Came back from Tokyo late Friday night (pictures and updates to come!) and woke up to an early Christmas on Saturday. My girl Kristen at adidas Performance hooked it up BIG TIME… and someone who I speculate is perhaps one of the busiest PR-people in the industry due to her involvement in adidas Soccer AND adidas Basketball. I’ve touched on it relatively recently, the adidas Predator X got its full unveiling with the help of Zinedine Zidane. Based on what career path I’ve chosen, I think it’s somewhat evident that I’ve been big into footwear. Starting off as a kid, both on-field and off-field boots/sneakers were something I paid a great deal of attention to. I still remember walking into Eurosport (not Soccer.com) as a kid back in Edmonton and looking at the racks of shoes… immediately gravitating towards the most expensive ones, thinking why were they so expensive. However unlike my lack of footwear choices on the streets, I was actually able to get some decent soccer/football boots as a kid. I still remember getting my first pair of adidas Predator Accelerators in the funky molded soft-ground version. In subsequent years, I pretty much found myself wearing each version of the Predator which got its update every 2 or 3 years.
In retrospect, the Predator was basically useless to me… and a win for the marketing team. As a keeper, who are you ever going to need to bend a ball? Even in the run of play, I’m sure you can get by with out any Predator vamps haha. However, I do think that PowerPulse technology which offered a weighted forefoot genuinely worked for more power when it was released in later models.
In addition to the Predator Xs, Kristen hooked up some F50i Tunits as well, something I definitely was more than grateful for. The shoe’s a bit of an interesting one. The sole plate allows you to effectively customize the stud pattern as well as the types of studs used ranging from soft-ground to firm and hard ground studs (basically the length/composition of the stud). You can also change the insole style for different types of performance and swap out different uppers such as leather and ClimaCool. As we speak I’m actually wearing the F50i boots on my feet haha. I’m a US 9 in all adidas leather boots but I have a feeling these F50is will be more than difficult to break in cause of the Sprint Skin upper. I’ve actually never really worn a synthetic boot… I’ve gone the old school method of just buying kangaroo leather boots in a size that fits in the length, disregarding width and just letting the leather stretch out. Yeh it hurts and takes some time, but the end result is a perfect fitting.
Mini Out-of-the-Box Review – adidas Predator X: Best fitting Predator I’ve ever worn out of the box. The toebox seems to have been re-designed for a wider fit. Some other people like my friends over at The Original Winger have been feeling the same in terms of fit. Aesthetically… just one thing bothers me and that’s the Predator branding on the instep. The rest of the boot has really grown on me. The tongue-less set-up is a bit weird since its the first tongue-less Predator. The boot is REALLY STIFF at the forefoot cause of the PowerSpine technology. The heel counter is pretty solid and the lacing offers a nice lock-down fit but the Predator line has been doing this for some time so I wouldn’t expect anything less.
Mini Out-of-the-Box Review – adidas F50i Tunit: My upper is the Sprint Skin one as mentioned and although I have my concerns, eventually the upper will stretch out a bit I think. Personally I don’t like the feel of the Sprint Skin, it seems too smooth. For me, the Tunit aspect seems like a lot of trouble but if you’re really keen on extracting that little bit extra out, might work out for you. The boot’s shape itself is more narrow that the Predator X. Aesthetically the boot is awesome and a lot cleaner than the Predator. Whereas the Predator carries itself as the top-of-the-line model and rightfully-so, I think the F50i does well to mask its technology a bit better to keep it understated. The V-notch lacing is cool as well. The previous F50 series had this ridiculously hard to access lace system but this works a lot better. I know what to expect from the Predator X for the most part so I’m more looking forward to wearing these haha.
After not playing for more than two years, I finally got back into it within the last month. Found two teams relatively quickly and basically began my career as an outfield player at age 25 haha. I’ve played as an outfielder on the rare occasion back in the day, but believe it not, but only recently had I actually played my first-ever back to back games in the field. It’s been pretty fuggin’ fun throughout, all this time before I was hitting the gym pretty consistently but just doing it for the sake of doing it… now at least that has some carry-over. I feel myself re-learning the game as you adopt a new position. The game itself within the defending third is something I obviously know very well from being a keeper, but from the midfield on, it’s a bit different. Luckily my disconnected friend (as in no Facebook, no Twitter etc) Andy Mataya has been giving me his words of wisdom.
Once again, big thanks to Kristen. Got a session on Wednesday… can’t wait!
Back in the day, I loved looking at the customized gear of pros. From test colorways to re-configured outsoles and gloves, I found myself nerding out over that stuff. A big one for me that interested me was the mixed-sole Copa in which people would shave off the studs of their adidas Copa Mundials (or any molded boots for that matter) and then drill a hole with a stud insert so you could have 6 longer studs alongside the usual molded ones. It would probably clog up in the rain but offer a bit more control with the ball under your feet… But since I play mostly on Field Turf or firm to hard grounds, there’s little use for this. Italian brand A-Line actually offered this in a production model as well… not sure if they’re still around.