Wall calendars suck

First of, a belated Happy New Year to all. A computer problem has kept me away from the internets the past few days, but I’m back online.

calendar cover

Anyway, with the first of the year now come and gone, my girlfriend Shellie and I decided to purchase calendars at a local bookstore. The best time to buy a calendar is right after New Year’s Day–they become more and more obsolete as the days go by, and you can usually find them marked down at least 50%.

But calendar selections are pretty lame; it’s mostly puppies or flowers or puppies frolicking in flowers. You have your dogs, kittens, horses, Camp Rock, farm equipment, Playboy Playmates, muscle cars, etc. etc. Stuff that I normally don’t like enough to want to hang on my wall (with the exception of a Playboy calendar–but only single guys hang up “naked lady pictures” in their place).

In Chicago, you will find sports calendars of the Cubs, the White Sox, the Bulls (even though they suck), the Bears (ditto), NASCAR, Notre Dame Football, college basketball…and if you are lucky, a hockey calendar. I found this Blackhawks calendar and purchased it, which brings me to the first reason why calendars suck:

1. They are overpriced.

Who in their right mind pays $14.99 for a calendar? The answer is no one. We all just wait and wait until January 2 and then get one at half price. I think the bookstores and calendar-making companies have finally figured this out, and inflated their prices accordingly. Before we know it, calendars will cost $29.99, and get “marked down” to $15. I’m sure some person who knows all about publishing and/or distribution channels can prove me wrong on this, but I don’t care. I have my suspicions.

Paging through the calendar, I notice that Mr. January is Robert Lang. Lang was traded to Montreal before training camp. This brings me to my second reason why calendars suck:

2. The player selection is lame.

calendar cover

Lang was traded on September 12, 2008. Even worse, Rene Bourque–who graces the month of August 2009–was traded to Calgary on July 1, 2008. Which makes me wonder who picked these players? Most of the players in the calendar (Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp) make sense. But these two? Why not also include Jim Vandermeer and Patrick Lalime as long as we’re at it?

calendar cover

I know that, like everything else that is published, there are deadlines. But there’s no flipping way that these stupid calendars were printed before Bourque’s trade on July 1. Didn’t someone at Turner Licensing–the fine folks who made this calendar–realize or even care that Lang and Bourque were gone?

Why aren’t our two big free agent acquisitions–Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet–somewhere in this calendar? What is this, an old Topps hockey card set? Do they have to play a full season in Chicago before appearing in a lousy, overpriced calendar?

Sigh.

calendar cover

Other questionable inclusions are Nikolai Khabibulin (March) and Martin Havlat (May). Most likely, those two guys will be long gone by the time their months roll around.

calendar cover

Maybe I’m just bitter because I didn’t get a free calendar at a ‘Hawks game this year, or my local gas station didn’t give me a crappy “gas station calendar”. My favorite Chinese restaurant gave me a wall scroll-type calendar, but you can’t really write on those.

Oh well. I guess I can’t expect too much, considering that this cost me around $8 and will get the job done. And it still beats that “puppies frolicking in flowers” calendar.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Mario!

Sports Illustrated for Kids Volume 5, Number 12 – December 1993

Sports Illustrated for Kids Volume 5, Number 12 - December 1993Even though I was a bit old to be perusing Sports Illustrated for Kids magazine back in December 1993, how could I pass this issue up? The cover photograph features Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins, dressed as Santa Claus and feeding fish to penguins – tell me that does not scream “buy this magazine now!!!” Never mind the fact that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, penguins live at the South Pole and Lemieux lives in Pittsburgh. Continue reading “Ho! Ho! Ho! Mario!”

When hype meets frostbite

Living in Chicago and being a Blackhawks fan, you would think that I would be dying to go to this season’s NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

To tell the truth, I did want to go to this game really bad. As my sister asked me, “How many times can you say you’ve seen a hockey game at Wrigley Field?” That raised a good point. Continue reading “When hype meets frostbite”

My 2nd article in Beckett Hockey

Beckett Hockey #209My geek joy continues! This month, my second article for Beckett Hockey Magazine was published.

Entitled Pro Set Story, it is a retro review of the 1990-91 Pro Set Hockey Set, as well as a short overview of the Pro Set Company. The article appears on pages 20-22 of issue 209, which just came out last week. Continue reading “My 2nd article in Beckett Hockey”

Bought some "Old Guns"

This weekend, I picked up several 2003-04 Upper Deck Young Guns cards. Seeing as how these cards are from five years ago, the players depicted aren’t necessarily “young” anymore – at least, not “Patrick Kane young”. Most of the YGs in the group were common, but here are the best of the lot:

Eric Staal
#206 – Eric Staal

Joffrey Lupul
#202 – Joffrey Lupul

Matt Stajan
#242 – Matt Stajan

Milan Michalek
#238 – Milan Michalek

Alexander Semin
#219 – Alexander Semin

Now I have most of the expensive Young Guns from this set. I don’t have the Marc-Andre Fleury card yet, which will be a bit of an expense. Otherwise, I think it’s pretty much downhill from here.

If anyone has Young Guns from this set for trade–especially commons–drop me a line.

Bush League

1991-92 Upper Deck card #47 – White House Welcome

George Bush & Mario LemieuxToday is Election Day in the United States. No matter who wins the vote for President of the United States – though I pray it is Barack Obama – at least it can no longer be George W. Bush. Needless to say, the last eight years under “W” were not the greatest of times – from the 9/11 Attacks in 2001 to the economy being in the worst shape since the Great Depression, to fighting wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Anyway, all this hatin’ on George W. Bush got me thinking about his dad, George H.W. Bush, who was President from 1989 to 1992. The elder Bush actually appears on a hockey card in the 1991-92 Upper Deck set. Continue reading “Bush League”