News & Views
Interview: Tom DuBois, Blades of Steel Box Cover Artist
If you grew up playing video games in the 1980s and 1990s, you definitely have seen artwork by Tom DuBois. He is an illustrator from Chicago who created many of the iconic covers that graced video game boxes. Remember Bayou Billy and Castlevania III for Nintendo, Lethal Enforcers for Sega Genesis, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time for Super Nintendo? All of those games, and dozens more, featured DuBois’ art on the covers. But most importantly for hockey fans, he illustrated the cover art for Blades of Steel, which came out for Nintendo in 1988. Recently, DuBois spoke with me about how he got his start in creating video game artwork, including Blades of Steel – and how working on that game got him in trouble.
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Blake’s Takes: On the Up and Up
Happy Super Bowl Monday! This week, I take notice of the work of a few young superstars and a huge league initiative. Plus, the return of the Unloved Team of the Week.
Blake’s Takes: All-Star Edition
This week, I focus on a few major moves down in Raleigh, as well as the 2019 NHL All-Star Game in San Jose.
Blake’s Takes: Hello, Trade Season; Goodbye, World Cup
The trade deadline is quickly approaching and the first big deal of 2019 has already happened. Plus, the death of the World Cup of Hockey.
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Interview: Bruce Dowbiggin, Author of the Book “Cap In Hand”
If there are two things that Bruce Dowbiggin loves, it is sports and business – or more specifically, the intersection between the two. He is a former sportscaster for the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC) and writer for The Globe and Mail. Dowbiggin was a part of the investigation that put Alan Eagleson, the corrupt former head of the NHL Players’ Association, in prison.
He has also written numerous books about sports and business. His latest work, entitled “Cap in Hand,” explains how parity and the salary cap are ruining professional sports in North America. Dowbiggin recently spoke with Sports Collectors Digest about his new book, why pro sports must change, and how soccer gets it right.
Sal Barry: Why would someone want to read “Cap in Hand”?
Bruce Dowbiggin: If you’re like a lot of sports fans, who wonder why it is that every season starts with eight to 10 teams that basically say “we’re not going to try and compete,” then I think you’re going to want to read this book. This is a book about how we got to where sports are today, to the point where it is that teams don’t care about winning, that teams are tanking. It’s all in the service of parity for the major league sports in North America. I make the argument that the usefulness of parity is over. We want a new sports economy, and it’s time that the people that run the leagues understood that.
SB: So, why write a book about the salary cap?
BD: I wanted to write a book about the 10 or 12 most-significant player contracts in history. I wanted to show the evolution from Babe Ruth to current contracts today. My publisher suggested that I put it in a bigger context. So, that’s where the idea came in, about how salary caps have done more harm to pro sports in North America than they have to help.
SB: Why is the salary cap the main culprit?
BD: As you know, in baseball, football, basketball and hockey, we’ve lost seasons or half-seasons. We’ve lost considerable amounts of time where leagues have locked out its players to get salary caps. Was it worth it? No, it wasn’t. Whenever there is a labor lockout, the owners and their commissioner are always talking about that somehow this is going to keep ticket prices restrained. That doesn’t happen at all.
Read the full article at Sports Collectors Digest.
Follow Sal Barry on Twitter @PuckJunk.
Collecting Rare Hockey Autographs
If you have read any of my previous stories on Puck Junk, you may already know that I am not one to collect, or suggest that you collect, the same way that most people do. Whether you prefer completing sets, buying inexpensive RC’s, high end RC’s, specific teams, specific players, or memorabilia cards, you should consider collecting certified autographed cards. Over the years since certified autographs were first produced, they have changed quite a bit and now include many unique multiple autographed versions and even dual autographed rookie cards.
Blake’s Takes: Goals, Goals, Goals!
In this week’s Blake’s Takes, I look at the increase in offense this season, Erik Karlsson’s recent resurgence, and say goodbye to Rick Nash.
Blake’s Takes: Lawsuits and Lightning
It was a relatively-quiet week in the hockey world, but I was able to uncover a few stories worth talking about, including Mike Peluso’s lawsuit against the New Jesey Devils and a revived Dallas Stars.
Top 10 Hockey Collectible Stories of 2018
On the surface, the 2018 calendar year may have seemed a bit slow when it came to hockey cards and collectibles. Only one company makes licensed NHL hockey cards, so there is no real head-to-head competition. Still, that didn’t stop one card company from foiling the plans of another. Plus, there was plenty of competition in a record-breaking auction. A few other significant happenings took place in the world of hockey collecting. Here is my list of the top hockey collectible stories for 2018.
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