on February 17th, 2010 by Rob- AKA "Guido"
Today will decide the winner of the woman’s downhill competition at the Vancouver Olympics. The favorite, Lindsey Vonn, is recovering from a shin injury and teammate Julia Mancuso is primed for an upset. But more importantly, whose hotter?
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Julia Mancuso,
Lindsey Vonn,
snow Bunnies,
snow skiing,
Vancouver Olympics,
Winter Olympics,
Woman's Downhill
Posted in Voice of the Collector
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on February 17th, 2010 by chrisolds
Posted in Beckett Blog
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on February 17th, 2010 by Howard Bagby
Last week I mentioned one of the 10 things that makes me happy is comic books. Al asked me what my favorite title was. I should have mentioned it in the post but obviously I didn’t. My favorite book is Fables. If you aren’t a comic book fan you have pr…
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Comic Books
Posted in Baseball Cards
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on February 17th, 2010 by T.S.
When I stopped by one of those online hobby forums today, the first thing
I spotted was a thread talking about Keith Olbermann opening a pack of 1967
Topps on his Countdown show.
(I should note that this is a corrected version of my blog, which
I posted early this morning after apparently misunderstanding much of the important
stuff, like the fact that it happened last night.)
These postings are typically quite brief, so there wasn’t much information
beyond the bare fact, though he did say that Olbermann shows off the folded poster
insert of Hank Aaron and reveals the cards one at a time. According to the post, the
pack was provided to Olbermann by Topps to be used as part of his consultant work
promoting Topps baseball cards, which for the last several years has involved a fun
plug on his show every spring.
This time the emphasis is apparently to trumpet the Million-Card Giveaway,
which I also think is a swell idea, albeit one saddled with the unfortunate nuance
that such a huge percentage of the million cards are commons that a recurrent theme
of disappointment is unavoidable.
Still, the psychologists will tell you of the vast power of intermittent
reinforcement, and that’s presumably a big element of the allure of opening older
packs.
The guy who did the posting quite properly declined to reveal the contents
of the pack, though another poster seemed to later on in the thread. That’s more of
the corrected part, since the posting suggested the piece hadn’t aired yet, when in
fact in aired Tuesday night. This I found out at lunch Wednesday when I was asked
if I had seen it. Guy said there was a Ralph Houk and that was all he could remember.
Some of the lame baggage of online discussions quickly sprang up on the
thread, with a number of readers voicing their dislike of Olbermann. Phooey.
Not merely because he is a friend and an SCD contributor, I would
point out that, much like Alan Rosen, Olbermann has done a great deal to promote
our hobby on a stage that far exceeds our traditional confines. That, in and of itself,
would be reason enough to applaud his latest effort.
Our hobby needs every bit of national exposure that it can get, and I
could have qualified that statement with a “positive,” which is precisely what these
annual visits to the joy of opening baseball card packs are all about.
I get it that by the nature of his fierce political advocacy he is a
lightning rod for similarly strident reactions from the opposite end of the political
spectrum, but even in that there ought to be a limit.
I know vast numbers of people from my boomer generation and older who
don’t have a thing to do with the Internet, in part because so much of what masquerades
as discourse is nothing more than malicious gibberish.
Thus a poster who opines that he would like to see Olbermann and his
collection incinerated has contributed nothing whatsoever, other than to reinforce
the widespread view that reading much past the initial posting of information is often
a waste of time.
Such drivel ought to be renounced by those eager to provide rational
commentary, since all it does is make it less likely that the less virulent and even
potentially useful stuff will be read.
For the record, I would have been willing to watch Strom Thurmond open
a pack of 1959 Topps on Fox News at high noon on Martin Luther King’s birthday.
That may just mean I’m a card whore.
Continue reading about Olbermann opens 1967 Topps pack … »
Posted in Infield Dirt
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on February 17th, 2010 by Tuff Stuff
Living in Wisconsin can make for some long winter months. Typically
from late November until late March the weather is in the 0-30 degree
range and we get our fair share of snow, even if you East Coast guys
may have us beat in that department this year. The weather makes for
some long, dreary days absent of sun with warm temperatures AWOL as
well.
From fall until the start of February, I’ve always got my good friend football to
help get me through. But now that my friend has left me for his yearly 
vacation,
I’m stuck searching for something, someone, to fulfill that void and so far, nothing
has even come close.
I first turned to college basketball to get my fix, but until each of the 64 teams
is fitted for their dancing shoes in mid-March, the nightly regular-season conference
games just don’t seem that relevant. Sure, you want your favorite team to finish the
season strong, get a higher seed in the tourney and maybe get a chance to play an
opening-round game near home. But good teams will beat the bad teams no matter if
they’re playing 50 miles from their own campus or on the courts The Others made
on Lost. It doesn’t matter, talent wins almost every time. So, while college
hoops has helped, it’s just not the same as football. Maybe I’ll join an NCAA Basketball
Fantasy League and see if that does the trick? Oh yeah, the season is almost over,
maybe next year.
Other alternatives for a sports fan searching to cure the winter blues is NASCAR,
but come on, let’s be serious. Never liked it, never will. Too boring, round and round
they go when they’ll stop nobody knows. Well, I do. About five hours from now. I’d
rather go roll around in the snow for five hours with just my socks on than sit through
an entire NASCAR race. I’ll tune in for the last five minutes, but that’s all I can
take.
Then there’s NHL hockey. I think if we had a local team in my area to cheer 
for
I could embrace it a little more. Unfortunately for the NHL and its dwindling fan
base, that’s not the case, as the Chicago Blackhawks are the closest in proximity.
And anybody who knows anything about the rules of sports knows I’m legally forbidden
to root for any teams from the Windy City.
The
Winter Olympics has provided me with a bonus outlet this year, but so far the storylines
coming out of Vancouver are about as interesting as Chloe’s home videos on Keeping
Up With The Kardashians. Note to the directors of that show: Sex videos featuring
Kim equal big ratings; sex videos featuring Chloe equal big chunks in my mouth. I’d
rather watch cross-country skiing time trials.
Being an avid golfer I’m one of the three people out there that can actually stomach
a tournament broadcast on TV. While the Tiger-less Tour is a lot like watching Chris
Rock do stand-up without using profanity, I can usually get a couple hours worth of
viewing out it before nap time sets in. And if you’re sick with a bad cold and need
some rest, skip the Tylenol PM and put away the Vicks Formula 44D, simply throw on
any PGA Tour event and nighty, night. Seriously, they should create a 15-minute CD
of last year’s John Deere Classic telecast and sell in the sleep-aid section of your
local pharmacy because any non-major will make you drowsy every time.
So after searching far and wide for an NFL alternative, I’ve come up empty yet again.
According to the furry rat that saw his shadow, we’ve still got four more weeks of
winter. And while I can’t imagine ever rooting for the Bears that call Soldier Field
home, I think I’ll steal an idea from their mascot and go into hibernation. I’ll start
by watching this weekend’s Accenture Match Play Championships and I’ll undoubtedly
be sleeping by the fifth hole. Good night everybody, wake me up in mid-April when
the NFL Draft starts.
Continue reading about Curing the Winter Sports Blues »
Posted in 7th Inning Stretch
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on February 17th, 2010 by 30-Year Old Cardboard
Many people believe Ernie Banks won the MVP award while playing for a last-place team, but during both of Banks’ winning years(1958 & 1959), his Cubs finished in fifth place. The first MVP to play for a cellar dweller was Andre Dawson for the Cubs in 1987.
**factoid courtesy of ‘Armhair Reader - Grand Slam Baseball’
My Take – [...]
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Posted in 30 Year Old Cardboard
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on February 17th, 2010 by AdamE
Starting out with Ryans.I have never seen a hologram scan so well.Some BravesRedsCards of CardsMisc HOFersPhilliesPirates a Cub and a TigerSorry but Brooks isn’t available anymore.Not legends just stuff thrown in for the heck of it.is anyone trying to …
Continue reading about More Trade Bait… Legends Style »
Posted in Baseball Cards
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on February 17th, 2010 by rosschrisman2003
Posted in Sports Card Info
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on February 17th, 2010 by gcrl
i should be getting the february cards fairly soon, so i need to show off what came my way via the january breaks hosted by jeff at i am joe collector.2007 upper deck exquisite nomar!i honestly don’t know why upper deck is so opposed to using a basebal…
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Tags:
2007 ud exquisite,
2009 Topps 206,
Auto,
bp,
broxton,
campanella,
Dodgers,
garciaparra,
hudson,
kershaw,
martin,
mauer,
ramirez,
Robinson,
twins
Posted in Garvey Cey Russell Lopes
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on February 17th, 2010 by Offy
I love that one card can finish at this price and then 5 hours later it can finish at this price and become a part of my collection. These cards are beautiful manufactured or not.Construction is set to start today. I’m running on just two hours sleep…
Continue reading about Patience »
Posted in Baseball Cards
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on February 17th, 2010 by 30-Year Old Cardboard
Greg Maddux 1991 Stadium Club
While this may look like just another card of Greg Maddux in his pitching wind-up, this card offers a little different of an angle for us to view. And I like it.
If you happen to have played third base or were a thrid base coach in the major leagues than you [...]
Continue reading about Greg Maddux 1991 Stadium Club »
Posted in 30 Year Old Cardboard
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on February 17th, 2010 by Doc
I know I’ve been neglected the old site, but I do not feel really sorry about it. Sometimes it is necessary to step away every once in a while and decide whether or not something is a good thing. This was probably even more precipitated by …
Continue reading about I Dream in 2½ by 3½ »
Tags:
dreams,
nightmares
Posted in Baseball Cards
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