As a ‘news reporter’, of which I’ve been referred to by quite a few people, I’m certain I’m terrible at it. Because I don’t like to report ‘news’. I like to write about things that actual news reporters report on. And that’s because I like to watch things play out before talking about them (for fear of looking like a reactionary fool).
The James Whitner thing…I really don’t know much about him. I know that I once listened to a podcast with him and @jeffstaple and I remember thinking…’that dude seems shrewd. I don’t think I’d wanna be caught in any business deal with him.’ Not because of anything other than it looked like he knew how to bend the odds in his favor in any situation. Which can certainly be an admirable trait.
That being said…I’ve often looked at situations in which power could corrupt and I’ve just as often thought - ‘man, I’m glad I’m not in that position.’ Because I like the luxury of not having to be a saint when it comes to taking care of me and mine…meaning…if I had the opportunity to make a killing on shoes Nike sent directly to me and to pretty much no one else would know…why wouldn’t I?
I don’t know the deal and I wouldn’t want to act like I did…at the end of the day, I’m just a guy that loves getting a steal on shoes that I like. In just about any ‘hobby’, there are all kinds of people that keep it moving and sometimes they do things that are not exactly legal and, unfortunately, sometimes them getting caught is the price of progress. There have been no shortage of people in this ‘hobby’ looking for unique opportunities to skim a bit off the top, so I’m really not surprised in the least. And, really, could you say you wouldn’t do the same in that situation?
When that Zadeh Kicks thing came out a while back I remember saying ‘best believe this isn’t the only dude doing shady stuff out there’ and I still believe that…I bet there’s a pretty significant percentage of popular faces in the hobby that are involved in all kinds of f*ckery. Because there’s a ton of money involved.
For better or for worse, instead of focusing on them, I prefer to just keep my head down and focus on my shoes…