It's the the most hellish shopping time of the year
I need a pair of soccer turf shoes. The carpet at the sportsplex where I recently started playing for two teams is horrible, very slippery and almost treacherous. I'm currently wearing indoor soccer shoes, but I need to get turfs so I can actually play well.
So this past Saturday I decided to see if I could get a pair locally. Those who know me know that I prefer to buy things online because you can get better deals on things and not have to deal with idiot cashiers, but for clothes and shoes I like to buy locally so I can try things on and make sure they fit. Makes sense, right? I knew it might be a little tough to find a pair this time of year, being out of season and all, but I took a chance.
First I went to Modells. They had a nice pair of Adidas turfs (on sale too), but they must have been a closeout because they only had three pairs left, none in my size. They had an 11.5 (I wear a 12) and I tried them on, but they were just a little too tight. They also had a pair of Nike's, but they were flimsy. Plus I've had bad experiences with Nike soccer shoes, so I tend to avoid them now. So strike one at Modells.
Then I went to Dick's Sporting Goods. Who names their store "Dick's"? Don't these people know better? Anyway, Dick's didn't have any turfs. I assume it was only because it's out of season, but I was still surprised. Strike two.
Then I went to Sports Authority. Same deal as Dick's, no turfs in stock. I was beginning to sense a pattern. (On an aside, an employee was handing out $15 off $75 coupons at the entrance. Since they didn't have shoes, I was going to buy four pairs of Nike Pro compression shorts @ $20 each. I've needed a couple pairs of compression shorts, and they're so damn expensive, so I figured this coupon would be a good deal. I get to the register, and it turns out the fine print excludes Nike Pro apparel. A pox on Sports Authority!) Strike three!
Then I went to the mall to to see if any of the shoe stores in there had turfs. Wow, what a mistake that was. Not only did I have to park about 1/2 mile away, but the crowds on a Saturday afternoon during the Christmas season in a major mall are just insanely large. But I was desperate for some turfs at this point, so I ventured inside. I went to Champs, Finish Line, and Foot Locker, and none of them had turfs, let alone any type of soccer shoe. I should have known better than to think a mall store would carry any specialty equipment. Strike four, five, and six!
Then I went to the local soccer store here in Fairfax. I purposely saved them for last, figuring that they would definitely have what I need, but just at a higher price than other stores. That's the price you pay for a small, independent retailer. They did have lots of turfs in stock, including various brands and prices. However, the least expensive decent pair they had cost $55, which was more than I was willing to pay. I figured this was my only option, so I asked the guy if they had a size 12 in that style, and he checked. You can guess what happened. They don't stock more than one or two pairs of shoes in my size, because it's a rather large size for a soccer player. And they didn't have any in my size. I wasn't about to ask him if they had my size in any of the $90-$140 pairs, so I thanked him and walked out. Strike seven!
So I went home and figured I would order a pair on the internet. I first found a really nice pair at Champ's website, Adidas Predators. They are normally $90, and they were on sale for $40. And they had my size! Champs was offering free shipping on orders over $75, so I added a pair of over-priced compression shorts, a ball pump, and an inexpensive shirt, and started the checkout process. But when I got to the last step, where you enter your credit card number and billing address, whenever I clicked "next" the website kept returning an error, saying that I didn't enter a credit card number. Motherfucker, yes I did! So I entered it again, and it gave me another error! Fuck you Champ's website. Strike eight!
So at this point I have two outs and an 0-2 count, if you baseball people are following along at home. Next, I went to Dick's website, which is run by the same people who run the website for Sports Authority and Modells (isn't that sneaky?). Dick's had a free shipping deal on all their shoes, and they had a pair of Adidas turfs for $40, although not the ones from the Champ's website. Still, at this point I was a beggar and not a chooser, and I ordered them. Huzzah! Home run! OK, a single, really. But I finally got a pair of turfs. Now I just have to wait for the order to ship. With the luck I've had trying to get this damn pair of turfs, the order will get canceled...
So this past Saturday I decided to see if I could get a pair locally. Those who know me know that I prefer to buy things online because you can get better deals on things and not have to deal with idiot cashiers, but for clothes and shoes I like to buy locally so I can try things on and make sure they fit. Makes sense, right? I knew it might be a little tough to find a pair this time of year, being out of season and all, but I took a chance.
First I went to Modells. They had a nice pair of Adidas turfs (on sale too), but they must have been a closeout because they only had three pairs left, none in my size. They had an 11.5 (I wear a 12) and I tried them on, but they were just a little too tight. They also had a pair of Nike's, but they were flimsy. Plus I've had bad experiences with Nike soccer shoes, so I tend to avoid them now. So strike one at Modells.
Then I went to Dick's Sporting Goods. Who names their store "Dick's"? Don't these people know better? Anyway, Dick's didn't have any turfs. I assume it was only because it's out of season, but I was still surprised. Strike two.
Then I went to Sports Authority. Same deal as Dick's, no turfs in stock. I was beginning to sense a pattern. (On an aside, an employee was handing out $15 off $75 coupons at the entrance. Since they didn't have shoes, I was going to buy four pairs of Nike Pro compression shorts @ $20 each. I've needed a couple pairs of compression shorts, and they're so damn expensive, so I figured this coupon would be a good deal. I get to the register, and it turns out the fine print excludes Nike Pro apparel. A pox on Sports Authority!) Strike three!
Then I went to the mall to to see if any of the shoe stores in there had turfs. Wow, what a mistake that was. Not only did I have to park about 1/2 mile away, but the crowds on a Saturday afternoon during the Christmas season in a major mall are just insanely large. But I was desperate for some turfs at this point, so I ventured inside. I went to Champs, Finish Line, and Foot Locker, and none of them had turfs, let alone any type of soccer shoe. I should have known better than to think a mall store would carry any specialty equipment. Strike four, five, and six!
Then I went to the local soccer store here in Fairfax. I purposely saved them for last, figuring that they would definitely have what I need, but just at a higher price than other stores. That's the price you pay for a small, independent retailer. They did have lots of turfs in stock, including various brands and prices. However, the least expensive decent pair they had cost $55, which was more than I was willing to pay. I figured this was my only option, so I asked the guy if they had a size 12 in that style, and he checked. You can guess what happened. They don't stock more than one or two pairs of shoes in my size, because it's a rather large size for a soccer player. And they didn't have any in my size. I wasn't about to ask him if they had my size in any of the $90-$140 pairs, so I thanked him and walked out. Strike seven!
So I went home and figured I would order a pair on the internet. I first found a really nice pair at Champ's website, Adidas Predators. They are normally $90, and they were on sale for $40. And they had my size! Champs was offering free shipping on orders over $75, so I added a pair of over-priced compression shorts, a ball pump, and an inexpensive shirt, and started the checkout process. But when I got to the last step, where you enter your credit card number and billing address, whenever I clicked "next" the website kept returning an error, saying that I didn't enter a credit card number. Motherfucker, yes I did! So I entered it again, and it gave me another error! Fuck you Champ's website. Strike eight!
So at this point I have two outs and an 0-2 count, if you baseball people are following along at home. Next, I went to Dick's website, which is run by the same people who run the website for Sports Authority and Modells (isn't that sneaky?). Dick's had a free shipping deal on all their shoes, and they had a pair of Adidas turfs for $40, although not the ones from the Champ's website. Still, at this point I was a beggar and not a chooser, and I ordered them. Huzzah! Home run! OK, a single, really. But I finally got a pair of turfs. Now I just have to wait for the order to ship. With the luck I've had trying to get this damn pair of turfs, the order will get canceled...