KICK GAME!

A few months back, Sean Malcolm, my former cube-mate at KING magazine, assigned me the sweet task of speaking with both Gilbert Arenas and Chris Paul about their places on the covers of NBA Live '08 and NBA 2K8 respectively. The interviews were eventually published in the November '07 issue of KING and I kind of didn't think much about them after that. Agent Zero has sat out most of the season with an injury and Chris Paul's career couldn't be in more full swing.

Last week, I noticed (quite delayed) that Adidas, Arenas' shoe of choice, made a special NBA LIVE / EA SPORTS version of their Team Signature sneakers in honor of their man's presence on the cover of their magazine. More accurately known as the Men’s TS Lightswitch Low (EA Sports) they seem way more suited for off court than on. However, playing in sneakers below the ankle is an acquired taste. I mentioned my discovery to my esteemed superior editor, Khalid Salaam, who promptly placed a call to the three-stripe folks and had them send me over a pair.

I missed work Friday (flu bug) and made it in to work today, Tuesday, to find a fresh pair of said sneakers (with Khalids name on them) set aside for me to check out. Not only did I check them out, but I rocked them for the majority of the day.

By coincidence, a freelance assignment had me speaking with Chris Paul about his new signature sneaker from Jordan. The kick features the number 61 (in honor of the age his grandfather was when he was murdered) and the name, SKIP, on the inner tongue (to honor his college coach, Skip Prosser, who passed away late last year).

While Adidas promptly put in my request for the kicks pictured above, Jordan brand claimed they lacked the product. So, I doubt I will be able to bring original photos of a pair of Chris Paul Jordan brand kicks to this blog. Their loss!

Westchester Monarchs Sign Rupel

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my friend Benny Rupel was rocking k1x gear and some Shirts & Skins shorts that found its way to him from the SLAM Dome in a recent semi pro tryout. Well, Benny did in fact make the 12-man roster and is now a member of the Westchester Monarchs of the National Professional Basketball League, a union of weekend warriors playing for just about gas money. If you're in Elmira, NY, Rockland County, NY, Westchester, NY, Alexandria, VA or Maryland, the NPBL might be worth a look.

This photo was taken from the Monarch's website.

SLAM & CAPUTO PRESENT...S K I L L Z

Last week, SLAM in-house video wiz, Matt Sheridan, and I took a ride up to ritzy Fairfield County to produce a ball handling video for SLAM Online. Fairfield U Assistant Coach, Aki Collins, is a cool cat and was happy to have two of his junior guards, Jon Han and Herbie Allen, break down some basic ball handling drills for our audience.

While Matt and I were going over the film after the shoot, Ben Osborne brought the fact that SLAM, the magazine, once featured a section called "Skillz" to my attention. I hadn't exactly ironed out a name for the series yet. I was leaning toward "Drill Tips," for some perverse reason. I think it's best to go with "Skillz" because it was already a part of the magazine. With the addition of the video element, it's totally just a fresh take on an old trick.

I've got some other teams lined up to lend us a hand in the development of these flicks. It's cool beacause, since the videos are free in both cost of viewing and of a sponsor (i.e. Strength Shoes or Wonder Rim) everyone with access to a computer can benefit from checking out these drills. See you in the park.