#walletcard....Brisket watches the PGA

My walletcard accompanied my family and I out to the Shell Houston Open this past weekend. This is a shot from Friday and shows Brisket Howard in the stands behind the 15th green awaiting the next group to come through.

I've been going to the Open since the early 70s when I used to work the old manual scoreboards at Quail Valley CC in southwest Houston. Fun times. Seems like half my family has worked for Shell forever and we have always had a good time out there. One of my sons used to caddy during the Wednesday Pro-Am.

I'm still not used to the more relaxed camera policy that's been in affect for a few years. They used to eject you if they caught you smuggling a phone onto the grounds. Now that only ask for it to be on silent. Taking pics is still against the rules but most people are able to sneak a few shots, especially on the less-trafficked holes where there are fewer officials.

The guy below is Jerry Kelly. He's a tour vet, a 'grinder' from Wisconsin who has been a favorite of ours for many years. Back when my kids were young he was super friendly with them and was a generous supplier of golf balls.

Jerry has had a couple of top ten finishes this season but he much to our disappointment he missed the cut here in Houston despite being under par for the two rounds he played. That was his second missed cut in as many weeks. Here's hoping he bounces back in a hurry. He's really a good guy.

#Walletcard....Brisket Goes to the Sunshine State

I really feel like a failure. I carried my #walletcard, UH Collection Brisket Howard, all over the fine state of Florida in my Spring Training trip and it wasn't until the final game I attended that I remembered to pull him out for a peek at the beautiful weather and the joy of spring baseball.

But here he is at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota just prior to the first pitch of the Orioles-Pirates game last Thursday. As you can see I had to use my new digital camera to prop him up high enough for him to see the beautiful baseball diamond. We got a few curious looks from the other 'railbirds' leaning on the ledge that runs along the concourse at Ed Smith. But that's how it goes.

I wish I had pulled him out all along the trail I blazed across Florida. Looking back I could have had shots of Brisket with Bob Boone, squinting as he peeked over Bryce Harder's shoulder in Lakeland, with the drunk and stupid college dudes in Tampa, stuff like that.

Oh well, better late than never I guess.

#walletcard with a trophy

Thursday night at the University of Houston-SMU hoops game they had an introduction of sorts of new Houston football coach Tom Herman. He talked to the crowd at halftime, players were signing posters for kids, that kind of thing.

On the concourse they had the Cougar's bowl game trophy from their heart-stopping win in Ft. Worth over Pitt. I took the opportunity to snap a shot of Brisket Howard basking in the glow of a hard earned win.

Brisket is still sore at me for forgetting to pose him with Andre Ware's Heisman Trophy two weeks ago when it was on display at a booster reception for Houston coaches on National Signing Day. Cool photo-op lost.

Brisket and Hal Chase, and The Babe (sort of) #walletcard

This past Saturday I was dutifully following my wife from antique store to antique store and at one stop I came across something that could have kept me interested for hours on end. The place had bound copies of the Pueblo Colorado Chieftain that stretched from about 1915 through the late 1920s. Just wonderful stuff.

I poured over some of these papers for an hour or so while my wife moved on to another shop. I'm not sure what the attraction is but reading 'morning after' accounts of games that featured Babe Ruth as a Red Sox pitchers and Rogers Hornsby's batting prowess had me hooked. I wish I had taken more pictures but I was trying to be discreet about it. The volumes were in various states of repair. Some were still tightly bound in their leatherette covers, some were so loose that they came apart as I opened them.

As you can see I pulled Brisket Howard's card out of my wallet so he could witness some history.

You have to look close but the box score to the right of Brisket shows Ruth as the Red Sox pitcher. The game was the first game of a doubleheader against the Athletics on August 31, 1917. Ruth went all the way for his 20th win of the season. He beat a Philly pitcher with the fabulous name of Socks Seibold.

There was a ton of interesting stuff in these old papers. World War I was going on for a good part of it and the Chieftain carried the latest from Europe and sadly lists of locals killed or wounded.

Below is a bit of the sports page from September 6 of the same year and you can see that Seibolt lost again to the Red Sox on the 5th. It was a hard luck defeat with him allowing only three hits.

The ads were great as well. I should have taken pics of some of them. It was a good time to be a drunk. Plenty of liquor store ads and gin went for 65 cents a quart!

I didn't even ask how much the books were. They smelled pretty musty and I knew my wife would not be happy with one in her car or sitting around the house. I may go back and find the price. If it is cheap enough I'd buy one and just keep it a day to pour through every page.

Travels with Brisket #walletcard

During the past week my #walletcard of Brisket Howard made it out of his safe, warm environment and saw a bit of Houston.

First he came with me to an appointment in the Texas Medical Center and enjoyed the view from 30 stories above Houston.  He was so excited by the panorama behind him he couldn't sit still long enough for a proper picture. In the far distance he could see the Astrodome where he played in his college days. Heady stuff for a dude who spends most days stuck between some small bills and a Starbucks card!

Next was a visit to a second hand store on Houston's southeast side where Brisket had a brush with greatness.  He tried to talk me into taking Albert home but I wasn't about to give in to his whining.

We also made it out to the new additions to Houston's Hermann Park on this gorgeous day but Brisket was moody (over the whole Pujols thing I guess) and refused to pose there. Maybe he'll be more cooperative next week.

Brisket....with brisket

This was just too easy.

Brisket Howard made his first out-of-wallet appearance last night. He accompanied my wife and I to dinner. I had a ribs and sliced brisket plate. He didn't eat much and neither did I...I have leftovers for today's lunch. It wasn't a bad meal but I've had better.

I think I will toss something into each #walletcard post, just so I don't get tired of Brisket.

This time I present a '61 Fleer of John Olszewski. He came my way as part of a small lot of cards that contained several Colts. I've become a fan of this set through the Colts cards that it contains, they are just super photos, and in the back of my mind is the idea that one day I may attempt it. If I do, Olszewski will come in handy.

Brisket in my wallet

It's called Wallet Card, it's from the mind of Gavin at Baseball Card Breakdown. You've probably read about it and I'm late to the party. But I had to find this card. It comes from a University of Houston football set put out in 1992 by a company called Daily Motion. At one time I had cases of this shrink wrapped set but through the years I've given nearly all of them away to my students. I've kept a few. This is my favorite card from the set.

Brisket Howard (he's actually Brisket Howard Jr., his dad had the same name) was a DB and special teams player for the U of H in the early 90s. I left the school's employ in 1990 but I was out there on that same practice field more times than I care to recall. That's downtown Houston off in the distance.

This is my perfect 'wallet card', Houston player with a great name in a shot taken in a spot I know well,  This wallet card thing is a great idea and I hope we all have fun with it. I'm looking forward to seeing where some of these cards travel to.

And here goes Brisket into my wallet...keep your hands off my AmEx card, will ya?