"CBS This Morning's" Jane Robelot examined the economics of
basketball shoes in the inner city, noting that in Harlem, they
counted "three to four sneaker stores on every block." N.Y. POST
columnist Phil Mushnick: "We saw the Nikes go from $40 to $90 to
$100 and people started dying for these things -- kids, innocent
kids." As opposed to NBA stars Jason Kidd and Chris Webber whose
self-styled Nike shoes run up to $140, Robelot reports Hakeem
Olajuwon required that his shoe be sold at a price that kids,
especially inner city kids, could afford. The result was
Spalding's $35 "Dream" shoe. When Robelot took the Dream to a
Brooklyn gym for the "real experts to try out," the kids there
described them as "light and comfortable," but said they would
"wear them for basketball but not for walking outside." Robelot:
"The idea of showing up in school in $35 shoes was not going over
that day in Brooklyn." Robelot adds the Dream "has been out
since October and more than 1.5 million pairs have been sold,
more than any other single model except for Nikes Air Jordan"
(CBS, 3/12).
HAPPY WARRIOR: Olajuwon was the focus of a Frank Deford
piece on HBO's Latest edition of "Real Sports," which debuted
last night. Deford: "For a long time, David Robinson was sort
of the `good guy-big guy.' And all of a sudden, Hakeem has been
celebrated as an American. He makes commercials. He makes funny
commercials where he laughs at himself. And like a lot of
immigrants, he's been welcomed into the country that way" ("Real
Sports," HBO, 3/11).
