My Two Cents

When Air Jordans took off in popularity in the mid to late 80's, they did so strictly because of the play of the person who wore them, Michael Jordan. It is because of Mr Jordan that many kids such as myself even began to watch basketball and take an interest in the game. I have always liked sneakers for as long as I can remember. I still relish that new sneaker smell to this day. Air Jordans were the standard for excellence in basketball shoe performance back in those early years, but, since the trend of "retro-ing" has taken off, it seems as though many in the sneaker community have forgotten the true purpose of the sneaker in the first place.

Basketball sneakers are performance shoes first and style icons second. Or at least that has always been my understanding of how it should be. Yet many so called "sneakerheads" routinely downplay or even go so far as to totally disrespect newer sneaker models. The very things that made the Air Jordan line what is today, its envelope pushing, its advanced technologies and futuristic looks are now being panned by these "pundits". Personally, I love the last two models of the Air Jordan, I fell in love with them even more when I did my research about the technology and thought process involved in every minute detail of these shoes and to me, that is what makes a sneaker truly special. 

 As much as the sneaker community complains about sub par quality and durability with the heavily lauded retro sneakers, I am totally amazed that they were not all over these last models. It begs me to think that they do not really care about quality as much as they claim to. They care only about hype and exclusivity. If they thought about it, there really are very few limited releases, in my humble opinion a true limited release is the "one of one" sneaker, the Nike ID and the PE. Those are truly limited. Everything else is a general release, some just a little less general than others. The great thing about loving sneakers is that you decide what is hot to you. Hopefully you are not someone who buys everything that someone else tells you to buy, if you are, that's just kinda sad.

Now, by no means am I saying that retro Air Jordans are total trash and should not be bought. I believe that they allow the sneaker lover to get a pair of shoes they may have had before and provide a sense of nostalgia for the wearer. I love the retros that I have, but, I also know that we cannot live in the past and refuse to make strides to improve the performance and look of the Air Jordan. I applaud the brand for continuing to try new things and move it forward. Who knows, maybe in ten years the "experts" will look back on this year's model and give it the credit it truly deserves. Thanks for reading, now I can get back to the deals. LOL.