In the 90s basketball was everything to me. I was all-in on Michael Jordan and the Bulls, but still supported my local New Jersey Nets. I attended many games with my family and teammates at Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands to see some of my favorite players hit the court. I got to see Tim Duncan, Chris Mullin, Shaquille O'Neal, Vince Carter, Drazen Petrovic and so many more! I played on teams since the 5th grade and actually ended up winning 2 championships in that time and was named to the All-Tournament team in '95! So, not to get any longer but I was a basketball card collecting, game watching, sneaker consuming fool! I don't remember seeing these NIKE ads below when they were first used, but I found them recently and I love the looks of them! Comics and basketball...COUNT ME IN! Now it's time for me to stop babbling and for you to enjoy some sweet retro advertising!
Pretty cool right? I couldn't find any on-air advertising to back up this print ad campaign, but while searching YouTube, I did find this animated NIKE ad for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992!
Throw on your Oversized Clock and head to Strong Island as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...
Artist: Public Enemy
Song: Shut 'Em Down
Album: Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black (1991)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A
Bonus Fun Fact: This song was originally written as a way to fight back against major corporations profiting off the black community and not giving anything back in return. A version of this song was eventually used in a NIKE ad in 2018.
If you were a sports fan back in the early 90s there were 3 names that were on the tip of every kids tongue...Ken Griffey Jr., Michael Jordan and BO JACKSON!
From the start of Bo's career in Kansas City in 1986, I was a fan. He was larger than life and like nothing I had ever seen before on the baseball diamond. He was built like a tank, fast as a cheetah and had an arm like a cannon. As a card collector, I had to have anything and everything with Bo on it! But my favorite card I own of his has to be the 1991 Fleer "ProVision" card #5.
It isn't worth a heck of a lot (you can find them on eBay for around $1), but this is how I envisioned Bo when I was a kid. He was more than human, he was an icon who pulled off such great feats that he had to be robotic! I loved this card so much that for my 10th birthday I asked for a t-shirt with this image on it! My dad went to a screen printer at the local mall and my birthday wish came true! I wore the shirt maybe twice because I didn't want it to get dirty, but it hung on my wall for years!
Then in 1987 Jackson was drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders! Now Bo was building his legacy on the gridiron by running over giants, scoring touchdowns and embarrassing defenses in his spare time away from Baseball.
Then during an NFL Playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 13, 1991 the impossible happened. My sports hero was taken down. His hip was dislocated and fractured ending his NFL career and leading the KC Royals to drop him from their roster. 10 year old me was crushed to see this happen.
Then an amazing thing occurred, BO PLANNED TO RETURN TO BASEBALL WITH AN ARTIFICIAL HIP! He was back in the gym rehabbing for his come back and as Dennis Leary once said "It Ain't over till a hip socket sings."
Bo came back and in his first at bat since his hip surgery in true Herculean fashion he smashed a home-run. It was glorious! Bo played until 1994 ending his career with the California Angels. It was only an 8 year career, but damn was it spectacular! I will always remember him as "Bionic Bo". If you haven't seen the ESPN 30 for 30 film "You Don't Know Bo: The Legend of Bo Jackson", you need to check it out. It goes beyond the sports he played and shows how he became the American Icon he was in the late 80s & early 90s. You can view a preview below.
