'07 Cold Weather Gear Remedies Hypothermic '06 Selection

One of the complaints last year was that we didn't have enough cold weather items. True.

All we had to offer was a hand warmer to put your hands in when you weren't throwing penalty flags and signaling touchdown and a McDavid hood which also is great in scoring a little extra cash at your local bank after the game.

No jacket. No gloves. No portable hand-held kerosene heater (outlawed in some associations).

What you'll find new in our cold weather section:

• Gloves from Manzella in 3 Styles: Max 10D, Powerstretch and Windstopper
  
  
• Ear Warmers from 180s in 2 Styles: Fleece and Exolite Acoustic
  
  
• Diamond COLDSPORT® Mock Neck Compression Shirt
  
  
• Rennoc Quilt Lined Nylon Referee Jacket
  
  
• Smitty Rain and Cold Weather Referee Shirt
  

Lunch with Umpire Chuck Maske in Birmingham

I recently had lunch with umpire Chuck Maske at the Full Moon BBQ in Birmingham, Alabama.

He had offered back in May of this year during a phone conversation that started out talking chest protectors and ended talking about the best places to eat BBQ in Birmingham. (See "the Soft-Shell' CP Challenge and BBQ in Birmingham" post). Chuck's a great guy who's been umpiring a long time on multiple levels. He was to have demo'd a Pro Nine chest protector and written a review but he tore his ACL this summer.

I e-mailed him before leaving for our family trip to Destin, Florida, and I think he was a little surprised that I remembered I would try to meet up with him on my next time through there. It was really nice that we were able to get our timing right just around lunch time. You can tell from the picture that BBQ is was just what we needed for our diets.

Chuck was right about the Full Moon. It was the best BBQ sandwich I have ever eaten - had a sweet slaw or relish topping plus it pretty much just melted in your mouth. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Chuck and best of luck to him (and his knee) in '08.

Website Updates + New Product Views

If you've shopped with us before, you know we try to do a good job of organizing our products and providing multiple product views and close-ups. Here's a rundown of updates:

New Expanded Pics

Basketball

• Ultimate Side Panel Basketball Shirt
• Smitty Grey Basketball Shirt
• Smitty ComfortTech Basketball Shirt
• Smitty Pro-Cool Women's Shirt
• Black Zip Referee Jacket
• CCA Basketball Referee Jacket

Football

• Smitty Comfort Tech Football Shirt
• Smitty Long Sleeve Shirt
• Sideline Vests (Paul with his brothers)

Other

• Champion Double Dry Volleyball Polo
• Diamond Loose Fit Shirt

Site Updates

Basketball

• Revamped Main Basketball page
  Includes new product categories and ability to now shop by brand
  
• Categorized Basketball Whistles/Lanyards
• Added Basketball Accessory Page

Other

• Revamped Main Wrestling page
• Revamped Main Lacrosse page
• Categorized Wrestling Accessories

Customer Becomes Spur-of-the-Moment Model

One of our favorite customers and a local officiating legend Clarence Coleman stopped by while we were doing a recent photo shoot.

He accepted our offer to strike a pose with us by modeling our new grey Pro-Cool Smitty referee shirt. The pics turned out great. GQ watch out.