As some of you may recall, on Sunday, I was greeted by a Black SUV in front of my house and was given an invitation to an exclusive Nike event which gave me a mission to “Find The Black Shield”. Last night, the mission went into full effect and turned out to be a pretty AWESOME night.
THE BLACK SHIELD
The night started under the most ominous of terms, at a local park no less. I, along with 9 other special guests, were put into black Cadillac Escalades, but not before we were told to give up our car keys. When asked about our final destination, our guides were mum and just told us to enjoy the ride. Of course this caused all sorts of panic in the car as everyone immediately turned to Twitter and started sending out a plea for help and possibly their last words. I even sent out a tweet in this time of distress.
After driving around for about 15-20 minutes, things started to get weird. Thanks to today’s smartphones, most of us were tracking the ride via Google Maps and started to realize that we were driving in circles. After a good 5 – 10 minutes of driving in circles, we ended up at the Nike Vault at Staples Center. Known as the House that Kobe built, I started to realize now that this was going to be on extraordinary night. Quietly we were all escorted into the VIP section of the Vault where on display was a display case filled with the Kobe 7. At this point I am super giddy because I think we will at least get to try on the shoes and I can come back and tell you guys all about it. Little did I know, that we would actually be given a pair as a gift. Not only that, we were given a full explanation of the Kobe 7 “System” (Attack Fast and Attack Strong) by Jay from Nike Basketball.
Once the talk was over, we actually had a chance to put on the shoes and wear them for the rest of the night. Considering how excited I was about the shoes and being one of the first to wear them, I wanted to give you guys a quick review of the shoes and the special insert that fit your game. Here is a quick 1-minute review of how they feel on your feet.
After getting the chance to rock the Kobe VII, we were also give a few other items, such as a Kobe jacket and some t-shirts. Big Thank You to Nike Sportwear for the gear. We definitely appreciate it. You would think that would be the end of the night, but Nike had a few other surprises up their sleeves. After the Vault “experience” we went on to Staples and watched the Clippers beat up on the Los Angeles Lakers. But not only did we watch the game, we were ushered up to a VIP booth and given another bag of basketball specific goodies which included a personalized jersey, Nike Elite Basketball, Socks, Shorts, Flip-Flops, a bag, and Nike Pro Combat Gear.
To end the night, Nike put together a special basketball game where the other player got a chance to go play on the Staples floor. Unlike the rest of them, I was escorted away, and was given the chance to chop it up with Kobe Bryant for a few moments. Stay tuned for the Kobe Interview.
