Cool Grey XI

I guess this would be my Christmas gift to myself. Got them for retail, no lines, no crowds. The hype for these shoes were so off the charts that there really isn't much left to say about them, but I have to admit, that blue tint on the sole is a really, really good look.

Throwback Clips: Touch The Sky

This unfortunately is no longer the guy who will be suiting up for the Suns later this week, but let's get a little Vinsane for old time's sake. The closest that man has ever come to flying:





That dunk against the Clippers still blows my mind.

Concord XI Holdiay 2011 Release

A rumored holiday 2011 release of the Concord XIs has recently been confirmed. It appears that we'll be getting a different incarnation of the XI every year right around Christmas. Perhaps the Columbias in 2012?

Suns Land Carter, Pietrus, Gortat

The Suns acquire Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat from the Orlando Magic in exchange for Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark. Disappointing to see J-Rich go, but Carter should at the very least come close to duplicating Richardson's scoring, and the move was more about getting rid of Turkoglu's ridiculous contract than anything else. It remains to be seen if we'll see the Vince of old with the Suns, but his play of late with Orlando doesn't seem to indicate so. Carter did play some of his best ball with Jason Kidd in New Jersey, so perhaps he will be rejuvenated by a similar pairing with Steve Nash.



Though Carter is the bigger name, the centerpiece of the deal appears to Marcin Gortat, who gives Phoenix an additional presence inside that they've been sorely lacking. Mickael Pietrus will serve as a decent perimeter stopper and another shooter to help spread the floor, and his days with Golden State are a pretty good indication that he'll be effective in the Suns uptempo attack. If nothing else, Pietrus and Gortat have proven that they can be effective bread in a Sasha Vujacic sandwich, and that alone makes this a worthwhile trade.



On another note, with Gilbert Arenas in Orlando, I think it's safe to assume that we'll see him breaking out the Orlando Air Pennys at some point. Something to look forward to.

PHX Max Penny, Now w/ More Orange (sorta)

I had these written off as a definite pass, but new images of the PHX colorway have surfaced, showing off a little of the "mandarin" that Nike originally promised when they announced the release.





I like them a lot better than I did 6 months ago, and the detailed shots really do wonders for this shoe, but well...it's just so heavy on the black, and the purple accents don't do much to distinguish the sneaker as a Suns makeup. This one really had the potential to be so much better, so it's a little disappointing to me personally since the Suns are my favorite team and Penny was my favorite player. Maybe I'll buy a pair and see what some orange laces can do for them.

Retro White Cement III

Went hunting for the Altitude XIIIs but ended up with a pair of Cement IIIs instead. I was under the impression that January 22 was the official drop date for these, but hooray for Japan and early Asia releases. The retro packaging is a nice touch.















I wasn't counting on this being a December purchase, so I might have to pass on the Altitudes and settle on one of the Bulls colorways instead. I guess that JB didn't stop to consider that it was Christmas and that some of us actually have gifts to buy (for other people).