KEN KARRSON: Even if the shoe doesn't fit, some buy it

At the risk of incurring the wrath of half the population, I pose the following question:

What exactly do women find so fascinating about shoes?

OK, not every female is an Imelda Marcos clone, but the love affair with shoes is widespread enough to cause genuine confusion in males, many of whom make do with nothing more than all-occasion athletic shoes.

Of course, the latter can also prompt some guys to act pretty crazy. In particular, men seem mesmerized by Air Jordans.

First introduced in 1985 as NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan's career was beginning its ascent into the stratosphere, the Nike creation has become one of the world's most famous brands of footwear. Air Jordans' popularity through the years has been great enough they now have their own, rather extensive Wikipedia entry — much longer than those devoted to other shoes.

Try finding several thousand words written about Thom McAn wingtips.

Jordan has been retired for quite a while, and in our current yesterday's-hero-is-now-old-news environment, that usually is the first step toward irrelevance. According to a couple online articles I read, some people were predicting an Air Jordans slide a few years ago.

Apparently, though, that opinion isn't shared by some folks in the state of Washington. When the latest Air Jordans were released in December, their availability wasn't met with an air of indifference.

Insanity was a better description. Fights broke out at a shopping mall in suburban Seattle and a group of about 20 people were pepper sprayed by police.

A similar situation took place in Atlanta, where 20 squad cars were called in and police had to deal with an unruly crowd that broke down a door to gain entry into a store that had not yet opened.

I guess MJ's name still carries a fair amount of marketing magic.

Having always found something better to do with $150, I have never purchased Air Jordans and, thus, don't fully understand the mad desire of so many to own a pair. Let's face it, there's only a small percentage of basketball players out there.

Yet more than 25,000 entries popped up when I typed "Air Jordans" onto eBay's site. Another 3,000-plus were found in the clothing category.

Although they certainly don't rank as your standard collectible, I think that's how Air Jordans are viewed in many circles. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that a number of purchasers had little urge to actually wear them and are instead treating their Air Jordans as a keepsake to be handled with care.

I am surprised, though, that women, the alleged shoe-aholics, had fewer than 700 entries on eBay's Air Jordan list. Ladies, I guess I owe you an apology.

This column is solely the writer's opinion. Reach him at kenneth.karrson@nwi.com.