2396Bulls wrote:
Times change and along with that so does a corporations business model. That being said, JB's business model has definitely changed eschewing quality and integrity for profits. I personally think that the whole American business model has changed. It seems to me that alot of American companies are just there to provide a product for profit regardless of quality because it will sell. The first time I laid eyes on Jordans they were the fire red 4's and that was it. My first pair of j's were the military 4's. I thought I would be buying j's forever. Not true. Kids in this younger generation might ask why we complain and make all this fuss about the shape, or color or anything we dont consider perfect about a shoe. No offense but you couldn't understand. How could you? I was alive and watched MJ since 1988. Its a whole different ballgame when the man himself is wearing the shoes you saw him play in when you were a kid. When at 9 you spend the night over your friends house and you both wear your J's while jumping around imitating his airness in the dunk contests. Or when Mj played in the alllstar game or when MJ played against the Pistions and got his a** beat every time unti 91: all the time wearing the latest J's. When I saw him in every game of the playoffs for his six championships I was wearing his shoes most of the time. To me, when I wore j's, it wasnt about what was cool. It was about the man himslef and what he represented on the court. When people said my shoes looked like space shoes I took it as a compliment. I mean, MJ himslef played like he wasnt even from this planet. The man and the shoes were metaphorically the same. That feeling of nostalgia cant be replaced. It sure as hell cant be replaced by some crapa** retro that in no way represents the shoes he wore. That idea of nostalgia is a powerful thing. Its important to most people, albeit in different ways about different things. This is why people collect old jays and complain about new ones. I feel I dedicated a big part of my childhood to Michael Jordan and the least he and his company could do is make the shoes like they were. That crap about losing molds and making the shoes for casual wear is all bs. Like I said, you younger kids, or generation or whatever you want to be called, cant understand. You didnt experience what me and people older than me experienced who were THERE. We witnessed most of a career and the moments that defined a career of one of the greatest athletes ever. I dont know what kids younger than me think of Mj and his shoes. I cant believe that there are kids around 18, 19, 20 years old who could feel the same way and understand. SO when some old dude like myslef or someone else starts b******g and moaning about the retros or whatever jb shoe, what I just wrote about is a big reason. When you younger dudes find or realize whatever it was that was as big a part of your chilhood like MJ was to mine, you'll finally understand where us "older heads" are coming from and appreciate what we have to say. This goes out to everyone on this forum.
Excellent post, best I've read on here yet.
I think he did an excellent job summing up what the "older" generation on here has been trying to explain to the "younger" generation.I'm happy to see that something from my childhood has transcended time and is sought after by the next generation. But there is no way they can understandthe connection we had to the shoes (yes I realize it sounds silly to speak in these terms about mere shoes, but they represented much more to us). I hope thispost goes a long way to shedding some light on why we speak with such passion as we do about something a seemingly insignificant as the nuances of a simpleshoe, why we insist on holding JB to a higher standard.
Again, great post 2396... thank you.
