What was your favourite "special edition" jersey this season?

[Billy Blade]

Which of the special jersey's that ended up auctioned off after the game did you like the best this season? Should they continue to do this as frequently as they have, or is it starting to get a little "overdone"? What are your thoughts and comments?

Let me know if I forgot one...

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

I choose the St.Patty's day jerseys, at first I thought they did not look to good,but now that I have seen other Blades fan wearing them to games,I think they look good.

I think that this years edition of the St.Patty's day jersey are the best ones yet,but this is my opinion(i like the additon of the Shamerocks/four leaf clovers) on the jersey,the other St patty's jerseys were just green with the Blades logo on it(I thought it looked too plain)

I would have to give an hounourable mention to the Canada day jerseys(they looked good also)

I think the retro Pac man jerseys are very good looking ,I like the idea of bringing back the jersey(considering the big history and popularity of the jerseys back in the day) I know they did both a home and away version of the jersey(I like the away version of the jersey.

Sticking with the Pac man theme, I am really impressed with the 3rd jersey(I think that is a very sharp looking jersey) The next purchase that I make at the star zone will be the 3rd jersey. I think that the Blades orginization should continue to make these jersey. The proceeds do go the Blades Education fund which is a bonus for them.

So I say keep the traditon of making these special edition jerseys.

[shazam]

Although I like the jerseys, the auction process needs to be revamped or completely thrown out the window. I have several "special edition" jerseys but have stopped bidding and participating in the auction due to the idiotic and seemingly fixed running of the whole thing. I get a knot in my stomach walking by the auction tables every time they run the promotion. The intentions are great - but the actions of a few idiots can ruin the whole experience. The empty promises of the Blades marketing staff also leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[Billy Blade]

Can you elaborate on that a bit? Perhaps like the $1000 bid on Wacey Rabbit's "Pac Man" jersey only to have it end up in the game worn jersey raffle during Game 2? Obviously somebody ran up the bid amount and then took off without purchasing it. What other sorts of things have you seen wrong with the process that they could maybe do better?

[shazam]

Can you elaborate on that a bit? Perhaps like the $1000 bid on Wacey Rabbit's "Pac Man" jersey only to have it end up in the game
worn jersey raffle during Game 2? Obviously somebody ran up the bid amount and then took off without purchasing it. What other sorts of things have you seen wrong with the process that they could maybe do better?

I'll try and explain what happened to me without going into too much detail...
I bid on a special edition jersey last year (the gold retro ones), and was definitely the last person to bid as I wrote my name during the last few
seconds and stood there and watched Mike Scissons pick up the paper. When I went to pay for the jersey it was completely disorganized and they kept changing their mind where they wanted the lineup and whatever. Anyway, so I get to the front of the line and the lady takes forever to go through the stack of papers, finds the jersey I bid on and tells me that I did not win the jersey. I look at the sheet and there is another name scribbled after mine in a completely different colour ink. Scissons tells me that there is nothing he can do, that my name isn't the last one and that I did not win the jersey. I am completely upset and return to my seat.

Another person ahead of me in line also had the same thing happen to him. He had a PA Raider jersey on and was quite upset and they had to have security tell him to leave.

When I got home after the game, I wrote an email to Mike Scissons (cc Brodsky) explaining how much I give for this team and this organization and what happened with the auction - and how upset I was with everything. I got a quick response in the morning, a phone call from Scissons himself saying that he remembers me writing the last bid and that he took the paper from me. He says that they will do everything to rectify the situation and that they are really upset, and how the hell that could happen..blah..blah. He tells me he is ordering a jersey from Calgary for me and they will get it personalized with the name of the player and call me in a few weeks when it comes. (oh - and they expect me to pay the same amount I bid, even for a non-gameworn jersey which may or may not be signed...he never mentioned that)

It has been over a year - and I have not seen anything, or heard anything about it.
I actually saw Scissons in the mall over Christmas and mentioned it to him. He was somewhat surprised that I never got my jersey. But that was the extent of his help. I guess I misunderstood when he said he would do everything to rectify the situation.

As much as I want the Blades jerseys and try to collect them, I just don't want to risk the chance of this happening again.

There needs to be a better way for the organization to conduct the silent auction. There is definitely not enough 'supervision' or rules for bidding. Nevermind the fact that they expect fans to pay an even greater price ($200 starting bid this season, compared to about $170 the season before), there is no guarantee that people are going to be respectful or take it seriously. Obviously there has to be a way to keep all the bidding sheets together and away from too many hands or anyone who wants to ruin someone's night. It's a shame that the whole thing can't just go as planned, but Scissons promised (and Brodsky even promised my father, who also complained) that they would make changes so that this would never happen again. Nothing has come of it. And I don't expect any different in the future.

Oh and the Rabbit jersey that ended up in the raffle...I know that they always make him wear more than one, but I wasn't aware that no one claimed it. There is a family that sits in section P that almost always end up with the Rabbit jerseys, a little boy wears them. They always spend a lot of money to get them. It's sad, if someone had the nerve to jack up the bid and bail.

Edit: Wow that really didn't turn out short or quick at all...sorry.