Who dat?!!!?

Ohhhhhhh yeaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!! It's football time! Woot! Break out the snacks and limber up the cheerleaders....
Tonight's opening matchup has Lord Favre....

... travelling to play the footballing Saints.

Whoops. Wrong Saints. Wrong Football. Well, doesn't matter.... you know who I'm talking about.

I'll say New Orleans 27 Minnesota 21 and take the over.

Epic Fail

As a lot of you are aware, I missed out on the whole Topps Million Card Giveaway thingie. I didn't buy any hobby boxes and our WalMarts do not carry baseball, so the code cards just weren't available.
But I didn't feel bad. I knew. Football was coming. Topps doesn't think anymore, and I knew that whatever they did for baseball, they would do for football. See? No thought required. Take the rest of the year off.
So finally, football came. And I ran out of money the week before. Damn medical bills. But anyway, I managed to get a code. My new friend bought my friendship by offering a free code to anyone who linked to his new blog.
Hello new friend.
And a code for the new GridIron Giveaway found it's way into my email inbox.

And the peasants rejoiced. For it was Glorious.

And I waited, nay, revelled and basked in the moment. I watched the website with breathless anticipation for two days, waiting for the opportune time to strike, and with that fatal blow, bring home a priceless vintage Cowboy.

I watched for the signs.... and finally, the moment came. The infernal machine was virtually spewing out vintage cards at an alarming rate. I proudly hit the enter key to receive, nay! Be gifted my prize!
a 1998 Mark McMillian of the Chiefs.

I hate Topps.

I can be bought...

this isn't news.... but normally I have standards.

Nowadays I sell myself for free cards. And that's just what Too Many Grandersons offered me for a plug on the old blog.

Consider yourself plugged sir. Go check it out. He seems nice. You may even get snacks.

So come here for the Braves news, soccer/football highlights, and some rant about hockey, then go there for snacks. Everyone wins.

$5.5 million? Really?

It's the greatest time of the year. The Braves are about to win the World Series, soccer has started, football is about to start, and hockey preseason is only 2 weeks away..... my wife, however, disagrees. But that's another story.

Getting back to hockey for a moment, my team, the Montreal Canadiens, have gone through a wee bit of turmoil over the off-season. If you'll remember from last spring's playoffs, they entered as the 8 seed and knocked off the #1 and #2 seeds before falling in the Conference Finals. All because of smart defensive play and their wonder goalie, Jaroslav Halak.

A week later, they had traded Halak to St. Louis for a new Zamboni and a bag of beans. The fans were shocked. Outraged! Halak had beaten Carey Price for the job, and almost taken them to the promised land, only to be dumped.

What's even better is that the genius braintrust did all of this BEFORE they had Carey Price under contract for next season. Oops. Can you say leverage boys and girls? Yeah. So Carey and his agent held out, waiting for Montreal to come to them.... and waited.... and finally Montreal caved. $5.5 million for the next two years. Antii Niinema only got $2 mill, and he won the freaking Stanley Cup!

Now do you understand why I hate the french?

Anyways, in honour of my team finally getting a goalie under contract 7 days before training camp begins... I created this.

A 1972/73 OPC Carey Price.
The shade of green is off a bit, but Paint.net doesn't have the right one. I thought about doing one of those Birth Year cards that WhiteSoxCards does.... but that would mean i'd have to work with a 1987 card........ and that depresses the hell out of me.


*can you tell I have no money for actual cards, so I just spend my time inventing them instead?

The continuing story of the Cards That Never Were.

Jacques Plante, one of the greatest goalies to ever strap on the pads, played 18 years and 837 games in the NHL. The last 8 of those games with the Boston Bruins at the end of the '72/73 season.

Neither OPC nor Topps decided to make a card of Jacques in their '73/74 sets. So I did.
Three hours later, and my eyes are bleeding, but there it is. Jacques went 7-1 for Boston with a 2.00 GAA. After the season he jumped ship to the WHA to play one last season before retiring.

like an orange on a toothpick...

awhile back I put up my first and only pack break of this year's new Ginter offering. Finding nothing I wanted, I offered it up for the masses. Tunguska from Long Fly Ball To Because jumped at a couple of the cards, offering a JHey RC. Sold! Here's the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuble Player, Comeback Player of the Year, and the newest Hall of Famer....
Tunguska also threw in Jason's TDIH card. On the back it says "Jason Heyward born on August 9th.... and the World rejoiced"

Apparently we don't swap enough, because he'd been saving this card for me since last year.

but it's not just a Tony Romo Mayo card....... it's HUGE!

Thanks to Matt Ryan, we see the true size of Tony. Not coincidently, this is representitive of how the Falcons feel every time they play the Cowboys.......

Thanks for the trade!!!!!

for a good cause...

this just in, if you're in the New York area, and like to party.... personally I'd go for the Ovechkin jersey and four Capitals tickets.....

MORE THAN 65 UNIQUE ITEMS AND EXPERIENCES ON THE AUCTION BLOCK AT THE 2010 LEGENDS BALL TO BENEFIT THE INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM

Hit Sessions with Tennis Greats, Grand Slam Tournament Tickets, Memorable Vacation Packages & More up for Bid on September 10 in New York City NEW YORK, N.Y., August 30, 2010 – Guests attending The Legends Ball on September 10 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City will rub elbows with tennis legends and industry leaders, honor the greats of the game and have the opportunity to support the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum by participating in a live and silent auction featuring a variety of exclusive items and experiences. All proceeds of the event will support the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of tennis, inspiring junior tennis development, and providing a landmark for tennis enthusiasts worldwide. More than 65 unique items will be on the block ranging from exclusive access at all four Grand Slams in 2011 to luxury Caribbean vacations, as well as unique opportunities such as hit sessions with tennis greats, celebrity meet and greets, tickets to major sporting events, autographed sports memorabilia and more. Auction items may be previewed online at: www.biddingforgood.com/tennisfameauction

Sotheby’s auctioneer Benjamin Doller will host a live auction at The Legends Ball for the following unique experiences:

Two coveted Centre Court tickets to the 2011 Wimbledon Ladies Final and Gentlemen’s Final plus a three-night stay in a posh apartment in the Mayfair section of London.

An extraordinary Australian Open package including two seats in the President’s Suite for the 2011 Australian Open Men’s and Women’s Finals; four nights accommodations at the Hilton on the Park in Melbourne; and two round-trip business class flights on Qantas. This package also features an exclusive hit session with Hall of Famer Patrick Rafter.

Two Centre Court tickets to experience the grandeur of the 2011 French Open Men’s and Women’s Finals.

Tickets and hospitality passes for all four major 2011 LPGA tournaments: Kraft-Nabisco Championship, The LPGA Championship, US Women’s Open, and the Ricoh Women’s British Open. In addition, during the US Women’s Open, the winning bidder will be invited to a private 30-minute wine-tasting with Annika Sorenstam, featuring artisan wines from the Annika wines label, created in partnership with Wente Wineyards.

Highlights of the silent auction will include: Exclusive Experiences with Tennis Greats and Celebrities: A round of golf at LPGA International in Daytona Beach with 2010 Hall of Fame Inductee Gigi Fernandez and former LPGA Champion Jane Geddes; Tennis hit session with The Real Housewives of New York City star and tennis professional Mario Singer in New York City; a lunch for a young person with Miss Teen USA; a lunch with fashion guru Tim Gunn; a dinner with Hall of Fame President and 1970 Hall of Famer Tony Trabert; a hit session with tennis great Todd Martin in Florida; a round of golf with Hall of Famer Stan Smith at Harbour Town Golf Links; a weekend for two at the Van der Meer Shipyard Tennis Resort; and a one week junior session at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and at the Evert Tennis Academy. Tennis Tournament Ticket Packages: 2011 WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey; Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters; WTT Smash Hits Celebrity Event in Washington, DC; Opening Day at the 2011 French Open; BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells; Sony Ericsson Championship in Miami; and Opening Day at the 2011 US Open. Luxury Vacation Packages: A one-week stay in a downtown Paris apartment; a one-week stay including golf, tennis and water sports at the beautiful Karma Bay Villa at the Tryall Club in Jamaica; a three-night getaway to Atlantis, Paradise Island in the Bahamas; several dream vacations for tennis fans including an escape to the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club; a weekend at Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa; and exclusive access to Antigua Tennis Week with Hall of Famers Owen Davidson and Fred Stolle, including a stay at Curtain Bluff Resort and playing spots in tennis clinics, pro-ams and more.

Autographed Memorabilia and Tickets to Sporting Events: Roger Federer signed racquet; autographed photos from all eight 2010 Grand Slam Winners from the Michael Baz Collection; a signed B.B. King guitar; an autographed Alex Ovechkin jersey and four tickets to a Washington Capitals game; a CC Sabathia signed jersey and four tickets to a Yankees game; two week-long passes to the 2011 US Open Golf Championships at Congressional Country Club; and more.

The Legends Ball, held annually since 1980, brings the tennis world together to celebrate the history of the game and to honor some of the sport’s great contributors; all while raising money for the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum. This special night of celebration will honor a host of tennis luminaries including the Class of 2010, which features the extraordinary doubles teams of Gigi Fernandez & Natasha Zvereva and Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde, mixed doubles champion Owen Davidson, Derek Hardwick, an influential tennis administrator, and Brad Parks, the first ever wheelchair tennis inductee, who is also one of the pioneering founders of the wheelchair game. A legendary line-up of tennis greats will also be in attendance, including more than a dozen Hall of Famers and tennis dignitaries. During the event, the Eugene L. Scott Award will be presented to Martina Navratilova and the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Award will be presented to Mercedes-Benz.

For tickets, sponsorship opportunities, or to learn more about the event, call 212-843-1740 or e-mail legendsball@hgnyc.com.

All the kids are doing it.....

I've always been jealous of the talents that certain bloggers have. Making custom cards. I can't do it. I fail miserably. If someone would like to walk me through it, I'd be eternally in your debt.

But I was looking at Joe Collectors customs yesterday... he made a bunch from scratch. So I thought I'd try it too.... if I can't edit existing cards, maybe making them from scratch would be easier.

My first attempt. I used a program called PAINT.net v.3.5.1. and it took me about 35-40 minutes.
any criticisms are more than welcome.... also any how to's.

Official Car of the.....

Anyone know what the Official Car of the Atlanta Braves was in 1971??? I'm assuming that's Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium) in the background as Mr Aaron trots around the bases.
But it could be spring training too.... who knows?
I got this wonderful card awhile back from our friend Jim, of the famous GCRL blog. Apparently he was at a card show and posted on his blog via Blackberry, asking whether anyone wanted anything. I asked for a '56 Topps Hank Aaron. (I didn't want to be greedy and ask for his '54 RC)
This is what I got in the mail shortly after.
I'll take it. Close counts in hand grenades, horseshoes, and Hank Aaron card collecting....

Who's man enough? (Or woman enough?)

The third annual card bloggers fantasy football league is about to get underway. So far, four participants from last season have yet to step up. So that means there are three spots open. (it's the new math, try and keep up)

Just a warning though, I won it all two years ago, and I won it last year too, laying a beatdown on Fuji in the finals.... with beardy snivilling in third place.

The draft is Monday night. Let me know here how to contact you, or send me an email directly, and I'll get you an invite.

One of those days....

you ever have one of those days? You know you have.... I'm having one right now. As some of may have noticed, I haven't been around for awhile, other than to leave a snarky comment or two on some of your wonderful blogs.
But I knew that going in, so I scheduled a half dozen posts for blogger to publish throughout the week. I just now noticed that not only did they NOT publish, but blogger has decided to send them god knows where and I can't find a trace of them.
Check your inboxes people. You may have some unpublished work of mine. No hanging on to them until after my passing either. They ain't gonna be worth squat.

So....... I'll leave you with this. It made me laugh, I hope you find it funny too.
(Warning: horrible, horrible music accompanies video)

it's Tommy Time

Tommy Hanson is so feared, sharks have a week named after him.

Tommy Hanson walked into a Las Vegas brothel with an erection. There were no survivors.

Tommy Hanson is the life of the party.... that he's never been to.

Braves win.

Attention Los Angeles Dodgers...

It's not the heat, it's the humidity....
Tim Hudson's last five starts : 5-0 , 36 2/3 IP , 2R , 0.49 ERA

Braves win.

a new box break review....

Hot damn it's time for a box break.... I haven't busted a box since around the Super Bowl, and I've been dying to. Why haven't I? Because there hasn't been anything worth my time since last football season. If you read between the lines and determine that Topps is doing a horrible job with their exclusive baseball license, that's odd, because I feel the same way. Eerie how we think alike, isn't it?

Anyways, onwards with the first hockey product of the new 2010/11 season. Upper Deck Victory. Now normally I don't buy this entry level stuff... but re-read the first paragraph, and the fact that it contains the first rookie cards of my new favourite player, P.K. Subban, and add in the low, low cost of this box, and voila! Or is that Voici!? Whatever.... here it is in all it's glory.
Hey look! UD put Sidney Crosby on the box. Just like they have for the last 4 years. How unique. How daring. And if that ain't enough.... why not put him on the wrapper too?

Oy. Moving on to the base cards.... everyone loves base cards. (at least I do, so sit back and fake it if you have to)

Everyone's favourite Fin, Miikka Kiprusoff. The man may need therapy after the amount of vulcanized rubber that will be flying at his face this coming year....

Defending Stanley Cup Champ Patrick Kane. Do NOT ask the man for spare change. Trust me.

Montreal's uncontested number 1 netminder. No pressure kid. Everyone is allowed to make a mistake now and then. Uh.... except you, that is.

Rookie phenom John Tavares

and of course who everyone outside of the greater Pittsburgh area calls "whiny little bitch." Or at least, that was the nickname given him by Montreal fans during the last playoff run. The man whines more than Gretzky ever did. And believe me kids, that's a lot.

and we'll round out with the best player in the game today.... Alexander "I date a different Russian Supermodel every week" Ovechkin. Hey. I would if I could too.....

Now the box has 36 packs, 6 cards per. 5 of those cards are base cards, so you get 180 out of the 200 card base set. Less one gold parallel.

The other 36 cards are divided up into 3 catagories. Rookies. Found 1:2 or 18 per box. Game Breakers. Found 1:4 Or 9 per box. And Stars of the Game, also 1:4 or 9 per box. Apparently there are memorabilia and auto cards to be found, but UD isn't man enough to post those odds which means to me and you, It ain't gonna happen.

I did pull all I was supposed to.... including my 18 rookies. (50 of them numbered 201-250 to complete the set)

Brandon Yip and look! A Montreal Rookie!!!

Initials and everything. But the wrong initials. J.T. Wyman is no P.K. Subban.
Here's the gold parallel I pulled. Could've been a lot worse.

and here's what the two insert sets look like, first the Stars of the Game....

and Game Breakers.

So all in all a fun break. Nice cards. Slippery little suckers though. These will never stick together.

So if you're looking to bust some hockey, pick up a box. $22.95 at Blowout, $28.95 at DACardworld, $34 CDN at my LCS.

Or, I suppose I just could've spent my money on the guy I wanted. There's a Black bordered P.K. Subban rc (black parallels found 1:1440, so P.K. is found 1:72000) on the bay right now at $39.95. So there ya go.

is it just me, or in this day and age of over political correctness and fear of offending ANYBODY, isn't it kinda odd that the best P.K. Subban is a BLACK parallel? Maybe it's just me... kind of an inside joke if you don't follow hockey.

"Uh, Can I get a coffee, Black?"

"Can't you see I'm talking, White?"

maybe too obscure of a reference........

Attention Mr Lincecum... Paging Mr Lincecum...

like Halladay and young Strasburg before him... Tim Lincecum found out that if you come into Atlanta...
Chicks Dig The Long Ball...

Braves win. Best record in the National League.

You knew it was coming... ITG steps up, BIG time!

Since I live on the other side of the collecting world, well, North of it anyways.... I, like a lot of you, will not be at The National this week. I know. Shocking. I actually have to keep working and can't take off for a week of fun in the sun. Oh wait. It's in Baltimore. Never mind.....

As a result of that, and the fact that I'm not a 14 year old girl glued to the "social media" phenomenon, I have to rely on good old fashioned email to get my news.

Stephen Laroche, Brand Manager for In The Game, my favourite card manufacturer, sent out an email to several card bloggers recapping their big news announcement from that morning at The National.

ITG will now produce baseball cards. They will be patterned after their immensely successful Heroes and Prospects Hockey issue. But that's where the similarity will end.

While the hockey version has a great 100 card base set for us set collectors, the baseball version will be just the hits ma'am. Just the hits.
Each box will contain 4 cards. All hits. None of this one serial numbered base card crap that other manufacturers pull. All four cards will be autos, or game used.

Here's what you may find inside....
J-Hey!!!! Oh yeah! I got to get me one of these!

Between the Seams....

Now here's where it gets tricky.... the odds of you pulling a prospect auto is 3.5:1, meaning every other box will only have three prospect autos.... the fourth card will either be a prospect game used, OR.... a Heroes cut auto.... maybe like these...

Hammerin' Hank. It's not even out yet, and I can't afford it....

Now that's how to do cut autos....

No other word as yet on the rest of the checklist.... look for that info here, or go direct to ITG's website at www.itgtradingcards.com

And thanks to Mr Laroche for sending this info out via email to a few of us card bloggers...

Trade Deadline Response.

For those kids who read my blog regularly, please skip this post. You know who you are, Bobby, Steve, Dan, Nick, and any others I may have missed. Thanks, and check back for the next one, I'll have up some more trade bait.

Today was the MLB non-waiver trade deadline. And of course, the first place Braves just had to make a move. They couldn't stand pat. No. All of the guys who got them into first place to begin with just weren't good enough. Fuck no. We need to make moves. Everyone else is making moves, we need to as well.

Let's fall back a moment... I was pretty quiet about the whole Yunel Escobar thing. Forget that we traded the best defensive shortstop in baseball. Forget that we traded a young guy who's only getting better. Forget that we trade the A.L. player of the week who's made the Highlight of the Night four of the last seven games. In exchange we got an older, short, slightly overweight, light hitting shortstop nicknamed SeaBass. But Canuck, don't forget about the pitcher! We also got a pitcher who has a 12:1 strikeout to walk ratio. He averages two strikeouts per inning! He's the real key in the Escobar deal!

Fast forward to today. We just traded that wonder pitcher. To Kansas City. For Kyle Fucking Farnsworth. So to summarize, we trade away Yunel for a light hitting over weight motherfucker named SeaBass and Kyle Fucking Farnsworth. But Bobby didn't like Yunel. And Bobby is God, Governor, Mayor, and Grand High Inquisitor in Atlanta. So Yunel is gone.

The rest of the trade? Glad you asked. Atlanta has the best bullpen in baseball. So we traded away one of them. Jesse Chavez. Makes sense. He was pitching too well anyway. And why not get rid of our centerfielder as well. Gregor Blanco. We don't need him anyway. Our centerfielder of the future is in AA rehabbing a year long wrist injury. Our centerfielder we traded for last year from the Pirates, All Star Nate McLouth, has been demoted to AAA because he forgot what end of the bat to hold. So we only one centerfielder left. And he's now in Kansas City.

Who'd we get for him? Rick Ankiel. The pitcher who can't pitch. The pitcher who can't play centerfield either. So who's going to play CF?
Surely they don't expect.... oh. Fuck no. Not Fat Bastard.

Melky Fat Bastard Cabrerra. He couldn't hit last year playing for the Yankees. And if you can't hit in Yankee Stadium, you can't hit anywhere. And he isn't. And he's Fat. Capital F. The other day going from 1st to 3rd, a combination of his fat and the circus tent he wears instead of a proper fitting uniform, got hung up in the wind rounding 2nd and he was tagged out without even a slide.

Bobby CAN'T be considering him for CF, can he????

And where the hell is Ankiel supposed to play? The Braves two best hitters play in RF (Jason Heyward) and LF (Matty Diaz)

We don't do the DH thing in the N.L. So one of our two best hitters is going to sit to let a pitcher play the outfield????

Sweet Jesus.

all the cool kids are doing it....

so why not me? A wee mini trade post to get things moving. We'll group them by sport, one every couple of days. First up, baseball.... I just picked up a mini stack out of the trade box and here they are....
click on the pic to magnify.... I'm looking for Braves, but will consider other sports as well.

I've got Kaka!!!

it's odd how some phrases can mean totally different things depending on their context. This is one of those.
When I jumped up at my dining room table and yelled, "I've got Kaka!!!", at least a dozen of you would know instantly what I was talking about and been happy for me.
My wife, on the otherhand, took my jubulant phrase in a different direction, and gave me an according look.
Those of you who tried to build Panini's Virtual Sticker Book online during the World Cup know of what I speak. I can think of at least 9 guys who needed the Brazillian star as the LAST player to complete their make believe sticker book, myself included.
Fast forward to the real world, and Voila!
In fact, not only did I receive Kaka, I ended up with double Kaka. So if any of you still collecting need Kaka, I'm your guy.
I wonder if I just set the record for most mention of the name Kaka in one post.....


Kaka.

No Ball? No Problem.

Just what the title says... Germany's Mesut Ozil shows us how.