Sports Card Bust #12: Kwame Brown

This article was originally listed last night, but due to "font" issues... I deleted the original article and have relisted it.
On the eve of game 7 of the NBA Finals, I feel it's my duty to pay homage to one of the biggest Sports Card Busts of the decade. Without Kwame Brown, the Lakers may not have acquired Pau Gasol. Without Gasol, there's a chance that Kobe would have demanded out of L.A. Without Kobe, the Lakers aren't in tomorrow night's game.
In 2001, Kwame Brown was drafted by Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards with their #1 pick in the NBA draft. He originally signed a letter of intent to play of the University of Florida, but backed out to enter the draft. Obviously, expectations were high because he was the #1 pick in the draft... plus Mr. Airness made the decision to draft him.
Unfortunately, Mr. Brown never lived up to those expectations. He's averaged 6.7 ppg, 1.0 apg, & 5.4 rpg over the past 9 seasons. I'm sure Washington was excited to dump him off to the Lakers.
As a Lakers fan and a sports fan in general, I was disappointed and frustrated with Kwame Brown. It sucks to hear that a player on your team isn't trying their hardest and unfortunately that what was frequently being reported.
However on February 1st, 2008 the basketball gods answered Lakers fans' prayers and sent them a gift. In one of the most lopsided deals in NBA history, the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol for a couple of 1st round draft picks, Marc Gasol, a couple of role players, and of course the man of the hour, Mr. Kwame Brown.
So I want to wish all of my fellow Lakers fans the best of luck. I'm sure either way it'll be one helluva game. But it makes you wonder, would the Lakers be in this position without Kwame Brown?

Sports Card Bust #11: Jason Bonsignore

The #4 pick in the 1994 NHL draft...

The next addition to my Sports Card Bust PC was once labeled the next Mario Lemieux. Jason Bonsignore attracted scouts attention after scoring 108 points in two seasons at Greece High in New York. A few years later, he began playing in the OHL. That's where scouts started drawing comparisons to Super Mario due to his size and similar playing style. The Edmonton Oilers jumped all over the hype and chose Mr. Bonsignore with the 4th overall pick in the 1994 NHL draft. He is the highest draft pick in Oilers history and unfortunately their biggest bust.

His NHL career lasted 4 seasons, in which he played a total of 79 games. He managed to score an astounding 3 goals and had a total of 16 points. The last time he played in an NHL uniform was during the 98/99 season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Since then, he's played in a few different leagues and even in Europe. Unfortunately, he won't be remembered for any of those things. Nope, Super Mario 2 shall be remembered as being a huge bust and will now reside in my Sports Card Bust PC.

Boba Fett Has Been Captured

I'm a huge Star Wars fan and Boba Fett is one of my favorite characters. His armor and arsenal of weapons are second to none. Anyways, a few weeks ago, I saw a YouTube video with Daniel Logan (Logan played the young Boba Fett in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones) signing autographs at the 2010 Phoenix Comicon. I had one of those impulse moments and immediately searched for his autograph on eBay and COMC.

I came across his 2009 Donruss Americana autograph for $2.50 on COMC and snatched it up.


I have officially captured Boba Fett and placed him in a penny sleeve, which has been securely placed in a top loader. Last, but not least the top loader is locked inside of a team bag. Escape from my PC is not an option.

Damn... I'm such a nerd!

Sports Card Bust #9 & #10: Matt Bush & Todd Van Poppel

These guys have several things in common. First, they were both drafted out of high school. Second, both were recommended to me by collectors on Sportscardforum.com. Third, their autographs were purchased off of Checkoutmycards.com for $2 or less. Last, but not least, they both played on my favorite teams (Bush w/Padres & Van Poppel w/A's), which is awesome because I get to add their autographs to two different PC's. Another 2 for the price of 1 deal!

Let's start with Matt Bush, the first overall pick in the 2004 MLB draft. Bush wasn't chosen by the Padres, because he was the top talent in the draft. He was drafted by the Padres to save money. Jared Weaver, Jeff Niemann, and Stephen Drew were considered the top prospects in the draft, but they would have commanded premium bonuses that the Padres didn't want to pay. You've gotta love them. At 24 years of age, he still has time to turn things around, however at this stage in his career, he's a huge bust. He has never played in a major league game. In fact, he's never played in a AA or AAA game either. His lifetime minor league average is .219 and he's hit a total of 3 homeruns. In 2007, the Padres switched him from shortstop to pitcher, where he's found minor success. Unfortunately, injuries and issues with the law have slowed him down the past three years. Currently, he has a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays.

While Matt Bush has never been to the Show, Todd Van Poppel was a seasoned 11 year veteran when he hung up his cleats in 2005. He was the 14th pick in the 1990 amateur draft. I've made an exception to my PC rule, because I spent a lot of money on Van Poppel in the early 90's and it still hurts to think about him.

Although he had a fairly lengthy career, he's struggled through most of it. His best season came in 2001 with the Cubs, when he had a 4-1 record with an ERA of 2.52. He's never had more than 7 wins in a season and his career ERA is 5.58, with a 40-52 record to show for it.

Both of them might be considered busts to many collectors out there, but at least they're appreciated in my collection. Welcome Matt & Todd to my Sports Bust PC.

Seven More Marks

On Sunday, I showed off my massive Garbage Pail Kids collection that I saved from my childhood. Well, three days later and my GPK collection has more than tripled in size. After writing my blog entry, I went searching on the internet for site selling GPK singles.

The first site I found was GPK Monster and they took care of all of my needs. I was looking for more "Marks" and was able to find seven. My personal favorite is "Skid Mark". I also like "On The Mark" (with the arrows), because I remember having this card as a kid. It's probably still stuck on one of my binders.

In addition to these seven cards, I also picked up three other GPK cards for some friends. They also offered free shipping if I spent $25 or more, so I bought a 2010 GPK Flashback "Yellow" set which contains 160 of the greatest Garbage Pail Kids from the past.

If you interested in buying singles or sets, I encourage you to check out their inventory. They have an amazing selection and reasonable prices.