Straight to the Point

It's been eleven days since my last post... and I've already dropped the ball on my blogger goal of publishing one post a week leading up to the holidays.  Had I taken a few minutes to look over the calendar, I would have been able foreseen this issue.

The week leading up to the holiday break is always a hectic.  There were two holiday parties (both work related)... dinner with some former students... end of the semester projects... and of course some last minute Christmas shopping for friends and family.

Plus my brother is throwing his annual holiday party this afternoon, but before I head out for that... I'm going to hammer out a post.  That might sound like one of those fifteen minute posts, but anyone familiar with those... knows it's impossible for me to write a post in that timeframe.

That being said... I am going to make it as straight to the point as possible.

Today's post focuses on a pair of PWE's from Chris a.k.a. The Collector.  Both were sent to me earlier in the year.  One was right around the start of the MLB season... and the other during the summer.

Here's quick glance at what Chris packed into these envelopes:

There's a lot of cool stuff sitting in front of me... but since I've got less than two hours until I need to head over to my brother's... I'll focus on these ten:

#1:  2019 Topps Chrome Update 150 Years of Professional Baseball #150C-4

Right out of the page, this card caught my eye.  Topps gave these inserts the "refractor" treatment, so it shines when you tilt it at the right angle.  It also features my second favorite baseball player of all-time... which is a nice bonus.

#2:  1988-89 Fleer #42

Hate the player.  Love the card.

#3:  1977 Topps #495

I love me some vintage wax stained cards... especially when the feature a hobby favorite and owner of one of the coolest nicknames in sports history:

The Mad Hungarian

#4:  2021-22 Upper Deck Allure #29

I apologize if this isn't the Yamamoto you were looking for... but I'm still very happy to add this card to my binder.

#5:  1983 Fleer #326

Another hobby favorite... and my favorite relief pitcher from the early 80's.

#6:  2022 Prestige Xtra Points Astral #387

I'm pretty sure I jinxed this guy.  A few months ago... Chris wrote a post featuring his franchise player picks for each NFC team.  I mentioned Mafe who was having a solid season up to that point.  Since then... not so much.

#7: 2022 Bowman #68

If you send me a card of Ohtani... I have to show it off.  I'm pretty sure it's an unwritten rule or something.

#8:  1982 Topps #668

I was never a big Dale Murphy fan... but seeing this card (like the Tekulve) took me back to my childhood.

Plus it's a nice reminder that the 1982 Topps card backs were green and featured cool facts and cartoons.

#9:  2018 Topps Big League Autographs #BLA-MO

Olson is a stud.  As sad as I was to hear that the Oakland A's traded him away... I'm super happy he's continued to grow and find success in Atlanta.

#10:  1989-90 Fleer #78

There was a time when I would have rather owned an autograph of this guy than almost any other athlete in sports.  Back in the 80's... I was a huge fan of the Showtime Lakers... and Mr. Scott was my favorite player on the court.  I spent a lot of hours in middle school and high school, practicing my baseline jumper in an effort to emulate him.

Okay.  It's taken me over an hour just to scan and write this post.  I'm guessing it'll take another thirty minutes to edit, format, and publish.

Now do you understand why my focus in 2024 is to keep things "straight to the point"?

Thank you Chris for the pair of PWE's.  Sorry it took so long to open them up and write about them.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Ranking Your Favorites

The new school year is just around the corner for me.  In six days, I'll have the opportunity to meet my next batch of students.  This year will be a little different, since I won't actually meet them in person... but hopefully I'll be able to establish some sort of bond with them.  My colleagues and I are entering uncharted waters and it's a little scary, but these are the cards we've been dealt and now it's time to see what we can do with them.

One thing won't change though.  I won't be naming favorites.  It's inevitable.  Every year I get asked by at least a handful of students, "who are your favorite students?".  My responses vary from "I don't have any" to "you'll never know", but I never respond with specific names.  Do I have favorite students?  Sure.  But there's no point in hurting the kids' feelings by revealing who they are.

Athletes are totally different.  They don't know me and could care less about whether or not this card blogger likes them.  That's why I thought it'd be fun to sit down and rank my favorite athletes of all-time.

After creating a list of candidates, I quickly discovered that comparing Kobe Bryant to Ramon Laureano is a lot like comparing apples to oranges... which proved to be much more challenging than anticipated.  Ultimately I just went with my gut instinct.  You'll quickly see that nostalgia plays a huge part in my rankings.

I'm guessing that if I were to try this again in the future, things would look a little different depending on the season and my mood.  But for today, August 13th, 2020, here are my Top 10 Favorite Athletes of All-Time:

#10:  Steve Carlton

1981 Fleer #660

Carlton was one of the best left-handed pitchers of his generation.  As a fellow lefty, it was only natural for me to root for him as a kid.  By the way today is International Left Handers Day.  Thanks Ryan for reminding me of this special day.

#9:  Byron Scott

1989-90 Fleer #78

Out of all of the Showtime Lakers, Byron was my favorite.  I loved the energy and passion he displayed on the court... and that jump shot of his was like poetry in motion.

#8:  Greg Maddux

1993 Upper Deck #535

Just like I've preferred contact hitters over home run hitters, I've always enjoyed watching guys like Maddux over guys like Randy Johnson or Nolan Ryan.

#7:  Patrick Marleau

2015-16 Upper Deck #155

I feel like Patty should be higher on this list, since he's my all-time favorite San Jose Shark.  But I struggled to justify ranking him higher than the six guys ahead of him.

#6:  Kobe Bryant

2007-08 Topps #24

He might have rubbed people the wrong way, but he was the epitome of hard work and passion.  Those are two traits I admire in my students and in professional athletes.

#5:  Brett Favre

2007 Topps #19

Favre has stressed me out more than any other player on this list... with his crazy passes.  And I thought I'd never forgive him when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings, but time heals all wounds.  These days I just focus on remembering all of those touchdown passes he threw to Mark Chmura, Robert Brooks, Antonio Freeman, Donald Driver, and Sterling Sharpe.

#4:  Kurt Suzuki

2009 Topps #622

I had a hard time ranking Kurt, because I wasn't sure where he fit among all of the legends on this list.  At first I had him ranked behind Kobe, Favre, Marleau, and Maddux.  But then I remembered just how much I enjoy rooting for this guy... even when he's not on one of my favorite teams.  

#3:  Steve Largent

1981 Topps #271

Largent was my favorite football player growing up... and nothing has changed over the past four decades.

#2:  Rickey Henderson

1983 Kellogg's #8

Before Gwynn, there was Rickey.  He played a big role in me becoming a baseball fan.  Had he not been traded to the Yankees back in December of 1984... there's a chance he'd be sitting in the #1 spot.

#1:  Tony Gwynn

1985 Fleer #34

Yeah.  No surprises here.  If you need an explanation for why Gwynn is #1 on this list, then you probably don't read my blog on a regular basis.

It'll be fun to look back on this post in a year or two to see how much things change, but I doubt there will ever be a guy who will knock Mr. Padre out of the top spot.  Actually, I'd say that the Top 3 are pretty locked in... but #4 through #10 are less stable than the Beckett Hot/Cold lists of the 80's and 90's.

What about you?

What are your favorite athletes of all-time?

Leave your list down below.  I'd love to see it.

Happy Left Handers Day and sayonara!

Out of Character Purchases

There was a time when basketball was my favorite sport to watch, play, and collect.  This may or may not be a surprise depending on when you started reading my blog.  Six years ago, I ultimately walked away from my NBA fandom, because I grew tired of the lack of parity within the league.

Ironically... lack of parity is what made me a fan of the sport in the 80's.  I loved watching the Los Angeles Lakers battle the Boston Celtics.  My father cheered for Larry Bird and company while I rooted for the Showtime Lakers.

A few weeks ago, Billy over at Cardboard History showed off his 1983-84 BASF Kareem Abdul-Jabbar card which immediately took me back to those days of sitting in front of the television with my pops.  I immediately headed over to Beckett to check out who else was on the checklist and that's when I noticed it contained one of Byron Scott's first basketball cards:

Scott was my favorite player back in the day, so this card instantly became a must have for my collection.

I left Beckett, headed over to eBay, looked up complete sets, and found a guy selling them with a best offer option.  I threw out an offer of $10 (+ $3 shipping) and he accepted.

The 14 card set includes 13 players (highlighted by Abdul-Jabbar, Magic, and Worthy) and a team card.  They're much larger than your standard sized card, which may turnoff some collectors.  However if you remember my Griffey's, I'm don't discriminate against size.

A few days later, I stumbled across a Kenner SLU Hot List from back in 2001 over on the kennerstartinglineup blog and noticed the 1996-97 Kenner SLU Allen Iverson sitting atop the list.  2001 was probably the high point in his hobby fanfare.  He was coming off of his 2000-01 MVP season and a strong NBA Finals performance.

Back in the late 90's, I really wanted this rookie figure, but Iverson's collectibles were always pretty popular which prevented me from picking up an affordable copy.  Until recently.

I picked up this figure for $12 (free shipping) off of eBay:

As soon as it arrived, I remembered why I don't really collect SLU's anymore.  I don't have any wall space in my office to hang it up, which means it'll end up being thrown into a box and stored in my parent's garage.  But at least I can finally cross this figure off of my hobby bucket list.

Well that's it for today.  Two basketball purchases made by a guy who doesn't really collect basketball anymore.  There's actually one more basketball related purchase I made back in November, but I'm gonna save that for March Madness.

Until then...

Are you a NBA fan?  Do you collect basketball cards?  What about Kenner Starting Lineups?

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Rekindling an Old Flame

Let's take a walk down memory lane...

Sometime around the mid 80's, I fell in love with basketball.  It all started with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles rivalry.  My father pulled for Larry Bird and the Celtics, while I cheered on the Showtime Lakers.

Byron Scott was my favorite player and the guy I tried to emulate on the court.  I can't even begin to fathom how many hours I spent shooting baseline jumpers from outside the three point line.

Did I choose the Lakers because they were good?  Sadly... yes.  I've never been proud of that.  But I stuck with them when they started losing in the early to mid 90's.

It took a couple years to find a new favorite player after the Lakers released Scott, but Eddie Jones eventually ascended and claimed the throne.  I was hoping he'd be a Laker for life, but that wasn't to be.  In 1999, he was traded to the Charlotte Hornets.

Finding a new favorite player wasn't difficult, since that's about the same time when Kobe was beginning to blossom into one of the best players in the league.

Throughout most of the 2000's, I continued my Laker fandom.  But then it hit me like an elbow from The Worm to the nose.  The game of basketball started changing.  Dream teams were being built.  The Lakers traded for Gasol.  Boston traded for Allen and Garnett.  LeBron and Bosh signed with Miami.

My solution?  Start cheering for the underdogs.  I started to root more openly for the Golden State Warriors, who were my 2nd favorite team.

They're local, their tickets were always pretty affordable, and with guys like Monta Ellis and Steph Curry, they were fun to watch and collect.

But as luck would have it... they started winning too, which was the straw that broke the camel's back.  I decided to focus on everything and anything outside of basketball.  Honestly the decision was a lot easier than anticipated.  And for the most part, I didn't regret my decision.

Well... until recently.

After watching some amazing college basketball, I have decided to start collecting basketball cards again.  My focus will be on my favorite teams... the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I haven't figured out who my favorite, favorite team is, but I'll let you know after I see who wins the NBA Title.

Happy April Fool's Day and sayonara!