It's not a sign of senility. Rather, it's a manifestation of the persistence of memory.
The New York Times often uses a different link headline on its main page than the article on The Athletic. Today, I saw this:
Immediately, my mind leapt to "Wow, maybe he signed with Flagg Brothers. That would be something!"
Um, no. According to
this, Flagg Brothers, a nationwide chain of shoe stores and as a catalogue for men’s clothing, ceased operations in the early 1980s.
I will not bother linking to the article or, as I usually do with stuff from The Athletic, reproducing it here because it's boring. The only remarkable thing in the article is that three companies, Nike, Adidas and New Balance, all wanted to have Flagg as their corporate shoeperson.
When he was 17 and had not even played any collegiate basketball yet.
In May of 2024, the three companies came to a presentation at a hotel in Los Angeles to make their pitches. New Balance stooped to this:
Quote:
[New Balance marketing director] and his team entered a separate conference room where Flagg, his family and his Creative Artists Agency (CAA) team waited to be wowed. [The marketing director] wasted no time playing the high notes. He reminded the Flaggs how every summer they used to attend a tent sale at New Balance’s factory in Skowhegan, Maine — a half-hour drive from Flagg’s hometown — and pick out sneakers for the upcoming school year. (Kelly, Flagg’s mother, even remembers doing the same when she was a little girl.) [He] stressed how important New England was to New Balance, which is based in Boston, as well as the Flagg family.
Suddenly, a video started playing of the Skowhegan factory, countless assembly lines within it and the process of a custom pair of basketball shoes being made. At one point, the father of one of Flagg’s former grassroots teammates — who still works at the facility — made an appearance. Then another worker shortly thereafter, proudly proclaiming that, “Cooper Flagg being from Maine and being the basketball prodigy that he is, it just gives you that sense of pride.” Eventually, the 53-second clip ended with a still shot of the gray shoes, with “FLAGG” stitched directly onto the tongue.
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All of this over a 17-year-old who belonged in high school.
Does anybody else remember Flagg Brothers shoes? No? Okay, never mind.
