Alumni Basketball Tournament Time!!!

"West Rowan what time is it?!?  It's time to get live! It's time to represent!!"

Yep, it's that time of year again... time for one of the best weekend basketball tournaments the summer has to offer...  The Scooter Sherrill Alumni Throwback Basketball Tournament.

Specific Game Information via Salisbury Post:
http://www.salisburypost.com/Sports/072711-sports-briefs-qcd

This tournament is coordinated by West Rowan basketball great, and my former teammate, Scooter Sherrill and his company, Above and Beyond Sports, LLC.  It's a family-friendly basketball tournament that allows the veterans of yester-year a chance to relive their better athletic days as a high school stars, while maintaining their bragging rights, and proving that they've still got it!!  School by school, you may see some old school cats with fades and short-shorts coming out of retirement to unite with a few newly-bred alumni who can still easily flaunt their basketball prowess and next-level athleticism.  All-in-all, the players will enjoy playing alongside some of their idols and former teammates, while fans will see the ultimate mix of the best living legends ever produced in Rowan County - including first time entry, North Mecklenburg High School - from the 80s, 90s and NOW!! 

Of course TPC, better known as "Josh Avery" back home, is suiting up with them Dirty Birds called the WEST ROWAN FALCONS, in attempt to maintain their rightful place atop of the perch, as repeat champions from last year's tournament!!  Bring the whole family, it's gonna be great!!  Here are the specific details...
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2011 Scooter Sherrill Alumni Throwback Basketball Tournament

Alumni Teams Include:
West Rowan, North Rowan, East Rowan, South Rowan, Salisbury, Carson, North Meck

Games Schedule:
Thursday, July 28th - Saturday, July 30th
Thursday: 6:30pm
Friday: 6:30pm, 7:45pm, 9pm
Saturday: 1pm - *7:30pm
*Championship Game

Location:
Carson High School
290 Kress Venture Road
China Grove, NC 28023
(704) 855-7297

Admission: $5 - $10
Performances By: "The Throwback Cheerleaders" (NBA/NFL)
Music Provided By: Thank God For DJs, LLC

Facebook Event Pages:
http://www.facebook.com/ev​ent.php?eid=18343559834966​1

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=183435598349661

2010 News  Report Recaps via The Salisbury Post

http://www.salisburypost.com/sports/073110-west-hoops-qcd http://www.salisburypost.com/Sports/080110-salisbury-hoops-qcd _____________________________________________________________________

NFL Lockout, UNLOCKED!!

NFL Football... Welcome Back like YAK!!!

Shout outs to the Green Bay Packers for winning last year's Super Bowl, and I gotta salute the kid Aaron Rogers just because, in true "People's Champion" fashion, he rocks the championship belt like YAK! 

With so much time to plan, I can't wait to see what touchdown celebrations my dude Chad Ochocinco breaks out this season...

Salute to the Top NFL Touchdown Celebrations

And speaking of "touchdown celebrations"... it's only right that I pay homage to the Cincinnati Bengals legend, Ickey Woods and the infamous "Ickey Shuffle"!!

 

Twitter: @TPClikeYAK

Facebook: DJ Dexter Dynamite

DJ DR x DJ Questlove!! REAL HIP HOP ReLIVED!!

This past Saturday, SolKitchen along with the other affiliate coordinators, did what they normally do and spoiled Charlotte by bringing yet another one of the World's BEST Hip Hop DJs to the QC!!  The evening was perfect... Re:Public was the venue... DJ DR started the Patio Party off right with the ill classics as usual... and in DJ form like I had never seen him before, Questlove put down the drumsticks that he is arguably more famous for, and stepped behind the turntables to take us all back to the ROOTS of Hip Hop!!  In the words of my FRESH!MEN comrade, Eric S. who was also in attendence, Questlove took us on "a musical journey that needs to be witnessed again ASAP!"

The Mighty DJ DR

Questlove, DJ and Drummer of the Legendary Roots Crew

I'm not even a mobile user in the sense of being on Twitter or texting all of time, but when I saw Twitter blowing up with similar posts to how I was feeling, I personally couldn't stop tweeting and texting my friends who weren't there bragging about what I was hearing too!!  At one point I even tweeted: "I haven't gotten that hype to a Kriss Kross record since like 1991!!!! #YAK WOW!!" 

I mean to see a whole dance floor of grown, yet obviously 80's babies literally coming up off their feet, without care of spilling their top shelf glasses and beer bottles, was incredible!!  Observing a mixed crowd of blacks and whites rapping 2Pac lyrics in one moment and then singing the words of Frankie Beverly and Maze's "Before I Let Go" in the next is what we had going on that night at Republic!!  From the beginning, if you were not a REAL Hip Hop fan, you would have quickly realized that you were definitely in the wrong place!! 

Being a DJ, I respect the craft and the art it takes for a DJ to please the crowd all night long... Questlove wasn't really billed as a "performer" but I usually go to see "world renowned" artists with the idea of seeing a "performance" rather than a "party" just so I don't get disappointed.  But unlike some performing DJs with scripted sets that may make them seem to have overexaggerated hype once it's over, Questlove was not that!  With his trademark black fisted afro pick nestled in the headphone-mashed fro, bruh did his thing!  He didn't showcase a spectacle of great technical skills as say a DJ Jazzy Jeff, but he uniquely beat juggled/blended/chopped/cut records LIVE and on cue to precision!  His ability to keep the dance floor rockin while including the ongoing number of original samples that he did is unmatched to any other DJ I've witnessed so far!!  His sample sets were ba-na-nas and once he was in his groove, no matter what Questlove played, we all rocked with him!

2010 footage of Questlove rockin with DJ Jazzy Jeff

At the time I didn't realize how REAL the experience I was having was until it was all over.  In fact, it wasn't until I walked outside and heard a car drive by bumping some of this new "music" we still categorize as "hip hop" - that sounded nothing like what I had just left 3 hours of experiencing - that it all sank in.  So if Hip Hop is dead, I believe at least for a few hours, it was resurrected to show us that it can still be relived...

Some people may feel such a high after smoking weed, or drinking, or having sex, or whatever... but to be honest, when Questlove finished (similar to how I felt the first time I witnessed DJ Jazzy Jeff go in) - again, speaking as a DJ myself - I was speechless!!  Salute the DJs... and Thank God For DJs like YAK!

2011 LOCKOUT SEASON... Who's Hurting?

With the United States experiencing a financial crisis on many levels, the business giants of American sports have also been affected.  As many NBA and NFL fans are aware, both leagues are currently experiencing a "Lockout".  In a nutshell, a lockout occurs when the duration of the previous contractual agreements between the "Employers" and "Employees" has lapsed before a new agreement can be reached.  At that point, major obligations are forfeited from both sides until a compromise is made.  In this case, the players and owners are in disagreement with regards to, what else... yep, you guessed it...  money! 

With huge incentives, player options, and bonuses in the mix of longterm contracts, it's obvious why both sides are particularly sensitive to exactly who gets what money, and when, and how much of it should be received by whom, and under which circumstances, and so on, and so forth.  Essentially, one side usually has to give something, but when money is the conversation amongst millionaires, who's going to budge?  SMH like YAK!

Unfortunately, during a lockout, negotiations are no longer mandatory by either side.  Therefore, it is usual for days, even weeks to pass by while each side figuratively and literally, stares down one another in a compromising-standstill. Those who have experienced lockouts before were eager to get a deal done prior to the deadline for some of these same reasons, however now it is a common consensus that until monetary losses begin to persuade more reasonable communication across the board, fans should probably go ahead and get comfortable watching previously recorded games, vintage Dunk Contests, and ESPN Classics.

So besides all of the machismo posturing, political jargoning, and semantic camouflage used to lengthen the debate and potentially exhaust the opposing side enough for them to consider some accomodations, my question is this: "who is really hurting the most?"  I mean, do the owners care about the game as much as the players do?  And on the other hand, do the players feel an undying sense of loyalty to their respective leagues as the owners do?

I would argue that it is neither the players nor the owners who are suffering the most, but instead, it's actually the fans, and more specifically, the people who are employed by these organizations in part because of their love for the games.  Quiet as kept, general employees by teams (non-players) are losing jobs everyday because their services are no longer needed at this time.  Others that may be a little further "up the corporate ladder" may have the ability to get shuffled from their initial obligations and deferred to another task until a remedy is in place, but the notion is still the same: The lockout affects more than just the owners and players... and if you listen in this interview with Baltimore Ravens Legendary Line Backer, Ray Lewis, there is a sense that the buck has to stop somewhere, and while millionaires squabble about where the big chips should fall, their are people literally "paying" the cost and hurting everyday...

All in all, I am hopeful that both leagues will find a way to compromise and save the 2011 season... people's livelihoods truly depend on it... and after all, life is better because of sports, like YAK!



Twitter: @TPClikeYAK
Facebook: DJ Dexter Dynamite

"Sneakers Over Everything" (S.O.E.) Recap

This past Saturday, TPC represented for The FRESH!MEN at the "Sneakers Over Everything" (S.O.E.) Buy|Sell|Trade event, which was held at the University Hilton in Charlotte, NC.  It was a good look to see a wide range of regional sneakerheads come out for another local event, and just as rewarding for us to have people recognize and acknowledge "The FRESH!MEN" as a crew. 

Salute to the coordinators of the event and everyone who attended... check out some of the pics below. 

stay tuned for information regarding the upcoming fall events from The FRESH!MEN @ http://www.wearethefreshmen.com/

YAK NATION, Stand Up!!!!!

"YAK NATION" shirts on the way for my bros

and I'm crushin mine early with camos and Bordeaux's!!

YAK NATION 

Mens and Youth sized T-Shirts

Multiple Colors NOW Available for ONLY $5

Friday, July 1st - Tuesday, July 5th (while supplies last)

DJ Dexter Dynamite will be on location at Velocity Sneaker Boutique today at 1:30pm for purchases and pick ups.  And if you missed the first one, this is how we got it in for the "YAK YAK and more YAK" t-shirt release party also held at Velocity like YAK!!!

Video Shot & Edited by AMIL of Aaron Barnes Studios

SUB-ZERO FOAMPOSITE MIDNIGHT RELEASE!!!

 

Anticipation... Excitement... Frustration... Disappointment... Satisfaction...

These are all specific emotions that could come in an onslaught for any sneaker collector preparing for a big release - especially those "night-owl-friendly" MIDNIGHT RELEASES!!!  So depending on your personal stories, it is not out of the question for one person to experience any number of these feelings in waves all in one night - even within minutes of one another!!  And for an OG kick-a-holic, the spectrum of these good and bad emotions have come to be expected.  However, the main goal is to consistently find yourself on the "good" side of these emotions.

From waiting in line for less than 5 minutes, to waiting in line for more than 5 hours, each release has it's own story.  You may win some, you may lose some, but all-in-all you learn to just chalk it as apart of the sneaker-collecting-game.

Last night I went out to Velocity Sneaker Boutique just to be in the environment of the midnight release of Nike's Retro Electronic Blue Foamposite Pro aka "Sub-Zero" Foams.  As many of you know, I had been on the lookout for this shoe since January, even prior to the Pewter Foamposite release, but had to stay patient. 

Internally believing they were going to be the FRESH!est colorway of the Foamposite releases this year, I sought various ways to ensure I had my pair earrrly!!  Fortunately, I got my hands on an early set to contain my fix last week, but I still wanted to be courtside to catch the pre-jitters and post-game celebrations of other sneaker comrades last night!!


Some cats were like me - out on the scene just to be apart of the culture - and others were poker-faced while handling the internal gambut of these aformentioned emotions...

So "The FRESH!MEN" were definitely in the building, and in fact, upon my arrival, my homie Lex was already in the store assisting with security!!  Haha, when have you ever seen a security guard rockin some Jordan IVs?!  FRESH!

Stay tuned for some "on location" video footage to be added to this post this weekend... Joy!