on June 12th, 2009 by Captain Canuck
Posted in Waxaholic
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on June 12th, 2009 by Tuff Stuff
From time to time, I’ll be surfing around some sports sites and a few
things will jump out at me that I feel compelled to share my thoughts
on. But instead of just giving you my two cents on the topics, I
decided mixing it up and providing you with a fearless
forecast of the future might be more fun. So, without further ado, here’s a look
into the crystal ball as I see it. Some are serious, some not so much but that’s for
you to decide which ones are which.
Ryan Leaf: How can a former No. 1 draft pick with so much potential end up
being on the run from the law for drug and burglary charges just when it seemed he
had got his sh%t together? Apparently Leaf’s lawyer talked him into surrendering to
law officials and he will stop running and come out of hiding any time now. The real
question is: If Ryan Leaf is hiding, does anybody other than law officials pursue
a search?
Prediction: Leaf surrenders, spends several months in prison for the charges,
gets his mess of a life back in order, appears on “Outside the Lines” in their “Where
Are They Now” segment, where Jeremy Schaap reports that he’s now working at
a homeless shelter and that he’s found God. Two months later, ESPN reports that Leaf
was caught stealing cans at the shelter and now faces 3-5 years in prison and a lifetime
ban from all the soup kitchens on the West Coast.
NL Central Race: Currently, all six teams are within five games of the top
spot with the suddenly ice-cold Brewers holding a 1/2-game lead.
Prediction: The smoke-and-mirrors starting pitching efforts that have
helped Milwaukee hold the lead for the last several weeks will disappear quicker than
you can “Manny Parra’s latest demotion to the Minors” but the Brewers will remain
in the hunt by virtue of winning countless 9-8 tilts. The Cubs will get healthy, take
over the lead for July and August only to fade down the stretch. The Cardinals will
get healthy again and will ride Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel, King Albert and
a solid starting pitching rotation all the way to the division title.
The NBA: Kobe and the Lakers will finish off the Magic in Game 6 and the orginization
will overtake the Celtics as the most storied franchise in the history of professional
basketball, at least by those who live West of the Mississippi River.
Prediction: Kobe Bryant stars in a new Spike Lee documentary entitled
“The Best That Ever Played and Not Just Because I Say So.” Meanwhile, the league’s
propensity for overpaying stiffs finally catches up with it and the league is forced
to start reducing salaries which ultimately causes a Labor Strike and more than half
of the 2010-11 season is lost to a work stoppage. During the strike, overpaid salary
poster boys Jim Mcllvaine, Bobby Simmons, Cuttino Mobley and Ben Wallace comment on
the situation saying: “This is really unfortunate. The NBA has always paid its players
fairly in the past and now they want to slash salaries like this and expect guys to
feed their families on $4-$5 million a year. This isn’t Somalia, these guys should
be paid fair market value just like we were. This new system is going to ruin the
league.” 
Brett Favre: Vikings coach Brad Childress continues to plead the 5th
regarding Favre’s status and a possible return to the league. Favre is said to be
continuing his comeback effort by working out privately to get his surgically repaired
arm back in shape but hasn’t commented since announcing his decision to retire after
last season’s sub-par finish to the season.
Prediction: ESPN’s Chris Mortenson reports that the legendary quarterback
ha surprised everyone, especially the Vikings, and comes out of retirement to play
for the Detroit Lions. Favre, never one to back down from a challenge, cites that
beating out Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfals wasn’t worth all the
time and effort he would need to put in to complete another comeback, so he decided
to see if he could beat out the No. 1 pick and prove that he’s still the man.
“I got so much satisfaction watching Aaron Rodgers wasting away on the sidelines
in Green Bay that I thought I’d come into Detroit and see if I could do the same with (Matthew)
Stafford. Besides, if I come in and lead the Lions to a 1-15 record, I’m a Motown
God. And I could still stick it to the Packers and Ted Thompson twice a year if I’m
playing for the Lions so it’s a win-win for everybody.”
Later that day, ESPN’s John Clayton reports that Favre is still retired and
has no plans of joing the lions or any other team in 2009 and Mortenson is fired.
There you have it, got any predictions you’d like to share. Step up and make a
post, we’d love to hear about them.
Continue reading about Not So Deep Thoughts: Time For Some Fearless Forecasting »
Posted in 7th Inning Stretch
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on June 12th, 2009 by White Sox Cards
Posted in White Sox Cards
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on June 12th, 2009 by T.S.
(This is the third of three parts profiling noted photographer
David Spindel, this time looking at his unique relationship with the legendary Joe
DiMaggio.)
Spindel also has a few artifacts left from another of his cronies, Joe
DiMaggio, though not the item he wanted. “I wanted to get Joe to sign a boxing
glove, but he wouldn’t do it,” Spindel recalled. Undaunted, the man The Yankee Clipper
once described as “my personal photographer” in an introduction to another pretty
fair country ballplayer, Ted Williams, arranged in 1989 to have DiMaggio visit his
studio at a time when he was creating a huge still-life of his memorabilia.
When Joe showed up at the studio, he had a couple of surprises in store
for his photographer. He brought along a sterling silver humidor and a signed baseball
that he thought should be included in the photo. That was simple enough, since the
humidor was pretty cool and the ball was signed by a couple of decent prospects named
Reagan and Gorbachev. But there was more.
“Where do I sit,” DiMaggio then said to the startled Spindel. Apparently,
Joe figured the still-life would be nicely enhanced with the man himself included.
“And his agent wanted $50,000 to include him in the photo!” Spindel recalled in amazement.
The agent may have been disappointed about that outcome, but not about the iconic
image that resulted after the talented Spindel did a double exposure and inserted
DiMaggio into the image.
A few days later when Spindel took the prints to Atlantic City to show
DiMaggio (he was there signing autographs), he ended up chillin’ with the Hall of
Famer for much of the weekend, including ringside seats at a boxing match in an entourage
that also included Ted Williams and Floyd Patterson.
Spindel likes to recount his thoughts at the time as he pondered what
people were saying about the distinguished quartet. “The people were probably saying,
‘Who are those three guys with Spindel?’ ” he said with a laugh.
Continue reading about The Great DiMaggio throws him a curveball »
Posted in Infield Dirt
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on June 12th, 2009 by chrisolds
Posted in Beckett Blog
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on June 12th, 2009 by chrisolds
Posted in Beckett Blog
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on June 12th, 2009 by Scott
2009 Topps Chrome Baseball cards will be available in late July or early August of ‘09. In each hobby box, you’ll find two rookie autographed cards, guaranteed by Topps. Nice to see a guarantee put on the inclusion of auto cards in a hobby box. You usually just see the “on average” verbiage.
In each Chrome [...]
SHARETHIS.addEntry({
title: “2009 Topps Chrome Baseball Cards”,
url: “http://www.cardcollectoruniverse.com/2009-topps-chrome-baseball-cards/”
});
Continue reading about 2009 Topps Chrome Baseball Cards »
Posted in Card Collector U
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on June 12th, 2009 by White Sox Cards
Posted in White Sox Cards
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on June 12th, 2009 by Mario A.
2009 Sports Icons
Cards per pack: 1
Price: $95
Hit: Hank Aaron cut signature #’d 4 of 49
Overall: I must admit, this product was a lot of fun to bust. I have never busted a product which yielded just one card but this was a good start. I love the look of the border and the fact that [...]
Continue reading about 2009 Sports Icons review »
Posted in Wax Heaven
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on June 12th, 2009 by Captain Canuck
Posted in Waxaholic
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on June 12th, 2009 by chrisolds
Upper Deck released the basic product breakdown and several preview images for its 2009-10 Basketball set, one of the company’s final fully licensed NBA releases — and one that packs the largest autograph checklist in the product’s history — before Panini takes over as the league’s exclusive licensee this fall.
Continue reading about First look: 2009-10 Upper Deck basketball cards »
Posted in Beckett Blog
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on June 12th, 2009 by Mario A.
Not too long ago I blogged about Donruss and their trigger-happy designers who created almost a dozen different cards from their 1989 design. One card I left out due to lack of knowledge of its existence was the Blue Chip Cards release.
I checked my trusty Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, did several searches on-line and [...]
Continue reading about 1989 Donruss Blue Chip Cards »
Posted in Wax Heaven
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on June 12th, 2009 by chemgod
As we move more into summer and out of hockey and basketball season, we are going to find that there are more and more baseball signings. Especially at the minor league games. Please be sure to confirm the player is signing and that the times I report are correct. Good luck everyone and thanks for [...]
Continue reading about Free Autograph Signings – Weekend of 6/13/09 »
Posted in Bad Wax
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on June 12th, 2009 by MMayes
Bill BucknerThis is one of my favorite cards in the set. He’s holding the bat in a “coming at you” pose and it intersects neatly with his Topps All-Rookie Team cup of gold. You can see under the hat he’s got a full head of black hair, with long sidebur…
Continue reading about #114 — Bill Buckner »
Tags:
Dodgers,
first base
Posted in Baseball Cards
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on June 12th, 2009 by steveisjewish
Posted in Easy Life
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on June 12th, 2009 by 30-Year Old Cardboard
Now that my Dave Winfield player collection is complete I wanted to take the time to show off my favorite 5 cards from this set.
Card #2 – 1981 Donruss
Although the image used in this 1981 Donruss baseball card is a little too ‘zoomed-in’, the effect that the card has is appropriate for a Dave Winfield [...]
Continue reading about My Dave Winfield ‘Fab 5′ – Card #2 »
Posted in 30 Year Old Cardboard
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on June 12th, 2009 by steveisjewish
Posted in Easy Life
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on June 12th, 2009 by Dan
Posted in OMGAutos
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on June 12th, 2009 by Captain Canuck
Posted in Waxaholic
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