Kentucky native James Martin loves Converse. Through e-mailing him and checking his online uber-source, The Converse Blog, it’s more than evident that Martin lives and breathes Cons. He explains modestly, “I could talk about Converse all day.” Recently, I got a chance to ask J-Mart about some of his favorite shoes, what he’d like to see out of his favorite brand, the celebration of the 100th Anniversary. Below is the final score of our interview:

1. Before you started The Converse Blog, you created a Converse NCAA petition, Converse NCAA Myspace, and spent lots of time on various Internet forums spreading the word about the lack of the brand in collegiate athletics. What inspired you to undertake such an arduous task?

At the time, Converse was coming off of the brand democracy campaign with the Converse Gallery. I took the brand democracy idea and made it my own; basically I wanted to do more than just create a commercial. Growing up in Kentucky, college basketball has always been the focus. So I thought back to when I got completely hooked on Converse, it was with the release of All Star 2000. At the time Converse had purchased APEX One, and therefore had Converse jerseys on a lot of NCAA teams beginning in the 1995 season. One of which was Kentucky, as I am sure everyone remembers the Denim Jerseys and shoes. So ultimately I would love to see Kentucky in Converse again, we did win 6 of our 7 championships in them.

I had also heard a rumor about Marquette switching over to Converse, but it was a while after I started before I got some confirmation on the rumor. Once I knew Marquette had made the switch I started sending emails to other Nike schools. Since Nike purchased Converse I thought it would be a pretty easy switch, all I needed to do was convince the right people. Honestly, I didn’t get around to emailing that many coaches. I did however get a nice email from Buzz Peterson, who at the time was at Coastal Carolina. He referenced his connection to his college roommate as a reason he couldn’t switch. Not long after that, he was hired by that college roommate. Knowing that Marquette was switching, and my goal had been met, I began to shift gears into The Converse Blog.

2. How delighted were you when you found out Marquette and Western Kentucky would be wearing Converse apparel and shoes on the hardwood this year?

I can’t remember which happened first, but I remember seeing pictures from Western’s [Kentucky] fashion show. They had signed a school wide apparel deal with Russell. At first I was just checking out the jerseys, and then I noticed the models had the Converse 099 on. I emailed a friend of mine that works in marketing at WKU to see what was up. She told me that she was still hearing it was going to be Nike. Then once the season started they were wearing Converse. I later found out that Darren Horn was an assistant at Marquette when Wade was there. So that was the connection that led them to wearing Converse. I was probably more excited about WKU then Marquette because it was an added bonus to what I had expected. That being said, when word officially broke on Marquette I pretty much freaked out and did the Tiger Woods fist pump in my living room.

3. What were your very first pair of Converse shoes?

I would love to say that I rocked the Weapons as a toddler or a pair of Magic’s, Triple Doubles perhaps. The truth is that my first pair was from the Conasaur Converse Collection. They were Chucks with Dinosaurs all over them, with Dino footprints on the outsoles. They’ve got the commercial up at Retro Junk. Funny thing is my Mom still uses the box for storage in her classroom. Every time I visit I think about stealing it from her. The first pair I actually remember wearing were the Grandmama Aero Jams, with React Juice.

4. What are your Top 5 favorite Converse joints?

I am going to go with shoes I actually played in or wore, and I am going to exclude classics like Chucks, Weapons, or Jack Purcell’s.

5. Converse All Star Hall of Fame –The last signature shoe made for Kentucky.
4. Converse Aero Jam –Larry Johnson, React Juice, Charlotte Hornets, perfect.
3. All Star 2000 –React and The reason I became Converse fan
2. Converse He:01 –First Helium shoe, shoe in a shoe.
1. Converse All Star Smooth –React II, Shoe in a Shoe. The shoe Jason Terry wore his rookie year.

As you can see, I was a big fan of the shoe in shoe design. The other shoes were really situational choices. I would say that had I been able to purchase the Cons Denim UK shoes they would be on this list, but it’s a pair that still eludes me. Since I purchased the All Star 2000, I’ve only worn one other sneaker besides Converse. We wore Nike in 8th grade, and that was [the only] time I did too.

5. You spend lots of time on Japanese websites and European auction sites. What has been the most interesting product/information you’ve found?

I love finding samples or some old deadstock stuff that I either forgot about or had never seen. Converse Japan has all kinds of different stuff that we never get over here. In the cloudy times before Nike purchased Converse, I would spend a lot of time looking at Converse Japan and China. They had all kinds of apparel and other shoes that we didn’t get over here.
One of my personal best finds was the first time I saw some fake Wades. I knew about fake chucks, but to see a fake Wade, it was really exciting. To me it meant that Converse was really on its way back, a little twisted huh?

6. Moving forward, what would you like Converse to accomplish?

By the time I became obsessed with Converse they had cut back and were just focusing on Basketball for performance footwear. Since then, at various times Converse has flirted with other performance shoes, with only skateboarding sticking after a second attempt. With the backing of Nike there is no reason that a return to other performance categories wouldn’t be successful. So maybe I am being selfish, but if Pony can get into the NFL with Randy Moss after years of not really making any performance footwear, then Converse can do the same.

I really feel strong about the return to other performance categories, especially training and running. I just imagine a young Dwyane Wade fan sitting at home wondering what Dwyane wears when he is conditioning or training. And unless he’s got something made just for him, I doubt that it is Converse.

Something I would like to see is an extension of stuff like the Dr. J commercial. There are plenty of classic athletes that wore Converse and I feel like there is a whole mine of old commercials or posters that people would enjoy seeing. I don’t even begin to know what the relationship between Magic and Bird is with Converse now. I just know that they are never mentioned in reference to the Weapon or any thing else Converse. I would love to see those relationships repaired. I guess an analogy would be the way the WWE has legends contracts. They usually then make DVDs or T-shirts with the legend and throw in a few appearances. I guess it would be similar to how they used Larry Johnson when they re-issued the Aero Jam. They used Grandmama in some print ads and outdoor ads and then he made some appearances too.

I remember a few year back when Nike had all of their players wear Jordan’s for a game, I want to say it was after he retired for the second time. Something I would love to see at the start of the 2008-09 season would be to outfit all of the Nike guys and schools in Converse for one game to honor the Converse Century.

I am a dreamer; life is too short not to dream. So when I think of the future, I see Converse being number one in basketball again. I know that seems really unlikely given that Nike owns the brand. I don’t have a plan for making that happen, but as Herm Edwards says, “you play to win the game.” All right, I am blinded by the star, but there are many more that are blinded by the Jumpman, Swoosh, or three stripes. I really look for further growth in the NBA and NCAA in the coming years for Converse. I truly feel like if you’re not growing you’re dying, and Converse is growing. I am excited to see what happens in the second Converse Century.

7. What’s in store for you personally, James? I hear you’re hoping to open a shoe store?

I would love to work for Converse, which I’d say probably goes without saying. However, until that happens I am working towards opening my own store. Hopefully, it will be in Lexington, but everything is in the early stages. To accelerate the opening of my store I have started NameMyWalls.com. In order to raise funds and aid in the theme and design of the store, I am selling space on the walls. For $2 you can purchase your name on one of the walls of my future store. I am also auctioning off a spot on the checkout counter through eBay. For not really advertising or getting much press, except an article in the Lexington Herald, I am really pleased with how well things have gone so far. I look forward to seeing what God’s got in store for me.

Shouts go out to James, thanks for all your help, and I wish you continued success in whatever you attempt in the future!