Today I was jumping rope at the Chelsea Parks & Rec Center, waiting to get some drills in before running. There was an intense 3-on-3 going on, and my homeboy Marv walked in the gym to watch. One of the players scored, and Marv screamed out the defender, “Dag, you let a boxer give you buckets?” Then I’d remembered seeing the kid jumping rope himself when I had walked in. Marv continued, ” . . . And he ain’t won in four fights!” Ha ha ha! That was the best sideline burp I’d heard since the summer. You don’t always need an announcer on the mic to hear something dumb funny. SAY WORD!
What funny moments have you heard in the crowd lately?
Sadat X (formerly with Bran Nubians), AG (former partner with Showbiz), and DJ Jab (CEO/Founder of Fat Beats) have formed a new group called Trinity. Mark Kolintski of 88 Hip Hop fame helped put together the video tribute above to my man, my mellow Roc Raida who passed away recently on September 19th. Some of the footage will give you chills if you knew him personally. Rest In Peace to one of the legends of our culture!
Compton born and bred, Rucker Park approved, seasoned in Rome Brandon “The Takeover” Jennings is doing his thing in Milwaukee. The Bucks’ rookie guard almost got a Triple Double in his NBA debut in Philly Friday night (17pts, nine assists and nine rebounds) and came back against the Pistons and dropped 16 straight in the 3rd quarter (finished with 24 buckets). I saw the clip above and got open! Productivity, with playground style. That’s what I dig about him ever since I first witnessed the magic at the inaugural Elite 24 in ‘06. Word.
Back in the summer of 2004, current SKY Syndicate Tour member Joseph Vecsey and I found ourselves on the same squad during the AND1 MIXTAPE TOUR open run outside Madison Square Garden. I felt good about how I performed and got love from the crowd, including from a couple of younger cats telling me, “Why do you have to try out to get in the building?” I didn’t get selected, and that was perfectly fine cuz it was a mad fun experience regardless.
The one down moment was captured in the photo above! Courtney Castro, currently with the Harlem Wizards, caught a steal, and I just happened to be the only one back on the break. Thankfully, I wasn’t foolish enough to jump with him, but I did kind of feel helpless in trying to defend when I saw him take off just inside the dotted.
It happens!
Just the other day, I was retelling to Ahmad Hooper of the WEST sneaker shop and our own Ballgurl of the only time I truly got woofed on. It was circa ‘84 at the Highbridge 3 on 3 in the Bronx near Woodycrest Avenue. Hooper didn’t warn me about John Morton’s hops. Dude came down the baseline Read More »
Clark “Mr. Backboard” Elie was born into the world on December 20, 1954. Growing up in Manhattan’s Upper West Side neighborhood, he played ball with his friends and wasn’t the best at it. At Brandeis HS, he ran intramurals, not varsity. In the early ’70s, the group of cats he rolled with all got recruited to play college ball outside New York. Left behind, he decided to attend City College. And that’s when the legend started . . .
“We used to tease him,” childhood friend Greg “Elevator Man #2″ Brown reminisced with me. “But when we all went away, that’s when Clark got 20 times better!” Elie wound up taking a couple of CUNY chips at CCNY, but his legendary tear in the parks began when Greg Brown returned home. The two, along with Clark’s little brother Mario, wound up terrorizing every playground in the vicinity. Read More »
In 1979, PRO-Keds released the Royal Flash model with the “Add-On Bottom” (as my Spanish Harlem a.k.a “El Barrio” sneaker crew back then would say). In my book Where’d You Get Those? New York City’s Sneaker Culture: 1960-1987 (Testify Books) I wrote: “The Royal Flash was the best combination of basketball performance and style that PRO-Keds ever made.” To celebrate the RF’s 30th anniversary, PK approached me to do a collab with them for the re-issue! Word!
Three suede colors–army jacket green, nugget gold, and spanish tile–will drop in stores Wednesday October 28th (the fourth flavor oxblood will be promo only). I’ll be appearing in the following spots on 10/28 to sign shoes, books, whatever:
12pm – Packer (New Jersey)
2pm – Rime (Brooklyn)
4pm – Goliath (Harlem)
5:30pm- Vault (Harlem)
7pm- West (Upper West Side)
On October 3rd, I was in Oakland to spin the opening night of a spot called The New Parish. With some free time on my hand in the morning, though, I heard rumor that there was decent run at a sports club around the corner from my hotel, so I ventured . . .
“You play ball?” the front desk attendant asked me. “Your game better be tight cuz they don’t play around upstairs!” The other attendant recognized my grillpiece from Waxpoetic Magazine and asked, “You’re that DJ, right?” She then told me my debit card didn’t work (as in she was letting me in gratis).
The court was empty at 8:30am save a couple of old heads. I started shooting around and this dude who looked exactly like Avery Johnson to a T asked, “You’ve played somewhere, huh?” Cool dude, turned out his brother Keith Jennings ran in the Golden State Warriors backcourt with Tim Hardaway some years back.
Speaking of Tim, I joined a game of 21 on the opposite court and wound up going hard against Read More »
NYC native Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love is Bounce Magazine's Editor-In-Chief, and the critically acclaimed author of "Where'd You Get Those? NYC's Sneaker Culture 1960-1987" (Testify Books). He performs basketball tricks at NBA halftime shows with Project Playground and on TV commercials. He hosts MSG-TV's "Summerball" series, voices 2K Sports NBA 2K video games, and anchored ESPN2's "It's the Shoes" series. He designed signature Nike Air Force 1s released for the model's 25th anniversary. A world class DJ, this former pro player in Puerto Rico still runs regularly in Harlem's playgrounds.
