It's a bittersweet moment anytime Colin gets a new pair of hockey skates. It isn't about the money, either. As any hockey parent knows, deep pockets are a part of the game.
Any kid will tell you that it's exciting getting a new piece of equipment. Doesn't matter if it's a helmet, gloves, stick or some other gear. Getting new skates, like this pair of Bauer Supreme One 100s, is different.Not only do they represent a fresh start, but they also show a continued, and deepening, commitment to a goal. Beyond that, it's keeping a promise to grow -- and not just in foot size.
The sad part, though, is retiring a pair of skates. Colin skated many miles in his Bauer Vapor XXVs, shown above, the second pair he owned. As you can see, they're plenty scuffed-up. Many Wednesday afternoons were spent in these skates, working on crossovers, stop-and-pops and building up speed and stamina.
To be honest, I was hoping we could've waited until fall for his latest pair. It wasn't that Colin's toes were getting cramped. No, after 18 months, we were running out of blade to get sharpened.
To me, his new skates represent the latest installment in the bonding of a father and son. In time, I'm sure he'll think the same thing. If I'm lucky, he'll continue this tradition, provided he's as blessed as we are, with his children.
It's something you just can't put a dollar value on.
Making the switch
After intermittent problems with metallic DecoColor paint pens over this past season, I've sent those silver and gold pens to the sideline for the rest of the 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign. From here on in, I'll be using silver Sharpies for any remaining pucks I get signed.
Perhaps some of the gaffes were self-induced, brought about, from time to time, by hastened priming or trying to get one too many autographs out of a pen. The last straw came Wednesday when a pen with less than 15 autographs out of it hiccuped for Phoenix's Oliver Ekman-Larsson, leaving me with this stellar piece.
It worked enough for a somewhat legible autograph, good enough not to erase until I have another opportunity for him to resign the Coyotes puck. It was just too thin, even after priming, to use it for any other player. Funny thing, too, was after shaking the pen in disgust, the paint pooled on the tip, enough so that it splattered across some nearby foliage.
I'd be interested in hearing of others have experienced these issues or have some sure-fire tips they're willing to share.
Quote of the week
"Bull(hockey)!"
New Jersey's Henrik Tallinder, in fake-cough response to a Hockey Bay hound's assertion to Tallinder's Devils teammate Mattias Tedenby that he had heard that Tedenby, a fellow Swede, was one of the best players to come out of the Swedish Elite League in recent years.
sometimes there is still life in the deco's the tips just get either dried up or ruined. Instead, you can just buy the tips directly from Marvy Uchida and it's like a new deco all together. Doesn't work all the time, but worth a try not wasting them.
ReplyDeleteI can absolutely attest to the sporadic reliability of the DecoColor paint pens. I generally won't even try to use a pen for more than one session to try to avoid a pen drying up mid-signature. And on more than one occasion, I've had two brand new pens in use (one for me, one for my wife) and have one dry up within a few signatures. I have a Troy Murray that still pains me to look at. But experimenting with other brands (Sharpie, Elmer's) has not yielded a worthy replacement. The gambling aspect stinks, but I've found no alternative.
ReplyDelete