New for 2011: Asham

I keep harping about the sad state of curling shoes, hoping they'll become more stylish and flashy. Too many look like dress shoes and at times minimizes the athletic nature of the sport. The shoes I hate the most are the Asham Slams that look like spats. I guess if it's 1920's prohibition era Chicago and you want to look good while drinking bathtub gin at the speakeasy behind the pet store, they're a solid choice. Luckily now you find those shoes in the discontinued section of the Asham website.

Considering their lackluster track record, I was intrigued while reading the Team McEwan blog. Mike posted about their new Asham gear for the season, and my eye was drawn to the large white spot in the picture.

Turns out, Asham's got a new shoe!

 Two, actually.

From the website:

Asham is very excited about the new off-ice leather and suede shoe designed by Italian Desinger, Luca Lovero. Luca's creations add excitement and character through both his passion for the game and his gift for design.

The design is reminiscent of a soccer shoe, plus it's Italian, so you know it's stylish! Making an off-ice shoe is pretty ingenious. Why not give your teams something to wear when they're not on the ice? If you're going to sponsor a team, may as well get your money's worth.

So then they took the off-ice shoe, and redesigned it as a curling shoe (top photo). Their rotator technology destroys the sleek design of the off-ice shoe, which is forgivable, but then they go and mess with the suede accents. What's with the flame embellishments? I could live with the wave on the off-ice version. They took a cool, sleek design and make it look like a child's shoe in adult colors.

The price is a bit of a turn off. $130 for a pair of shoes is a little out of my range. I could get custom Nikes for less than that. The on-ice version is even more, plus you'll have to spend another $80 to purchase the sliding discs.

I have to say though, if I ever get into lawn bowls, I'm totally going to rock these shoes.