4/3/09

#6 "Barry Sanders"


Nobody really understands why Barry retired when he did. He was so close to breaking Walter Payton's record , so close to being on top of every record for running backs in the NFL, so close to immortality. But, his retirement gave him a different kind of immortality. Everyone wonders what could have been. He was definitely one of the best RBs in the history of the game, but everyone wanted to see him become the unquestioned best. I guess we'll never know what could have been.

I think the same is true for this blog. Undoubtedly one of the best blogs ever. Some people even think it's the best of all time. I guess we'll never know. I'd like to take this moment to announce the retirement of The Lewis Report. It has been a fun 5 days, and they will be treasured dearly. But, all good things must come to an end. And that end comes today. Good bye and God Bless.

Love,

Paul

4/2/09

#5 "Michael Jordan"


I know, I know, I already used this picture in an earlier blog. If you're really upset about this, I have three words for you: "Get over it." His "Air-ness" just took off from the stinkin' free throw line and you're mad because I used the same picture twice. Who do you think you are? Hopefully nobody feels that way, because I might have to hurt them. I mean, I can't even make a shot from the free throw line, this guy jumped and dunked from there. Unreal.

Sorry for that little outburst, but I felt it was necessary. Anywho, thanks to everyone who came out yesterday. I have some big news. We have officially gone international. The blog has been viewed on multiple continents (North America & Asia), 8 states (OK, AR, NM, CA, FL, IL, TX, & KS), and countless lives have been changed. Today will be more of the same. We are about 500 views short of the 1000 view goal. Only 3.5 days to get there. Make it happen. Thanks for all the comments, I love all of them.

On a more somber note, you guys are jerks. The winner of the poll "What should I eat for dinner Thursday night" was, hands down, the free 72oz. steak from the Big Texan. Seriously? It was a joke. Every person who voted for that is a loser. No way am I going to eat 4 and 1/2 pounds of steak, a baked potato, roll, side salad and a drink. That's the only way it's free. You have to eat all of it. On top of that, you only have one hour. You guys are sick. I'm eating a PB&J just to spite everyone that voted for that nonsense. From now on I'm going to "jerk-proof" my polls. Thanks a lot.

Back to Michael Jordan. Here's the deal. I could spend about, oh, the next 6-7 days trying to write about everything he has accomplished. How, I actually cared about NBA basketball while he played. Which is a pretty huge feat. How he is the best player ever. I don't want to hear any of this LeBron and Kobe nonsense. They are good, probably some of the best the NBA will ever see, but Jordan was on a different level. He might have even a different world than everyone else. So, I'm not going to sit here and tell you how awesome he was. You should already know. I do, however, want to talk about what he did for the shoe industry. Maybe not as a whole, but definitely in my life.

I'll be honest, I have a problem. I love shoes. If I had any kind of money or didn't have to eat, I would have a sweet shoe collection. But, unfortunately, I'm relatively poor and like to eat, and can only dream. That is exactly what this blog is about. All the shoes I dream about. So, here we go...

I have to start with the man behind the dream and today's blog: Michael Jordan. Let's take a stroll down memory lane and look at his outrageously sweet shoe line starting with of course the first shoe to ever be banned from the NBA...
























Ok, I know it's hard to even want to think about seeing any shoes besides those for the rest of your life, but let's take a look at some other shoes that I think are worthy of a look or two. Let's stay in the basketball realm. Here's a look at Scottie Pippen's first cool shoe. And his second. One of my personal favorites, the old Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway shoes. I also wanted some of these, in a bad way. Never was crazy about Shawn Kemp, but those were sick for Reeboks. Jason Kidd had some nasty shoes too. Absolutely loved them. I have a roommate who is obsessed with Lebron so I feel obligated to show you these. Those are really the only LeBrons I liked. The new Kobes are pretty awesome. You should check those out. I used to really want a pair of these. The zip up Gary Paytons. Vince Carter, Larry Johnson, Kevin Garnett, Charles Barkley, and Chris Webber all had some pretty fly shoes as well.

Outside of the world of basketball shoes, Ken Griffey Jr. had maybe my all time favorite shoes. There were also pretty sweet football players that had ridiculously awesome shoes. For instance, Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson, and Barry Sanders. I also have to mention Andre Agassi and his sweet Nikes.

Well, I feel like I've talked enough about my shoe addiction. It's your turn now. Let me know if I left any out. Tell me about your favorite pair of shoes. Ladies, don't feel left out, I want to hear about your favorite shoes as well. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed today's blog. Talk to you tomorrow.

Love,

Paul

4/1/09

#4 "Nancy Kerrigan"


Today I've decided to take little detour from usual "superstar athlete" centered blog and focus more on a true American Icon. Where to begin with Mrs. Kerrigan? She is the true embodiment of the will to overcome. Some of you may remember a little incident she had with Tonya Harding before the 1994 Winter Olympics. I mean, she, ok, I can't do this anymore, I tried to take it as far as I could. I'm kidding.


Wow, sorry about that. Seriously though, if you ever see a blog start with a figure skater and you think it's serious, you have some major issues.

Ok, let's refocus here. Time for the real blog....

#4 "Michael Vick"


Let me start by saying thanks to everyone who has come out to the blog so far. I love all the comments and votes on the polls. You guys are awesome. We met the goal of 300 views by midnight last night. You can check to see how many people have looked at the very bottom the page. The next goal is getting to 1000 views by midnight Sunday night. I have faith that we can do it, so let's make it happen. We're still working on getting John Mayer to Twitter about the blog. It shouldn't be too long before he comes through.

I chose Michael Vick as today's featured athlete because I wanted to focus on epic fails.

Here's a guys who was supposed to be one the greatest QB's in the league. He signed the biggest NFL contract to date at one point, had Nike make him his own shoe, and just made people look silly.

But, all good things must come to end. Unfortunately for Vick, this end wasn't retirement or winning the Super Bowl and going to Disney World, it was being sentenced to jail for running an underground dog fighting ring. Which, in my eyes, deserves the slogan "Epic Fail."

That's really all I have to say about Michael Vick. But, he does lead me to an important announcement. I have decided to make Wednesdays a very special day in the blog. I am going to deem this day and every other hump-day: "Current Event Wednesdays."

Because this is both the inaugural "Current Event Wednesday" and April Fool's Day, I thought I would start off with a pretty hilarious current event. Keep in mind, this is not a joke.

Some of you may be familiar with infomercial superstar Vince Offer, real name Vince Shlomi. He is the pitchman behind infomercial successes ShamWOW! and the Slap Chop food chopper. Well, apparently Epic Failure isn't reserved for superstar athletes. Vince Shlomi was well, I'll just let Wikipedia do the talking...



Are you kidding me? What has the world come to? The craziest thing is though, when police arrived on the scene, Vince wasn't using a famous ShamWOW! to clean up the mess. Instead, he had taken a Snuggie and was using that clean the crime scene (Ok that was a joke). As Jim Rome might say, Un-Be-Liev-Able. I guess Billy Mays was right about ol' Vince Shlomi.

Now, it's your turn. I want to hear some awesome stories of Epic Fails, maybe a great April Fool's day prank you pulled off, your favorite infomercial of all time, memories of Michael Vick and Nancy Kerrigan, etc. You get the idea. Leave some comments, suggestions, ideas. See you tomorrow.

Love,

Paul