Barefoot boys basketball team wins international tournament

Remember that iconic Nike commercial where Spike Lee insisted \"It's gotta be the shoes?\" That's not always true. A team of indigenous Indians from Mexico won an inteational basketball touament despite the fact (or possibly because of it) that most of them choose to play barefoot. The Trique Indian team was referred to as \"the barefoot mice\" by other competitors in the Inteational Festival of Mini-Basketball because they were both shoeless and shorter than most of the other teams. But neither of those potential obstacles could keep the boys — who live in a poor, remote region of Oaxaca — from winning all six of their games.

The kids could have shoes if they wanted them: Each player is given a pair of kicks, uniforms and $46 each month if they join the Oaxaca league, but most of the Trique choose to go barefoot because that's what they know. \"For them, it's normal to not have shoes,\" coach Eesto Merino told the Associated Press. [Source]