{"id":490,"date":"2012-01-06T12:43:47","date_gmt":"2012-01-06T12:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=490"},"modified":"2012-01-06T12:43:47","modified_gmt":"2012-01-06T12:43:47","slug":"super-mario-land-game-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=490","title":{"rendered":"Super Mario Land (Game Boy)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was small, and sometimes hard to see Mario when he wasn’t “Super”, but it was still weird and different enough to be considered a classic.<\/p>\n

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1989 - Game Boy (Nintendo)<\/p><\/div>\n

As I\u00a0mentioned in the post before this one, I got this game to go along with the new Game Boy I got\u00a0for Christmas in 1990.\u00a0 I had also\u00a0gotten\u00a0a few of the\u00a0accessories for the system; a Light Boy, a battery pack, a screen magnifier…\u00a0 by the time it was all attached, I had to rest the Game Boy on my lap while I played it.<\/p>\n

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Mine wasn't quite like this Franken-Game Boy, but it was close.<\/p><\/div>\n

I guess the main thing that sticks out about the game is that holiday, and how I really never put it down.\u00a0 It didn’t matter if I should be spending time with relatives, or in the car ride on the way back home, I was playing that game like crazy.<\/p>\n

At a New Year’s Eve party just down the road from where we live, I\u00a0brought it with me to pass the time.\u00a0 It was a party with a bunch of adults, so what else was I to do?\u00a0 Before heading over, I had made it to the final level for the first time, a crazy ride in the sky with Mario in a plane (which was pretty epic, at the time).\u00a0 Battery\u00a0pack in hand, I paused my game and we headed on over.<\/p>\n

Before getting back to my game (but after plugging it into the wall as not to lose my progress), my dad\u00a0and another man struck up a conversation about baseball.\u00a0 I played organized t-ball myself, at the time, and I was borderline obsessed with the Toronto Blue Jays.\u00a0 I chimed in, and was eventually asked about who my favourite team was.\u00a0 Instead of saying the obvious Blue Jays answer, I said “the Oakland Athletics” with great enthusiasm!\u00a0 Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco were hitting home runs like crazy at the time, and there really is nothing more awesome in baseball than seeing a guy rip a ball over the fence.<\/p>\n

In retrospect, seeing as how both those guys were on ‘roids\u00a0(ste-, not aste-), it’s\u00a0no wonder they hit so many…\u00a0 still, it was\u00a0incredibly fun to watch, and it doesn’t stain my memories of the sport in those days, at all.\u00a0 Same goes for the home run record chase in ’98.\u00a0 Very cool stuff!<\/p>\n

Anyway, the man I was talking baseball with said something I had never heard before.\u00a0 “The A’s?\u00a0 Ah, you’re jumpin’ on the band wagon, I see!”<\/p>\n

What the heck was that supposed to mean?\u00a0 What did a wagon of some kind have to do with baseball?\u00a0 It made no sense to me, so I just shrugged it off and went back to playing Super Mario Land<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I beat it that night, and eventually asked my folks what he had meant by “jumpin’ on the band wagon”.\u00a0 Of course, I know what it means now, but the A’s had come off a successful playoff run before getting swept by the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.\u00a0 Evidently, my appreciation for the team wasn’t\u00a0quite sincere, according to this guy!<\/p>\n

I can’t help but think of that New Year’s Eve and that Game Boy game, whenever I hear someone talking about jumping on band wagons.<\/p>\n

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