Easily one of the most anticipated releases of the year hit at Undefeated in Santa Monica yesterday. With sneakerheads lined up the night before, the shoes finally found their ways into customers' hands on Wednesday for $240. A few of the lucky ones who camped and waited for hours in line got an extra treat: Kobe Bryant showing up to autograph a few pairs.

(Update: For more pictures of Kobe's stop at UNDFTD in the DeLorean, visit KixAndTheCity.)

But really, the Kobe autographs were secondary. The shoes were the real stars on Wednesday in Santa Monica.

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Big month for MaZe in the KixAndTheCity StockRoom. Not only does he have July's biggest releases detailed in this month's show, but he's also got all of the heat from Nike, adidas and other brands that you'll see in the Beijing Olympics.

As a bonus, Jay Corbin is back for this month's edition to explain the significance of the "United We Rise" movement between Jordan Brand, Nike and Converse on Team USA.

One of the great knocks on pretty much any Wii sports title to this point has been a lack of depth. When MLB 2K8 dropped earlier this year, it was like comparing a two-inch snow dusting versus a 10-foot deep blizzard.

The Tiger Woods franchise has established itself on solid footing as the realistic golf sim of choice, certainly stronger footing than what Tiger himself is standing on given that recently operated-on knee.

Next season, the successful CustomPlay Golf series will make its way to the Wii and try to kick Tiger a bit while he’s down. The game, slated to release in Q1 2009 for the Wii (and October 2008 for the PC), will feature the following according to a press release:

Including 15 full 18 hole championship Golf courses, including licensed and fantasy courses, along with the following, additional varieties: - Par3 (full 18 hole par 3 courses with all clubs available), Pitch and Putt (short 18 hole courses, with just the pitching wedge and putter available), Mini Golf (putter only courses), Crazy Golf (themed courses with obstacles, moving objects and animating objects), Driving Range (traditional and fantasy).

This creates an interesting potential competition. While EA is rolling out a more beginner-friendly lineup with their All-Play series exclusive to the Wii, another competitor tries to enter the “realistic sim” market that has largely failed on the Wii to this point.

I’ll put my money on more people sticking with EA, particularly based on what I’ve seen from the All-Play Titles so far.

Maybe it’s the weather or something, but I’m in a golf kind of mood today. Last week, it was improving your lie after your crummy tee shot, but what if you could avoid the shanks all together? Enter the SensoGlove.

SensoGlove is the first and only golf glove with built-in sensors that constantly read the pressure of your grip. Practicing with SensoGlove will teach you the correct grip pressure for a smooth, consistent swing that delivers greater distance, enhanced precision and lower scores! Maintaining a lighter grip pressure is regularly discussed in every magazine and by all the professional golfers and teaching pros. The trouble is it’s difficult to learn exactly what they mean by a light grip pressure and most golfers end up swinging with a death grip.

Well if it’s in all the magazines, I’ll take three! The price to completely revolutionize your game: $119.99. (You can buy the glove here.) I haven’t tried this myself, so I can’t give it a pretty FirstCuts stamp of approval, but because I don’t have $120 to burn, I guess I’ll stick with this.

(H/T to Oh Gizmo)

Last week, EA Sports held its Madden 20th Anniversary Party in New York City. The guests of honor: Daunte Culpepper, Ray Lewis, Marshall Faulk, Shaun Alexander and Vince Young. Every cover athlete from Madden editions in the past was there.

OK, they didn't teleconference Michael Vick in to the party.

Das Gamer brings easily the best part of the evening to the forefront: What do multimillionaires bet when they play Madden?

Culpepper copped to losing a few mortgage payments while Faulk admitted he had to let someone drive his Bentley for a month. But Lewis ...

Instead of playing for money Ray Lewis would rather bet on-demand push ups, waiting to cash them in at restaurants and parking lots.

And you know, if Ray Lewis tells you to drop and give him 20 in the middle of an Applebees, you're damn well going to do it.

Your tee shot has veered right. And while you're trying to sell your friends that it was a "power fade, not a slice!" you realize your ball is deep in the rough. Enter the Big Daddy Driver.

Yes, disguised as a driver and weighing just two pounds, this fake club is actually a trimmer that will improve your lie. It only needs two AA batteries to clear the way for your next shot. No, I can't imagine this angering golf course managers at all.

(H/T to DVICE)

It's only appropriate that the day after the draft, where Derrick Rose landed in Chicago with the first pick, we present our review of Gunnin' For That No. 1 Spot.

Director/Producer Adam Yauch, who you might know from a little music group called the Beastie Boys, takes a look at eight of the 24 players who were invited to play in the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic at Rucker Park. Four of the players featured in the film -- Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, Donte Green and Jerryd Bayless -- were drafted in the first round. The other four -- Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Kyle Singler and Lance Stephenson -- are players in or heading to college. Well, maybe not Jennings. 

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Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force made his regular appearance on Matt Spiegel's show on Sporting News Radio. Among the many topics: the NBA draft, the U.S. Open and Derek Jeter's timeless haircut.

I'll be honest, had I not been working Thursday night during the NBA draft, Carl would've been welcome to watch the draft with me once he got kicked out of his local Best Buy.

I could barely make this out through all the booing from the Knicks fans when Danilo Gallinari was picked No. 6 in the 2008 NBA draft, but Reebok has landed another international NBA baller.

According to ESPN's Fran Fraschilla, the shoe will be called The Rooster, coming from Gallinari's nickname. It would be safe to assume, because of how much the shoe looks like Yao Ming's Beijing Games kicks, that the shoe uses the Pump Omni HexRide that will be a big part of the fall line of Reebok shoes.

In other endorsement news: New Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo has inked a four-year deal with Nike, according to Darren Rovell. Still trying to track down where some of the other top guys landed.

So let me start by saying this: There’s about a 99 percent chance you’ll never be able to own these shirts I’m about to show you. That doesn’t mean we can’t all dream, right?

Dustin Canalin, design and creative director for UNDRCRWN (and good friend of TSB), just posted some sick concept images of a project he did with adidas. Canalin explains:

A few months ago, Adidas approached me to help with their endorsement pitches to 5 of the top players entering the NBA draft.

Undrcrwn created collaborative track jackets and t-shirts to present to them. They were only made for each of the athletes and their crews.

Unless Adidas signs them, these probably will not be for sale.

UNDRCRWN continues to bring back the old caricature shirts of my childhood. Hopefully one of these guys signs with the three stripes so the shirts are released. More images after the jump.

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