Before anyone gets upset with me, just know that I think the Jordan XI is the most gorgeous basketball shoe ever made — my original pair of Black and Red XIs is the prize of what remains of my very small shoe collection. It’s basically perfection. However, Jordan Brand’s latest addition to the XI family — the Gamma Blue — is basically an affront to that once great shoe (and don’t get me started on the construction quality of these retros). The Gamma Blue hit stores Saturday morning, and as you can see above, release day went about as swimmingly as the last couple holiday seasons.

I’m not going to go into details of the fight, because it’s pointless (one question, though: what’s up with that kid with no shirt on?). But after seeing that, and incidents at previous XI releases, I’m convinced that Jordan Brand could unveil a Yellow Piss and Brown Shit colorway, and people would still run through brick walls for it (or at least a glass door at a shopping mall). Oh, and in case you were wondering, the next XI release from Jordan Brand is the highly coveted Concord low, which will probably result in at least one Finish Line or Foot locker store burning down. As always, hype beasts ruin everything.

[Instagram]