Originally Posted by eyes of hazel
You never seen them because they never existed.
"ninjahood" talking out the side of his neck.
Blacks were close.
Whites? Psht.
it was da same exact sneaker
and da white ones are modified from da OGs...you can tell by da sole which still had some of its original green.
[h1]Nike Air Flight Huarache[/h1](July 2003)
Flashback to 1992. 5 Freshmen took the world by storm. Long baggyshorts, black socks, cocky attitude, alley-ooping, trash talking and ohyeah, a little game too. You could say the game was re-invented. Theyplayed with an urban mindset - a ghetto style of hoops thatrevolutionized millions of youngsters to come. It was not just dope butit was also marketable. Would there even be an And1 Mix Tour today ifthe Michigan Fab 5 hadn't pave the way for the generations to come?
Basketball powerhouses Temple, North Carolina, Ohio State and Cincinnati all fell at their feet in the NCAA Tournament.You could say the
revolutionWAS televised. Over 21 million people tuned in to see the finalshowdown with Duke, making it the second-highest ranked basketball gamein television history. Basketball fans swarmed to the MichiganWolverines Fab 5 like no other freshman team in the history of collegebasketball.
Rose, Jackson, King, Howard and Webber: five fabulous players, but only one shoe is needed to define them.The first time the team broke out this new pair of Nikes, every kid wondered "
what IS that on their feet"?Distinctive, SWOOSHLESS, bold & flashy, nothing like we've everseen before - much like their game. Make no mistake about it, theHuaraches were the coming-out-party kicks that put them on the map. TheFab 5 even requested Nike to make an
all black pair just for them.
Looking back, the marketing machine of Nike in 1992 boasted that theHuarache (defined as a flat-heeled sandal with an upper of wovenleather strips) is a new line of athletic shoes that will perform withonly the basic necessity of a shoe. Comfortable, smooth and huggable iswhat Nike wants you to believe. The
elastic inner bootiereminds you of a pair of comfortably fitted socks. The outer structureconsist of only what's needed to lock your foot in place, therebygiving you maximum comfort with the least amount of weight. Take a peakat the
bottom of the shoesand you will see a simple yet gorgeous design. Traction proved to behighly grippy and more than adequate for your balling needs. If allthat you need was a light-weight, breathable, luxurious ride, then thisshoe is just about as good as it gets.
But can a performance basketball shoe really onlyconsist of part sandal and part sock? Unfortunately, shoe technologyhas changed so much in the past 10 years that this shoe is anything buttrue performance by today's standards.
Thelarge cut-outs in the Huarache helps the shoe breath and saves weightbut also cuts corners in stability and safety. If you were to roll yourankles, there's practically nothing in the upper area of the shoe thatwill keep your foot from turning. Keep in mind that the black strap atthe ankle area is a piece of thin leather, not an anti-inversion monkeypaw you'd expect to find in today's Shox or a lateral stability shellthat exists on the Zoom Flight 2k3. The Air Flight Huarache's lack ofankle support is comparable to a modern day luxury car withoutstandardized air bags - it just won't cut it with safety-orientedconsumers. The minimalist approach in the uppers also means moreslippage when planting your foot and making quick cuts. It's almostlike a car suspension with too much body roll - decent for the streetsbut unable to perform on the track. Sure Nike could have tweaked theperformance a bit on the retro, but they choose to leave the shoe aloneand we commend them for that.
For a classic such as the Air Flight Huarache, leaving it true to the original is just exactly what they should've done. (*
It'sfair to note here that the OG had voilet-purple instead of grey in themiddle cut out sockliner area as the only notable change for thiscolorway).
Durability is another area where the Huarache tend to fall short bytoday's standards. The materials used on the upper simply won't lastdue to the fact it's been pre-cut and constantly stretched out. Theplastic pieces on the side and the rear of the shoe gets scuffed prettyeasily. This is definitely not a shoe you want to wear outdoors andexpect it to last.
TheAir Flight Huarache Retro has been re-released in 4 colorways to date:White/Black/Royal-Blue, White/Black/Varsity-Red, White/Black/Silver andBlack/Royal Blue. It retails for around $100 in mostly Footaction &Finishline stores. Surprisingly, even with the relative low price tag,this shoe was not an immediate sell-out as one might think. Perhaps therecent scandals involving Chris Webber and the Michigan Wolverines hashurt the Fab 5 image more than ever. The fact that Michigan has been onprobation and will not be eligible for the Big Dance for years to comewill mean even less chance for kid's to remember the Fab years.However, for those of you that do remember that era, the Air FlightHuarache is truly a shoe for the ages - possibly a top 10 shoe of alltime in terms of design, inspiration and history
