City Beat
City Beat (August 01, 2007)
By Tom Matich
Jul 31, 2007, 09:50

..>..> ..> ..> ..>..> ..> ..> Burn Rubber
Smokin' Kicks

Roland Coit can beat anyone in Double Dribble. Coit, who owns Burn Rubber Sneaker Boutique along with pro tap-dancer Ricky Williams, gave me a thrashing on the classic Nintendo NES 2-D basketball game. I was unsure how bad it would be at first, but then again, I was always used to getting my ass handed to me in Madden NFL Football, so I figured — what the hell?

In the corner of Burn Rubber's sneaker freak paradise were a couple video game systems, PlayStation 2 and NES, along a flat panel television mounted to the wall. I grabbed hold of the simplistic rectangular NES controller and began mashing the buttons as Coit drained three-ball after three-ball. It was slightly embarrassing, but thankfully, Ricky left the store to grab a bite to eat so we weren't playing in front of an audience.

The game went like this — Coit would swish a three ball while I was pressing the wrong button, swiping at the air on the other side of the court. Then, excited, biting my tongue like Shaq, I would have possession of the ball. But this didn't last long. On approximately 80 percent of my attempts to inbound the ball, Coit would intercept it and then drain another from downtown. When I did get a chance to get the ball in, and if I managed to get down the court without Coit stealing it from me (which almost resembled magic), I would desperately hoist up a ridiculous Rasheed Wallace-style three ball. When I did make a shot, Coit would compliment me. The final score, which is a hazy memory I'm trying to block out, was something like 165-34. If you think you can do better, come to Burn Rubber and play him.

Coit, who also raps as Octane in the duo Octane & Illite, is a member of the Subterraneous Crew — a group of hip-hop artists from Pontiac. Coit says that he thinks Burn Rubber is more like a barbershop, where people can just hang out. "You don't have to buy a pair of shoes when you come in here," Coit says. "We treat our customers with respect. And we have exclusive stuff, so the people that are coming in know what we got and what they want."

Burn Rubber has a colorful collage of shoes — from a pair of silver Dinosaur Jr., astronaut-like Nike Dunks that were autographed by the band, to the Adidas EQT B-Ball Neon Pack, a bright yellow or orange shoe with thick plastic straps that resembles the styling of L.A. Gears ... minus the lights. But perhaps the blinking shoes need to come back. "The '80s is real big right now, that's the next big style right there," says Ricky as he points to the Adidas.
The clientele that frequent Burn Rubber are sneaker aficionados. A younger couple came in and the guy had on a pair of shoes that I actually own, the Pharrell Williams Ice Creams — but in a color that I had never seen before. They were checking out shoes on Coit's laptop.  

One-of-a-kind shoes, video games and a slew of local characters — Burn Rubber is a cool joint with the hot kicks.  | RDW

Burn Rubber is at 202 W. Fourth Street, Royal Oak
More info: 248.543.3000 or burnrubberdetroit.com