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These particular joints were once my “grail.”

Every sneakerhead has a grail. An elusive sneaker, for whatever reasons. My problem in finding these was size. 13′s rarely popped up and nobody in my network of associates who shared my size had a pair. I always managed to run across a pair while eBaying and spending time in old sneaker stores with musty backstock from years previous. But never in my size; always some other size (which made for a profitable flip though). They held that unattainable appeal because it seemed like Nike would retro every possible colorway except this original. The color combo was always fierceto me as a Syracuse fan and I distinctly remember SU’s Davey Johnson used to ball in those bad boys.

I used to make the offhand joke that if I ever found a pair that would be it for me. Hang my jersey in the rafters & consider me done. My bottle of 409, rag & toothbrush I used for cleaning…throw’em in a bronze bucket.

Around early 2004, I finally grabbed a pair and that’s where chasing sneakers ended. The real allure was gone because it was then that I knew that any shoe was attainable with patience & resources. Funny thing was I never actually wore that pair. They were too precious lol. I didn’t want to dirty’em up or have some numbnuts step on those shits & scuff’em.

So they sat in the box. “I’ll wear’em on a special occasion.” “I’ll wear’em when it gets warm.”

Months passed. I couldn’t manage to take them out of the box. Maybe if I had a backup pair, it would’ve been easier to do. Eventually, I ended up selling them because I knew they’d eventually yellow, fade & then deteriorate to the point of crumbling; these deserved to be worn.

Now, the retro will be hitting shelves in mid-August. Of course, I’ll grab a pair or two (once they hit the sales racks, which they inevitably will). But this time, they’ll be for wearing.


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