No Regrets

OK, maybe a few. But at least it was cheap. I threw down a 'throwaway' bid on this Elston Howard 'book' never figuring I would win. I actually had forgotten about it until I got invoiced.

That's the 'inside'. I've never had anything along these lines before.


Here is the 'outside'.

I normally ignore relics and stuff along those lines. Who knows if these things are real? But to tell you the truth the picture is kind of cool and the overall look of the thing is sort of old-timey and Yankee Stadium-ish. I collect career-era Elston Howard cards but sometimes something like this is a way to spice things up. Too bad there is no real way to store this thing in my binder.  

By using that photo Panini allows you to ignore the fact that they can't use logos. So, bottom line, I'm fine with winning it but I wouldn't have cared if I hadn't. I probably wouldn't have even thought about it.

Birds from an Owl

I've been very fortunate to have 'met' so many generous fellow bloggers over the years I've been doing this. Three of them hit me up with envelopes that arrived over the past few days. I'm going to post them in order received. The first is from Night Owl.

He packed the envelope with Orioles from recent-ish releases because he knows that's the only way I ever come across any. My luck at pulling Birds from packs whas seen a slight uptick this year but it's still pretty abysmal.

First I'll mention Topps Bunt and the Manny Machado card up top. Bunt is no doubt my favorite 2017 Topps baseball set. I really like the 'beam of light from heaven' effect. OTOH... those one color 'parallels'? Pfffft.

No way is this card as nice as the regular version. And get off my lawn dammit.

Back to Night Owl's envelope.

O's need "Crush" Davis to actually do some crushing. I saw the Orioles lose three straight in Houston over Memorial Day weekend. It was not very memorable. It marked the third straight year I've sat through an Astros sweep of the Orioles. Not fun. And as I type this the O's are getting their second consecutive ass kicking in Yankee Stadium. Oy vey.

I didn't know '1975 minis' of current players were a thing. Happy to have this colorful one of Manny Machado. NO also sent the Crush A&G mini which I scanned with the Machado for scale.

I had a couple Of Orioles Hometown Heroes but not any of these. These are like the lovechild of '65 Topps and their '58 All Star cards. Would they be better if they were licensed?  Sure but whatcha gonna do? This is my second favorite Panini effort behind the '14 Classics set.

Bundy and Gausman...two of the guilty parties.

Is Moose available?

We finish up with three Orioles stars, and Ben McDonald. I wonder if he's available. He couldn't do any worse than the guys the O's are throwing out there these days. 

Flipping through my Orioles binders is a good way to avoid facing the reality of terrible real life baseball. Putting these in pages will be good therapy. Thanks, Greg!!

2016/17 Panini Houston Rockets

I really hadn't followed the NBA for a long time. 'Time' as measured in decades certainly. Oh, I'd been to a few games here and there as I picked up tickets from friends or some coaches I knew. When the Rockets moved to Houston from San Diego and played on the U of Houston campus we were regulars at the games. After all, they were free for me.

But the last time I considered myself a fan was back when Houston alum Otis Birdsong was playing for the Kansas City Kings.

But last year a friend of my sons took a job with the Rockets media department and we started getting free tickets regularly. It's been a fun experience. I quit griping about the relentless in-game promotions and hype and decided to just enjoy it. And the fact that the Rockets are winning this year helps. So does having seats down low or in a suite. 

James Harden is an obvious MVP candidate and puts up triple doubles regularly but he is surrounded with a lot of offensive firepower.

Defense? The Rockets don't need no stinkin' defense. They rarely play it.

These next two cards are of the two players I've 'adopted' as my favorites. Sam Dekker runs hot and cold from the floor but he's fun to watch.

Eric 'Flash' Gordon is gonna be Sixth Man of the Year' if there is any justice. He made the All Star squad without really being a starter for Houston.

Trevor Ariza is in his second go-round in Houston. He played back in the Yao Ming era I believe. I thought he was a young guy until I looked him up and found that he's been with like six different teams.

I still find it weird that some players are known by one name. It's seems common in soccer but having a hoops guy that goes by Nene is odd. Heck I still blink at the mention of Ichiro.

This is a Rockets team set that they had laying around in the concession area behind the suites one night. It may have been a give-away item at one point. I went ahead and grabbed one because, well, I am a card collector, right?

This is the back of one of the cards. Panini doesn't appear to have put a lot of effort into this set. About as much effort as the Rockets put into defense.

Michael Beasley moved on to Minnesota this season. I enjoyed watching him last year. He hustled his ass off. He's one of the more tattoo'd guys I've seen.

I'm still don't consider myself a full NBA fan. The fact that the last two minutes of game clock time take a half hour to play still makes me nuts. And I can't be bothered to watch any games on TV. I'm not all that aware of where the Rockets are in the standing except that I know they are a lot better off than they were last year.

But if the tickets remain there for the taking and I continue to have fun with my sons going out there than I'll keep going.

Super Bowl Opening Night

I was gifted with some tickets (Thanks, Texans) to the quasi-official opening event of Excess Super Bowl Week a.k.a. Super Bowl Opening Night. So Monday evening my lovely and patient wife and I traipsed down to Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston to see what used to be known simply as 'Media Day'.  The NFL, in all it's wisdom (read: greed), saw a way to turn an overblown press conference into a money making event. Imagine that.

I really had no clue as to what it would entail until we got into the building.  I saw immediately that one of my stated goals would be impossible to fulfill. No, I didn't want to snuggle with Tom Brady. Rather I've been interested in what the new center field configuration of the park would look like. The old 'Tal's Hill' has been removed for more seating and a concession options. But the large stage and curtain stretched nearly from foul pole to foul pole. No way for me to peek behind the curtain.

I'll mention here that I went there reppin' my BALTIMORE Colts. I tweeted this shot and it was posted on the video board. They showed it about the same time that in-house host Scott Hansen of NFL RedZone fame was ragging on the many Cowboy fans in attendance. 

The set up was pretty ingenious. A big stage with 11 podiums arranged in front of it. Players sat at the podiums and answered (mostly inane) questions. Six of the players were shown on huge video boards flanking the stage. They switched up who was being shown from time to time. Two more video boards were broadcasting the NFL Network feed and Hansen's in-house ramblings with floor interviews by Ladanian Tomlinson.

The Falcons were featured for an hour and then, following a ceremony with the captains and coaches from both teams, there was a concert by a group I've never heard of.

It's not often you get to see the world's worst dressed rich guy wearing a tie. These two shots are from the web. We were no where near close enough to take them.

After the intermission concert they rolled out the Patriots for an hour of interviews. My wife and I had had enough by the time the Pats here herded onstage so we headed for the doors. Another concert and fireworks were scheduled to conclude the evening but we were home by then.

Our tickets were for seats in the mezzanine and had a $30 price listed on them. I'd have been rather unhappy had I paid $60 for what was delivered. Besides the privilege of hearing some dork ask Matt Ryan if he has ever considered changing his nickname from "Matty Ice" to "Matty Ice-cream" (I only wish I was making that up) we each received a drawstring backpack with 'stuff' inside. We got men's grooming samples, a towel, and Snickers bars among the swag.

We were also given this 'radio'. It was pretty ingenious actually. It was to be used to hear your selected interviews. You could slip it over either ear. Each player or coach that was featured on a video board also had their interview broadcast on a numbered channel. You tuned your radio to hear whichever one interested you. The NFL Network and Hansen's chatter had channels as well.

As far as I've been able to figure the radio is useless now that the event is over. I tried it at home for laughs and only heard static. I've since employed skills I've learned breaking graded cards out of slabs and snapped the radio off the cord. I now have a SB51 lanyard.

The goody bag also had packs of Panini NFL cards. I don't think these were retail packs. And I'm pretty sure these were not cards that were sold at retail either but my knowledge of current football cards is nearly nil.

The cards are pretty sweet actually. Each pack had five and they were all shiny and pretty. Each pack had a couple of current players....

...and a legendary player in this design.

Each pack also had a Gridiron Kings card and a Legends of the Shield card. I used to collect Marcus Allen pretty casually so the card I posted at the top of the post was appreciated.

Overall it was an interesting experience. Not one I'd do again though. Especially not for $30 a ticket.

Cards from Jedi Jeff...ok, I don't have a meme-like title for this

OK, I haven't completely abandoned the ship but I've certainly been neglecting the helm lately. I've been involved in a non-sport project lately that's kind of taken over my collecting focus and I'll post some of that next. Today I want to show off some cards that Jeff of 2x3 Heroes sent my way awhile back but I haven't acknowledged until now. Sorry about that, Jeff.

I'll break these into two posts as Jeff sent cards for fill two needs. Today I'll post Orioles cards he sent and in my next post I'll feature NY Rangers. I still need some time to get past the pain of the Rangers' lame, gutless and pathetic and whimpering exit from this year's NHL Playoffs. 

Anyway here are the Birds!

Frank Robinson shows off some hardware in a Topps History of the Game card. never seen this picture of FRobby. He was the 1966 MVP. Heady days indeed.

This is a sticker from a Wacky Pack-sort of insert set.

I really miss having Nick Markakis in B'more. Last I checked he's back to wearing the 'scruffy' look. But he was clean and classy in this Upper Deck card.

Gregg Zaun was 38 years old when this card hit the market. He looks 60.

A Panini Brooks. Not a bad no-logo card. Oh, btw....Happy 79th Birthday to my baseball idol. Brooks stands for everything right about sports.

JJ Hardy fills an open slot in my 2015 Stadium Club binder.

Big Lee Smith. His only year with the Orioles was 1994, the strike/walkout/lockout year. That was the last year I followed baseball prior to my own 'walkout' that lasted about 15 years. '94 was a really good season for Smith as he led the league in saves and made the All Star team.

Arthur Rhodes, another larger than life Orioles pitcher. He was better in other places.

Assorted 90s era Birds and other things. I must have been asleep when Vlad Guerrero was an Oriole. EDIT: I just looked him up and see it was 20111 and his last season. He hit .290 so there ya go. the other three had some memorable moments in Charm City, both good and bad.

Kevin Gausman reminds me of NASCAR driver Bobby Labonte in this one.

And finally a couple of guys who had interesting tenures with the O's. Mora's days with Baltimore were winding down when I started to pay attention again. He and Brian Roberts were established and popular and the attention they got made me feel like I had missed something.

Thanks again, Jeff. I really do have some stuff for you. It's just taken me some time to get it together.

Panini Presidents

I posted some of the 2015 Topps Archives Presidential Chronicles cards last month which led to a comment about these, the Presidents subset from 2012 Panini Americana.

Now I consider myself a 'penny-pinching presidential collector'. There is no way I'm going to spend what it takes to get an original Lincoln campaign ribbon for example, or an authentic LBJ signature. Those are two items I'd just love to have but won't pull the trigger on. 

But when it comes to my presidential collecting I love cards, cheap campaign pins and other knick-knacks. These cards were cheap, and they are really pretty nice. Black and white photos seem to suit a set like this. The gold presidential seal and the red/white/blue logo give them just enough color. A couple of the pics used are definitely too familiar but others are new to me.

Every President (and a couple of First Ladies) is included in the subset. The rest of the full base set comprises a weird mix of track athletes, women soccer players, astronauts, the Tuskeegee Airmen and heaven knows what else. But all I'm interested in is the Presidents.

I pulled and scanned the eight Chief Executives that I'm most interested in. 

Honest Abe......IMHO our greatest president. 

Teddy Roosevelt....maybe the most interesting guy to ever occupy the office. I've read five or six books about him in the last couple of years and I still haven't tired of him.

JFK, my first hero (outside of Johnny Unitas I guess).

LBJ....my favorite president. A man of great strengths and great (maybe greater) flaws. I love this photo of him.

Richard Nixon..... he let his paranoia overwhelm his genius.

Gerald Ford.... seems to me to have been the nicest guy to ever serve as President, at least in my lifetime. I'd have loved to have met him to find out.

Bill Clinton...another very smart man who did some very dumb things.

Barack Obama...not the best picture of the bunch but it kind of shows the stress that comes with dealing with the political world today.

How's that for a "no politics" rundown of political guys?

About the same time I was buying these I came across a couple of other items that fit neatly into my collection but didn't kill my budget. One is a JFK pennant. Purports to be authentic but condition (nice) and price (cheap) left me with some doubts. I have it on my wall and it's a nice item either way.

The other is an souvenir LBJ pen. The seller speculated that it came from the White House gift shop but did that sort of thing even exist back then? It might have come from the LBJ Library gift shop but no matter the origin it makes a nice addition to my Johnson collection.

Sorry for the oversized photos.