WHAT WERE YOU GUYS THINKING???

Okay...um, this is just very tacky and NOT very creative. Coming from the most successful hat company in the country, you lost about half your fans with this crap!

Miami Heat Lebron James 59Fifty Fitted by New Era

USC: Uncontrollable Situation in College (Sports)

I'm conflicted about what's been going on at USC over the last couple of weeks.

We all know the story right?

The NCAA, after a long 4 year investigation, found Reggie Bush in violation of NCAA rules for accepting gifts, cars, trips, and a home; Sanctions have been imposed by USC on their basketball program becasuse of O.J. Mayo accepting payments from his agent through then USC coach Tim Floyd.

The NCAA has since placed the football program on 4 years probation with a two year bowl exclusion...FUCK!!! Not to mention, they lost about 30 scholarships.

USC president elect, Max Nikias acted quickly and had Bush and Mayo's trophies returned to the Heisman board and plans to remove their murals and jerseys. DAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYUUUUMMMMMM!!!

So now that you're up to speed. Lets look into the past shall we?

This is USC's sixth suspension; it's second in the 2000's (they were on probation in 2001).

Florida's Maurkice Pouncey allegedly took $100K and now several SEC football players are under investigation.

Former Memphis Guard, and Chicago Bulls standout Derrick Rose was center stage of an SAT scandal that concluded with the Tigers forfeiting their '07 season.

My point? Even if the player, coach, agent, or booster is caught; even if the school loses money, recruits, or their season, it will happen again.

I honestly believe that there isn't a consensus in college athletics that cheating is...well, wrong. History tells us that NCAA repercussions won't deter anyone to not continue this vicious cycle.

It seems the only way college culprits are kicked out of sports is if they're in constant legal trouble like Lawrence Phillips or Maurice Clarett.

John Calipari has dated trouble wherever he has been; yet, he now has one of the most prestigous positions in sports, head basketball coach of the University of Kentucky (my favorite team and I love it).

Derrick Rose, who was coached by Calipari, was an All-Star this past season and Reggie Bush may have a tarnished collegiate image but I'm sure he'll polish his Super Bowl XLIV ring and feel better.

So, again, I'm conflicted...I don't want cheating in the NCAA and I want the cheaters to be exposed; however, I don't think it'll matter, they'll end up on a video game cover anyway.

D-Con

Getting In Front of The Price

Okay, we know how expensive sportswear can be so TripleOT Sports is here to show you how to locate deals. Below are 3 things to look for.

3. Be Proactive And a Little Less Predictable...

The problem we have when purchasing sports apparel is we look for it right when we need it (Birthday, Father's Day, Christmas), or when we see it on TV (while watching the game) and we don't care what the cost is. If A-Rod is wearing it, we need to wear it too (DAMMIT!).

Retailers know this and spend lots of time and money placing apparel in their windows to get the most out of you. So instead of going for the featured product, check out clearance racks in stores and on websites.

If you're an NBA guy, go to their online store (store.nba.com), check out your favorite team and see if they have anything on their clearance page. Even if you dig a certain team's colors, no matter the sport, follow the same steps and you'll be sure to find a jewel amongst the crap they're trying to give away.

2. Buy In The Off-Season

Just like The Gap or Old Navy, sports apparel retailers have to discount out of season items to make room for the upcoming season, so visit your local Champs, or Modell's at the end of Football season instead of right before.

New season means new prodcut; new product means new profit goals; new profit goals means new retail price and new retail price means NO discounts!

1. Get On The Mailing List

It's 2010 and this marketing technique has evolved over the last decade. When you go to your favorite retailer/brand's website, sign up for their email/newsletter to receive alerts, discounts and exclusives.

Here's the deal: SPAM has soured the way we look at email; however, these are messages YOU WANT to view. Maybe not all the time, but for the most part, you won't mind getting the scoop on a blowout sale at NikeTown.

Most brands such as New Era and Reebok have Facebook and Twitter pages too. Friend or follow them to get news on specials.

Another jewel: Find a "sports apparel" guy (like me...heh-heh), because retailers use customer ignorance against them. Contrary to popular belief, fans aren't subject matter experts on how apparel is supposed to look.

For example, when the Yankees won the World Series last year, New Era released two types of caps. One had the commemorative stadium patch on the back and the other had the MLB logo. Each cost the same amount of money; however, the MLB version was easier to produce once the series was over and was a deliberate attempt to make easy money off the fans...CAUSE THEY WOULDN'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!!!

When it comes to sports apparel and your favorite teams, it's very convenient to just find it, and buy it; but it can be costly. Do a little research and practice a little patience and you'll save money and still look great on gameday.

The Wrong Era

In a world of high priced, yet attainable sportswear, the fake will have to share the same space as the authentic. It pays to know the difference. Since the Mitchell and Ness craze of 2004, and like Louis bags and Tiffany bags populate call centers, Nike and NFL knock-offs hide among the real in arenas, on street corners, and on college campuses. 

Nowadays, fake jerseys and Air Jordans are pretty easy to detect, so we'll take this time to show you how to identify a knock off New Era Fitted baseball cap.

 

Here are 5 things to consider:

5. Where The Hat Is Sold...

If you see a row of fitted caps in a Kiosk (booth in the mall), pretty good chance they're fake! New Era is a corporation same as Reebok, Nike, or Majestic; therefore, they have licensed distributors that move their product and resellers with contracted accounts. Resellers include Foot Locker, Lids, and Finish Line. Acquiring one of these accounts is extremely difficult for these Uber Retailers, so imagine how tough it would be for that guy at the mall. 

4. How Much Is It?

So, you have a fresh pair of kicks and need that certain fitted to go with it! So you run a search and see a great looking one listed for $15.99 (half what you would pay at the Foot Locker website), and you're like YES, I got a deal right now! 

Pump your brakes and look at a few things. Did you read their About Us page? What kind of payment methods do they accept? Are all their words spelled correctly?  

International counterfeiters use enticing pictures and pricing to move their product. They don't have access to legitimate credit card payment services so they use Western Union, Moneygram and Bank Transfers. Their grammar sucks so they spell words incorrectly and sound stuff out. And again, New Era wouldn't dare give them a reseller contract, so the product is probably made in some hole in the wall third world sweatshop. 

Distributors and resellers purchase product from New Era at a discounted rate, but not low enough to sell it at half of the suggested retail price. 

3. The Design Looks Too Hip Hop... 

Okay, Hilfiger, Timberland, and Polo have all crossed over into Hip Hop culture, so why should New Era be any different, right? Well, there are limits...If there are too many NY's on the fitted, if the colors are a little too bright, or if you've just never seen it before, chances are it's not real!!! Do some research before you purchase. Google the hat and see if a legitimized retailer sells it. Go to the New Era website and see if you see it there. If you don't get a hit on the hat, it's not authentic. 

2. What's It Made Out Of?

In the late 2000's, New Era decided to move it's MLB line away from the 100% wool formula it stood by for so many years and went with a high quality performance polyester. Because this is the official hat of Major League Baseball, the material is supposed to repel sweat from the wearer and optimize on field performance. So the black brims and bands are actually a wicking material and not a fashion statement. Bootleggers haven't exactly got the memo; heck most fitted connoisseurs don't even know...LOL!!!1. QUALITY!!!

At the end of the day, a good knock off is still a knock off; therefore, it won't be made with the same workmanship as an authentic New Era fitted baseball cap. Is the MLB logo accurate? Are the words on the brim sticker clear, and legible? Are the 59/FIFTY logos within the cap faded? Is the front logo protruded, and embroidered correctly? Even if the answer is yes, wear it a few times, then revisit the above questions. 

Look, it's your money and if you want to walk around with an unauthentic Yankee fitted on with your $200 Jordan's, so be it! Here's the deal, it'll melt in the rain eventually and you don't want to be that guy who gets called out while parkin lot pimpin'. 

Here are some trusted websites that sell official New Era Fitted Caps

www.neweracap.com

www.hatclub.com 

www.ecapcity.com

D-Con

We're Back!

Good People - We're back to explore the happenings in sports and to give you the secrets of the apparel industry. Why? Hey, why not???

Stay tuned and enjoy the ride. 

D-Con

www.tripleotsports.com

How Much Is It Worth?

NBA Live '95 (First game Kevin Garnett could be used): $50.00



Nike Flightposite 3 (First shoes KG endorsed): $150.00



MInnesota Timberwolves Team Jersey #21 (Rookie Year): $99.99



Watching a really good dude FINALLY win a ring: Priceless...



And everything was right with the world...


Ticket Line: 26 Points, 14 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block

Congratulations!

D-Con

P.S. Sooo, how you feeling now Stefan?

Daaayummm!!!

So I'm asking myself...if I was the best player in the world, how would I explain that I got dunked on by the oldest player in the world.

If this play was a text message, it would read LMAO!



P.J. Brown on Kobe Bryant


D-Con

Gentlemen...

...it's been an honor.

And you WILL BE MISSED!!!



Jonathan Ogden Career Stats

Michael Strahan Career Stats

D-Con

A Different World

I know I should be breaking down the NBA Finals and going over the particulars of Game 3 and predictions for tonight's game; however, my attention was diverted Tuesday night by Encore's Comic Book lineup. I really tried to turn away from Spider Man 3, Ghost Rider and Comic's Unbound, a well put together, two hour documentary of how comic books have become the goldmine Hollywood uses to create blockbuster jewels, but I couldn't.

So, after releasing my younger D-Con, it got me to ask the question: Do I love comics more than I do sports??? Could it be?

Well...yes.

Aside from the fact that I've waited my whole life to see the Sandman, Magneto, Nightcrawler, Iron Man and the Silver Surfer truly portrayed on the big screen, I love the fact that comic books are social commentary...YES, THEY ARE!



Here's Bill, to break it down for you...



If that's too cryptic, lets get literal...Comics have helped champion the minority. DC Comics created the first woman character in Wonder Woman in 1941 while Marvel Comics created Power Man in 1972.


At the time of their inception, these characters werent used as cannon fodder; they were legitimate heroes with strong story lines, quality art, and a subsequently strong fan base.



However, some titles spoke out in a more subtle fashion. I'll just zero in on one:

The Uncanny X-Men



The X-Men were introduced in 1963. They were a group of five young people with special abilities called mutants. Each member, Cyclops, Beast, Ice-Man, Angel and Marvel Girl was taught how to use their powers by Professor Charles Xavier.

Creator, Stan Lee expressed that these individuals were shunned because they were different, they were discriminated against, ostracised, and shown unfair treatment because of their abilities and sometimes, their apperance. Now, if you keep in mind that this magazine was kicked off during the middle of the civil rights movement, you'll start to see a parallel between them and a certain race of people in the Southern United States.

Further, each of the X-Men, save Marvel Girl, were given either biblical or mythilogical names: Angel, Beast, Cyclops and Iceman. Besides Angel, these are the names of some of the most notorious antagonists in classic literature. And lastly, they were called mutants, which is usually tagged to an individual who is deformed, unsightly, and exxagerated. Finally, their teacher, Professor Charles Xavier was a parapalegic, who until 1990 had absolutely ZERO rights in this country.

Lee was successful in turning the tables on labels, and stereotypes in X-Men by giving some of the worst names to characters, then portraying them as decent, sincere and noble people; thereby, showing the current generation (baby boomers) how stupid segregation, bigotry and discrimination was.

Marvel then took it a step further with Giant Sized X-Men #1 featuring new mutants like Colossus, Nightcrawler, Sunfire, Thunderbird and Storm.



Understand that each of these characters hailed from countries or belonged to nationalities that, at the time, were counter to American culture.

Colossus was from the then Soviet Union, who the U.S. was currently engaged in the Cold War with.

Nightcrawler and Sunfire were from Germany and Japan respectively, countries that were allies in World War II; which at the time of this magazine's publication had ended only 30 years prior.

Storm was Kenyan, but grew up in Egypt, a country, with a precarious relationship with the U.S. throughout the seventies and eighties.


And lastly Thunderbird, who was Native American. Consider how huge it was for Marvel to push this envelope. Understanding the plight of the American Indian, the media charicature, and defemation of American Indian culture, Marvel created a legitimate hero in a fantastic hero group.

Through the years, The X-Men storylines have spoken out against many of the social ills that plague society: genocide, racism, discrimination, profiling, and classism.

And there are more examples in the comic world, but I'll stop here. Artists/Writers/Activists like Stan Lee, Jack "King" Kirby, Neal Adams and others taught an entire generation tolerance without them knowing they were learning a lesson.



So, the next time you see a comic book and notice one of the heroes, throw one of them in Wikipedia and research them, or pick up a couple of magazines and read between the lines to see how writers and artists use their medium to speak out against the powers that be.



Oh yeah, the Lakers won Tuesday Night and I expect the Boston Three Party to have a better game and go 3-1 tonight!


D-Con

The Big Ticket

I couldn't resist using KG's nickname to title this post. To speak for a generation, we've been waiting for this type of Los Angeles Lakers/Boston Celtics matchup since EA Sports allowed gamers to create players.

How do we begin to break down this year's matchup? Conventional wisdom goes out the window because neither team has a boatload of postseason experience. Both teams have a combined 3 players with more than one Conference Final (Kobe Bryant, Derek Fischer, Sam Cassell).

What most impresses me about these two teams is they get better the more games they play, especially the Lake Show. Each club has defeated more experienced and battle hardened teams to get to this point, and yet these finalists have decisively and effectively closed out their respective opponents...Let's break it down.

Point Guard

Rajon Rondo vs. Derek Fischer

If Derek Fischer has showed us anything this postseason, it's that he's pretty darn consistent. Open shot, after open shot, he carried the hammer to nail the San Antonio Spurs' coffin; conversely, will the REAL Rajon Rondo please stand up? The former Wildcat showed promise and poise, but he was widely inconsistent during the Celtics playoff run. Inconsistency is not going to cut it in the NBA Finals.

Advantage: Lakers


Shooting Guard

Kobe Bryant vs. Ray Allen



uuuhhh...Just give it your best shot Jesus.

Advantage: Lakers

Small Forward

Paul Pierce vs. Luke Walton

This is going to be a very, very lopsided matchup. Unless, Bill Walton's son gets hurt in the next 24 hours, he's gonna get his ass handed to him. Kevin Garnett is playing great ball for the C's, but in every game that the Cetlics needed, The Truth delivered. To make matters worse, Paul is playing on the greatest stage his profession has to offer in front of his home crowd. Man, it's not looking good...use the force Luke, you're gonna need it.

Advantage: Celtics


Power Forward

Lamar Odom vs. Kevin Garnett

okokok...I'ma say it! I aint skeered! I'm D-Con DAMMIT. Kevin Garnett is the player that everyone thought Lamar Odom was going to be!!! And deep down, deep down, LO knows that. That said, Odom will bring his A game for the Ticket. Lots don't know that Odom grabbed 10 boards per game this year, and aside from points, he's neck and neck with KG in every statistical category. But I won't go crazy and grade this matchup as a tie; Garnett, at the end of these contests, will get the better of Lamar Odom.

Advantage: Celtics


Center

Kendrick Perkins vs. Pau Gasol

Now, let me give some credit to Kendrick Perkins, because he has moves down low, and a nice 10 footer from ANYWHERE on the floor. But, the young man has a tendency to fall asleep and disappear during the course of the game. On the other side, Pau Gasol is on ALL GAME LONG. He may take some s-s-sstupid shots, but he runs the floor, rebounds, and is an exceptional passer from the post.

Advantage: Lakers

Lakers Bench:


Doc Rivers, head coach of the Boston Celtics, really has to prepare his team for the Lakers' second unit. The challenge is they run. Like UNLV run, like Arkansas 92 run, like RUN-TMC run. Boston has faced slower teams with set, half-court offenses throughout their campaign and does not fair well in defensive transistion.

Vladamir Rodmanovic and Jordan Farmar must be accurate to help the Lakers hold Boston off late in the periods. Sasha Vujacic must do the same; further, defensively, he and Trevor Ariza will need to keep their eyes on live bodies like Leon Powe and James Posey.

In the previous series, Ronny Turiaf was effective because he stayed out of foul trouble and outhustled older opponents like Robert Horry. This time, he'll have to deal with PJ Brown...LOL!


What can I say about the Celtic Bench? No, really, I'm asking...The most consistent reserve has been PJ Brown...HELLO, he's the third oldest player in the league!

Seriously, these guys have got to play on a more consistent basis to match up with their West Coast counterparts. Sam Cassell has been a liability thus far for the C's...but then again, he won't have the defensive pressure of Lindsay Hunter on him...so he should be ok. Eddie House, nope; Tony Allen, non-existent; Glenn Davis, six fouls; Leon Powe...mmm, maybe; James Posey, hold the phone.

James Posey IS one of the reasons why Boston advanced past the Detroit Pistons. His hustle plays late in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals helped cement Celtic victory. James doesn't get rattled, and should give the Celtics that added umph needed to help them win games. Posey has the experience to prove it. He played a key role in Miami's 2006 championship run.

Bottom line is: Doc's going to have to demand a little bit more from these guys in order to overcome LA's second unit.

Advantage: Lakers

All in all, this should be a very exciting series. It's been over 20 years since these cities saw each other in the Finals, but what's most significant to me is, we've never wanted players to win so badly. Lots of folk are rooting for the Celtics because they want KG to get a ring, others have watched Paul Pierce for years and respect the turmoil he's dealt with in Boston. Then you have those who want Kobe to show all the haters that Shaquille O'Neal didn't just win by himself during those Laker runs in the early millennium.

LA may prove to be too much for Boston this series. Hope to Pistol Pete's socks that I'm wrong though, but I'm 0-2 on predictions thus far anyway.


D-Con