10 July 2010

Oh My Goodness, Nolan Ryan!

I ran into an interesting post on the Nice Kicks blog featuring some upcoming shoes that honor various athletes. Two of the shoes highlight a couple of my favorites, Nolan Ryan and Bo Jackson.

Nolan Ryan is one of the great pitchers in Major League Baseball history. He set a lot of records in both positive and negative stats, much like Brett Favre in the NFL (without all the retirements and comebacks). He was saddled a bit by his wild pitching and the fact that he played for teams that were often mediocre. Like my favorite basketball player, Hakeem Olajuwon, he played for a Houston team and wore the number 34, so it only makes sense that he would be one of my favorite players. Those uniforms were a bit silly, though.

I guess he was a pretty intimidating pitcher, and he was involved in a couple of famous fights on the field, probably the most famous being the time he put Robin Ventura in a headlock and punched him six times.

"(Nolan) Ryan's the only guy who puts fear in me. Not because he could get me out, but because he could kill me. You just hoped to mix in a walk so you could have a good night and go 0-for-3." - Reggie Jackson


Unfortunately, this shoe doesn't commemorate Nolan Ryan as an Astro. Instead, it is in Texas Ranger colors and celebrates his 7th no-hitter in 1991. It also features a train logo, as Ryan's nickname was "The Ryan Express."


The Bo Jackson shoe is in Oakland Raider colors, which is again an unfortunate turn of events. My loyalty to the Denver Broncos would not allow me to wear these colors, especially given how awful the Raiders have been the last few years. The only teams I hate more than the Raiders are the Chargers and the Chiefs, the other teams in the AFC West. The Raiders of yesteryear are maybe not quite as despicable as today's sorry team, but they're still the Raiders. Aside from the Raiders affiliation, the shoes are pretty sharp-looking.

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