Something Different Something New

By the time I reached high school, back in the late 80's... I was a full fledged baseball card collector.  While most of my friends played sports... I was searching for Jose Canseco and Will Clark rookie cards.

But believe it or not, I was also fascinated with wearing cool cloths and nice shoes.  When I wasn't spending my birthday money on wax boxes, I was buying Z. Cavariccis, neon CB Sport parkas, Mossimo button ups, and the latest Air Jordans.

Everything changed when I went to college.  My parents stopped buying me clothes and I started wearing Levi's and cheap flannels.  Nevertheless... I still made sure to invest in my feet.

These days... I pretty much live in my Olukai flip flops.  But a few months ago, I picked up a pair of shoes for one of my sports memorabilia collections.

Seven years ago, Puma commemorated the 40th Anniversary of Tommie Smith's gold medal performance in the 200-meter dash at the 1968 Olympics with a special pair of shoes.  

Each shoe has Tommie Smith's name on the tongue and the 1968 Olympic symbol on the heel.  It's also littered with clenched fists to honor his and John Carlos' iconic podium stance.  I purchased these directly off of Smith's website.  They weren't exactly cheap, but he did sign both shoes and the shoe box.

This is the first time I purchased a pair of shoes with collecting in mind.  

So tonight I figured I switch gears and let you peek into my closet, instead of my sports card collection.

Let's start off with a pair of shoes I received for my birthday back in September:

Vans Authentics

If my go-to card company is Topps, then Vans is my go-to shoe company.  I still own my original Half Cabs from the early 90's and when I'm forced to wear actual shoes... you'll usually find me wearing Vans at least half of the time.

You can imagine how happy I was to receive these cool sneakers from my best friend, who happens to be a big Yoda fan herself.

Next up are another pair of Star Wars themed shoes:

Adidas Superstar a.k.a. Shell Toes

I had these custom made over at Adidas.  Superstars are another one of my all-time favorite sneakers, so I was pretty excited when I found out that you can actually design your own shoes on their website.

I decided to go with camouflage and Imperial Stormtroopers, because I'm a huge fan of Earth tones and the design really stood out to me.

These aren't the only custom pair of shoes I own.  Back in the mid 2000's, my ex-girlfriend made me these:

They are a pair of Nike Shox.  Unfortunately... I don't wear high tops anymore, so until today they've been sitting in my garage for about a decade.  Normally, I'd consider selling them online, but she personalized them for me:

I'll wrap this post up with another pair of shoes I found sitting in my garage:

Air Jordan 13 Retro Low

I'm not sure why I decided to save these, but I've only worn them a handful of times.  The original 13's were released back in the late 90's and were one of my favorite Air Jordans.

That's probably why I decided to buy these back in the mid 2000's.  Today Air Jordans aren't my style, since I haven't played basketball in years.

If you didn't know any better, you might think that I'm starting a shoe collection... but that really isn't the case.  I might add another pair of signed shoes at some point in time, since they're something different and display well.  However... I just don't have the room to store hundreds of pairs of shoes.

What about you guys?

Any of you collect shoes?

If not... 

Have you ever kept a special pair of shoes?

Looking forward to seeing if anyone still has an original pair of Birkenstocks from the 70's or maybe a collection of Crocs out there.  Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Devouring the Cupcake Society

Overall... I have a pretty good life.  I have a job that I enjoy 97% of the time.  I might not be rich (heck... I'm a teacher living in Silicon Valley), but I own a home (actually a townhouse).  I have zero debt outside of my home loan.  I have no major health conditions (knock on wood).  I have a loving and caring family.  I have two best friends who are admirable and trustworthy, along with a great supporting cast of good friends whom I love.  And I have an awesome hobby that allows me to interact with others who share my interests.

With that being said... it's not perfect.  I probably should shed a few pounds.  I'd love to own a bigger home.  I have report cards due next week.  I still need to build and ship out a boatload of care packages.  And I often worry about my future.  My family's future.  Our country's future.

One of my biggest concerns is the direction our awesome country is headed.  It feels like with each passing year, we're moving towards a Cupcake Society.  What's that?  It's a world where everyone receives a trophy.  It's a world where we can't raise our voices or hands to misbehaving children.  It's a world where you can't tell a joke without offending at least one person in the room.  And it's a world where athletes can't celebrate without offending the opposing team.

C'mon man!  Let the man flip his bat.

It was the biggest hit of his career.  The crowd was going wild.  His teammates were going wild.  He just broke the game open.  Of course he flipped his bat!  If I hit that ball, I would have done the exact same thing.  And no... not to disrespect the Texas Rangers and their fans.  It would have been the same way I threw up my cap at graduation... out of excitement.

Don't get the wrong idea.  I'm all about respect.  Heck... I even empathize with Mr. Dyson.  If I threw the pitch that led to a three-run home run, I'd be pretty bummed out too.  I might even shed a tear.

2013 Topps Five Star Autographs #FSBA-JB

The one thing I wouldn't do is tell Joey Bats to "calm that down" and "respect the game a little more" after doing nothing more than throwing his bat in the air in celebration.

Will little kids imitate Batista?  I hope so.  Baseball is suppose to be entertaining.  I understand that players should respect the game, but he never went out of his way to disrespect the Rangers.  He didn't point at the pitcher.  He didn't spit at the feet of an infielder.  He didn't blow raspberries at their dugout.

He celebrated.

The day we remove player celebrations from the game will be the day a huge part of the game dies.  Well... that's my opinion... and I'm sticking to it.

What are your thoughts?

Was Bautista being disrespectful?  Is bat flipping a sign of disrespect?  Are you for or against respectful player celebrations?

Please feel free to deposit your 2¢ off down below in the comment section.  Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Kellogg's is More Than Cereal

When it comes to reading sports card blogs, I love it when bloggers create an interesting series for us to read.

Nick has his Dime Box Frankenset posts.  The Snorting Bull takes the time to list of his favorite sets in his Friday Five series.  The Junior Junkie has some of the coolest wallet card photographs around... and he features them on his Wallet Card Wednesday posts.  And of course there's the long running Awesome Night Card series published on the four-time Blog of the Year... Night Owl Cards.

Unfortunately... one of my personal favorites... Nacho Grande's Better Know a Blogger came to an end this weekend.  The series featured a collection of interviews with fellow bloggers and gave us an opportunity to get an in-depth look at what people collect, their thoughts on the hobby, as well as other non-hobby related topics.

Last week, Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits was featured in the series and mentioned that he loved Kellogg's Cracklin' Oat Bran:

The next day... I saw it while walking down the cereal aisle... and decided to give them a chance.  You know what?  It's delicious.  They remind me of miniature Nature Valley Granola Bars... which is one of my favorite snacks.

And if Matt and my word aren't enough... well... they're produced by Kellogg's... the company who inserted the iconic lenticular 3D cards into cereal boxes during the 70's and early 80's.  So go out and grab yourself a box... pour yourself a bowl... and enjoy the sweet, crunchy yumminess.

In the meantime, I figured I'd show off one of my personal favorites in terms of Kellogg's cards...

Although I grew up on the 80's sets, my favorite design is the 1970 set.  If baseball cards could produce babies, the 1970 set would have the 1964 Topps Giants as their father and the 1968 Topps 3-D as their mother.

I love seeing Reggie repping his 1968 home jersey, while staring into the souls of every collector who owns a copy of this card.  Normally I'd rather have an ungraded copy to hold in my hand, but the price was too good to pass up.

Another Kellogg's set I like is their 2006 All-Star Autographs...

Okay... so they're logoless.  But for the price, it's worth it.  This is one of the few times you'll be able to add a Hank Aaron certified on-card autograph to your collection for under $50.  Aikman and Robinson?  They typically sell for under $20 each.

The most affordable card in the set is the Yamaguchi...

She's cute.  She's an Olympic gold medalist.  And since she's a figure skater, logos don't matter.

Okay... it's your turn.

What are some of your favorite blogger series, cereals, and Kellogg's card designs?

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Pretty Impressive

Yesterday the students at my school met Mr. Richard Santana... a motivational speaker who talks about his real life transition from gang member to Harvard graduate.  It was one of the best assemblies I've ever witnessed.  He single handedly inspired a bunch of my students to think about their choices, while bestowing hope.  It's what I try to do in my classroom over the course of the school year... but I've gotta admit... it was pretty darn impressive to see this guy do it in 45 minutes.

Wanna know what else is impressive?  Check out the latest bobble head purchase...

One of my co-workers went to the game last weekend and sold it to me for $20.  It's totally Wookie-licious!

Wrapping up this post are some impressive pieces of cardboard from retired blogger... GCRL:

Always happy to add new cards of Hudson, Mulder, and Zito to the my collection.  Jim also threw in this ticket stub from last month's Twins vs. Tigers game.

It's my first ticket stub featuring Kurt Suzuki and it's now hanging up in my office.  Unfortunately Suzuki was less than impressive and went hitless that day... and the Tigers ended up beating them 7 to 4.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

A Frickin' Awesome Day!

As this post is being published... I should be walking out of my teacher inservice with a huge smile on my face, because it's Thursday October 8th... and it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

On this day, fifty-six years ago...

1959 Topps #1

Ford Frick became the third Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

Forty-two years ago...

1973 Topps #130

Pete Rose rumbled with Bud Harrelson in the third game of the 1973 NLCS.

Thirty-eight years ago...

1977 Topps #110

The Los Angeles Dodgers roughed up Steve Carlton and ended the Philadelphia Phillies season.

Six years later...

1983 Topps #70

Mr. Carlton returned the favor and sent the Dodgers packing.

Twenty-six years ago...

1989 Topps #370

Dennis Eckersley struck out Junior Felix and the Oakland A's went on to face the San Francisco Giants in the 1989 World Series.

Last night...

2015 Topps Archives #70

Jake Arrieta pitched a complete game shutout as the Chicago Cubs moved one step closer to fulfilling the Back to the Future prophecy.

Happy Frickin' Thursday and sayonara!