I rarely watch television! I actually dislike immensely and I feel a lot smarter because I don’t watch television. Some people would say that I’m happy in my ignorance but I beg to differ. I would rather read than watch. Plus, I don’t like commercials.

I do however watch Mad Men when I have the chance as I can download it late at night and skip the commercials. I really like the characters in this show. Hard drinking, chain smoking womanizers who appear to be lonely even standing in a crowd. These guys are cool and rarely laugh or even crack a smile. Cool guys don’t need to laugh or smile, they’re to busy brooding and being cool, even the logo is cool. Actually, the logo is brilliant. The lead Character’s name is Don Draper! Seriously, how cool is that! The women on the show are cool and whoever crafted all these characters did a hell of a job capturing the era of Madison Avenue Ad execs and the women who work with them: Mad Men! I even love the the name and how they came about it.

These are creative guys in the highly competitive market of advertising in New York and they drink and smoke all day long. Every office has a bar and they make use of it. Creative people struggling for accounts in an era where television, magazines and radio ruled the advertising world. We’re creative people here in the Creative Department of Arrowsmith Shoes and we struggle all the time. It’s the nature of the beast. However, we don’t drink Scotch all day and none of us smoke. And, nobody is sleeping with anyone who works here either, at least I don’t think anyway.

When watching the show you get the impression that the entire business is about reputation and appearances. They dress impeccably and when you see the actors when they put their feet up on the desk they all wear this type of shoe. Always in suits, they work their skills in the office or at the bar where picking up the tab goes with the territory. Getting the client drunk is a forgone conclusion and holding your liquor is a badge of honor.

Some of my favorite quotes from Mad Men:

“Fear stimulates my imagination”

“Get out of here and keep moving forward as this never happened. It will shock you how much this never happened.”

“Adding money and education doesn’t take the rude edge out of people.”

The women are secretaries working in a mans world and the actresses play the roles perfectly. They struggle for love, acceptance and happiness at a lower level where the glass ceilings of today didn’t exist.

If you like creative television then I highly recommend Mad Men.

Jim

As much as I don’t want to I’m compelled to throw my paltry two pennies into the fray regarding Derek Jeter and his demand for $23 million per season to come back to the NY Yankee’s in 2011. He’s a free agent now and the negotiations have started but as of this writing no other team has shown any interest in him. I know it’s early and several teams would love to have a guy like that but he doesn’t want to go anywhere else. His legacy (unlike Brett Favre who apparently doesn’t understand the meaning of the word) is with the Yankee’s. The Yankee’s want to pay him $13 million per season and the two are pretty far apart in the early stages and tempers are flaring.

Hmmmm! Now don’t get me wrong, I like Derek Jeter. As far as an athlete goes he is a class act and a first round Hall of Fame player for sure, but, he’s a 37 year old base hitter and had a terrible year last year and he’s not the first name you think of when you think about the Yankee’s. Of course, Jeter doesn’t see it that way, which is why the gulf between him and the Yankees remains so wide. He considers himself a generational superstar, the Michael Jordan of baseball, an integral part of five championship seasons and he as clean as a sports superstar can get. However, lets not forget that the Yankee’s have paid Jeter $205 million in the past ten years so they know he’s worth the money.

Jeter has two or three years left, tops to play at his own set of high standards for calibre of play but age and history are ganging up on him fast. He’s in decline and the Yankee’s know it. When you hit 40 everything goes to hell in a hurry.

Jeter is great and everyone knows it but $15 million is all he’s going to get. I’m not sure he can live on that. It’s $92, 500+ per game! Poor bastard!

Jim

I can’t stand catch phrases. . . ! Duh like whatever, it’s all whack but no worries, at the end of the day which usually happens on casual Friday I’ll see da plane, da plane and then I’ll be back, bummer dude! I got a lot of them in one ridiculous sentence and I hate myself for it.

. . . my emotional life is sensitive and my purse is empty, but they say I have talent.” ~Marc Chagall. My kind of crazy!

People ask us all the time in the Creative Department of Arrowmsith Shoes: “What’s your job there?” “What do you do?” I’m usually annoyed by these questions because I always thought it was obvious. Well, in short, we think in Technicolor! That’s our job. It’s not to say that other people don’t think this way but I’ll be you a lunch they don’t think like we do. I don’t see the world the same way you do. I believe that humans get in the way of themselves

We think all day long and then we come up with creative ways to apply that thinking to our jobs. We are creative thinkers, artists and writers and we want to apply that craft to marketing so that you see the world in a different way. When I tell people that our job is to “think” they look at me as if I think of myself as a genius of some sort or I get a smug looking face of doubt in the comeback. Granted, I could have been a lot more specific but I need to have a little fun to but, I know what they’re thinking: ‘he’s pretty stupid for a thinker.’ For the most part when you think of thinkers you immediately come to some type of math conclusion or Stephen Hawking or even Shakespeare. Right? I think Paul Simon and Van Morrison are geniuses.

None of us here have a need for the analytical left side of our brain. We could probably donate that side to science although science would probably send mine back. Left brain thinkers worry too much about being wrong. They worry about everything. We don’t live in that world. We don’t care about being wrong and were not going to worry about it if we are. Actually, we learn more from being wrong than from being right. We are driven by wrong. Our entire crew is not afraid to think differently and those silly worries about always having to be correct never come into play. Therefore, we have no boundaries and no limitations. We are FREE to think about anything we want and how it will apply to our work. Do you know that when you start to think this way you can actually work longer and become more efficient? I don’t know of a bean counter that puts in overtime.

I actually believe in our early days of schooling that we are taught not to be creative because you can’t make any money in life thinking about the things we think about. “Study math or education not art or music. You’re not going to make any money as an artist or a musician . . . !“ Did your parents ever tell you that? I believe we are educated out of creativity and that’s why there are so few of us in the world. Think about this. The worlds is always in turmoil and it’s not because it’s run by dancers, artists, playwrights, musicians and poets.

Picasso (who I believe was a genius by the way) once said “all children are born artists; the problem is staying an artist as you grow older.” Exactly Pablo, thank you!

A fun little story to tell is that a teacher was concerned about a little girl who sat in the back of the class and would doodle and draw all day long. She wouldn’t pay attention to any other subject but when it came to art she was exceptional. One day the teacher walked back and asked her what she was drawing and the little girl said; ‘a picture of God!’ The teacher said that know one knows what God looks like. The little girl said; ‘they will in a few minutes. . . !’ Send that girl an application.. . . Quick!

Jim

I don’t know but I’ve told. . . . . ! You can make up your own verse after that and do some marching too! That will put you on the mood.

Nice try Julie! “A” for effort, but I don’t think so. . . .Well maybe! Here in the Creative Department at Arrowsmith Shoes we think about crazy stuff all day long. New campaigns, new ads, new home pages, new blogs, new everything. Personally, the more outrageous they get the better I like them.

We have a big white board with 50 colors of markers to doodle with and when ideas are flowing and you’re standing anywhere near it you could end up with an entirely different look. It’s been known to happen.

Last Friday we had a brainstorming session thinking of new ways to market some of the great GBX boots that came into the store and that are now on the website. So, we started writing on the board how to tell you about it. Why you would need these great boots and why you should get ready for winter, etc. When you think of boots you normally think of winter. At least I do!

Well, Julie hates winter and she started to scribble on the board about boots and winter. Winter and boots! Snow and cold and boots! Shoveling snow and boots and then she wrote “I hate winter!” We’re watching her write stuff on the board and then she wrote – “With new boot’s I will kick old man winter in the Jiggly Bits!!” And then she drew a cartoon boot on top and a little guy below bent over at the waist. Jiggly Bits? She said her dad used to use that term! I died laughing. . . !

This was perfect! I loved it! Shocking and funny and kind of crude but absolutely perfect! Kicking someone in the “Jiggly Bits” could apply to a lot of things but doing that to old man winter wearing a new pair of GBX boots is golden, baby! That’s a great ad! Who can’t relate to that! I’m not a fan of winter either.

We laughed and kicked the idea around bit (pun intended) and finally decided that we would be the only people who would think this is a great ad. If anyone disagrees please let me know. Think about it – this little hand drawn guy could get kicked around all the time in different ads by a great pair of GBX boots. Huh. . . . . ! Let it sink in. . . . !

So, buy these great boots so you can you know what to you know who. . . . !

Jim

I’m sorry friends, but is it just me or does it seem that everyone is walking around like a a bunch of zombies these days.  Stress, 24 hr news, the Internet is wearing everyone down.  Television is obnoxious these days, politics is ridiculous and is going to get worse, and sports has bored me to tears. 

All of us in the creative department took a little field trip yesterday and we went to the lake for a two hour meeting because the weather was fantastic and I could get the sense that all of us needed a break.  Cracking a window just wasn’t doing it.  As I have mentioned before, creative people suck when they’re crabby and unable to think.  While at the lake we discussed numerous project and prospects and I handed out assignments for the upcoming weeks ahead.  But what was weird was that watching other people it seemed more than obvious that everyone was depressed and stressed out.

So, I asked the group if anyone felt stressed out and I received a barrage of complaints and gripes and with everyone (the five of us) all stressed out about everything.  Including me I have to say.  The range of issues started at relationships and ended up at not making enough money and included tons of other stuff in the middle.  The one point that everyone made was the inability to sleep at night.  Now that’s a health issue that concerns me.  If you can’t sleep nothing is going to work for you the next day.  Then you feel like a zombie.  You can also see it in a the eyes.  If they’re tired the eyes give it away every time.

After the meeting which cancels out the Friday meeting we all went to happy hour and blew off the rest of the day.  Sometimes just getting away and venting is the best thing you can do but it doesn’t work unless you make some changes.  Here’s what I did:

• Flexible hours and no set time to get in as long as you mark on the board when you will get in and your work is completed and approved.
• 20% time for personal projects can be accumulated to a half day per week.  This gives them a half day of work on a project instead of an hour a day.  20% time is very cool and a great benefit and really lets the staff play with new equipment and think differently.  Julie is writing a children’s book and working on a billboard design.  Without 20% time she never would have tried either one of these projects.
• Weekends can be split.  This is a trial period only and has never worked very well in the past.  But I’m willing to try it.

I’m hoping to relieve some of the stress on the gang and when they’re not stressed out I’m not stressed out.

Jim

The not so latest fashion craze for me these days is Japanese Denim.  In doing my research for a client I discovered a few unique and interesting facts about this fabric: One is that it’s pricey and two, it’s really pricey!  However, there must be something to this trend that so many people in the industry keep talking about it.  I dug a little deeper.

Japanese culture is famous for its attention to detail, and jeans are no exception. Japanese denim has a cult following in Europe and America because of its amazing look and feel. It’s different because it uses traditional production techniques that have long been abandoned elsewhere. Though far more labor-intensive — and expensive — the jeans produced this way have a feel and appearance that is second to none.

Evisu was one of the first Japanese denim labels to become famous outside of Japan in the early ‘90s. The brand’s founder, Hidehiko Yamane, was a self-confessed “jeans otaku” and bought vintage Levi’s looms to produce his artisanal denim. Other brands use similar production methods to achieve a cloth that is stiffer, denser and yet far more comfortable than the mass-produced denim used overseas.

One of the most distinctive characteristics of classic Japanese jeans is their “selvage edge,” meaning that the fabric edges have a woven finish rather than being cut and over locked like ordinary jeans. The selvage can be seen on the outer leg seam when cuffs are rolled up — a detail that will be noticed by denim connoisseurs and is a sign of the fabric’s superior quality. Another factor in this quality is the dye used for Japanese denim: natural rather than synthetic indigo, with yarn dipped up to 30 times to produce an incredibly deep and rich color that weathers with time. 

The reputation of Japanese denim has traveled quickly, and several overseas brands have adopted it for their collections. Cult Swedish brand Nudie uses Japanese denim for all its lines, and Diesel uses it for some of its premium jeans in response to demand for heavy, dense denim from shoppers. Paul Smith’s Red Ear label uses Japanese denim and also styling details and stitching inspired by Japanese streetwear.

Like their manufacturers, Japanese consumers are also sticklers for detail, and the jeans worn on the streets of Tokyo reflect this. This season, three main trends are emerging in men’s denim: skinny cut, embellishment and distressed wash. The skinny cut can be seen all over the city, usually in a dark wash and worn long enough to bunch around the ankles. Favored styles include 45rpm’s Sorehiko and Studio d’Artisan’s SD-103XX.

Embellishment takes many forms, from embroidery to chains and elaborate stitching. Evisu jeans are famous for their seagull mark across the back, which constantly morphs into new colors and sizes. This year, pocket-sized squiggles are the most popular, combined with colored tabs and studs. Dark wash has been popular for several seasons, but it is now being challenged by faded, distressed denim which can be seen everywhere on the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo’s youth center. From United Arrows, Eyefunny jeans are streaked with artfully applied paint and grime for a truly lived-in look right from the start. Edwin also provides a take on the look with frayed edges and fading through the legs.

In other cities jeans are seen as a fashion fallback that can be pulled on without thinking, but Tokyo’s trendsetters see denim as a matter for careful consideration, and they are willing to pay more for the perfect pair. And so, it seems, are a growing number of international denim fanatics who feed their habit through overseas stockists and eBay, and who swear that once you’ve tried Japanese denim you can never, ever go back.
Jim

The cold war lives only in the fashion world these days, . . !  Gone are the fighting super powers, shady spies and dangerous women.  (Secretly, I have to say that I like the dangerous women part!) 

But, the trends in European fashions for outerwear took a turn toward reviving the 80′s look of military jackets and made them contemporary and very cool.  What’s really interesting is that the 1980s military fashion revival is, however, on the wane. A new decade calls for a new swatch, and the focus on subtlety and quality that I hope will shape the next decade of men’s fashion will see the men’s military trend evolve in 2010 to be far more articulate.

So if the inspiration no longer comes from the 1980s, then when? The Second World War. An era of rationing, clean cuts, functionality, and, of course, the dapper gentleman off to fight for God and Country.  This style even combined a few colors and years of war.  Take for example this over coat pictured – The color comes from the desert campaign in Africa but the style is a French cut.  You can even unzip the bottom half of the jacket and make it a crop jacket.  Very cool and trendy!

As we progress further down you get to the boots.  These are not military boots but they build a bigger and more impressive picture as footwear because just as important as the top coat and equally interesting.  You can wear just about any kind of boot here.  Like these or even these.  They don’t even have to be tall just a boot style. 

So, when you get dressed this fall and winter think about a little fashion history and mix and match a military look for weekends.

Jim

Las Vegas! Home of the largest Shoe convention in the world!

Hello from Las Vegas!  Arrowmsith Shoes buyers and stylists have jumped on board a not so private jet and landed in Las Vegas for the the MAGIC convention.  MAGIC is positioned as one of the most comprehensive trade events for giving an insight into the apparel industry.  The show is at the Las Vegas Convention Center but spreads out all over the town to accommodate all the visitors and exhibitors.  MAGIC provides reliable supply chain venue for the fashion industry at the international level. It proves to be a connecting link for more than 700 manufacturers, fabric & trim suppliers, print & design studios, service providers, vested in more than 40 countries.

This is a huge show and takes three days to get through all of it – if you’re lucky and if you have qualified help.  At the end of the show, you’re exhausted.  For me personally, the show is almost wasted on Las Vegas because you would think that in the evening you could go out on the town and have a great time but in reality, you’re too tired to go anywhere.  So, you go go back to the room, order some room service and then go to bed.  Get up the next day and do it all over again.  I’m not a big gambler and I don’t drink alot which makes me a big fat Vegas disappointment.  I’m surprised Vegas even lets me in!

We have scheduled appointments with Mezlan, Nunn Busch, Florsheim, Sebago , Alan Payne and many others.  We will bring back the best of the very best styles and fashion for all of you to enjoy.

Anyway, we’re in Las Vegas and it’s %#@ hot!

Jim

What did he say? My brain is full! All of us in the creative department of Arrowsmith Shoes have to deal with more interruptions than any other place in the world. I swear to the software Gods that rule my world that if I get one more meaningless interruption my head will spin off my shoulders and roll on down the hall. Kathump . . . kathump. . . kathump. . . ! I hope it lands in the parking lot, starts my car, and picks me up to go to the Cubs game!

I just got a text from a friend indicating that he just bought his seven year old daughter a cell phone. Wow! We have a no cell phone turned on policy in our little asylum but today I had to keep it on to be aware when a client is coming in who has a short time schedule today. I thought the text was from him. It was not. Shortly there after I receive a text from Carrie, the seven year old daughter, who in all honesty is as cute as they come but, seriously? Twenty minutes later and I’m finally done. Still waiting for my client text so I can turn off the phone. I have a love hate relationship with my phone. My smart phone is actually making me stupid.

A recent 2009 study by Timeback Management showed that we spend two hours a day fielding unimportant interruptions. The study in brief said “. . . is the disease of the modern workplace. Its symptoms are familiar to any worker: the inability to complete a thought or a task without losing focus under the onslaught of relentless interruptions which result in a lack of efficiency, a loss of time to solve problems, to think strategically, to plan, to dream – to get your job completed so you can move forward and get from here to there. . .” Really?

I like to call it “brainus interruptus”! I also understand that a large portion of this disease is self inflicted and I’m trying to improve. I read somewhere that admitting you have a problem is the first step towards solving it.

Ok! I have a problem and I admit it, but I don’t think my problem is as big as my friend’s who just bought his seven year old daughter a cell phone..

Jim

Yeah I know that nobody uses the word “groovy” anymore but I’ve always referred to my sunglasses as my “groovy cools”! I forgot why I call them that. I love a great pair of sunglasses and will protect and cherish them for years. by protect I mean I ‘reallllly’ protect them. I have severl pairs and I like the aviator styles the best.

This style by Armani is one of my favorites s and I’ve had this pair for awhile now and I still love them just as much as the day I had to take out a loan to by them.

Sunglasses are an important accessory for men; just like good watches and quality brief cases. I don’t look at shoes like an accessory like some people do, but I can see their point. Belts are an important piece for me only in the winter because I wear so many shirts untucked and the belt doesn’t seem that important. I don’t leave shirts untucked in the winter for some reason. I guess I dress better when it’s colder.

I hardly ever wear cologne because I have a terrible fear of over doing the spray and I smell like “that guy at the bar” who took a shower in his cologne and you look at him like he’s a complete clown or something. You know the guy! He could be wearing the best suit ever made with the nicest shoes but the obnoxious cologne will be the only thing you remember about him. That fear is enough for me to have someone spray my cologne in another room and ten minutes later I’ll walk through it and I’m still worried even after that.

I do like a great pair of sunglasses though.

Jim

PS – I had a friend of mine attend a haloween party as “that guy at the bar” and it was the funniest thing ever. Very clever.

Boring. . . ! Dull. . . . ! Give it a rest already. This is not news. Model Crystal Renn was “shocked and stunned” to find her picture altered to make her look thinner. What. . . ? To be honest I can barely tell them apart in this photo but as long as she’s “stunned” this will make headlines around the world, or at least on the talk show circuit, and I could not possibly care less. Can you tell these two images apart? Or at least enough to be “stunned”!

As a fashion photographer I get asked this question so many times I could just cry! “Do you alter images of models?” And my answer is “YES I DO. . . . !” Who cares! This story is so boring that I have to use CAPS to make my point a little more interesting.

I have altered and retouched so many images over the past five years that I can now classify my self as an expert fix-er-upper. It’s not like I take bad pictures its because models show up for a job hung over, tired from jet lag or whatever and they need some work done that makeup can’t hide. People are not perfect, they have scars, blemishes, unsightly tattoo’s, bags under their eyes, tan lines, gross piercings and most of the time they reek like cigarettes. I mean seriously. Nobody looks like Halle Berry when they wake up in the morning. Unfortunately! Models look great in ads but there was work done behind the scenes.

Fashion is a business that’s all about beauty and selling products and the product and the image that surrounds it has to be presented in the best way possible. You don’t have to be an MIT graduate to understand this.

I would love to be shocked and stunned so that I can make headline news around the world every time my picture was taken and the photographer me me look better than I am in real life. I can hear myself now, . . “That bastard made me look good. I hate him. . . !”

Jim

Street photographer Tommy Ton is a famous guy: in the fashion world that is. He travels the world taking pictures of street scenes hidden in all the trendy and fashionable places, especially in Paris, Milan, London and New York. For designers, they get a strong feel from Ton who shows you what the “real people” are wearing and what the trends are or what they’re going to be.

Ton runs the Jak and Jil blog which gives an insider’s view of the international fashion business — both on the runways and what’s happening on the street outside.

Ton hits all the fashion hot spots — from Milan to New York — and posts beautiful pictures of his travels every day.

The photographer highlights some of the things that are left out of the mainstream fashion press — likes the shots he posted of the models coming out of a Dolce & Gabbana show in Milan on Tuesday.

Ton has a great eye and a journalist’s sense of finding subject matter worth preserving and sharing. If you look close enough you can find Arrowsmith Shoes is current with the trends in Paris as the picture above was taken July 2, 2010. Alan Payne designed a version of this shoe and here it is. Cool!

Jim

LeBron James went for one of the most beloved sports super stars, who was loved even by opposing team fans, to one of the most hated with this latest stunt. And, he did all of that in the span of about an hour. Wow! Is Brett Favre’s on LeBron’s speed dial network? I can hear the conversation now. . . “Hey Brett, it’s me, LBJ. What should I do?” “Screw everyone man! Legacy is just a word.” “But what if they burn my jersey in the streets and riot in the bars?” “You’ll have to learn to be hated my friend. . . . !”
“Should I tell the owner about leaving or should I surprise him on national TV?” “Oh definitely surprise him. That’s really good TV.”

It doesn’t even matter that all the proceeds went to various boys and girls clubs. It doesn’t matter that he says it’s not about the money. It doesn’t matter that he was the one who stunk up the playoffs this year and got beat by the Celtics, and got beat in the finals a few years back. What more do you want. You’re the star! Win the damn thing. So now you’re going to join D. Wade’s team. This is is going to work well. You should have come to Chicago.

The self hype and all-about-me attitude has turned me off to even watching sports anymore. I’m tired of it. A-Rod kissing his own picture, Ochocinco just being himself, the yes I am not I’m not Brett Favre, should I even mention Tiger Woods, and now this.

Please! I think I’d rather watch paint dry.

Jim

Pat Riley strikes again!

I’m a loafers kind of guy. I love all kinds of shoes but for some reason I’m always pulled back to the old comfortable stand by. They’re like an old friend and when you put on you’re favorite jeans, I’m telling you, I feel like I’m on vacation.

Michael Jackson was a loafer guy too! I recently saw his last movie documentary “This is It!” and discovered that he had hundreds of pairs of loafers. They were his signature shoe with the white scrunched socks and the high rise pants.

(Getting off the subject for a second but if you haven’t seen “This is it” I highly recommend it. It’s amazing and he was incredible. What was surprising is that he looked completely healthy and showed no signs of fatigue or any other medical problems that would have caused anyone to worry about him. If you rent it makes sure you go to the special sections feature and watch all the behind the scene extras. Amazing!)

Anyway, these loafers by Alan Payne come in black and brown as well as in Crocodile in both colors too and when you slip them on you will immediately want them. Check out all the new arrival by Payne and I’m sure you will find a pair or two that you love.

Here’s a secret code for those of you who read this blog. Use “blog10″ at checkout and save 10% on any Alan Payne shoe you order. This coupon is only good for seven days and is not on Facebook or Twitter.

Jim

Not in a million years! Too Bad! The latest report from the rumor mill was that the Chicago Bulls sent Lebron James a pair of Michael Jordan shoes and asked him if he was man enough to try and fill them. This is a challenging attempt to lure James away from Cleveland and sign him in Chicago to play for the Bulls. Hmmmmm, . . . . . !

Now if I’m LeBron James, who, incidentally, has publicly stated and even physically tried to have Michael Jordan’s number “23″ retired for life, I’m not so sure I would have liked that little package. On the one hand to be compared to “His Airness” is without question the biggest compliment you get ever get as a basketball player but on the other hand to try and live up to Jordan’s history in Chicago is a completely different matter. Not only that if you don’t come to Chicago does this mean he’s not man enough to try? That package is like a Trojan horse.

The questions would never end about the comparison between him and Jordan. James would be foolish to play in Chicago because of Jordan. Jordan is the greates basketball player of all time but he doomed Chicago forever after he left. In my opinion which has about as much credibility as the rumor mill but it doens’t mean I’m wrong, James needs to stay in Cleveland. I love sports but I am not an authority by any means. I only watch because it allows me bitch’n rights!

We judge sports figures by how many wins they have or rings in this case and King James has none! However, he’s only 16 years old! That was a joke but he’s been in the league for a few years now and has elevated himself on and off the court like a genius and if there was anyone, except for maybe Kobe, who could pull off a Jordan like career in Chicago it is certainly King James. Saying that alone means there is no way he’s leaving Cleveland. He would end up like Shaq just playing for the money and he could watch his popularity go down the drain. James, Like Jordan, knows the meaning of staying in one place for one team and wining championships. Look what happened to Brett Favre if you don’t believe me. Sure Jordan left and went to another team at the end of his carrer. I have no problem with that. so did Montana and there’s a long list of others but LeBron James is only 25! He has a long way to go and if he doesn’t stay in Cleveland, I’d be very disappointed in him, even if he came to Chicago.

It’s very similar to a woman who dumps her husband for you. Deep down inside you have to wonder if down the road she would dump you for another guy. She”s already shown you she’s capable of that. But that’s an entirely different conversation.

Jim