Baseball Card Blogs » 7th Inning Stretch

Beat the Blogger Results

Tuff Stuff — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:58:46 +0000

The Bloggerposted a solid score of 6 but a trio of contestants were too tough, scoring 8 points each and tying on their tie-breakers to split the top prize in last week's Beat the Blogger contest. Paul Sherman, Eddie Weiss and Christie Merkle are last week's Beat the Blogger champions, congrats.

NFL picks start this week so spread the word on how easy it is to win playing Beat the Blogger.

This week's picks will be posted later on Tuesday so Play Beat the Blogger and spread the word to your friends and co-workers. Simply copy and paste this link http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

The Beat the Blogger contest seems to be losing interest and could be in danger of folding due to a lack of participation. To prevent this, send the link above to your friends, co-workers, family and anybody else. Get the new recruits to label their entry "referred by" and your name and win a prize just for helping boost the numbers the first person to successfully recruit (20) new players with referral post will win a (5) pack of signed photos.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/ This week's winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against the field. While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner).

I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier. For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners.

You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler" and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.

This week's matchups with Winning picks in parenthesis

Sept. 4

MLB

Toronto at NY Yankees (NY Yankees)

NY Mets at Chicago Cubs (Cubs)

Texas at Minnesota (Minnesota)

Cincinnati at St. Louis (Cincinnati)

Colorado at San Diego (Colorado)

Washington at Pittsburgh (Washington)

Chicago White Sox at Boston (Chicago White Sox)

Atlanta at Florida (Atlanta)

Houston at Arizona (Houston)

San Francisco at Los Angeles Dodgers (San Francisco)

Tiebreaker: Total runs in SF-LA game: 9

Be sure to check out our other blogs and videos:

7th Inning Stretch

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

Bustin' Wax

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/bustinwax/

For Pricing information, check out these sports price guides

http://www.tuffstuff.com/priceguides/

Check out our sports-related books

http://shop.collect.com/category/sports-cards

Auction Business Needs To Step Off The Throttle

Tuff Stuff — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:27:05 +0000

Are you familiar with Spanish philosopher George Santayana's famous line: "Those who cannot learn from history are condemned to repeat it"? Well, don't feel bad because it appears most involved in the sports memorabilia business never heard of it either.

I was really a collector until I took over the editorial reigns of Tuff Stuff's Sports Collectors Monthly about five years ago and since then my collecting habits would be modest at best. So unlike others who have been in the industry, I don't know all of the history that has shaped the hobby into what it is today. But one thing I learned about the sports card industry during my time here is that too much of a good thing is almost always a bad thing.

When the hobby boom took off in the late 1980s and early 1990s, new card companies jumped into the fray and the existing card companies cranked out set after set until the supply far outweighed the demand. Everyone wanted a pie of the pie but when the smoke cleared, the hobby was left with an over-saturated market and millions of worthless cards. Collectors eventually figured this out and shifted their collecting focus from cardboard investments to pretty much anything else, as the heavily populated market had people leaving the hobby in much the same way a burning building does.

After years of industry experts screaming for brand proliferation and a drastic reduction in the numbers of card sets they wanted to be produced, the card companies eventually relented and put the brakes on. In recent years the trend has continued with fewer card companies being licensed by the leagues which ultimately led to fewer, but in theory, better products available to consumers.

While all that was going on, many collectors shifted their focus from new cards to vintage materials and as card shop owners struggled to survive in a lean market, they shifted their focus as well. In the early days of the sports memorabilia business, auctions featuring high-quality vintage material was reserved for the elite. It featured a few lots of big-buck items to bid on and the frequency of the sales and the companies host them could be easily tracked. But as some of the big auction houses spread their inventory out to include items that wouldn't break the bank and afforded the average collector to jump in and slam down the gavel, the auction business grew as exponentially as the new card market dried up.

Targeting new auction customers, most of which were collectors looking for more stability than the basement full of new cards that weren't worth enough to ship to a potential trade partner, the auction house boom led by eBay, was born. Record prices for vintage materials were being realized online and throughout country, as everybody caught auction fever. With everybody looking to "win" items with the highest bid, everybody and their brother was starting up their own auction business.

Initially, there was plenty of great memorabilia for everybody to prosper but eventually many of those businesses who had missed the boat when it initially left the dock were folding up like beach chairs on a rainy day. And that takes us to today's market where many are still looking to cash in on the auction craze but the wealth of materials available running a little thin as everybody tries to grab a piece of the pie.

If you do a Google search for sports memorabilia auctions you'll get a whopping 102 million results. It seems that many involved have forgotten a valuable hobby history lesson and might just be condemned to repeat it if they're not careful. Sometimes to much of a good thing is a bad thing and today's auction market might just be the perfect example.

Beat the Blogger Matchups

Tuff Stuff — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:26:58 +0000

The Blogger bounced back with a respectable showing of 7 correct picks but it wasn't enoughto defeat a trio of familiar names who topped the leaderboard. Michael Bonner, Mark Macerak and Michael Mahnke all scored 8 correct picks and all had the same tiebreaker so all three will be receiving a prize as the Beat the Blogger winners from last week.

This week's picks are now posted so Play Beat the Blogger and spread the word to your friends and co-workers. Simply copy and paste this link http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week's picks are posted BELOW along with the Blogger's picks (in parenthesis)so make sure you get your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday. Good luck and spread the word on the contest before there is no more contest. THIS MEANS YOU, SEE BELOW FOR INSTRUCTIONS. Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I'm making a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against, I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit 10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I'll triple the weekly prize. So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/ This week's winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against the field. While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner).

I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier. For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners.

You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler" and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.

This week's matchups with winning picks in parenthesis

Sept. 4

MLB

Toronto at NY Yankees (NY Yankees)

NY Mets at Chicago Cubs (Cubs)

Texas at Minnesota (Minnesota)

Cincinnati at St. Louis (St. Louis)

Colorado at San Diego San Diego (San Diego)

Washington at Pittsburgh (Washington)

Chicago White Sox at Boston (Chicago White Sox)

Atlanta at Florida (Florida)

Houston at Arizona (Houston)

San Francisco at Los Angeles Dodgers (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Tiebreaker: Total runs in SF-LA game: 6

Be sure to check out our other blogs and videos:

7th Inning Stretch

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

Bustin' Wax

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/bustinwax/

For Pricing information, check out these sports price guides

http://www.tuffstuff.com/priceguides/

Check out our sports-related books

http://shop.collect.com/category/sports-cards

Beat the Blogger Results

Tuff Stuff — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:38:49 +0000

The Blogger bounced back with a respectable showing of 7 correct picks but it wasn't enoughto defeat a trio of familiar names who topped the leaderboard. Michael Bonner, Mark Macerak and Michael Mahnke all scored 8 correct picks and all had the same tiebreaker so all three will be receiving a prize as the Beat the Blogger winners from last week.

This week's picks will be posted later today so Play Beat the Blogger and spread the word to your friends and co-workers. Simply copy and paste this link http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week's picks will be posted later on Monday along with the Blogger's picks (in parenthesis)so make sure you get your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday. Good luck and spread the word on the contest before there is no more contest. THIS MEANS YOU, SEE BELOW FOR INSTRUCTIONS. Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I'm making a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against, I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit 10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I'll triple the weekly prize. So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/ This week's winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against the field. While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner).

I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier. For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners.

You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler" and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.

This week's matchups with winning picks in parenthesis

Aug. 28

Saturday

NFL Preseason

Cincinnati at Buffalo (Buffalo)

Jacksonville at Tampa Bay (Jacksonville)

Dallas at Houston (Houston)

NY Giants at Baltimore (Baltimore)

San Francisco at Oakland (San Francisco)

Aug. 28

Saturday

MLB

Detroit at Toronto (Toronto)

Philadelphia at San Diego (Philadelphia)

NY Yankees at Chicago White Sox (NY Yankees)

Houston at NY Mets (Houston)

LA Dodgers at Colorado (Colorado)

Tiebreaker: Total runs in NY Mets-Houston game: 5

Be sure to check out our other blogs and videos:

7th Inning Stretch

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

Bustin' Wax

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/bustinwax/

For Pricing information, check out these sports price guides

http://www.tuffstuff.com/priceguides/

Check out our sports-related books

http://shop.collect.com/category/sports-cards

Strasburg Injury Reminds Collectors That There Are No Sure Things

Tuff Stuff — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:45:45 +0000

Just when you thought it was safe to invest in the sports memorabilia industry again, the three most-dreaded words in the English language (for a pitcher that is) entered the mix: Tommy John Surgery.

Baseball and the sports memorabilia business have been reaping the financial rewards of Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg for more than a year now, and now, just 68 innings into his pro career, the phenom is out indefinitely and facing a long rehab stint after a likely impending Tommy John surgery.

The 22-year-old took the hobby and the MLB by storm after debuting in June, posting a 5-3 record with a 2.91 ERA that included 92 strikeouts. He had been highly touted for years and after his call-up to the big leagues, he dominated the collectibles hobby much the same way he and his 100-mph fastball did for his first two months in the majors. His base cards sent collectors scrambling to their local card shops and his signature and non-signature limited-edition cards sent the online auction world into a tizzy. And now, less than two full months after his debut, his projected Hall of Fame career might never be the same.

Modern-day medicine is outstanding and Tommy John surgery isn't the death sentence it was 20 years ago, but who knows what the future will hold for the guy who had put the hobby back on the map the last few months.

While collectors and investors of Strasburg are likely crying into cardboard right about now, Topps might be feeling worse than any of them. The company took a calculated risk by holding back several releases featuring Strasburg, including popular brands like Tribute and Triple Threads, in what appears to be a way to milk StrasburgMania throughout the duration of the season. The idea to spread out the releases probably seemed like a great idea at the time it was made but with Strasburg now out indefinitely the move will likely cost Topps hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales.

Vintage memorabilia of established stars is, and always be a safer investment than putting your collectible dollars into an unproven rookie with a ton of upside. Prospecting with high-ceiling rookies will likely be around forever but my money remains in proven commodities like Pujols and Favre and I would suggest you put your money into similar players, too.

Sosa following the Pete Rose path of deny, deny deny

Tuff Stuff — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:40:44 +0000

I'm not one to throw stones at those who have already been pummeled by them but ... I'm also not one who looks at the MLB players associated with steroid use (whether they've admitted it or just been linked to or accused to them) as bad people or outcasts because I likely would've done the same thing. But ...

My only beef with the jacked-up sluggers of the 1990s and early 2000 comes when they continue to deny what we all know is true. While steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs have been in the game for decades, the recent-completed (wink, wink) "Steroid Era" was the last time the game of baseball was truly must-see TV and we all know why. We tuned in more than ever and spun through the turnstyles at our local ballparks at a furious pace because we wanted to see Home Run Derby within each nine-inning affair. Everybody loved the then-commonplace 12-9 shootouts that included six or seven long balls typically reserved for batting practice. We found out with each 475-foot blast that it was only chicks that dug the long ball and we couldn't get enough.

Unfortunately for that to happen, the MLB players of that time couldn't get enough either. Enough juice that is. But despite the suddenly ripped physiques and oversized noggins populating the MLB landscape, we all looked the other way and stuck our proportionate noggins in the sand because cheating the game equated to a more exciting game and a better overall product.

Unfortunately, like anything else, too much of a good thing is bad and MLB had definitely had more than it's fill of foreign substances in the mix. So in came the steroid police, the Mitchell Report and suddenly what most of us already knew became public knowledge. Players were cheating the long-standing history of the game by using performance-enhancing drugs. And shortly after, those associated with using were vilified. And unfortunately for Major League Baseball, those being targeted were the games biggest stars. Guys like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. The same guys who just months earlier were the very source of the game's renewed excitement level and swooning attendance numbers. It was very combustible combination.

So the heroes were transformed into villains and villains clammed up like witnesses in a mafia murder trial. Some denied, some entered the Witness Protection Program and seemingly disappeared. The smart ones, they admitted they used, said it was only in attempt to get back from an injury quicker. They were eventually forgiven, or at least looked at differently from those who remain steadfast in their denial. Those players who talked themselves into believing their own lies forever tarnished their careers.

And that brings me to Sammy Sosa. You remember Sosa, the larger-than-life, cartoon-like figure that patrolled right field in Wrigley Field. He "developed" himself into one of the game's top power hitters and ruled Chicago in a Jordan-like fashion for much of his tenure on the North Side. Until he was linked to steroid use that is. Once the finger-pointing began and Sosa's numbers started to decline, the Wrigley faithful and more importantly, the front office began to distance themselves from the once-formidable slugger. The relationship quickly soured to a higher degree and Sosa was eventually jettisoned to Baltimore in a 2005 trade before fading into the black hole of MLB mediocrity that led his retirement in 2007.

Since that time Sosa has become a recluse of sorts but did turn up in a recent interview for Chicago Magazine. In the piece, Sosa's bitterness toward the Cubs organization came shining through loud and clear.

“The Cubs threw me into the fire,” he said. “They made people believe I’m a monster.”

He also wondered aloud why the team hadn't retired his jersey number yet?

Well Sammy, the reason is simple. The reason is because your time with the team is all tainted. Despite the mind-blowing numbers you produced and the thousands of fannies you put in the park, you didn't do it naturally and then lied about how you did it when given the chance to come clean.

As for the drug test he allegedly flunked in 2003—evidence, if true, that could permanently stain his legacy—Sosa ducked the topic. “I don’t want to talk about that,” he said. “Let’s talk about something else.”

Apparently dodging the issue is popular in the front office, too. When Cubs officials were asked why there hasn't been a "Sammy Sosa Day" or a jersey retirement ceremony for their former hero, the team responded by saying they didn't want to talk about it and asked if they could talk about something else.

Beat the Blogger Matchups

Tuff Stuff — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:20:35 +0000

The Blogger made it easy to be eligible to win the weekly prize with his worst score ever but it was Jeff Arends who capitalized. Arends posted a score of 10 to defeat the field and take home this week's Beat the Blogger prize.

This week's picks are posted below so Play Beat the Blogger and spread the word to your friends and co-workers. Simply copy and paste this link http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week's picks are now posted along with the Blogger's picks (in parenthesis)so make sure you get your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday. Good luck and spread the word on the contest before there is no more contest. THIS MEANS YOU, SEE BELOW FOR INSTRUCTIONS. Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I'm making a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against, I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit 10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I'll triple the weekly prize. So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/ This week's winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against the field. While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner).

I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier. For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners.

You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler" and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.

This week's matchups with winning picks in parenthesis

Aug. 28

Saturday

NFL Preseason

Cincinnati at Buffalo (Buffalo)

Jacksonville at Tampa Bay (Jacksonville)

Dallas at Houston (Houston)

NY Giants at Baltimore (Baltimore)

San Francisco at Oakland (Oakland)

Aug. 28

Saturday

MLB

Detroit at Toronto (Toronto)

Philadelphia at San Diego (Philadelphia)

NY Yankees at Chicago White Sox (Chicago)

Houston at NY Mets (NY Mets)(Doubler)

LA Dodgers at Colorado (LA Dodgers)

Tiebreaker: Total runs in NY Mets-Houston game: 7

Be sure to check out our other blogs and videos:

7th Inning Stretch

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

Bustin' Wax

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/bustinwax/

For Pricing information, check out these sports price guides

http://www.tuffstuff.com/priceguides/

Check out our sports-related books

http://shop.collect.com/category/sports-cards

Beat the Blogger Results

Tuff Stuff — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:39:24 +0000

The Blogger made it easy to be eligible to win the weekly prize with his worst score ever but it was Jeff Arends who capitalized. Arends posted a score of 10 to defeat the field and take home this week's Beat the Blogger prize.

This week's picks will be posted later today so Play Beat the Blogger and spread the word to your friends and co-workers. Simply copy and paste this link http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week's picks will be posted later today along with the Blogger's picks (in parenthesis)so make sure you get your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday. Good luck and spread the word on the contest before there is no more contest. THIS MEANS YOU, SEE BELOW FOR INSTRUCTIONS. Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I'm making a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against, I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit 10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I'll triple the weekly prize. So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/ This week's winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against the field. While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner).

I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier. For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners.

You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler" and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.

This week's matchups with winning picks in parenthesis

Aug. 21

Saturday

NFL Preseason

Pittsburgh at NY Giants (Pittsburgh)

Miami at Jacksonville (Miami)

Houston at New Orleans (New Orleans)

NY Jets at Carolina (NY Jets)

Green Bay at Seattle (Green Bay)

Aug. 21

Saturday

MLB

LA Angels at Minnesota (LA Angels)

Toronto at Boston (Boston)

San Diego at Milwaukee (Milwaukee)

San Francisco at St. Louis (St. Louis)

Cincinnati at LA Dodgers (LA Dodgers)

Tiebreaker: Total runs in Cincinnati/LA Dodgers game? (13)

Be sure to check out our other blogs and videos:

7th Inning Stretch

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

Bustin' Wax

http://blog.tuffstuff.com/bustinwax/

For Pricing information, check out these sports price guides

http://www.tuffstuff.com/priceguides/

Check out our sports-related books

http://shop.collect.com/category/sports-cards

Dungy’s comments to Ryan way off base

Tuff Stuff — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:35:48 +0000

If you haven't heard the news, former coach and current all-around good guy Tony Dungy has a problem with people who swear. Specifically New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, who's Chris Rock-like diatribe on the first couple episodes HBO's "Hard Knocks" series has Dungy outraged.

Really Tony? Really? You have a hard time accepting the fact that an NFL coach drops F-bombs from time to time? Oh my goodness, who knew? I understand that Dungy is a devout Christian and went his entire 12-year head coaching career without uttering a swear word. And good for him for staying true to what he believes in. But to say he wouldn't hire a guy like Ryan because of his foul language is just plain asinine, sorry about my language.

The reason people enjoy "Hard Knocks" is because it's real, it's genuine. The series gives you a backstage pass into a team's Training Camp like nothing ever has before. It shows you the high, the lows, the good, the bad and the ugly. And in the course of providing you with that almost all-access view, you're going to hear what the players and coaches are saying, unfiltered and unscripted, F-bombs included. It's an NFL reality series without scripts Tony and it comes with a warning before each episode begins. It states that the following program includes profanity. If if didn't include profanity it wouldn't be real and it was lose it's appeal, it's uniqueness and the warning should allow those offended to find an alternative program to watch.

After a 31-year career as a player and a coach in the NFL, I'm guessing Dungy is very familiar with some of the language being uttered on the practice field and within the locker room. If he went into his viewing of the show with different expectations he's dumber than his comments have made him appear.

Dungy even went so far as to say NFL Commissoner Roger Goodell should have a talk with Ryan. I agree. And the first topic of conversation should be to agree that Tony Dungy is a f%@!&ing whack job who needs to focus on his latest book tour and not what's being said on NFL practice fields.

Plenty of blame to go around in DJ’s bunker blunder

Tuff Stuff — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:30:24 +0000

I went to my first Major golf tournament yesterday at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. And just like everything associated with the tournament, everything about the whole event was Major, including the Major controversy that helped define it.

By now anybody with a pulse has heard about Dustin Johnson's bunker blunder and most have weighed in with their opinion. To many, the fact that a rule infraction cost him a chance at his first Major was a Major injustice. To others, the fact that he didn't know the rule was a Major oversight on his part. What ever side of the fence your on, we can all agree the incident had Major implications on the outcome of the tournament.

As for me, I'm having a hard time deciding which side of the fence I'm falling on. I initially felt that a rule is a rule and let those who don't know or follow them suffer the consequences. That was the reporter side of me that views things as being very black and white. The human side of me says all of this could've been avoided. Had the PGA official walking the course with the final group simply pointed out to Johnson that his ball was in a bunker. Had he done that, an issue of Major importance would've never happened. Sure, the official isn't required to give him a reminder but the course and the location of the ball are so unique to normal situations he definitely could've made a special accommodation just to avoid any possible confusion. Now that's one Major omission.

Those arguing that Johnson got a raw deal quickly point out that although the bunkers (all 1,200 plus) at Whistling Straits are different from those found at most other courses, the fact that fans were allowed to walk through and set up in them in effectively wipes away the normal rules of the game because that would never be allowed at most other venues. Those that blame Johnson for not following the rules counter with the fact that there was a special announcement made prior to the start of the tournament that specified that all bunkers on the course, whether they look like typical bunkers or not, will be played under normal rules.

All of the players were given this rules update both attached to their lockers and it was also posted on the mirrors in the clubhouse restrooms. Johnson and some of the other players admitted that they didn't bother to read the update. You could argue the players skipping the required reading is understandable. That's what they have caddies for right? You hire a good "looper" and give him 5 percent (and often times more) of your winnings so you don't have to sweat the little things while you're focusing all of your attention on playing your best.

I'd say that while I can make a case for both sides of the argument, the person I found the most to blame for all of the Major madness that overshadowed an otherwise wonderful tournament (won by the already forgotten future trivia answer of Martin Kaymer) is Johnson's caddie, Bobby Brown. Johnson said he only looks at updates to the rules if he thinks he needs to. Well, if you're caddying for a guy, you better think you need to do everything you can to help your guy find the Winner's Circle and Brown obviously didn't do everything is his power to help his guy do that. And where I come from, those are some Major grounds for dismissal. Sorry Mr. Brown but that's my prerogative.