Infinite Crisis, Finite Playmats

This past weekend was the Sneak Preview for the latest DC Versus expansion, Infinite Crisis. I was very excited about this set because I've been following the Infinite Crisis storyline in the comics and it's a good one. I figured that many others would feel the same way and that attendance would be up, but it wasn't. DC expansions draw fewer players than Marvel expansions and this set was no exception. Thus, it appears that the popularity of the characters is what holds a lot of the players' interest. I can understand this, though how can you not love Shazam (aka Captain Marvel when my Dad was a boy). His card even requires you to say Shazam! if you want to turn him into the beastly superhero. Ah well. Ant any rate, this time around (and possbly for X-Men too) playmats, tins, and shirts were better spread out so more players were getting stuff. Unfortunately, the number of tins and playmats (the latter with the above Shazam art) were not given out to judges in the same quantities as they had been in the past. I was somewhat bothered by this because it meant judges couldn't get complete sets, but ultimately I did get a Shazam playmat, so I was happy. I emailed UDE about this and they said they didn't want to overproduce items and flood the secondary market. Also, judges at 10k events get full sets. So, they've got their reasons I guess. They did say there are some big things for judges on the way, so I'm looking forward to that!

This weekend also markes the end of Core week 2. This week was very similar to week 1 but with a bit more reps in weights and longer running times. I'm definitely getting more flexible which is nice. The hand walk and sumo squat-to-stand which were kicking my ass (my hamstrings are very inflexible) are now a tiny bit easier for me - I'm getting a better distance in my stretch, so that's very exciting, especially since soccer players pull their hamstrings all the time. Unfortunately, Core is doing nothing to help me not get turf burns when I dive for saves. Last Monday I scraped my right elbow and knee on an impressive dive (yes, I saved the ball). Granted I wasn't properly dressed for goaltending that night, but still, I shouldn't have gotten that cut up. So, yeah, I need to work on my side-diving technique.