The Hundreds x Premium Goods 10th Anniversary Houston “34” T-Shirt Collection

Yesterday, Houston’s premier sneaker boutique Premium Goods celebrated their 10th Anniversary with a killer party and pop-up shop at 8th Wonder Brewery. They released a whole slew of limited edition Premium Goods 10th Anniversary t-shirts, including this epic capsule collection collaboration with The Hundreds. Made especially for Premium Goods’ 10th Anniversary Party, The Hundreds and PG created the “34” Collection, which pays homage to 3 legendary Houston professional athletes who all wore the number 34. Who knew the number 34 held such significance in the pantheon of Houston professional sports?

First up is the Houston Oilers football jersey inspired t-shirt that pays tribute to hall of fame running back Earl “The Tyler Rose” Campbell! It’s limited to 75 pieces and retailed for $35. Then there’s the baseball pullover jersey inspired by the Houston Astros’ old school uniforms and one of the toughest pitchers to ever hurl a fastball, Nolan “The Ryan Express” Ryan. It’s also limited to 75 pieces and retailed for $75.

Last but not least is this Houston Rockets inspired basketball jersey that pays tribute to hall of fame member and world champion, Hakeem “The Dream” Olajawon. This awesome jersey is limited to 75 pieces and retailed for just $30.

NBA Pop! Sports Series 2 Vinyl Figures by Funko

The NBA Playoffs have been incredible so far, and now’s your chance to immortalize the 2012-2013 season with these cute, chunky vinyl figures of your favorite basketball player! Whether you’re a Heat, Lakers, Knicks or Clippers fan, there’s definitely a figure for you in Funko’s NBA Pop! Sports Series 2. NBA Pop! Sports Series 2 includes Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul, Dirk Nowitzki, Amar'e Stoudemire, Jeremy Lin (now in a Rockets uniform) and Ricky Rubio.

Each NBA Pop! Sports vinyl figure feature one point of articulation, stand 3.75” tall and come packaged in a full color displayable window box. These figures are available now in stores everywhere, but you can save yourself a trip to your local toy store by ordering them online from Entertainment Earth for $9.99 each here.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Final One Sheet Movie Poster

The Blot is currently boycotting the internet after that pitiful display Kobe and the Lakers put on last night here in Houston. I can’t believe I actually thought this team was talented enough to win the NBA Championship! How they ended up with the top record in the Western Conference is anyone’s guess. While I sulk here in my office check out the final theatrical one sheet movie poster for this summer’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.


I’m not as geeked up about this Transformers sequel as a lot of fans are, but I am looking forward to seeing the movie version of some of my favorite G1 Transformers. I probably won’t recognize them, but I hear Arcee and the combiner Devastator will be making their fist live action appearance in the film. Of course Arcee is red and not pink, and would it really have been too hard to make Devastator and the Constructicons green and purple like they are supposed to be!?!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen premieres in theaters nationwide on June 24, 2009.

Showtime Returns to Houston, Texas

The Blot has been waiting for this day for a long time now. Last night (January 13th) Aly took me to the Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball game as part of her present to me for our two year anniversary. As is typical whenever I go to the Toyota Center to watch a Houston Rockets game, I was wearing my brightest Lakers yellow. What’s annoying is that the Lakers only come in town twice a year and no matter which game I choose to go to they seem to lose.

Of course many of you probably remember the last Lakers game The Blot attended, it became known as the final win in the Rockets’ 22 game winning streak and The Blot never heard the end of it from the Rockets fans in attendance as Aly and I tried to escape from the stadium. Last night’s game was definitely not as rowdy as last year’s, but the outcome looked to be the same. The first half of the game was just ugly, and even though Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest sat out last night’s game due to injury the Lakers just could not put together a run. In fact they were losing or tied with the Rockets for most of the game. Thankfully with 4 minutes left Kobe finally took over and with 27 seconds left the Mamba sank a 3 pointer to seal the victory.


The most exciting part of the evening had to be when Dikembe Mutombo entered the game with 8 minutes left in the first half. The crowd erupted, giving a standing ovation to the 17 year veteran. Last night marked the first time the 42 year old (currently the oldest player in the Association) had played this season since deciding against retirement and signing on with the club on December 30th. The other highlight of the game had to be the play of 3rd year guard Von Wafer. This young guy played lights out, scoring 23 points against one of the premiere teams in the league. If the Rockets can keep their role players playing consistantly at such a high level they still have a shot even without T-Mac at being an elite team in the Western Conference this season.

Mitchell & Ness NBA Hall of Fame Fitted Hat Collection

This past Friday night in Springfield, Massachusetts was the 2008 Basketball Hall of Fame induction, which saw seven new members enshrined into the Hall. The 2008 class was headlined by NBA greats Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Pat Riley, along with ESPN college basketball commentator Dick Vitale. (link)

To commemorate this amazing achievement, Mitchell & Ness is releasing a new line of fitted caps entitled the NBA Hall of Fame Collection. The Hall of Fame Collection's first two hats honor the induction of two of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players of all time, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.



These hats are extremely limited edition and can be found at the NBA Store in New York and other select Mitchell & Ness retailers. The hats are really detailed and include career stats, pictures of the players and team logos. If you’re a New York Knicks or Houston Rockets fan then I high recommend getting your hands on one of these sweet fitted hats before they’re gone forever.



Also inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this year were former NBA player Adrian Dantley, Detroit Pistons and Shock owner Bill Davidson and former Immaculata University coach Cathy Rush.

2008 NBA Playoffs - There Can Only Be One

The 2008 NBA Playoffs are now set and the cards didn’t exactly fall where The Blot had hoped they would. The Houston Rockets clinched the number 5 Seed and home court advantage last night, while the Phoenix Suns got stuck with the 6th Seed and a trip to San Antonio. Now I can only hope the Rockets advance to the second round to play the Western Conference Champion L.A. Lakers, which I’m not really expecting to happen (especially with Rafter Alston out for at least the first two games of the playoffs). In the meantime, I’m now stuck with two Game 1 playoff tickets to see the Houston Rockets take on the Utah Jazz Saturday night at 8:30 pm. With the Rockets’ playoff series not including either Kobe or Shaq I now have zero interest in attending the game…I guess it’s time to try and sell my tickets ASAP.


Speaking of Kobe and Shaq, have you seen their newest "There Can Only Be One" 2008 NBA Playoffs television ad? It’s a pretty sweet advertisement, with the two of them talking split-screen about the fear of coming this far and not winning it all. It’s an awesome commercial and is definitely the best pairing of the NBA’s "There Can Only Be One" advertisement campaign. The other commercials feature LeBron James & Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash & Jason Kidd, Dwight Howard & Chris Paul, Paul Pierce & Mike Bibby and Antawn Jamison & Ben Wallace.

Check out the Kobe Bryant & Shaquille O’Neal “There Can Only Be One” 2008 NBA Playoffs commercial:

Houston Rockets Take Consecutive Winning Streak To 22 Games With Defeat Of Lakers

Well to say The Blot was disappointed in the ending of the Rockets vs. Lakers game on Sunday is an understatement. Without Pau Gasol the Lakers looked anemic and very weak in the front court. Considering the team they were playing only gets 15-20 min out of their center makes the loss even more discouraging. But, I have to give the Rockets and the city of Houston credit in that it was by far the loudest and most excited regular season NBA crowd I have ever witnessed. The stadium erupted with every made basket and the crowd was truly electric.


The rockets have now extended their winning streak to 22 games, just 11 behind the all time record, and must face at home the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics. What a great matchup this game turned out to be with the Rockets now owning soul possession of the best record in the Western Conference. The Celtics will be without their All-Star guard Ray Allen, but I still expect this match-up to be a hard one for the Rockets with Celtics forward Kevin Garnett nearly unstoppable.

At this point I would love to see the Rockets continue to win, if for no other reason than it makes watching Rockets games actually watchable, especially since The Blot cares so little for the team. Regardless, I still see it highly unlikely that Tracy McGrady and the Rockets make it out of the first round of the NBA playoffs this year. Why have it be any different than every other season of TMac’s career? But, if the Rockets can hold on to the top spot in the Western Conference then maybe, just maybe, they have a shot to beat a team like Golden State or Denver.

Houston Rockets Go For 21 Consecutive Victories Tonight

In the NBA there are a few records that seem to be unbreakable. The top two on that list to The Blot would be Wilt Chamberlain’s record for most points scored by a single player in a game (100 points) set on March 2nd, 1962 and the Los Angeles Lakers’ record of 33 straight wins during the 1971-72 season. I bring this up because the Houston Rockets have been going on a tear not seen in the league in a very long time. After going undefeated in the month of February and then losing Yao Ming, their best player, to a season ending injury, the Rockets are in a position to claim sole possession of 2nd place on the NBA’s all time win streaks list. It should be a feat they can accomplish since they are playing at home tonight against the lowly Charlotte Bobcats.


Currently tied for second on the all-time consecutive victories list with the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks, the Houston Rockets can also go 8-0 since losing their All-Star center. It has been over 30 years since anyone has hit the 20 consecutive victories plateau, so that should tell you how rare and spectacular an accomplishment this is for the Rockets. The closest anyone has come in recent years is the 1999-2000 LA Lakers who put together a streak of 19 straight victories. It should be noted that of the three teams that have put together 19 or more consecutive victories in the history of the NBA, all three ended up winning the NBA championship that year. While this is not indicative of how the Rockets’ season will end, it should give the team hope come playoff time after failing to get out of the first round the past few years.


With that being said, there are many critics complaining that the streak has come at a time where the majority of the Rockets’ games have been at home and against lesser opponents. This sounds pretty ludicrous to me considering all NBA teams play the same type schedule and it is hard for me to believe that this block of 20 games is the easiest schedule over the past 30 years, especially since the Western Conference is at an all time high in talent. I know for a fact there have been better teams in the NBA who have also played in weaker conferences and yet none of those teams have been able to put together a streak of 20 consecutive victories. In fact, when the Chicago Bulls put together the greatest record in NBA history in 1995-96 with a record of 72-10 they were only able to put together an 18 game winning streak. And many consider that team to be the greatest team of the modern era. Look, I’m not a Rockets fan but what they’re doing is really, really impressive and I hope they win tonight so they can claim second place all to themselves.


After that victory though Houston should expect their streak to end and end quickly as The Blot heads to the Toyota Center this Sunday to watch Kobe and the Lakers take down the Yao-less Rockets. Even if by some miracle they survive the one-two punch of Kobe and Pau Gasol the Rockets then have a very hard road ahead including being home against the Celtics and then a road trip against three playoff caliber teams (New Orleans, Golden State and Phoenix). If Houston can stay undefeated over that 5 game stretch I think all critics will finally be quieted and Houston’s chance for an NBA title would become more realistic. At that point they would also probably have the best record in the Western Conference. Realistically though I think if they go .500 over those 5 games the Rockets will still be in great shape to make a long run come playoff time. But to expect a shot at breaking the all time NBA consecutive victory mark would be pretty foolish and unrealistic. So The Blot has one recommendation to the Rockets, get a victory tonight and be proud of 21 straight wins, because Sunday is the day it all ends!