words // Nick Engvall
The 2011 Nike basketball shoes have started to arrive. New versions of the popular Hyperdunk and Hyperfuse models feature updated details for 2011. For the Hyperdunk, 2011 will be its third year at the forefront of performance basketball shoes, while the Zoom Hyperfuse, after being introduced last year, is improved and ready for the court in its sophomore edition.
The Nike Zoom Hyperfuse 2011 utilizes a seamless construction to attach the breathable mesh and synthetic upper together. A combination of phylon and Zoom Air cushioning in the forefoot provide responsiveness, while the herringbone pattern on the solid rubber outsole provides traction. For the Hyperdunk 2011, the Flywire upper gets improved fitment that conforms to the foot better and a more breathable mesh. One of the biggest changes for the Hyperdunk 2011 is an improved shank plate that keeps flexing to a minimum.
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Tags: Athletic, Shoes, Sports
Robinson Cano stuck with his Nike Air Max Diamond Elite Fly cleats and it paid off.
words // Nick Engvall
Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby is one of the most fan friendly and fun events in all of professional sports. More so than other sports because you often get to see the players, as well as their families, but without the stress of being “at work.” Last night Robinson Cano became the third New York Yankees player to win the Home Run Derby. What made the night even more special, is the fact that Cano’s father Jose, who was formerly a pitcher in the Big Leagues, was the one who pitched to Robinson during the Home Run Derby.
Of course, there was plenty of cool footwear to see, as well as some special edition batting gloves. Although Cano opted to stick with his standard Nike cleats, some of the other competitors got a little creative with their new Player Exclusives.
Check out the photos below courtesy of Yahoo.
A look at Robinson Cano’s special edition Nike batting gloves.
Adrian Gonzalez started in his PE Nike Shox Fuse cleats.
Gonzalez then switched to the All-Star Edition Huarache 2KFresh.
David Ortiz wearing Reebok Zigs.
Prince Fielder opted for his regular Nike baseball cleats.
Jose Bautista was fitted with some new All-Star PEs from New Balance.
Matt Kemp in the Nike Air Huarache 2KFresh All-Star PE and Easton batting gloves.
Brian Wilson wearing Oakley sunglasses, yes, indoors.
Matt Holliday opted for the blue colorway of the Huarache 2KFresh.
Looks like Jose Cano scored a pair of Nike Air Trainer 1.3 PEs from his son.
C.J. Wilson played camera man wearing his New Balance iDs.
Joey Votto relaxing in the Nike Air Max 2011.
Justin Upton doing the same in the adidas Climacool Ride.
Rickie Weeks opted to wear both colorways of the 2KFresh at the same time.
This guy gets the Play of the Night award for making a catch on his way into the pool.
And this guy’s friends get honorable mention for saving their friend from catastrophe.
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Tags: Athletic, MLB, Shoes, Sports
words // Brandon Richard
Another day, another look at one of the newest Nike football cleats, the Alpha Vapor One. Designed for quick skill position players who want control over every movement, the low-profile Alpha Vapor One features a one-piece synthetic build for comfort and durability. The tongue is perforated to enhance breathability, while Flywire technology and a TPU heel clip stabilizer offer lightweight support and a secure lockdown fit. A Pebax plate with injected Vapor outsole bladed cleats and secondary sub-cleats increases traction.
This Alpha Vapor One features an Orange Flash base with black Alpha graphic detailing wrapped around the heel. Black also works the laces, inner liner, heel clip and toebox Swoosh branding. The midsole and outsole plate are done in orange, with black-tipped spikes finishing off the look below. This colorway, and several others, are available at Eastbay today.
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Tags: Athletic, Shoes, Sports
words // Nick Engvall
Of all the Jordan shoes, the original Air Jordan 1 has been reworked more than any other. In recent years, the former performance basketball shoe has become a casual sneaker that doubles as a blank canvas for the creatives at Nike and Jordan Brand to try out new materials, finishes and colorways.
The Jordan 1 Phat Mid is the latest rendition of the first Jordan signature to receive new colorways. The first of the two colorways features an entirely white finish with white carbon fiber-like material around the toebox, and covering the heel area and Swoosh. The second colorway has a more familiar feel, thanks to the Obsidian and White color blocking that has been seen on plenty of Jordan models over the years.
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Tags: Athletic, Shoes, Sports
words // Nick Engvall
Nike is no stranger to creating cutting edge technology. In every genre of sport, they are continually pushing the envelope in an effort to make athletes better. As the Women’s World Cup takes place in Germany, Nike uses feedback from athletes, like goalkeeper Hope Solo, to find new ways of improving their soccer cleats.
In the next few weeks, Nike Soccer will release the Bomba Finale. It features a new technology that aims to make your aim better. The Shot Shield absorbs impact and teams up with the traditional pass pad, seen on many other Nike soccer cleats, to improve accuracy and control. On top of that, it gives the boots a futuristic-like head turning look. Look for these to arrive later this month at Eastbay.
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Tags: Athletic, Shoes, Sports
Hope Solo of the US National Team wearing Nike soccer gloves.
words // Nick Engvall
A bad call seemed to put the USA at disadvantage they couldn’t overcome. Playing short-handed, they never lost the belief that they could win, despite being on the verge of the worst performance in the history of USA women’s soccer.
However, nearly 2 minutes into extra time of overtime, down 2-1 to Marta, the best female player in the world, and the Brazilian team which is loaded with skillful players, Abby Wambach scored on a brilliant header to force penalty kicks. Now, with Hope Solo, the best goalkeeper in the game, the USA had the advantage they needed and emerged victorious to the sounds of German and American fans chanting, “USA! USA!”
On Wednesday the US will take on France, who defeated England on penalty kicks Saturday. Following the US vs. France match, Japan, who shocked the German team, will face Sweden to determine who will play for the title on Sunday.
Check out the latest Soccer Watch coverage below, courtesy of Yahoo.
Alex Kreiger of the USA wearing the Nike T90 Laser.
Marta of Brazil wearing PUMA soccer cleats.
Homare Sawa of Japan wearing the adidas adiPower Predator.
Nadine Angerer of Germany in the adidas F50 adiZero.
Gaetane Thiney of France wearing the latest colorway of the F50 adiZero.
Andreia, goalkeeper for Brazil, wearing PUMA soccer cleats.
Jill Scott of England celebrates a goal wearing PUMA soccer cleats.
Abby Wambach of the Team USA celebrates her game-tying header.
Heather O’Reilly of the US National Team wearing the adidas F50 adiZero.
Camille Abily of France wearing Nike Mercurial cleats.
Hope Solo makes a diving save wearing Nike T90 soccer cleats.
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Tags: Athletic, Shoes, Sports
words // Nick Engvall
For this week’s Eastbay Memory Lane, the obvious choice was to take a look back through the past for some Derek Jeter highlights. Of course, we’ve already taken a look at his latest Jordan shoe, the Jordan Jeter Cut. Since he’s been such a longtime member of Team Jordan, representing the Jumpman for essentially his entire career, there is plenty to choose from. There was one point, however, that was a key point both in Jeter’s career and the history of Jordan Brand.
Although, his recent accomplishment of 3,000 hits is probably now at the very top of his long list of accomplishments, the year 2000 was also a high point on the field for Jeter. Derek Jeter not only won the All-Star Game MVP in Atlanta, but he also went on to lead the New York Yankees to the World Series, and was named MVP of the World Series. He is the only player to accomplish both of these feats in the same season. Through the Series, Jeter hit an unbelievable .409 as the Bronx Bombers defeated their cross-town rivals the New York Mets.
It can’t be officially linked, but the success of Jeter may have been a direct correlation to the expanding Jordan Brand presence. In 2000, Jeter was one of 5 Jordan Brand athletes featured in a unique lookbook style catalog insert. The focus of the lookbook was the expanding Jordan apparel with unforgettable designs, like the “23 For Life.” and “Give Respect. Get Respect.” t-shirt designs. Of course, who could forget Jeter’s 3 Ring Vest, that paid tribute to his (at the time) 3 World Series victories wearing the Yankee pinstripes. Although the footwear, was also highlighted in the lookbook, we’ll save those for another stroll down memory lane and let New York and Jordan fans enjoy this blast from the past.
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Tags: Athletic, Shoes, Sports
words // Nick Engvall
New York Yankees fans got to see their Captain, Derek Jeter, have one of his best games of the season as he went 5 for 5 to become the 28th player in Major League Baseball history to reach the elusive 3,000 hit milestone. While we gave you detailed interview with Octavio Lubrano, designer of Derek Jeter’s Jordan shoes, there is no doubt that baseball fans will want to capture this historical moment.
Jordan Brand has created two colorways of a special edition t-shirt that pays tribute to Derek Jeter’s recent accomplishment. The design features an artistic rendition of Jeter’s somewhat signature form of acknowledgement, the tipping of his helmet to the crowd. On the back of each shirt reads 3,000, to commemorate the accomplishment. The shirts are available in a Navy and a Grey version, and the Navy features the iconic Yankees pinstripes through the 3,000 graphics.
Available now: Jordan Jeter 3,000 Hits T-Shirt
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Tags: Athletic, Shoes, Sports
words // Nick Engvall
The latest Nike basketball shoes continue to push the performance envelope with some of Nike’s most popular technologies. This year’s edition of the Nike Zoom Hyperfuse aims to improve on two key elements, breathability and durability. With the way the original Nike Zoom Hyperfuse performed, the 2011 model has a lot to live up to.
The Nike Zoom Hyperfuse 2011 features a lightweight and breathable upper comprised of Hyperfuse technology, which fuses together a mesh and synthetic upper together without traditional stitching. This reduces weight and increases breathability at the same time. For cushioning, a combination of Phylon and forefoot Zoom Air rests between you and the herringbone traction pattern of the solid rubber outsole. The Nike Zoom Hyperfuse 2011 weighs in at just 12.4 ounces despite a slightly higher ankle cut than the previous model.
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Tags: Athletic, Shoes, Sports
words & images // Zac Dubasik
In celebration of Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit, here’s a detailed look at the shoe he did it in: the Jeter Cut. This shoe, Derek’s 10th signature model, also marks the beginning of his ambassadorship of Jordan Brand’s training initiative. While most obviously known for their hoops line, the Brand is placing a new emphasis on providing training solutions to athletes across all sports, with highly versatile footwear. “You really can’t dictate how each athlete is going to train. They just need a shoe that can do it all,” explains designer Octavio Lubrano. Based on findings from their work with the NSRL and the University of Oregon, the Jeter Cut takes a stripped down approach to training, with a heavy emphasis on natural motion. Check out the details below.
Zac: Could you tell the story of where the name of the Jeter Cut came from?
Octavio Lubrano: The first time I met Derek, December 13th, 2008, I asked him what training means to him. And I wrote a little note down, and thought one day I might use it. He said that for him, it was like an uncut diamond. The more you polish the stone, the better the stone becomes. And it’s funny, because it plays into who he is. When athletes get a little bit older, you wonder how they’re able to perform at a high level. And the training does matter. When you get older, you don’t jump higher, you don’t run faster. But for you to remain an All-Star, there’re other things you do. I thought that was an interesting thing that led to the diamond cut, and that led to the performance part of it.
So, that’s when I met with the NSRL [Nike Sports Research Lab] and asked if I could take the analogy of the cut, and turn that into a performance feature. We wanted the shoe to have natural motion. … This is probably the best job we’ve done so far of really making a super flexible shoe. It’s a little bit different, because it’s so aggressive but we really wanted to make it a serious looking training shoe. With the defining moments, I wanted to bring some of the retro and lifestyle in. That’s how we began, and then it grew from there.
ZD: Could you talk about the main performance areas you focused on with the shoe?
OL: We wanted to make sure that when we build a training shoe, that there is a point of difference from basketball. So, the four primary areas are comfort, lateral and medial stability, traction, and light weight. I think comfort and light weight are two parts of performance that are going to be seen in all of the Brand’s shoes. Stability and traction are two areas that I think kind of separate the training aspect. … From an upper standpoint, talking about lateral stability, one thing was when you are cutting. When you are planting you are actually pulling from your arch, and then it’s going to the lateral side. … The straps are free floating, and it’s kind of anchored from your arch to your lateral, and then back in. With that I wanted to take the function, and then build the upper around it. And as far as traction, we are finding out that especially with the different surfaces, training is a challenge – you have dirt, rubber mats and artificial turf, so we decided to blend in the nub traction for your rotational traction. Traction works together with flexibility. You can have very good grip, but if the midsole doesn’t flex, you’re [compromising traction]. First, we dissected the flexibility of the shoe, and then we added traction where we needed it. The interesting this is that I took the diamond concept, and created kind of a diamond-cut herringbone traction pattern. Obviously, for wooden floors and rubber mat floors, herringbone is still a key detail. … We put a lot of work in it, and sometimes we don’t tell the performance story, because we get right into Jeter and the inspirations. … If you wear this, versus all the other training shoes out, this is going to be the best training product. We feel that strongly about it.
ZD: One of the first things you notice on the Cut, from a cushioning standpoint, is moving from Air to a Phylon midsole.
OL: Running is a big part of training, and I wanted to go back to basics, almost like the Nike Pegasus. I wanted to add comfort by just adding EVA, taking everything out, and moving towards natural motion. We stripped things down and made a really comfortable and flexible shoe. It has duel density Phylon in the forefoot, where you need it, and everything else is really simple. One thing that allows you to do is expose EVA through the flex grooves, and cut out some weight and material. It was about not overbuilding the shoe, and that’s the approach we’re going to use going forward.
ZD: Could you talk about the lower collar height in this year’s shoe?
OL: Another thing in talking to players at the University of Oregon, a lot of kids loved last year’s Throwback cleat. But a lot of the shortstops, a speed position, said, “Wow, if that was in a low, that would be great.” They loved the shoe, but they play in lows. And Derek is unconventional because he plays in a mid. … We took the “Cut” very literally, by changing the cut. We asked Derek if we could get him to just cheat down a little bit more, and he said he’d give it a shot. He was understanding that if we made it a little bit lower, we could get more of those true shortstops wearing the product. That was a nice translation where we went from the trainer to the cleat. We’ve been committed to Derek, regardless of whether training is trending or not, or performance is in or out, and this is his 10th signature shoe. 
He’s still the only baseball player that has his own signature trainer, cleat, and we also have batting gloves. I worked with the glove team, and they are using the same lining material that’s on the shoe on the glove. When he’s up to bat, you see the gloves. And hopefully, when he’s up to bat to get his 3000th hit, these two items [points to the cleat and glove] will go to the Hall of Fame. It’s kind of nice to work with an athlete, and have an opportunity to do that.
ZD: One thing I notice in the Jeter Cut, and I’ve liked it in every shoe Jordan Brand has used it in, is themolded notch in the collar. Could you talk about how there are certain features on a shoe that apply to particular sports, but there are also some that apply across all sports?
OL: The collar becomes more important as you move towards a lower cut. A basketball shoe can be high enough that you are lacing up high. But once you start getting into a low-cut, those foams really become important. They start locking down all the negative space and surround your ankle bone. This started on the Air Jordan XX3, and we keep adding that in the heel. The challenge is to make sure the foam density isn’t too hard or to soft. So we’ve played around with that, and we gave it an unconventional cut.
Nick DePaula: As his career goes on, and maybe even after he retires, are you looking at still having him attached to the training segment of Jordan Brand even after he’s done playing?
OL: That’s always a tough topic. I’ve been thinking about this. He’s the oldest shortstop to ever start in a World Series. After the age of 34, a lot of times athletes can’t play the shortstop position anymore because they aren’t athletic enough. So, as they get older, they move them to third base. He’s already the oldest; he’s been to seven World Series and won five. And he’s still playing the position. It’s hard too – he’s six-foot-three and bigger than most guys, so he should really not be doing what he’s doing. I’m sure that when Melo is 34, he’ll want to be winning a championship and still be an All Star. Same thing with DWade and all the other athletes. But Derek is already going it. For his sport, he’s really he closest to MJ. … Who’s to say that Derek can’t keep doing it for a while. I don’t think he’d be able to be where he’s at if he wasn’t training. It’s hard, because he doesn’t embellish himself, or talk about all the things he does, but he keeps himself in good shape, and I think we play a part in helping him do that.
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Tags: Athletic, Shoes, Sports
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