Evan's Level 3 Rhino Alert

Saturday, March 31, 2007



Last week, me and Kim were blindly flipping between channels, when for some reason (I think we were drunk), we stopped on 20/20. The first feature was about kids being bad at restaurants - they had some actors (parents with kids) go into a restaurant, and then the kids just went buck wild, doing whatever the hell they wanted. The parents did nothing to discipline them. Every other table at the restaurant was miked, as the producers wanted to see how other patrons of the restaurant would react. Only a couple actually said anything to the parents - most just muttered under their breath.

Intrigued by this segment, we continued to watch, and the next thing that came on was a feature on Starburys. Starburys are the shoes designed by Stephon Marbury that sell for $15 and under.

$15 and under!

John Stossel talked with Marbury, his mom, and inner city parents. They discussed how kids are getting robbed and shot for their expensive shoes and clothing. How some families are going hungry while their kids wear $150 shoes. And how Marbury's solution is to sell quality shoes at a very inexpensive price.

Stossel: You're selling cheap shoes!
Marbury: They're not cheap. They're affordable.

And to prove that point, they took the shoes to a shoe design professor, who actually cut Marbury's shoe down the center with a knife, while doing the same to a pair of Air Jordans. He said that there were some minor differences. For example, the Air Jordans have an outer air vent. But upon further inspection, the outer air vent only led to a closed area - giving no foot ventilation at all. The professor concluded that the Starburys are essentially equal in quality to the Air Jordans.

But would they sell? Marbury elected to only sell the shoes at a chain of stores called Steve and Barry's. On opening day? Huge lines of people all gunning for the shoes. Marbury broke down in tears of happiness.

Charles has discovered that a Steve and Barry's is located only 30 miles away from Charlottesville. And tomorrow, a new version of his shoe is released. At some point this week, you're going to see Evan wearing some brand new "affordable" sneakers.