FRI 1/7
Since its inception, AND 1, to use the parlance of the times, has kept it real. Throughout its transformation from fledgling basketball-footwear and apparel company to full-blown retailer, AND 1 has never lost sight of its focus: championing a rugged style of street basketball that most people might never have the opportunity to see.
In 1998, a crudely filmed videotape featuring then-little-known New York baller Rafer Alston fell into the hands of employees at the newly created AND 1. Featuring a wealth of oh-no-you-didn't moves, the tape became a hit around the office. It wasn't until the AND 1 folks were filming a series of ads that summer that they realized the video's potential. A copy of the tape had found its way onto the set, and during breaks, company-sponsored NBA players such as Rex Chapman, Larry Hughes and Darryl Armstrong were glued to the television, watching Alston's moves and then trying to emulate them. By the time Alston showed up at the shoot, he was king of the court.
More tapes followed, and the company teamed up with Footaction USA, another footwear/apparel business, to distribute them across the country. Soon a national tour featuring street stars was born; the Mix Tape Tour is now the subject of an ESPN reality series as well as its own video game. Fans can catch Mix Tape stars Professor, Main Event and Half Man Half Amazing during AND 1 Street Ball Live, tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Pepsi Center, 1000 Chopper Circle. Tickets, $17 to $50, are available at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 303-830-TIXS. -- Adam Cayton-Holland
Dogged Determination
Rex, not Rudolph, leads
SAT 1/8
There are no brakes on the rig for ski-joring, a Norwegian term that describes a cross-country skier using dogs as draft animals. Instead, the athlete is harnessed to one or two hounds that are then controlled, hopefully, by voice commands. "Getting up after a fall while the dogs are still running can be quite a trick. Remember, it only takes six to pull a pickup truck. They're very strong," says Lise Sansom, race manager for the Colorado Mountain Mushers.
Her group hosts the IditaREAD ski-jor and dogsled races at the Snowmass Nordic Center today and tomorrow -- snow permitting. "Spectators are encouraged to help mushers load dogs into the starting chutes," says Sansom. "The dogs are so excited to run that it takes one person per dog."
Beginning at 8 a.m. both days, the teams will navigate a four-mile course. Most dogs are husky types. "But we've had teams of Irish setters," says Sansom, "and a hound team led by the biggest coon hound I've ever seen."
Spectators are asked to leave pets at home and bring children's books to be donated to hospitals in the Aspen- Snowmass area. For information, call 1-970-945-6734. -- Shara Rutberg
