New in the Shop: Mike Green T-Shirts!

Or should I say "generic shirts of a hockey player who happens to be named Green and scores in overtime a lot." Or Grien. Or Gruen. It could be any of those. There's really no way of distinguishing.

Here's the image on the front:


But rest assured, it doesn't say "BeltwaySportsBeat.com" on the front there. (It's on the back. Sorry.)

Here's where you can buy them by the dozen ... or one at a time. But why would you stop at one? Beltway Sports Shop.

You can also get these 3" x 5" stickers, which don't actually say BeltwaySportsBeat.com anywhere on them:


 
 

New in the shop: Updated hat trick hats!

Just in time for the '07-'08 Washington Capitals season, I've updated the Beltway Sports Shop's highest-selling item (registering a whopping three sales last season), the Hat Trick Hat!


(And don't worry, that ugly "BeltwaySportsBeat.com" tag isn't on the actual hat.)

That's right, now it's got it all! Not only does it have the new colors and kinda-similar-like number styles, it also includes a whole new player! Because I'm sure I wasn't the only person standing there during Alexander Semin's home-opener hat trick wondering, "Is it not right to throw an A.O. Hat Trick hat for a hat trick scored by someone other than A.O.?"

Problem solved.

The new version has #8 AND #28, and instead of being an "A.O. Hat Trick Hat," is now an "Alexanders" hat trick hat. Smart!

A bargain for just $14.99! Buy yours today! Exclamation points!!!!!!!
 

New In The Shop: JAMIE WALKER T-SHIRTS!!!!shift11

That's right. Go to the Beltway Sports Shop and you can get your very own #32 "Everything fits in this skillet" T-shirt (several styles available).

You know you love him. What's not to like? His ideal day includes sitting in the country with a Bud in his hand listening to some music. ... And "maybe a bug zapper" because "them are pretty cool."

This is a guy who plays for a month of the spring in party-town Fort Lauderdale, but says he "ain't going to no damn club, that's for sure." He owns a '79 Trans Am ... and a pickup truck.

And you know what else? If it fits in a skillet ... he kills it.

Here's what's on the shirts (sans "BeltwaySportsBeat.com" above it):

Busted Tees Blatantly Plagiarizes My T-Shirt

Since the start of this football season, I've had this beautiful shirt available in the Beltway Sports Beat store:



Well I went on Busted Tees today only to find that they are selling a ripoff version of my shirt ... except ... you know ... with an infinitely higher budget, professional graphic designers and a gigantic following on a hugely popular Web site. Oh, and don't forget the scruffy male T-shirt models. I don't have those either.



Jerks.

Anyone want to give me some pro bono legal advice about what my options are here (if any)?

And Me Without My Hat

So my experience as a Washington Capitals "partial plan holder" got off to a real nice start on Saturday night as the Caps took a 5-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes by scoring three third period goals.

Alexander Semin scored his second, third and fourth goals of the season and the hats went on the ice. Not only did I not wear my A.O. Hat Trick Hat ($14.99 at the Beltway Sports Beat Shop), but it was a different Alex doing the scoring anyway, so it wouldn't really have felt right to heave it onto the playing surface.

I'm thinking I need to fix that hat so it just says "HAT TRICK HAT" or "ALEXANDER HAT TRICK HAT" with an 8 and a 28 on it. Not that anyone's buying them. (Come on people. Only a couple months before the holidays.)

I think this is where I rehash my idea about selling a hat for $5 at Verizon Center concession stands that just says "Hat Trick Hat," bring 'em out when someone has two goals, sell them for five bucks, then sweep 'em up, throw 'em through the wash and sell 'em again! These are the kinds of visionary ideas I should be paid for.

So in two games Semin has amassed 40 percent of his previous NHL total of 10 goals, all scored in his rookie campaign (and only prior season in the NHL) in 2003-04 when he played 52 games for the Caps.

This Alex and Alex combo is going to be nice.

Yes, it felt good to be back at the phone booth. The pregame ceremony was fun, including some sweet graphics on the ice and a cool team introduction (minus some flubs between the announcer and the AV team), and the team followed with five goals in a winning effort.

The crowd collectively held their breath when 'Canes defenseman Tim Gleason gave Ovechkin a low hit to the legs, leaving the Caps star on the ice in a heap for several minutes, but he got up, got a Band-Aid and didn't miss a shift.

Maybe it didn't help that Chris Clark leaped to Ovie's aid by jumping Gleason ... with both of them landing right on top of Ovechkin. But you like to see the new captain standing up for his star player.

Plus it's nice to think that on November 9, Timmy Gleason should have a face full of Donald Brashear.

Great game, great experience, and I've still got tickets to 10 more!

Time permitting I'll do a full Caps preview, hopefully between now and the next game, Thursday night at Minnesota.

I'm CafePressed About My New Shop

That's right, kids! Beltway Sports Beat now has a CafePress Shop!!!!!!!!11one

Now you can get that Fantasy Football pegasus image on a T-shirt -- new and improved without the peg leg. (Arrrrrrrgh!)

You can also get the hat trick hat referred to in this post back before I sold out and went mainstream. I've even gotten rid of all that copyright infringing goodness from this image. (A.O.? That could be referring to annnybody... The old image is completely unrelated. Just ignore that.)

I'll update the shop as inspiration strikes and as I make more funny crap for the blog, but you don't have to worry about missing any new products because you can be sure every time I add something I'm going to pimp it all over this place.

Photoshop Fun: Ramon Hernandez T-shirt

I was bored, so I decided to design a T-shirt using the likeness of my favorite new Oriole, "Razor" Ramon Hernandez. Of course, no one on the team or with the media uses this nickname, it's just something that people at Camden Chat have been using all season because it's awesome. I had considered actually buying a replica jersey and getting "RAZOR RAMON" and number 55 put on it, but that would have been $120 and I just can't justify spending that kind of money on something that only a few people I've never even met would appreciate.

I've actually thought for a while about creating a Beltway Sports Beat Cafe Press shop, but then I realized A) I don't have any funny t-shirt ideas, B) any ideas I do have infringe all sorts of copyrights and likeness rights, and C) I have like three regular readers (hi mom!), so even if ALL of them buy shirts I stand to make about $6 on the whole thing.

So here it is, my Razor Ramon T-shirt design that will probably never actually be pressed to cotton...

If you think doing that makes me a loser... I spent hours voting for Ramon for the All-Star game, and I'm proud but also somewhat ashamed to say I ended up voting for him over 1,000 times... and he still came in last...

So here's to you, Razor! Thanks for being better and cooler than Javy Lopez. Now snap out of that 4-for-31 slump.