Happy Birthday America!

1991 Score #737

I wanted to celebrate America's birthday by posting some of my favorite cards and memorabilia items with players representing our country. So I spent the last 2 hours digging through my collection to see what I have.

1st: 2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball "Autograph" David McCarty
McCarty is part of my Stanford PC. He played on 7 different MLB teams over an eleven year period. His career stats aren't anything to brag about, but he did something most of us only dream about: He was a member of Team USA in 1990.

2nd: 99/00 Stadium Club "Pieces of Patriotism" Jason Kidd
Jason Kidd grew up in the Bay Area and attended McCarty's rival, UC Berkeley. He is 4th all-time in steals, 2nd all-time in assists, and has been selected to play in the NBA All-Star game 10 times. The first time he represented the US was after his freshman year at Cal. Then at the 2000 Sydney Olympics he was part of the US squad that took home the gold medal. He won another gold medal in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics.

3rd: 1999 Roox U.S. Women's Soccer Brandi Chastain
I went to high school with Brandi's brother Chad and have been a fan since her days as a Santa Clara Bronco. She's best known for taking off her jersey after her game winning penalty shot against China in the 1999 Women's World Cup. However, she was a member of Team USA for many years before that. Chastain has been a member of Team USA 12 different times from her first year in 1988 to her final year in 2004.

4th: 1991 Captain America #395
Captain America has been around since 1941 and he's been an American icon ever since. Next year he'll finally get his own movie, which will hopefully be a blockbuster like Iron Man. In 2012, he'll be in another movie, The Avengers.

5th: 1992 Kenner SLU USA Olympic Team Set
The Dream Team consisted of 10 players who would later be named in 1996 to the 50 Greatest Players in the NBA: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley. Two other players rounded out the squad: Chris Mullin & Christian Laettner. The only question mark on the team is Laettner. Image if they would have chosen Shaq over Christian.

So there you have it... I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July weekend. I know I'm looking forward to eating BBQ later on today.

P.S. While looking for players sporting the good ole' red, white, and blue... I stumbled across an autograph I didn't know I had... but I'll save that for another day. Stay tuned for my second addition to my Hidden Treasures collection.