I understand that I am about to strike a soar chord with many of you my readers on this subject. I understand that this will be a soar subject because there are a great number of you who buy these products that I am about to address. I also understand that many of you go to great lengths to acquire these products which many times translates into forgoing a fortune to obtain just 1 of these products. I understand that this will be a soar subject because the very products that I am suggesting are huge wastes of money are also products that many people hold near and dear and often present very loudly and proudly in their homes and even their offices as well. The products that I am addressing are autographed merchandise.
First of all, I am not saying that all autographs are wastes. I mean if you are a kid who has the great privilege of meeting a professional athlete, getting an autograph as a souvenir of your experience is a great memento and a great memory that will often last a lifetime. For me, I have great memories of getting autographs. I even remember which sports people were particularly nice to me and which sports people were particularly mean to me. No matter how much I try to ignore my lone encounter with a player as being the deciding factor of their character, it is impossible to forget as a kid. These events have a great impact on kids. As such, I will always be a fan of guys like Turk Wendell, Dan Reeves, Doug Bodger, and even Mark Messier. I will not go too far into that but as I HATE the New York Rangers and as I HATE the New York Yankees, I once got Mark Messier’s autograph on a baseball at a Yankees game. But anyhow, I will always be a fan of all of the sports figures as a result of the kindness in which they showed me as a kid—EXCEPT MESSIER! And on the opposing side, I will never forget how rude hockey player Bobby Holik was to my mother and me—after a week of being in his hockey school—and I will never forget how Mets reliever Mark Guthrie treated me like garbage on 3 occasions during the 2002 season. I will not forget and I may never forgive. But even though all of my memories aren’t great, my encounters, for better and for worse, have no fiscal value as they are priceless.
I am instead addressing the grown men and women who shop online for autographs of signed memorabilia who then received their “signed” memorabilia in the mail regardless of whether or not they ever meet the athlete and regardless of having any guarantee that the autograph and memorabilia that they are receiving is actually authentic. I guess there are certificates of authenticity with many of the pieces of memorabilia, but seriously, if an autograph can be faked, couldn’t a certificate of authenticity then be faked as well? I mean, how could a person ever be absolutely 100 percent with no doubts sure that the artifact that they will later brag to their friends of how they spent a fortune for it is absolutely real unless they saw the person sign it themself. How would anybody tell the difference between the signatures of Jim Carey the goalie and Jim Carrey the actor- 1 r may not be able to be examined in a non aesthetically beautiful autograph scribble? Answer: you could never be absolutely sure.
Not to mention, even if the mail order autograph is real, what is the thrill of having such a memento. The child experience autograph is a memento of actually meeting a famous sports person. An adult receiving an autograph in the mail is just random scribble from someone that they themselves have never even met. Is this just me, or does it sound stupid to pay a fortune to receive a handwritten signature of a person you never even met? But then again, it’s your choice if you want to spend for such an item that I guess I can only be described with one of Carrol O’Connor as Archie Bunker’s best words from yesteryear: “Crapola.” I guess it’s your money after all.
I just feel it’s necessary to address this issue because in the modern day, I see a breathtaking number of people spend such hard earned money on products that to me seem so pointless. I guess that as much as I am advising you my readers to never buy such mail order autographs, I am also asking for someone to perhaps explain to me what the big deal is. Is there that big a desire to even get a smell of someone famous—or not that famous?
For a few months now I have provided you all with my analysis and my advice; now I am asking for some reader analysis, advice, and opinion. Would someone please tell me what the big deal is in buying signed memorabilia of someone you never met which is probably not even authentic? Please tell me!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Opposite Of A "Money Waster"
For weeks, I have been telling all of you about products to avoid wasting money on. Now I would like to inform you all about a product that is the opposite of a money waster as it is in fact a bargain. The one product in the sports world that more than any other is a bargain and is an otherwise unbelievably useful product is MLB.TV.
MLB.TV is a system that is a section of MLB.com that allows baseball fans to watch every single Major League Baseball game for the entire season either live or on re-run.
By far, the most useful area of MLB.TV is the ability to watch games on re-run. All games are available on delay within a half hour of their completion. The reason that such a feature is so useful is because it allows rabid baseball fans to never ever have to miss a game ever while allowing such an activity to be done without buying numerous blank video tapes and having to go through the hassle of setting your VCR on a regular basis. Though Tivo could also perform the same function, as your computer is portable while your TV is not, you can have “your team with you” also as long as you have your computer— no matter where you go. Never would you have to have the fear of missing a game ever again. Tivo would be just as useful if you were always to be stationed in your home, but as MLB.TV can both be useful in your home and abroad, MLB.TV is a much better buy for the purpose of baseball only. With MLB.TV, wherever in the world you are, you can watch your team’s games on demand. The reason that this product is so useful for rabid baseball fans is because it sets them free from the slavery of their team’s schedules.
I am one of those fans. I don’t like missing games. For years, the stories of the lengths that I have gone to in order to see games have become family legends. The reasons that these stories have become so legendary is because many of them—most of them—are utterly ridiculous in nature. Some involve cell phones being held up to TVs and others that shall remain unspoken of go to even further lengths than that, but the bottom line is that for years, going through the “pleasure” of trying to see all of my team’s games was a ridiculous hassle in my life. If I ever was in a situation where nobody could tape a game for me, then I was put in a situation where I COULD NOT miss the game. For someone who also desires an active social life, this “responsibility” to my team could put me in very difficult situations on a regular basis. But with MLB.TV, no matter where I am, no matter what my plans are, no matter who may be around to help—or not help—me, I know I will be well taken care of. For only $130 for full-access MLB.TV for the entire season, for rabid fans, this is often times a life saving purchase.
For me, MLB.TV has been a life saver. Instead of summer nights of having my mother setting VCRs and getting blank tapes ready for me, now, I can miss a game to go out with my friends always knowing that when I get home, that night’s game will be waiting for me. No longer does anybody’s schedule—including mine—have to be compromised for the sake of a baseball game. MLB.TV is a relatively cheap way of acquiring every single MLB game—when you buy it you get all 30 teams—and putting thus games into your computer to be enjoyed at your disposal. I didn’t even mention how with MLB.TV your game-watching experience can be cut by up to a half hour at times via the ability to fast forward through commercials. But as I feel now as I have made my case for the usefulness of MLB.TV, I would like to provide you with some true examples from the 2007 season in which MLB.TV saved me.
First, as you all should know, I am also a huge hockey fan. During the time in which hockey is in the final stages of it’s regular season and if my Islanders make the playoffs—they did in 2007—those games also become un-missable entities for me. And as hockey does not offer such a system as MLB does with MLB.TV, I can watch my hockey games live and then watch my baseball games in re-run immediately after. There I can keep my allegiances to my multiple favorite teams at once.
Other such uses could involve games of teams other than your favorite team. One example for me was this summer when Barry Bonds hit home run 756. I was not home that night, but with MLB.TV, when I got home, I was able to go to that night’s Giants game, fast forward to the record breaking at bat, and then watch the home run being hit as well as I was able to also enjoy the post home run ceremonies. No Sports Center condensed highlight for this guy. I watch San Francisco Giants Fox Sports Bay Area’s coverage of the event. Without MLB.TV, I would have missed history.
Whether it is the ability to see your team when on vacation or after a hard night’s partying or whether it is the ability to see full coverage of history making moments, MLB.TV allows a fan to be as fully involved in the sport of baseball as possible while not having their time consumed and schedule continually altered as it would be otherwise. For me, MLB.TV is perhaps the biggest bargain that I have ever purchased. If you are a crazy big baseball fan, I urge you to go buy it NOW! Or at least before the season starts in April.
MLB.TV is a system that is a section of MLB.com that allows baseball fans to watch every single Major League Baseball game for the entire season either live or on re-run.
By far, the most useful area of MLB.TV is the ability to watch games on re-run. All games are available on delay within a half hour of their completion. The reason that such a feature is so useful is because it allows rabid baseball fans to never ever have to miss a game ever while allowing such an activity to be done without buying numerous blank video tapes and having to go through the hassle of setting your VCR on a regular basis. Though Tivo could also perform the same function, as your computer is portable while your TV is not, you can have “your team with you” also as long as you have your computer— no matter where you go. Never would you have to have the fear of missing a game ever again. Tivo would be just as useful if you were always to be stationed in your home, but as MLB.TV can both be useful in your home and abroad, MLB.TV is a much better buy for the purpose of baseball only. With MLB.TV, wherever in the world you are, you can watch your team’s games on demand. The reason that this product is so useful for rabid baseball fans is because it sets them free from the slavery of their team’s schedules.
I am one of those fans. I don’t like missing games. For years, the stories of the lengths that I have gone to in order to see games have become family legends. The reasons that these stories have become so legendary is because many of them—most of them—are utterly ridiculous in nature. Some involve cell phones being held up to TVs and others that shall remain unspoken of go to even further lengths than that, but the bottom line is that for years, going through the “pleasure” of trying to see all of my team’s games was a ridiculous hassle in my life. If I ever was in a situation where nobody could tape a game for me, then I was put in a situation where I COULD NOT miss the game. For someone who also desires an active social life, this “responsibility” to my team could put me in very difficult situations on a regular basis. But with MLB.TV, no matter where I am, no matter what my plans are, no matter who may be around to help—or not help—me, I know I will be well taken care of. For only $130 for full-access MLB.TV for the entire season, for rabid fans, this is often times a life saving purchase.
For me, MLB.TV has been a life saver. Instead of summer nights of having my mother setting VCRs and getting blank tapes ready for me, now, I can miss a game to go out with my friends always knowing that when I get home, that night’s game will be waiting for me. No longer does anybody’s schedule—including mine—have to be compromised for the sake of a baseball game. MLB.TV is a relatively cheap way of acquiring every single MLB game—when you buy it you get all 30 teams—and putting thus games into your computer to be enjoyed at your disposal. I didn’t even mention how with MLB.TV your game-watching experience can be cut by up to a half hour at times via the ability to fast forward through commercials. But as I feel now as I have made my case for the usefulness of MLB.TV, I would like to provide you with some true examples from the 2007 season in which MLB.TV saved me.
First, as you all should know, I am also a huge hockey fan. During the time in which hockey is in the final stages of it’s regular season and if my Islanders make the playoffs—they did in 2007—those games also become un-missable entities for me. And as hockey does not offer such a system as MLB does with MLB.TV, I can watch my hockey games live and then watch my baseball games in re-run immediately after. There I can keep my allegiances to my multiple favorite teams at once.
Other such uses could involve games of teams other than your favorite team. One example for me was this summer when Barry Bonds hit home run 756. I was not home that night, but with MLB.TV, when I got home, I was able to go to that night’s Giants game, fast forward to the record breaking at bat, and then watch the home run being hit as well as I was able to also enjoy the post home run ceremonies. No Sports Center condensed highlight for this guy. I watch San Francisco Giants Fox Sports Bay Area’s coverage of the event. Without MLB.TV, I would have missed history.
Whether it is the ability to see your team when on vacation or after a hard night’s partying or whether it is the ability to see full coverage of history making moments, MLB.TV allows a fan to be as fully involved in the sport of baseball as possible while not having their time consumed and schedule continually altered as it would be otherwise. For me, MLB.TV is perhaps the biggest bargain that I have ever purchased. If you are a crazy big baseball fan, I urge you to go buy it NOW! Or at least before the season starts in April.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Hockey News, "Arbour Day" In November, And Me
For me, November 2007 is a milestone month. For me, November 2007 is the month that I have decided to end my long-running subscription to The Hockey News. Having been disappointed with that publication for a while, but not having ha a strong enough disappointment to end my subscription, I have now finally been pushed over the edge. For me, The Hockey News and other such weekly/monthly publications no longer have any ability to inform me in any way. The reason that the have no ability to inform me in any way is not because they don’t provide accurate and meaningful information, but rather the reason that they have no ability to inform me is because I am too big of a hockey fanatic.
Let me explain. I eat, breathe, and sleep hockey. It is an obsession. It doesn’t matter if it is in-season or off-season, not a day goes by where I don’t think of hockey or read of hockey. You can say that 24/7/365; I have my finger on the pulse of the sport.
Almost exclusively, I gather my information from the internet. Often, I am reading rumor web sites that verify events for me before they even happen or I am visiting TSN.CA—the Canadian version of ESPN.com—which despite being a very official web site is either breaking the most major stories or commenting on the most major stories within minutes of their occurrence. As I check these web sites several times a day, you can say that the longest I ever go without having had the latest hockey-world related story given to me is the length of a long night sleep. Trying to sneak a hockey story is like trying to sneak a ray of light pasta rooster; you can’t do it.
Take this example. This past Saturday, former Islanders head coach Al Arbour returned to coach the Islanders for one night only. Arbour returned at the request of regular Islander coach Ted Nolan so Arbour could coach his 1,500th game as Islander coach. His 1,500 games as Islanders coach are by far more than any other coach has ever coached with any 1 team, his 740 wins are the most, and as he is now 75 years old, he became the oldest man ever to coach an NHL game. To say that this was a big story in the hockey world would be an understatement to say the least.
In regards to me, as an Islander fan, I circled this game on my calendar one it was announced over the summer. On Saturday night, I watched this entire game and all of the involved ceremonies and coverage. Since Saturday, I have read stories from multiple web sites on this event as I have also re-watched both the post-game celebration and tribute video on YouTube. You can say that less than 72 hours after this event, I have seen it from every imaginable angle.
As big and as nice of a story as it was, quite frankly, I’m done with it and ready for the next piece of news.
I’m sure that The Hockey News will have something to say on the event. But while I am already done with this story, it won’t even be in The Hockey News for another couple of weeks. By the time that the edition of The Hockey News with Al Arbour stories sin it is released, who knows what hockey stories will be first and foremost in my mind then. Whatever stories they may be, it certainly will not be the story of Alger Joseph Arbour. In terms of The Hockey News and its coverage of the event, for me, quite frankly, it’ll be a few weeks too late.
I understand that most people are not like me. I understand that most of the population either doesn’t even care about hockey or only follows hockey on a casual basis. I understand that during some games and instead of reading hockey blogs, some fans have jobs, other hobbies, or other events that they go to besides hockey. Ignoring the fact that THESE people are completely inexcusable losers—just kidding—The Hockey News does still maintain the ability to inform this portion of society. And to this portion I say, “Go out and buy The Hockey News.” It will be a good and informative read.
But my advice today is for that small portion of you that are die-hard obsessed hockey fans like me. To you—us—I urge you to ignore The Hockey News and similar publications because for us, continuing to live the way that we now live will provide us with all the hockey information that we could ever need. Plus, assuming that you would have the Internet anyway, OUR WAY IS FREE!
Let me explain. I eat, breathe, and sleep hockey. It is an obsession. It doesn’t matter if it is in-season or off-season, not a day goes by where I don’t think of hockey or read of hockey. You can say that 24/7/365; I have my finger on the pulse of the sport.
Almost exclusively, I gather my information from the internet. Often, I am reading rumor web sites that verify events for me before they even happen or I am visiting TSN.CA—the Canadian version of ESPN.com—which despite being a very official web site is either breaking the most major stories or commenting on the most major stories within minutes of their occurrence. As I check these web sites several times a day, you can say that the longest I ever go without having had the latest hockey-world related story given to me is the length of a long night sleep. Trying to sneak a hockey story is like trying to sneak a ray of light pasta rooster; you can’t do it.
Take this example. This past Saturday, former Islanders head coach Al Arbour returned to coach the Islanders for one night only. Arbour returned at the request of regular Islander coach Ted Nolan so Arbour could coach his 1,500th game as Islander coach. His 1,500 games as Islanders coach are by far more than any other coach has ever coached with any 1 team, his 740 wins are the most, and as he is now 75 years old, he became the oldest man ever to coach an NHL game. To say that this was a big story in the hockey world would be an understatement to say the least.
In regards to me, as an Islander fan, I circled this game on my calendar one it was announced over the summer. On Saturday night, I watched this entire game and all of the involved ceremonies and coverage. Since Saturday, I have read stories from multiple web sites on this event as I have also re-watched both the post-game celebration and tribute video on YouTube. You can say that less than 72 hours after this event, I have seen it from every imaginable angle.
As big and as nice of a story as it was, quite frankly, I’m done with it and ready for the next piece of news.
I’m sure that The Hockey News will have something to say on the event. But while I am already done with this story, it won’t even be in The Hockey News for another couple of weeks. By the time that the edition of The Hockey News with Al Arbour stories sin it is released, who knows what hockey stories will be first and foremost in my mind then. Whatever stories they may be, it certainly will not be the story of Alger Joseph Arbour. In terms of The Hockey News and its coverage of the event, for me, quite frankly, it’ll be a few weeks too late.
I understand that most people are not like me. I understand that most of the population either doesn’t even care about hockey or only follows hockey on a casual basis. I understand that during some games and instead of reading hockey blogs, some fans have jobs, other hobbies, or other events that they go to besides hockey. Ignoring the fact that THESE people are completely inexcusable losers—just kidding—The Hockey News does still maintain the ability to inform this portion of society. And to this portion I say, “Go out and buy The Hockey News.” It will be a good and informative read.
But my advice today is for that small portion of you that are die-hard obsessed hockey fans like me. To you—us—I urge you to ignore The Hockey News and similar publications because for us, continuing to live the way that we now live will provide us with all the hockey information that we could ever need. Plus, assuming that you would have the Internet anyway, OUR WAY IS FREE!
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