The “McDonald’s Shoes”
By Rhett Wilkinson
It’s funny to think how such a flamboyant show has come from such an overall mild-mannered guy.
At least, that’s how I’ve always pictured myself to be.
Maybe that’s what happens when you’re sitting in the corner of a student newspaper room, discussing who is going to cover that upcoming club soccer game.
Maybe it’s when your interest gets perked in an otherwise typical meeting when your sports editor suddenly asks for a volunteer to be a scout player for the Utah State women’s basketball team.
Yes, a male volunteer. It’s something that many NCAA women’s basketball programs do these days– recruit guys who love the game and aren’t quite ready to give it up completely. For guys who are looking for the opportunity to somehow display their abilities on some sort of collegiate level. For guys being asked to make life tough in practices for the girls so they can be more prepared for their next opponent.
Maybe it’s when you’re using the same, worn-down, mud-splattered basketball shoes that you’ve worn since early in high school– mind that you’re 21 now– and one of your fellow scout team players feels some empathy and offers to replace your current kicks with something a bit more shiny; a bit more… unique.
Come to think if it, that’s exactly how such flamboyance came to be.
Now, you may wonder why in the world a member of a newspaper staff, under the request of his editor, was seeking to be a part of the basketball team.
Great question. I would ask such a question myself if I wasn’t the one experiencing it.
There’s a bit more to the story behind playing with the Aggie women: the sports staff of the Utah Statesman, the campus newspaper of Utah State University, was interested in having a staff writer write a regular column about what his experience, as a male, on playing on a team who, excepting some of the coaching staff, is comprised entirely of women. The thought was that such an article would make for an interesting read.
Perhaps. But when it comes to playing in style with the ladies, I wasn’t cutting it.
That’s when Will came to the rescue. While apologizing for not knowing his surname, Will was prompt to helping out his teammate. A native of Oregon who lives close to the Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Will had connections– namely, close proximity to the Nike headquarters in Beaverton, where a greater variety of shoes are more available as compared with your typical Foot Locker or even Nike outlet.
Among this variety included a replica line of every single team shoe of every single men’s basketball team from the 2008 Summer Olympics. Herein lies the reason why these flamboyant friends of mine are a striking red, with white and bold yellow trim: those are the official colors of the China and its national team, led over two years ago by NBA superstar and national phenomenon Yao Ming.
Today, I wear such shoes with pride, and not just to practices. I was able to use them in a group project which involved creating a film that analyzed the 2005 George-Clooney directed movie “Good Night and Good Luck.” They went together perfectly with an All-American, stars-and-stripes Jedi robe apparel and the lightsabers that came with it (yes, they looked just like the ones from the movies).
They came with me to the Nelson Fieldhouse and Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Building on campus to work out, along with any other time I am playing indoor sports, including the recently-completed 1-4 campaign of my five-on-five intramural team. In fact, I recently severed part of my finger while at the Fieldhouse lifting weights, which cut any basketball playing of any kind out of my agenda for a couple of weeks. But I couldn’t let that stop me from showing off such a unique item, walking around with them on-campus along with my gym bag just to show that I do physical activity in style.
I even carried them around campus last week while campaigning for a student government position just to create and encourage conversation so I could more easily engage myself in one-on-one conversations and share some of my campaign platform.
Now, the finger’s nearly back. Once again, I have reason to don what has commonly been called “McDonalds shoes” or “Ronald McDonald shoes” by friends, classmates and passersby on campus.
Now, the question remains: do I want to scuff up these babies for intramural ultimate frisbee? How far am I willing to go to give these fellas some more fame?
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