CollegiateLuggage.com: Where complex financial issues are dealt with in five paragraphs or less.

This May the U.S. Government will begin sending out $600 Economic Stimulus Rebate checks (or $300, depending on the circumstance) to taxpayers everywhere in our Nation. From extensive reading and interviews we have been able to determine that "The rebate that will be sent out in May 2008 is a credit to the taxes you'll owe on 2008 income, but it is a new credit, so you don't have to 'pay it back'." In other words, this $600 is an "advance" on a new credit that will be presented on 2008 tax returns when you are filing your taxes in 2009 for the fiscal year 2008. Got that?

Setting aside the warm, fuzzy "Pay it forward" nature of this rebate, we citizens have been given the fiduciary responsibility of spending these monies in such a way as to do the most good for ourselves and our Great Nation. Rather than just letting the money burn a hole in your pocket, we at CollegiateLuggage.com strongly urge you to invest at least a portion of the rebate in Swiss Army Brand™ travel and business gear.

First of all, our products represent a good investment because they don't depreciate like most luggage items. Each item we sell comes with a Lifetime Guarantee. Second, with airlines now charging $25 per bag to check more than one piece of luggage aboard the aircraft, our WT-22 Deluxe Wheeled Bag earns back nearly 10% of the purchase price of $275 every time you travel because it carries the most stuff of any item of luggage that may be wheeled aboard domestic aircraft. None of our competitors can make this claim. Carry it with you on 6 round trip flights and it will have paid for itself!

So, when your rebate arrives, proudly convert it into Swiss Army collegiate luggage, knowing that your actions have, in a small-but-meaningful way, been helpful to yourself, your family, your community and your grateful Nation. It's what the Swiss would do.

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where every now and then we wave our own flag.

This particular post concerns the way we decorate each item of Victorinox® Swiss Army luggage before it is sent to our customers.

Each of the deluxe travel bags, backpacks, duffel bags and cases in our line is made of ballistic nylon which is a very tough but flexible fabric designed to withstand the rigors of airline travel and especially airline baggage handlers. You could say that Victorinox® has deliberately over-engineered the product in anticipation of the world of mistreatment that awaits it.

When the time comes to embroider your favorite school logo on the luggage, we use a specially designed embroidery table to hold the product in place while a computer program moves it along a pre-designated set of horizontal and vertical coordinates beneath the embroidery sewing "head". This is done while the actual embroidery head remains stationary, giving us the tightest-possible weave and the best-looking logo reproduction with no pinching or buckling of the design.

Our process of embroidering one item at a time means that your Swiss Army purchase is decorated individually, to order. By contrast, regular embroidery equipment is intended to decorate "thin" fabrics used in polo shirts, caps, sweaters or jackets, and makes use of 12-head embroidery tables to simultaneously run up to a dozen items at one time.

We use all-polyester non-reactive-dyed thread along with a special backing substrate for our embroidery so there is no pull-through, no color bleed and no color fade. Our embroidery designs are intended to last as long as the luggage items they adorn.

Take a moment to examine the close-ups of the various school logos shown on these web pages. You will see that our embroidery coverage is solid, with no gaps or loose stitches. We take enormous pride in the work we do on our luggage and on our luggage decoration. For this reason, when you carry Swiss Army's collegiate luggage products you "Carry With Confidence™".

CollegiateLuggage.com

Disaster... you've lost your bag!

Not to worry. With select Victorinox® Travel Gear by Swiss Army Brands luggage items you receive the benefit of the free Swiss Tracker™ Bag Tracking Program. With Victorinox®'s bag tracking program, we help to reunite you with your lost bag anywhere in the world for free.

Here's how the Swiss Tracker™ program works:

Each bag bears a unique tracking ID number on the bag's ID tray and a 24-hour a day, 365 days a year phone number. If someone finds your lost Victorinox® Travel Gear bag, they call our the worldwide customer service hotline number and Using your unique ID number, we will work with them to reunite you with your bag. We will notify you, arrange pickup, and then arrange for delivery of your bag -- at no cost to you!

The program is activated via a registration form in the bag.

The Swiss Tracker™ Program is available for the following travel gear products:

• Mobilizer® 24 - 30340201 / 30340203 / 30340208 models
• Deluxe Garment Mobilizer® - 30341701 /30341703 / 30341708 models
• Paratrooper - 30341801 / 30341803 / 30341808 models
• Collapsible Gear Mobilizer® - 30340401 /30340403 / 30340408 models
• Louvre 17 - 30322001 model
• Wainwright - 30321901/30323101 models
• Empire 17 - 30322101 model
• Big Ben - 30322601 model
• Parliament 17 - 30322901 model

Look for the Swiss Tracker™ Globe icon on our travel gear product pages to indicate which items offer this unique and free additional feature.

CollegiateLuggage.com - If it's about college stuff, we're game.

Speaking of game - I imagine that by now everyone has had plenty of time to discuss last Monday's amazing NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game. I already have one article in my weblog about the Game focusing on the importance of little things (i.e. free throws and the making thereof) but today I have another: The meaning of "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" and the accompanying chant.

I should fully disclose that as of my writing this blog entry our program does not have Kansas University as a member school. But I have been so taken with their school chant (not to mention their amazing performance during the Tournament) that I have decided to go after KU for our Swiss Army Brand Collegiate Luggage program. Just keep your eyes on this website to see if we get 'em.

Back to the subject at hand: The world famous Rock Chalk Chant evolved from a cheer that a chemistry professor, E.H.S. Bailey, created for the KU science club in 1886. Bailey's version was "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU" repeated three times. The rahs were later replaced by "Rock Chalk," a transposition of chalk rock, the name for the limestone outcropping found on Mount Oread, site of the Lawrence campus.

I had never heard this chant before last week. Now, I can't get it out of my head. The wording is not really that big of a deal, but the way it is chanted is almost magical. I get chills. Listen [MP3] for yourself and see if you don't agree.

Again, CollegiateLuggage.com congratulates the Jayhawks of Kansas University on their 2008 National Basketball Championship and reminds their students, alumni and fans to stay tuned to this space - blue Swiss Army luggage is just a heartbeat away.

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where painful memories and happy times take turns.

Like many fans of collegiate sports I spent the past few weeks avidly watching the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, savoring the March Madness and marveling at the levels of pure athleticism evident in each game. This was, in fact, the first time that all four of the #1 seed teams at the beginning of the Tournament all made their way to the Final Four contest in San Antonio. So it promised to be yet-another fun ride. I didn't have a particular stake in the contests so I watched for fun as Kansas and Memphis played for the National Championship.

In the end, Memphis was undone not by a better team or better coaching, but by a bunch of missed free-throws during the final seconds of regulation play. This absolutely made me crazy. To fully understand my frustration, I must tell you an anecdote from my high school years (we are talking the 1960's) in a time before there was Gatorade.

I was the manager of our high school's basketball team. This meant that I took care of towels and equipment, made sure that the basketballs were all properly inflated, helped tape the player's ankles, got things ready before practice and cleaned up afterwards. All of the little stuff that helps make the team go. We had a great coach and a team that had won the New Jersey State Championship just one year earlier (prior to my starting high school).

So, imagine my dismay when our regular season record in my first year with the team was 12-8. And we lost all eight of these games by a combined total of 21 points. (That averages to less than 3 points per game). If a game went into overtime, we lost. If we had the lead going into the last 90 seconds, we lost. If we were making a legitimate comeback during the last 90 seconds, we lost. And the source of this awful, sad, frustrating, dispiriting sequence of disappointments was missed free-throws.

That's right, free-throws that weren't made were the difference between victory and defeat for one whole season. Our players easily shot 100 practice free-throws (also known as 'foul shots') each, every day. Most of them had been playing basketball and shooting free throws for 6 or more years by the time they stepped on the court in our team uniform. We didn't have any 'bad' free-throw shooters - just good and better.

Do the math with me: At least 100 practice foul shots per day times at least 300 days per year = 30,000+ practice shots per year. Multiply by an average of six years = 180,000 practice free-throws during their young lifetimes. I know they did the work because I was often the one spotting for them and keeping count. Every starter on our team could sink 10 for 10 with his eyes closed. But when the clutch moment came and we needed those couple of points to tie or (heaven help us) win, we got zilch, zip, nada, nathan. I used up every wish I had earned, I prayed to everyone and everything I could think of including the patron saint of comfortable sneakers and still we lost.

So, of course, watching the final couple minutes of the NCAA Championship Game last Monday evening I couldn't help but notice that the Memphis players were apparently having the same problem that my high school team did a scant 40 years earlier. As I mentioned before, I had no real stake in this game but by the end of regulation my heart was racing and my mouth was dry and for a short-but-seemingly-endless moment I was back in time watching the wheels come off. I was in basketball fan hell.

So, my condolences to the Memphis team and fans, my congratulations to the "Rock Chalk Jayhawks" and my fair warning to all of you: When life presents you with a free-throw, you had better make it count.

CollegiateLuggage.com - Victorinox® by Swiss Army Brands College Decorated Luggage


Register your CARRY WITH CONFIDENCE™ GUARANTEE!


Carry With Confidence™ Guarantee

The Carry With Confidence™ Guarantee covers repairs of a functional nature for damage caused by common carriers. Additionally, this guarantee ensures that your product will be free from manufacturing defects in materials and workmanship for the life of the bag. We will cover damage to your product caused by a defect in the workmanship or materials. This guarantee does not cover cosmetic damage or damage to contents. As with any travel gear product, component parts - particularly moving parts - will show wear over time, and may eventually need to be refurbished or replaced. If such wear and tear occurs, we can provide you with generous options for repairing or refurbishing your product. The Carry With Confidence™ Guarantee applies to versions 3.0 and later of E-Motion® 360° and Mobilizer NXT®, version 2.0 and later of Werks Traveler™, and all versions of Architecture® and Navigator CS™.

Please direct any questions to our Customer Service Department:
TRG Group, 2047 Westport Center Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146. 1-888-658-0717




Carry With Confidence™ Plus Guarantee

Every Tourbach™ product is guaranteed to be free from manufacturing defects in materials and workmanship for the life of the bag. The Carry With Confidence™ Plus Guarantee also covers repairs of a functional nature if the damage is caused from abuse or mishandling by a common carrier. If necessary, we will provide a bag to you in an expedited manner for use until your bag can be repaired or replaced. This guarantee does not cover the contents of your bag or damage from ordinary wear and tear. As with any travel gear product, component parts, particularly moving parts, will show wear over time, and eventually may need to be refurbished or replaced. If such wear and tear occurs, we can provide you with generous options for repairing or refurbishing your product.

Please direct any questions to our Customer Service Department:
TRG Group, 2047 Westport Center Drive, St. Louis, MO63146. 1-888-658-0717




Lifetime Warranty

Victorinox® Lifestyle Accessories 2.0, Lingo™ and University products, and all versions of Ground Force™ are guaranteed for the life of the product to be free from any and all manufacturing defects in material and workmanship. We will cover any damage to your product caused by a defect in the workmanship or quality of the materials. We have the right, at our option, to repair or replace the merchandise. The guarantee does not cover damage resulting from abuse, neglect, improper handling or common carrier damage. The guarantee does not cover ordinary wear and tear. As with any travel gear product, component parts, particularly moving parts, will show wear over time, and eventually may need to be refurbished or replaced. If such wear and tear occurs, we can provide you with generous options for repairing or refurbishing your product.


Please direct any questions to our Customer Service Department:
TRG Group, 2047 Westport Center Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146. 1-888-658-0717

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where facts and opinions share equal time

It's official. Delta Airlines has joined American Airlines in what will likely become a new, industry-wide policy of charging $25 to check your second bag (and your third bag and so on, ad nauseum) on all flights.

This past February 5th we reported in this weblog that American Airlines was the first airline to charge a $25 fee for checking more than one bag and speculated (correctly) that other airlines were going to wait just long enough to see how things went before they followed suit. Less than 2 months later the writing comes off the wall and onto your credit card statement if you happen to travel heavy.

Which brings me to the same advice that we gave everyone in our February 5th blog entry: If you travel by air, why not use one of our WT-22 Deluxe Expandable Wheeled Travel Bags? Available in your choice of four colors (Solid Black, red with black trim, sapphire blue with black trim and emerald green with black trim), these bags are strong, lightweight, ergonomically-designed and approved for carry-on with all domestic U.S. airlines. They look great with your college logo on the front, and they are Swiss-engineered to hold more stuff in more places than any other comparable bag. Dimensions: 14" W x 22" H x 10.5" D (expands to 13" D).

Each bag comes with the Swiss Army Brand "Carry With Confidence" lifetime manufacturer's guarantee. Though moderately costly, you will realize significant savings traveling with this bag. By our calculations, after six round trips the bag will have more than paid for itself in full (12 trips @ $25.00 that you didn't pay for a second checked bag = $300 savings. The bag costs $275.00). Do the math - you'll see what we mean.

As for the new fee to check a second bag, my prediction, based upon nothing more than my luggage-seller's intuition, is that more airlines will join American and Delta in their quest to increase revenues. Now is the time to face the music and get out ahead of the inevitable increase: Order a Swiss Army WT-22 and laugh all the way to the checkout counter.

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where you will find the best college graduation gifts

We have all been encouraged to "plan ahead" since we were old enough to understand the words "plan" and "ahead". My favorite plan ahead slogan is the "Five-P Rule: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance."

If you want Swiss Army luggage for Graduation Gifts remember that our firm requires 10 working days from the day you order until the day we ship your luggage out our door. Planning ahead and ordering from us at least three weeks before graduation will assure that everything goes smoothly and you have a memorable gift to give.

As of my posting this new blog entry, there are seven full weeks to go before the 1st of May. If you start planning your purchases now, you'll be ready when the big day arrives and your intended recipients will be delighted with your thoughtfulness.

Remember, at CollegiateLuggage.com we don't charge a single extra penny for early ordering!

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where facts and opinions share equal time.

Has his ever happened to you?

You pack carefully for a trip, making sure everything fits comfortably into your luggage. Then, when it's time to re-pack and return home you find that you are utterly and completely out of room. The airlines, ever-sensitive to the plight of the traveler, have responded by limiting the number of carry-on items each passenger can bring aboard the aircraft and have now decided to start charging $25 per bag when you check more than one piece of luggage. This is certainly something nobody wants to deal with at the end of a nice trip.

Well, fret no more intrepid traveler, because the folks at Swiss Army Brands have built a clever "expansion feature" into all of their wheeled luggage items. You just run the special "other" zipper around your bag and "presto" it expands outwards a further 2.5" giving you 20% more interior space for your stuff. This feature comes standard on all of our Mobilizer wheeled bags, all of our Werks Traveler wheeled bags and our new line of Tourbach wheeled bags. It's kind of like discovering another room in your home filled with empty shelves and closets!

Our expanding wheeled luggage is:

• A must for the frequent traveler.
• A good idea for the person who tends to acquire lots of items while on vacation.
• A great feature for the college student who is coming back to school loaded down with gifts, clean laundry and chocolate chip cookies from home.
• And a welcome option for anyone who appreciates having a bit more space for their stuff when they travel.

This "expansion" feature is just one of the useful, person-friendly surprises we have in store (online) for you when you purchase items from our collegiate logo luggage program. Plus every item in our program comes with the Victorinox® "Travel With Confidence"^TM Guarantee for the lifetime of your luggage.

Now when you say "Go Team" you can really go in comfort and style!

Find your team's Swiss Army Gear!

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where facts and opinions share equal time.

For 26 years, aficionados of NFL football called Joe Montana's pass to Dwight Clark to defeat the Dallas Cowboys on January 10, 1982 "The Catch". It is commonly regarded as one of those amazing plays that folks remember long after the Game is over - hence the special name.

Well, now that Superbowl XLII (that's fancy-schmancy Roman numerals for "42", otherwise known as the Answer to Life, the Universe and Eveything) is in the sports history books, we have a new play to ponder and savor and remember: In fact, I am calling it a "play" since there is thus far no consensus as to what Eli Manning's amazing "escape" from the clutches of three defensive linemen followed by the 29 yard pass he threw that was hauled in by David Tyree who out-leaped tight double-coverage (using one hand plus his helmet to catch the ball) ought to be named. Perhaps we could call it the "Escape/Catch"? Or as my wife uttered after we watched the first of many instant replays: "What in the name of all that's holy do you call that?"

Clearly the honor for the "Play that hath no name" must be shared by both Manning and Tyree since both contributed mightily to its success. But darn it, we need a name here, and nobody in the sports world has come up with a catchy phrase (pun intended) to sum it all up. A number of sports radio shows around the Country are already holding contests to "Name the Play".

My closest friend of many years is an alumnus of Ole Miss. He remembered his student days in Oxford when Archie Manning (father of Eli, and Peyton and another son who doesn't play football so I don't know his name) was their starting quarterback and developed his scrambling style to confuse and confound the other team. Apparently this ability to evade the defensive linemen got passed along to his son Eli (I know, it's not the same thing as having red hair or green eyes, but have you got a better explanation?).

Keep in mind that CollegiateLuggage.com sells Swiss Army Brand collegiate luggage and business gear. We have no business stake whatsoever in the NFL. You would think that this wouldn't even be on my radar. But I am big on clever, memorable names and phrases and this is creating a gap in my consciousness. We need a title comparable to "The Immaculate Reception" to commemorate the thing.

P.S. I don't mean to call it "The Thing". I'm just using this as my place-holder until something better comes along. What about "The play formerly known as Prince"? Or perhaps "The Play of 3 Consecutive Miracles"? Feel free to e-mail me with your suggestions.

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where opinions and facts share equal time

On February 4th, UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, the world's second-largest carrier, will boost income by charging some passengers $25 to check a second piece of luggage.

United, the first major U.S. airline to announce such a policy, said it expects $100 million in savings and new revenue from the change. The fee applies to travelers with cheaper tickets who aren't among United's most frequent fliers.

United and other airlines are trying to offset a 50 percent jump in jet-fuel prices over the past 12 months. Some, such as Chicago-based United and American Airlines, are studying ways to charge for non-ticket services, allowing carriers to collect more money without raising fares higher than competitors.

Industry observers believe that other airlines will watch and see how it works for United. The response from their customers will determine whether it sticks. Spokesmen for American parent AMR Corp., Delta Air Lines Inc., Continental Airlines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. declined to comment on whether they are considering a similar fee. A US Airways Group Inc. spokesman said the carrier doesn't plan to follow United's move.

Some discount airlines such as Ryanair Holdings PLC, Europe's largest budget carrier, charge to check any bags at all. Southwest Airlines Co., the world's biggest low-fare carrier, began assessing $25 for a third checked bag on Jan. 29.

We here at CollegiateLuggage.com believe that the joy of travel needs a helpful boost to counter the negative aspects of paying for your luggage when you fly. With that in mind we offer our new WT-22 "Werks 22-inch Wheeled Upright Bag." It is designated as carry-on size for most domestic airlines in the U.S. Just extend the telescoping handle and wheel it aboard the aircraft. Six round trips and the bag will have paid for itself! Luggage is our bag baby, yeah!

CollegiateLuggage.com: Where facts and opinions share equal time.

Each year brings new excitement for every football fan. Maybe this year we will win it all. Enthusiasm and spirits are running high -- just like the beginning of a new year for a sales team. This year will be the year everything comes together and we beat our competition and move up the market share rankings.

While these feelings of excitement and optimism are great -- the reality of the season kicks in at some point. College football fans can feel the highs of victory and the lows of defeat. Playing a good game is not enough -- as every sales person knows -- second place is not victory. As a college football junkie, er, fan, watching TV during football season is a requirement for living. One day after eight hours of continuous game viewing, a question was posed: "What can a person learn or gain from all of this college football?" In answer to this question here are several lessons gleaned from watching football and look how applying these tips can make you a better salesperson.

Preparation:
As a salesperson, preparation gets you ready to make the sale and win the account's business. Always have a call plan, account plans and a personal business plan in place to reference. Anticipation is critical in your account relationships, knowing more about your customers gives you the advantage. Selling, just like college football, is a year-round activity. Do the little things today that win the big things later.

Practice:
Practice to become as perfect as you are able, then you can handle actual situations with confidence. Losers believe practice is for someone else. Then while face-to-face with a decision-maker they do not execute at a high level. Learn and practice the winning techniques -- it's your choice to be a winner.

Goals:
Know what you want and figure out what it will take to get you there. Winners take their goals and break them down into measurable units. Knowing what has to be done gives you an advantage over the "wing it" crowd. Having goals regarding measurements is similar to having an offensive and defensive game plan in football. A defensive plan is about retaining your existing customer base -- how do you keep your best customers? An offensive game plan is directed at selecting target customers and identifying how to win these accounts.

I have been a professional salesperson for over 35 years and finally have a good retort for all of us who consider a day spent watching collegiate football on TV a day well-spent. Now, thanks to the insights of Voss Graham, founder and CEO of InnerActive Consulting Group inneractiveconsulting.com I can finally justify my hobby as a sales aid. Thanks, Voss!

Postscript: Remember, the best way to show solidarity with your college teams is to travel with Swiss Army's collegiate luggage and business gear, available only through our company's website. That way, when you say "Go Team" you will really be going in style.

CollegiateLuggage.Com - Where facts and opinions get equal time.

We are now in the unique space in time known as "after" the Holidays. As a professional salesperson for most of my adult life, I have also heard it referred to as the "Dead Zone" or "The Forgotten Time" or my favorite: "The Null Void". Suffice to say that nobody wanted to discuss business for next year anytime during December (unless they absolutely had to). But in just six days' time we are all going to be back at our desks, facing the New Year 2008 head on and wondering "Wha' happened?"

Here at CollegiateLuggage.com, home of Swiss Army brand luggage, travel and business gear (plus the occasional "Chillin' Bowl") we can emphatically tell you what has happened:

1. Our new 2008 catalog has come out, showing upgrades galore for our entire Mobilizer Luggage Line. The stuff looks fantastic!
2. A number of items that didn't perform as well as expected have been discontinued.
3. More than 20 new items have been introduced for the new year.
4. Five new universities are being added to our burgeoning family of colleges offering school logos on Swiss Army luggage (Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Iowa State, Vanderbilt and Alabama State - Birmingham).
5. Forest Green is being added as our newest luggage color.
6. In most cases prices will be ever-so-slightly higher but we have tried to be gentle.

The new schools and the new luggage items will begin showing up on our web pages in January. We urge you to bookmark this page and revisit often so you don't miss out on the new stuff. Our next big "push" will be aimed at folks looking to travel during the insane Men's Basketball Championship followed by extraordinary offers for Graduation, 2008.

In conclusion: 2007 was a good year for CollegiateLuggage.com with our overall collegiate luggage business more than tripling over the previous year. Our aim is to add another 25 schools, minimum, to our website while continuing to deliver the same top quality, lifetime-guaranteed Swiss Army travel & business gear to our customers.

We thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you again in 2008.

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where facts and opinions come to schmooze.

Any team hoping to become the Cinderella of the NCAA tournament must tap into its inner David. Forget the glass slipper, bring a slingshot. To knock off "the big guys, the Goliaths," Dick Vitale says, a team needs a strong backcourt and outstanding perimeter players.

Dickie V says that though these upstart teams aren't going to win a national championship, "In the early rounds they'll create problems, go to the Sweet 16 and beat some of the so-called Goliath's, the superstars, the teams with the great, great visibility.

The NCAA Basketball tournament begins March 20th. Planning on attending? Perhaps travel is involved? Then we heartily recommend Swiss Army Travel Gear with your collegiate logo on it. Proudly show your team spirit when you travel to the big games.

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where facts and opinions share the same bench.

Last month I heard from one of my pen pals (or perhaps I should say "e-pals" since we only correspond through e-mail) Judy Simpson, who has been encouraging me to add Washington State University to our master list of schools. She is a loyal Wazzu alumnus and fan from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, waiting semi-patiently for us to get around to her alma mater. I promised her that we would work on that for 2008.

Recently she sent me a swell poem acknowledging the joys of giving and receiving our Swiss Army Luggage for the Holidays. Of course, something this nice deserves to be shared:

Poem from A Friend

Here is your new luggage
It's sturdy and light
Designed with your school's logo
And easy to spot after a flight.

What are the reasons people come
For logo bags from CollegiateLuggage.com?
It could be memories of laughter and fun
And the pride on the days your football team won.

It could be the satisfaction in a diploma hard-earned
The made your life something for which you had yearned
It could be tradition when your children go through
The same university that meant so much to you

Or maybe you're a student starting college today
And needed this luggage to pack and move away.

Where ever you go, whatever you do
Thanks for your business
And safe travels to you.

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where facts and opinions come together to groove.

Beginning Saturday, December 15th and continuing through Christmas Day, December 25th, we are having our first-ever "10 Days Before Xmas Sale". There are no overstocks or discontinued items involved, as each collegiate luggage item is decorated to-order.

Instead, we decided that while our Swiss Army business & travel gear was worth every penny we charge (and then some) it is still a significant commitment of funds for each buyer, so why not offer a general discount just in time for the Holidays.

For the next 10 days our computer will automatically deduct 10% from the cost of all items on our website. You don't have to plug in a code or fill out any special coupons - just provide the usual info we need to process your order and watch the savings add up.

The sale will begin just after Midnight EST and continue until Midnight EST of December 25th. At that point our computer will revert to the regular pricing. We have marked the discounted pricing next to each item to help you calculate the savings.

Orders placed during this 10 day special sale event will complete and ship after December 25th. We will send a color image to you via e-mail so you will have something to look at and/or present to the person for whom the luggage item is intended. And everyone knows that getting a luggage gift with your college logo on it right after Christmas is still a heck of a treat.

We wish you a Cool Yule!

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where facts and opinions come to share eggnog.

If the ads on television, newspapers, magazines and the radio, plus the ever-present Holiday decor in every retail store haven't already clued you in, then allow us to help:

The Holiday Season is fast approaching.

Santa Claus and his reindeer; wrapped gifts piled up beneath the Christmas tree: Hanukkah dreidles spinning (Papa wants a gimmel); and the seven days of Kwanzaa carry us to the end of the year.

At the risk of sounding self-serving, have you considered giving Swiss Army Luggage to your friends and loved ones this year? If you are still sort of mulling over exactly what to give to the special people on your list, let us tell you why our collegiate logo luggage is such a great gift idea:

• We offer gift items from under $50 all the way up to "Wow!"
  


• Each item we sell comes with the Victorinox® "Carry with Confidence" Lifetime Guarantee. If it malfunctions we fix it for free.
  


• Most of the folks you know (and pretty much everyone else as well) are currently using worn, outdated, unattractive luggage because it's what they have. Wouldn't you like your Holiday gift to make a nice difference?
  


• Our Swiss Army luggage in their school colors, or embroidered with their favorite school logo (or both) will make them proud to use the luggage and make the luggage easier to spot at baggage claim.
  


• Our Swiss Army luggage is specially treated to repel jet fuel (think about it).
  


• Regardless of wear and tear, a soft rag and some Simple Green are all you need to clean up scuffs and dirt. This luggage is going to look better, longer.

Now let's talk about timing. Each of the travel and business gear items in our Collegiate Luggage program are already made, but the decorating with your college's logo is done "to-order" and requires a lead time of 10 business days.

That's a fancy-schmancy way of saying "two weeks". From our warehouse in St. Louis figure another 3 days for UPS Ground delivery and you can see why we are giving you fair warning NOW:

The cutoff date for ORDERING of our luggage items is December 7th.
After that we cannot guarantee that your order will arrive in time for Christmas.

What If We Order After the Cutoff Date?
We have a fallback plan: We will send those folks who order Swiss Army luggage gifts after the 7th a nice color image of the item(s) they've ordered, shown with their collegiate logo design on the item so they can at least give their friends and family a nice "filler" until the actual gift luggage arrives. It's not a perfect solution but it's the thought that counts.

So, let's recap:

1. Swiss Army Travel & Business Gear makes great Holiday gifts.
   
   
2. Most of the folks you know would not only want collegiate logo luggage, but absolutely need it.
   
   
3. Orders placed between now and December 7th will assure that the items you order arrive in time for Christmas.
   
   
4. Orders that miss the December 7th cutoff will still get a nice product picture to give in lieu of the actual luggage item (which will arrive shortly after the Holidays).

The only thing left to mention is "Gift Giving Continuity."
One of our art directors came up with this idea, for which we rewarded her with a 3-piece set of Swiss Army Luggage. Which is ironic, since this is exactly what she was suggesting in the first place - instead of giving one piece of luggage as a Holiday gift, why not pool your resources and give that special person a matched set of luggage items?

Plus, Victorinox® Swiss Army's designers never sleep. They are always creating new items and updating the existing versions of each item to make them better. At this rate, you could consider giving Swiss Army business and travel gear every year and never run short of items and ideas.

We know what we are talking about - we do this for a living. Have a cool Yule!

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where facts and opinions come to party

Here in Atlanta (home to 5.5 million people including an enormous number of collegiate and pro football fans) you can enjoy a virtual tailgating experience at one of many of the area's sports bars. The trick is finding the best places to go depending upon which team you're rooting for. Thanks to painstaking research that some nice folks at the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper did, I willingly share with you a list of venues for collegiate (and pro) football fans to visit on Game day:

• At American Pie in Sandy Springs you'll find hundreds of Buckeye football fans convening for Saturday's games in a tradition dating back at least 8 years.
  
  
• Mazzy's Sports Bar + Grill in East Cobb turns itself into a mini "Swamp" with orange and blue balloons and decor. The servers dress in Florida's orange and blue Gator football jerseys and a crowd of up to 300 fans shows up to spectate and "chomp" on game days.
  
  
• In a pre-arranged deal with the bar, fans of Michigan football who meet at Pepperoni's Tavern in Alpharetta are guaranteed space plus lots of TV screens so they can cheer on "The Blue".
  
  
• The Fieldhouse in Dacula: Georgia, Alabama and Auburn (for wild fun, got there during the playing of the "Iron Bowl").
  
  
• Barnacles on Market Street in Duluth: Georgia, Georgia Tech and a really BIG Pittsburgh Steelers following. Some folks actually tailgate in the parking lot.
  
  
• Jocks & Jills on Jimmy Carter Blvd. in Norcross - Arkansas, Miami, Nebraska, Ole Miss and the Cleveland Browns.
  
  
• Jeffrey's Sports Grill on Horizon Drive in Suwanee - Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia Tech.
  
  
• Locos Grill & Pub on Duluth Highway in Lawrenceville - The Dawgs.
  
  
• Dillon's Restaurant & Sports Bar on Dogwood Road, Lawrenceville - Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts.
  
  
• Digger's Sports Grill at Parkside Walk Lane, Lawrenceville - Ohio State, Georgia and the Miami Dolphins.
  
  
• Star Time Entertainment Sports Bar on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell - Clemson
  
  
• Laseter's Tavern in Vinings - West Virginia, Pittsburgh Steelers
  
  
• Trilogy on Davidson Road in Marietta - Kentucky
  
  
• The Wing Factory on Roswell Road in Atlanta - Notre Dame

Of course, nothing can take the place of being there when your team wins one, but there is something to be said for spending a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday high-fiving and shouting cheers with your new bunch of friends who were (until a few hours before) total strangers. One of my customers met his wife of 3 years at one of these game-watching parties. His team won and, it seems, so did he!

There are dozens of other places to go for football and basketball game viewing that did not make our short list above. Remember, I sell Swiss Army Brand collegiate luggage, travel and business gear, so if you have a special place you'd like to recommend, let me know.

CollegiateLuggage.com - Where facts and opinions come to party.

This past weekend my wife and I were guests of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association at their Homecoming Weekend pre-game Football Tailgate Party. My wife and I arrived early and found good parking just under 1 mile from the stadium that cost us a miniscule $15 for the privilege. Rather than make a beeline (pun intended) to the BIG party we decided to stroll around the campus and see all the various and wonderful tailgate groups and their equally-imaginative tailgate setups. There were so many variations on the theme that I couldn't list them without using multiple blogs. Suffice to say that each of them had some of all of the following elements:

1. Food: Nearly all of it prepared on site, and on every imaginable type of grill and cooker.
2. Furniture: Everything from folding chairs to upholstered couches.
3. Vehicles: Hey, that's where the word "tailgate" comes from. In fact, it being the Homecoming Weekend, there were a significant number of RV's of every shape, size and class that the loyal fans of Tech (and Army- their opponents) had driven in from all over the Country.
4. Beverages: Beer would be at the head of this list, but there were coolers filled with all manner of frosty cold beverages. Plus, it was a noon kickoff so the earliest tailgaters were also pouring coffee and other hot drinks.
5. Tailgate Games - the topic of today's blog

Part of the fun experience of tailgating is finding activities to help pass the time while your tailgate party is being set up and the food is being prepared. I noticed that every one of the Tailgate games involves throwing something, but whether they were homemade or store-bought, the games were like nothing else I'd ever seen. It was some of the finest and most interactive folk art outside a museum or gallery.

FOOTBALL BEER PONG
Imagine a playing table about the size and shape of a standard wooden door, laid on its side like a mini ping-pong table. The top is painted to look like a green football field, complete with yard lines and goal posts. Ping pong balls are the active ingredient. I like to think that this was the first Tailgate game to gain game day popularity.

TAILGATE BEANBAG TOSS ("BAGGO")
One of the many variants on horseshoes, this involves two platforms with cut out circular openings, placed about 25 feet apart. The scoring is done with colored beanbags (they don't have to be in your team's colors, but it is a plus). In the hole scores points - near the hole is interesting albeit pointless (unlike these games which are quite serious).

BOLO TOSS/LADDER GOLF
I had never seen anything like this and was actually invited by the folks to try my hand at it.
A pair of golf balls are connected with a short length of heavy twine or cord, about 1 foot long.
Each player tosses these bolo-like objects at a multi-level crossbar "goalpost" containing 2 or 3 horizontal rods (the goals are made of 1" diameter PVC plastic piping). Scoring is done according to how many of your bolos stay on during your turn and the lower-down bars are worth more than the top bar.

WASHER TOSS
Just when you think you will never find a use for those 3" diameter washers you've got lying around from the last time you did repairs on an Abrams M1A2 Main Battle Tank, along comes washer toss and you are good to go. Using a pair of wide mouth stadium cups buried up to their rims in either sand or dirt and spaced about 25 feet apart the object is to toss your washers into the cup and score or to land as close to the opening as possible. Not content with a static game like "Washers"? Then step right up for a more lively version...

WASHEROO
Using a scoring platform with a hole cutout, sort of like the bean bag toss game, but the playing surface with the cutout is made of stretched heavy duty rubber so when your thrown washer lands on the surface it bounces. This leads to all kinds of options including landing in the hole "on the bounce, kangaroo style". Or, bouncing your opponents washer away from the hole sort of like bocce ball or shuffleboard.

TAILGATE HORSESHOES
This is basically the game of horseshoes, which is clearly the parent of most of these other games where you toss something and score points. I found that online some of these sets refer to themselves as "Chuckers" (I suppose this is because you "chuck" the object instead of tossing it).

MOLKKY
Pronounced like "MULL-key" - this game involves setting up 12 wooden pins numbered 1 thru 12 (sort of like bowling) and then rolling a ball at them to knock down the correct combination of pins whose scores come to exactly 50 points. I am still unable to figure out scoring in darts so I will leave this game to the Finnish folks who are credited with its invention.

YACKLE BALL
I'm not making this one up. I started taking notes on how the game is played and scored, but accidentally got the page wet with my beverage. I welcome your input on this one.

I enjoyed all of the games, both as a spectator and then trying my hand at them. The one that was the most fun was the Washeroo because the bouncing motion kept the game interesting. I make no claim of superiority of one tailgate game over another. After all, I sell Swiss Army travel and business gear with collegiate logos on them - what do I know? On second thought, one of our small Swiss Army tote bags would do a nice job of holding your game pieces when it's time to pack up and head home after the game(s)!

CollegiateLuggage.com: Where facts and opinions come to party.

Whether you work for a large company, in a small office, or even as your own boss, you will from time to time encounter Difficult People. They zig when you want them to zag and they remove the fun from everyone's day without even consciously trying.

I have given a great deal of thought to the conundrum of how best to handle difficult people. I use the word "conundrum" because the simple answer would be "get rid of them" but if it's a co-worker or a boss or a supplier you need to work with, my snappy simple solution doesn't work. Here is a short list of helpful suggestions for dealing with DPs:

1. Speak directly to the difficult person and tell them that they are making your life miserable. NOTE: Most people won't do this because they don't want confrontation and because confrontation typically causes the DP to dig their heels in.

2. Tell someone who has the DP's ear to intercede on your behalf, and tell the DP that he/she is making your life miserable and to please cut you some slack. NOTE: Many people are reluctant to ask a third party for help because it shows a certain lack of courage and the DP is likely to misinterpret the gesture in any number of negative ways including but not limited to: "Oh, he/she didn't have the guts to tell me this to my face!" Or, "Why is he/she involving you in this situation -- it's none of your stinkin' business." (Thereby alienating your colleague).

3. Write a letter to the DP clearly and thoughtfully explaining your situation and requesting that they find a way to work things out and move forward amicably. NOTE: This will probably backfire since many DPs are illiterate and those that can read only understand every fourth or fifth word in a normal sentence.

4. Schedule an intervention with the DP, along with other like-minded members of your workplace, to get them to face up to their own unpleasant behavior and to make an honest commitment to change for the better. NOTE: If this is a movie on Lifetime everything will work out. If this is real life, the DP will add paranoia to the rest of their negative behavior traits, making them even more difficult to work with.

5. Quit or transfer: This is actually the only solution that puts your own welfare ahead of the DPs. People's personalities are fully-formed by the time they are 21 years old. Expecting the DP to change so that you are now happier working with/for them is comparable to waiting for pigs to fly. And, thinking that if you just "hang in there" a bit longer, things will somehow improve is like denying the existence of gravity. Once a hammerhead, always a hammerhead.

Of course, I am self-employed and my company sells Swiss Army brand travel and business gear decorated with collegiate logos. I might be wrong.

CollegeiateLuggage.com - Where opinions and facts come to party.

I just finished watching one of my all-time favorite sports films: Hoosiers. Starring Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper and a cast of fresh-faced kids who really looked and felt like high school basketball players, this 1986 movie was one of the most critically-acclaimed and popular sports films ever made. Based on a true story from 1952, "Hoosiers" is exemplary both as a lesson about the importance of team sports and as a metaphor for life.

The film makers went to great lengths to faithfully recreate the world of high school basketball in the 1950's in small-town America and they captured so many fine details that it was like taking a time machine back half a century. When the camera would cut from the action on court to the cheering fans you almost felt that you were there in the stands or on the sidelines.

One of the most "real" details that the director captured was the praying. Kids and adults in the stands were shown with their hands laced in the familiar prayerful mode whenever a key foul shot was about to be taken. You could see their lips silently moving. Or the locker room scenes when the team would kneel in prayer before the contest. Or a favorite scene of mine when the coach was about to put in a substitute and one of the team members knelt down, took the other players hand and prayed for him to play well. The prayer started to run long causing the coach to say: "Stretch, the Lord wants you both out on the court now."

I have no doubt that basketball, football and the entire family of team sports are the creation of a wonderful and kind God since they each bring so much to so many. However, I also believe that the Lord does not choose sides -- the team that plays the best game that day wins. He just enjoys the contest.

Of course, I sell Swiss Army collegiate luggage, travel and business gear for a living -- what do I know?

A comprehensive study was conducted in 2002-2003 for the Luggage and Travel Industries to determine the geographic distribution of college students in the U.S. and their general travel habits. The study focused on the means of travel used, the distances traveled and the frequency of travel from college to home.

Here are some of the most interesting findings:

• The average freshman class contains 18% of each school's entire student body (including graduate students).
  
  
• 40% of students attending college have social security numbers from outside the state.
  
  
• 3.7% of students attending college in the U.S. come from outside the United States.
  
  
• 85% of non state-resident students come from within 400 miles of their college's main campus.
  
  
• Those students living within 250 miles of their college's main campus are 10 times more likely to drive to and from home on holidays and breaks than to fly.
  
  
• Those students living more than 500 miles from campus are 4 times more likely to fly to and from home on holidays and breaks than to drive.
  
  
• The National average for days off from college during the school year is 12 days, including holidays and breaks. This does not include weekend trips.
  
  
• Colleges less than 75 miles from a major city will have the greatest number of their graduates (alumni) residing in this city.