After weeks of fevered speculation, Lebron James has finally ended his free agency by deciding to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In an as-told-to piece published on Sports Illustrated's website, Lebron detailed his reasons for going back to the hometown team he so famously spurned four years ago. Here are some highlights:

On leaving Cleveland - 

When I left Cleveland, I was on a mission. I was seeking championships, and we won two. But Miami already knew that feeling. Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio.

On coming back - 

I always believed that I’d return to Cleveland and finish my career there. I just didn’t know when. After the season, free agency wasn’t even a thought. But I have two boys and my wife, Savannah, is pregnant with a girl. I started thinking about what it would be like to raise my family in my hometown. I looked at other teams, but I wasn’t going to leave Miami for anywhere except Cleveland. The more time passed, the more it felt right. This is what makes me happy.

On what to expect - 

I’m not promising a championship. I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way. Of course, I want to win next year, but I’m realistic. It will be a long process, much longer than it was in 2010. My patience will get tested. I know that. I’m going into a situation with a young team and a new coach. I will be the old head. But I get a thrill out of bringing a group together and helping them reach a place they didn’t know they could go. I see myself as a mentor now and I’m excited to lead some of these talented young guys.

James also promised there would be no shenanigans like when he signed with the Heat, stating, "I’m not having a press conference or a party. After this, it’s time to get to work." 

With James, Kyrie Irving, and a rumored trade of no. 1 pick, Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love, the Cavs would seem to be the presumptive favorite in the east. Will it be enough to get the long suffering city the elusive title it has been looking for since the Browns won in the pre-Super Bowl era NFL in 1964? We'll have top wait until next June to find the answer to that question. In the meantime rejoice Cleveland, your prodigal son has returned.

The Puma Suede has been a staple of streetwear since 1968, with a storied history that we have discussed at length before here. Now Puma is giving its iconic silhouette a fresh look via a collaboration with Anwar Carrots, co-founder of the artist collective Peas & Carrots International. Wait, who? Anwar Carrots, who along with his partner Joshton Peas owns Peas & Carrots International, a lifestyle brand that encompasses everything from a clothing line and skateboard decks of their own design, to the music of hip hop artist Casey Veggies, to their own brick and mortar store in Los Angeles. 

Anwar Carrots shows off his creations.

Carrots has put his imprint on the Suede in two different colorways, each incorporating the trademark orange of his namesake vegetable. One features a grey suede upper with an orange form stripe, turquoise on the laces and the leather lining the ankle, and a gold carrot design on an orange background on the heel and tongue.  The other has a black suede upper with a turquoise form stripe, orange laces and leather lining, and the gold carrot design on the heel and tongue on a turquoise background. Both sit atop a gum sole, and both look extremely fly. 

This collaboration is an extremely limited edition... at every store besides City Blue. We will have these available for purchase at all City Blue locations when they drop on Wednesday, June 25. If you are a fan of the Suede, these are a must cop. Come down and get you some!

Only two times in the history of college basketball has one school's men's and women's teams won the national championship in the same year. Both times it was the University of Connecticut, first in 2004 and now in 2014. What was once an impossible dream is now an incontrovertible fact: since the turn of the century UCONN is the greatest basketball program in the country. The men got it started on Monday, riding All-American point guard Shabazz Napier to a 60-54 victory over Kentucky and their much heralded freshman class. It was the first title for second year coach Kevin Ollie, and the fourth overall for the men's team since 1999, more than any other school in that time period.

The women got their share on Tuesday, as they defeated a previously unbeaten Notre Dame team 79-58 behind player of the year Breanna Stewart. It was their second straight title, and the ninth overall for the school and coach Geno Auriemma. The nine titles set the all time record for most championships by a women's team, capping off an historic weekend for the Husky Nation. Congratulations to all the players and coaches, you earned it!

Beauty is a subjective thing. It may be cliche' to say that it is "in the eye of the beholder", but it is true. I can tell you that the sky, twenty three seconds after the sun disappears beyond the horizon, is the most beautiful thing in the world. You can tell me I'm wrong. I can tell you that the world never looks more beautiful than it does when covered by a layer of freshly fallen snow. You can tell me you hate everything about snow. I can tell you that we never know what true beauty is until we gaze upon our newborn child's face for the first time. You can tell me that kids suck. But there is one thing that unites our aesthetic ideals, that cuts across age, race, socioeconomic class distinctions, and geographic locale to shine as a true beacon of beauty the like of which has never before been seen, and whose yearly appearance is universally celebrated. I'm speaking, of course, about the Air Jordan XI: the most beautiful sneaker ever made.

1995 was weird year for America's sports heroes. Baseball and hockey were both coming back from work stoppages, Mickey Mantle died, O.J. Simpson was on trial for murder, and Michael Jordan was a struggling minor league baseball player. All was not right in the world. But there was hope. The noted sneaker Svengali, Tinker Hatfield, was developing a new Air Jordan, a shoe so spectacular that he hoped it would lure MJ out of his baseball debacle and back onto the court. This would be no easy task though. Michael had insisted to all who asked that he was done with basketball for good. Nike even wanted to discontinue the Air Jordan line (this was before Jordan Brand, when Air Jordans were still a Nike model) because they believed sales would suffer with their namesake out of the game. In hindsight that seems ridiculous, but at the time it was a belief shared by most of the higher-ups at Nike. Not Hatfield though. He was sure Jordan would come back to the NBA, and convinced Nike to keep the line going based on the strength of his design. He wanted these to be the shoes in which Jordan made his triumphant return.

Michael Jordan wanted a shiny shoe. He wanted one for years, but Hatfield hadn't been able to marry the right material to the right design... until now. Patent leather had long been a staple in the fashion industry, but had never been used in a sneaker before. Being more lightweight than genuine leather, and less likely to stretch, it turned out to be an exceptional material for the support and stability that are essential for basketball shoes. Combined with a cordura nylon that was primarily used in lightweight mountain climbing gear, Hatfield created an upper that was light and sturdy as well as stylish and, most importantly, shiny. For the sole, Hatfield took inspiration from football cleats, and inserted a full length carbon fiber shank that made the shoes more responsive and springy. Finished off with a full length clear outsole, the eleventh edition of Michael Jordan's signature sneaker was met with stunned disbelief by the man himself.

D Wade and CP3 know how to rock an 11. Peep Melo's ruby slippers though... smh.

"People are going to be wearing these with tuxedos," he said to Hatfield, and was proven right just months after their release when Boyz II Men paired the "Concords" with their tuxes at the American Music Awards. Michael started wearing them himself when he came back to the NBA at the end of the 94-95 season. The next year he was wearing the 11's when the Bulls won their fourth NBA title. The hype surrounding his comeback, combined with the innovative design and unparalleled style of the shoe he wore made the Air Jordan 11 an instant classic, and the most sought after retro model today.

On Saturday the Air Jordan 11 Retro makes it's annual holiday season return, and this year is an extra special one, as it will debut an all new colorway: Gamma Blue! The new silhouette sports a black on black upper, black midsole, and clear blue outsole, with a gamma blue Jumpman on the ankle. It's a truly essential addition to the 11 family. If you are one of the lucky few who will get to cop a pair, be sure to check out the Gamma Blue Collection of apparel we are featuring at all stores to pair up with these exclusive kicks. We have shirts, hats, hoodys, socks, even Christmas stockings to match your new 11's. And don't forget about the Air Jordan 1 Retro and the Jordan 6 Rings in Gamma Blue that are also available right now. Get down to your local City Blue and set yourself up for a "Blue Christmas"!

Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone!

Thanksgiving started, we are told, in 1621 when the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock (which Malcolm X claims we did not land on, but rather landed on us) celebrated their first harvest in the new world by inviting their Native American neighbors to a great feast. The Pilgrims felt blessed with a bountiful harvest and wanted to thank the people of the Wampanoag tribe for teaching them to grow corn (a.k.a. maize) and fish for eel (a now forgotten Thanksgiving staple). Every child learns this story in school, and then we make hand-shaped turkeys and pilgrim hats out of construction paper (It's just what we do in America. Deal with it Canada, ok?). But what they don't teach in school, and what has almost become lost in the annals of history, is what happened the day after the first Thanksgiving: the first Black Friday.

The first Thanksgiving lasted three days, and no one knows what days of the week those were, so we can't definitively say that the day after was a Friday. But we do know that once the feast ended, the Pilgrims and their Native American counterparts engaged in a massive trading of goods. What started out as a partitioning of the leftover food between the two groups quickly turned into a deal-making bonanza. The Wampanoag began by offering a deer, plus an additional deer, for every musket the Pilgrims traded them; the first recorded instance of a "buy one get one free" sale in American history. The Pilgrims were accepting three clams in trade for their nifty hats, down from the usual rate of ten clams, or 70% off! And it didn't stop there, animal skin clothing, brass buckles, corn (a.k.a. maize), squash, fish, and fowl were all vigorously changing hands at far below their normal value, culminating in the biggest deal of the day: the Pilgrims purchased most of what is now Massachusetts for a chest of beads, twenty blankets, ten bonnets, and a goat.

Over the years this post-Thanksgiving haggling grew bigger and evolved from a friendly after dinner exchange between settlers and their tribal neighbors (little known fact: the U.S. acquired most of its land from the Native Americans via Black Friday deals) into the all out consumer extravaganza we know today.  While we no longer trade blankets for land, the deals that are around for this year's Black Friday are almost as good. All City Blue locations will be featuring the following sales:

BUY ONE, GET ONE FOR $1 ON SELECT STYLES OF SNEAKERS AND BOOTS INCLUDING NIKE, TIMBERLAND, PUMA, POLO, ADIDAS, CONVERSE AND OTHERS

30% OFF ALL APPAREL INCLUDING NIKE, PUMA, PARISH, MITCHELL & NESS, AND MANY MORE

2 FOR $30 ON ALL SNAPBACKS AND KNIT HATS

SELECT STYLES OF LEVI'S - 2 FOR $80 AND BUY ONE, GET ONE 50%

PLUS MANY MORE DEALS THAT YOU HAVE TO SEE TO BELIEVE!

So get down to the City Blue nearest you on Black Friday, and honor the oldest and best loved tradition that we have in this great country of ours. Have a happy Thanksgiving, and we'll see you bright and early on Friday morning!