After watching this year’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest, I came to the conclusion that I need a Hype Man! (submit resume here)

Hype Man Definition:  Someone who brings excitement and hype before and while an event is taking place.

Kenny Smith is a world class hype man!  Kenny, who was Blake Griffin’s coach at the NBA Dunk Contest, gave a great example of exactly what a hype man is and does.  He had me excited!  He had me anxious to see Blake’s next dunk!  He hyped Griffin up and if you’ve ever seen BG play, he doesn’t really need any help with that (watch here).

It got me thinking.  How great would it be if I had someone before I hit the publish button on every post telling the World, “YOU MUST READ mevsMJ.cooooom!   Kenny Eller is about to share with you Something you’ve Never read beforrrrrrrrre! Prepare to have you mind bloooooowwwwnnn!”

Then again….

The Ramifications of a Hype Man :-/

If you have a hype man, you actually need to be REALLY…REALLY GOOAT! (somewhere between good and great ;-))

If not, the person hyping you may do more damage than good.

Going back to Griffin’s dunks on Saturday.  They were good, but not as special as Kenny “The Jet” pumped them up to be.  For many that resulted in an adverse affect of what the actual goal was.

Example:  I went and saw (for free) the movie, The Green Hornet, before it came out and thought it was going to be the worst movie I had ever seen.  Instead, I LOVED IT!  During the weeks that followed, I hyped that movie to anyone that would listen.  While my expectation was low going in, what do you think the people I hyped the movie to expected?  They expected it to be great, right?

If Blake had just gone out there and dunked, I probably would have went to sleep that night highly impressed.  Instead, I felt a little let down.

But if you’re GREAT!

If you’re great at what you do though, a hype man can take you to the next level!

Mike had Nike and Spike.  That grew to include almost every person who had ever even seen the game of basketball.  We were all MJ’s hype men!

The thing is, Mike Jordan almost always performed well.  So when people heard of his greatness and tuned in or went to see him, they left on the majority of evenings concurring with the hype.

We are our own Hype Man!

If you have a Facebook Fan Page for your blog or company, or Tweet when a new post or product is released, you are your own hype man and rightly so!

If you don’t believe in what you do, who else will?

Friends + Family + Supporters = Hype Man

Who supports you?  Who helps you?  Who spreads the word on your new post or product?  Who cares?  Who hypes you?

These are your hype men/women!!  Make sure you appreciate them and let them know you do!

Be My Hype Man!

If you love what I’m doing here, HYPE ME!  Do so on Twitter, Facebook, through Email, pick up the phone and tell your friends and family!  Find me someone to play!  Tell Mike Jordan about me!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I’m gooat, but I am giving it my all here at mevsMJ.com.

To anyone who has ever passed along something from this site, THANK YOU!

For the rest of you…join the others and be my hype man!

(ps:  I was kind of kidding about the resume part above )

I know the feeling a woman has when a new bag comes out.  I know the feeling when she walks in the department store “just to look” and must have that dress.

I know the feeling a man has when that new car he’s been reading about for months comes out.   I know the feeling when he walks into the Apple store “just to look” and must have that iPad.

I know the feeling a boy has when a certain pair of “special” basketball shoes are released.   I know how he feels as he approaches the shoe store, heart rate increasing, just hoping that they still have his size.

I know all of this because I was that boy.

Air Jordans

I got my first pair of Air Jordans in 1991.   I was 13 years old.

I was in the infantile stages of my basketball life, but those shoes made me feel like a pro!

In those days, I had two real opportunities each year to capture a pair of my very own Jordans.   Those being before the school year began and Christmas time.  Jordans were then and still are today, expensive athletic shoes.   I’m almost positive that the first +$100 pair of shoes my parents ever bought, were those Air Jordans in ’91.

From then until I was capable of buying my own, J’s were #1 on my wish list each and every year.

The Air Jordan craze was in full effect and I was a happy and thankful participant!

Mars, Mike and Nike (“It’s Gotta Be The Shoes!”)

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abr_LU822rQ

[If you’re reading this via e-mail or RSS the video might not show up, so click here to view it.]

Nike released a superb marketing campaign in 1988.   The spots were directed by Spike Lee, who also starred in the commercials as Mars Blackmon.   Mars was a Jordan fan and a guy just trying to figure out why Michael Jordan was so good.   In the initial television spot, following a series of questions on what made Mike the best, Mars surmised, “It’s gotta be the shoes!”

It was brilliant!

“It’s Gotta Be the Shoes,”captured every dreamer in America and beyond.   Anyone wanting to be anything in the game of basketball wanted those shoes.  People who didn’t even play ball wanted those shoes.

Thought provoking for sure.  Maybe it was the shoes.  Could it be the shoes?  Could Air Jordans make me a better player?   I wanna be like Mike.  I want Air Jordans too!

Whenever I put on a pair of Jordans then, I would always feel I was capable of doing something I wouldn’t be able to do in another “normal” pair of shoes.  Maybe my fadeaway was a bit better.   Perhaps I got a little bit higher on my jump shot or when I grabbed a rebound.

Air Jordans helped me to dream!

The Value of a Dream (Why Jordans MAY Be Underpriced)

What is the price tag for a breath of hope into a child’s wildest dream?   How much should one charge if they can drive someone to dream greater and bigger than they would do on their own?

Jordans are pricey, but in the big scheme of things really a great value.

A great value when you consider that motivational speakers charge thousands of dollars to adults to do the same.   A great value when people everywhere charge for “how to get rich” or “how to do something better” books, instructional videos, and on and on and on.

Everyone is selling something and all capitalizing on the same thing…a person’s want to be more.

So if +$100 pair of shoes can do that.  If they can make someone young or old think they can jump higher or play better, as they did for me as a youth.  If they can help someone to imagine life’s possibilities, I say that’s a good deal.  After all, if you can’t envision it, you can’t achieve it.

Still Kicking The J’s

Twenty years later, I’m still sporting Jordans.  While I know they don’t make me jump higher or help me make more shots, they do still help me to dream.

me vs. MJ…the journey and the dream are still very much alive!

Thanks for following along!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5bzfybIVr4&feature=related

[If you’re reading this via e-mail or RSS the video might not show up, so click here to view it.]