies are still trying to peak our interests by coming up with creative commercials. To me, great commercials are an art form and are under appreciated by a society that is always trying to speed through things. Think about it... how many times did you see a great commercial that made you laugh hysterically or want to go out and purchase the advertised product??? And how many times has the best part of the Super Bowl been the commercials during a blow out game??? Whether you want to admit it or not, commercials are cool as shit... and here are some of my favorites.


This week we got a vintage spot from Nike that pitted down low nightmare Charles Barkley 1 on 1 against the Tokyo Destroyer himself, Godzilla. This is from the classic era of Nike commercials (face it, they have some of the absolute BEST tv spots ever), and Barkley is great as the good guy who isn't afraid to get dirty. You gotta love the sports glasses that Godzilla pops on right before they start playing (in purple for Barkley's Phoenix Suns!!!). The effects were actually done by George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic, which makes them automatically awesome.

***Bonus***

This was right around the time Nike began to embrace Barkley as the "anti-Jordan", the bad guy you could root for in contrast to Jordan's perfectly good guy. They even crossed over with Dark Horse comics to do a one shot featuring Barkley balling with the beast. How many atheletes can say that they starred in their own comic, and got to beat up on Godzilla? Here is the cover and some panel art. Enjoy!!!

I need this in my comic collection asap!!!

Barkley taking a shot at fellow Nike colleague Jordan and The Bulls

Holy Early 90's Euphamisms Batman!!!

Godzilla is definitely a Jordan Brand guy... lol



This Is The Lakers vs. Celtics That I Remember

Now that the Lakers have won the NBA title for a second straight year, I thought it was more appropriate to look at some pics from the Lakers vs. Celtics that I know and love... Lakers vs. Celtics and The NBA Playoffs for Sega Genesis. This is the first basketball game I remember that was realistic... it made Double Dribble look wild homo. The 16 bit graphics of the Genesis blew doors off the 8 bit Nintendo games, and this featured 8 playoff teams with the actual stars... Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem, Larry Legend, David "The Admiral" Robinson, Charles Barkley, and Tom " I Can Dunk The Ball From The 3 Point Line With No Problem" Chambers... if you ever played with Chambers and The Suns and performed this unstoppable dunk, you know what I mean!!!

Not only did you have the stars, but they had signature moves: MJ skywalked, Magic did the 'No Look Fake Pass', Larry Legend had the turn around J, and Chambers could fly from the 3pt line with his triple pump dunk. This is one of the few games that actually had Jordan in it, as he took himself out of the video game world for a long time (That's about to come to an end with a playable MJ character in the upcoming NBA 2k11 Basketball... wow!)

It also launched the company EA sports through the roof as the go-to company for sports games... these guys would go on to bring us The Bill Walsh College Football series, and the legendary John Madden NFL games... these three games kept me entertained for hours and exposed me to tons of players in the NFL and NBA that I would have never got to see due to fact that cable and ESPN were not so popular yet. Congrats to L.A. on winning another title, and thanks to the Lakers and The Celtics for all the memories.

SNL Throwback Of The Week #6 3/6/2010

I am a huge Saturday Night Live fan. One of my earliest memories was of my parents watching SNL every Saturday while we were tucked in our bedrooms, and sometimes being allowed to watch for a bit. The show has gone through its ups and downs over its 35 year run, but the fact that it is still on the air after 35 years is a testament to the staying power of the show. Lorne Michaels is a genius at finding and developing young, comedic talent. SNL has produced a bevy of stars over the years, from Eddie Murphy to Tina Fey. The show is doing well again thanks to Ms. Fey and the rest of the team, but I love watching clips from the old shows. Every Saturday I will give you guys one of my favorites. This weeks clip features Chris Farley in Bill Swerkski's Super Fans. Co-starring the lovable George Wendt, they are the Superfans... lovers of all thing sports and Chicago. They argue about outcomes of games, the greatest coach ever, and Michael Jordan. In this particular sketch, MJ himself makes an appearence. God I miss Chris Farley... I would have loved to see what else he would have accomplished in his career. R.I.P. sir, you were a genius... Hope you enjoy the clip. Live from my livingroom it's Saturday Night!!!

 

Thanks to Hulu for the clip.