100th Post and a Year in Review

2014 is almost over, I guess it is to all my readers on the other side of the pond and beyond.  I was shooting around ideas for my 100th post, but in the end I decided it would be fitting to combine it with the year in review.  Looking back I went to a lot of events this year.  Some I will go into detail about at a later day, but I thought I would give a recap of some of my favorites.

In April, I went to the Mizzou Spring Scrimmage.  They yearly event is always fun, and this year was good because for once the weather was great.  It coincides with the annual Tiger Team Store clearance sale, which as of late isn't as good, but this year I did manage to get a couple things.  I got some kicks, that's what the cool kids call shoes right?  I got some brand new Nike cleats, which I still haven't tried on.  I will take a picture one day and show them off (or shall I say SHOE them off?, no, I shouldn't).  I also got a James Franklin jersey cheap.  Let me rephrase that, I got a Mizzou #1 jersey cheap.  It doesn't matter if his name isn't on the back, because two other players I liked from Mizzou also wore #1, among others are Kip Edwards, and Marcus James.

The game itself was fun.  We got to see Maty Mauk working with the first team, and saw an amazing run from one of the backup QB's, Marvin Zanders.  This photo was my favorite I took from the day, good enough that I recently included it in a calender I made for 2015.

Moving onto July, I attended my first Kansas City Royals game in 20 years.  It was a birthday gift from my best friend (he told me on my birthday to pick a date), and when we finally came up with a date, it was July 27th.  It may not mean much to many, but the date was great for me because it was a day before my dad would have turned 66.  He was a fan of the Royals since they started playing, and was like me as he hardly ever rooted for the Cardinals.  It's how I started to bleed Royal Blue.

At this point in the season, the Royals were starting to make a comeback and this was the week they started making noise.  Taking on Central Division rivals, the Cleveland Indians, the Royals started to let things slip away early on.  With Jeremy Guthrie on the mound, I figured all hope was lost.  They managed to make a comeback and then this happened.

Butler, affectionately known by the locals as Country Breakfast, hit a couple home runs earlier in the week and started to look like the Billy of old.  However as he stepped to the plate, he got a mixed reaction, as he had a not so stellar season thus far.

He was no longer tied for 8th!  A home run changed the crowd to all cheers.  The Royals came back and won the game, and I learned two things that day.  First, if I went to anymore live events, I needed a new camera (I mean look at all those black spots on the camera, it looks like a ticker-tape parade), and second, you should never count the Royals out.

Less than two weeks later, I was able to visit the Truman Sports Complex again, this time to see the Kansas City Chiefs in preseason action against the Cincinnati Bengals.  I have never been to a Chiefs regular season game, but this is the second time in two years I've been able to go to a Chiefs preseason game.  Hoping for a better result than in 2013 (the Chiefs lost to the 49ers in the game I went to), I wasn't disappointed.  The action was good, and I got to see De'Anthony Thomas.  DAT is someone I hope is around in Kansas City for many years to come.

This is my favorite shot I took of the game.  Last year I was in the upper level, and the heat from that fire was astounding.  This year I still felt it, but it wasn't as bad.  This picture also made it into my calender.  The Chiefs ended up winning the game, and it gave me hope for a historic season.  While it didn't end that way, I was still happy.

In the Fall I was able to make it to two Mizzou games.  The first one was their first of the season.  I had fun that day, but on the day itself I wasn't feeling too well, as a result, I don't have a lot of memories of the game itself or many pictures to show.  I did mange to get a couple.

In the end, Mizzou won the game.  On the eve of their Bowl game against Minnesota, I'm glad to have seen them play twice.

Later in the season, I was able to attend another game, this time again SEC rival Kentucky.  I had a standing room only ticket, but got there early enough to be right on the wall so I really had one of the best seats in the house.  I had a lot of fun at this game, and looking back, I'm not sure if I would have wanted a seat for the game.

This was before the fame started.  I pondered sitting on the rocks, but I am glad I didn't.  The view wouldn't have been as good, and it would have hurt after sitting there for over 4 hours.

I got to see some up close scoring drives, and most importantly, I got to see Mizzou win.  I can't complain about that.

At the games I went to, I had my new camera.  So I spent part of both games testing it out some.  Here are a couple panorama's I took:

My view from the first game.  I was closer than this picture indicates.

This is an equal representation to how close to the field I was.

Before I go, I should point out, that while I never went to any of them, my year in review would not be complete without talking about the Royals playoff run.  I talked about it on my blog some as it happened, but while I don't have the best cable system, I was able to see every Royals playoff game.  If I had to pick my favorite game from the playoffs, I'm not sure I would pick the Wild Card win like most Royals fans.  For some reason, I seemed to like the most of the ALDS games more.  It seemed to solidify the Royals spot in the playoffs and showed they deserved to be there.  Game 6 of the World Series was also good because unlike most of the rest of the playoffs, they controlled it from start to finish.

It wasn't a superstition, but here is a photo of how I prepared for most of the playoff games.

I usually didn't wear the jersey, and the hat is usually kept in a safe place free of dust (I bought it shortly after I went to the July game).  However, the cup I used every game.  It was the one I bought and used at the Stadium (which still has the refill sticker on it, which they never peeled off when I got the free refill).  I also used Billy Butler's Hit It A Ton BBQ Sauce most night with my dinner.  I didn't find the sauce until August, but used it almost all the time during the playoff run.  Since then I don't use it much, but might need to buy one last bottle before I get used to him being an Oakland A.

That wraps up my year in review, and while I didn't mention it, another big part of the year was my blog.  I have met many new people and learned to love my collection even more than I though possible.  Thank you so much for reading and have a great new year!

A Flair For The Old

WHOOOOO!

Don't worry this isn't another wrestling post, though I have to reference the Nature Boy whenever I say Flair.  Now that I have that out of the way, I can talk about a couple things I got in the mail yesterday thanks to Listia.  First I will go with the smaller package.

I actually had some of these my dad kept, but they were scratched off already, and I didn't have any George Brett ones.  I got this at a good enough price so I am happy.  I was watching another one that had a Brett one scratched off, and a few others too.  I was outbid and the price went too high for me.I wanted that one because of the Brett as well, but it also had an Ozzie Smith when he was still with the Padres.  It's not much of a need now, but if I find it cheap enough I may get it.

The other package I got had me a bit confused.  At first I wasn't sure if it was someone sending me something or if I won something.  Then after I opened it I saw it was a Listia win.  What confused me was that it had a bunch of cards in it.  I figured it out that the seller sent me some bonus cards in addition to the ones I won.

TWENTY BONUS CARDS!  Before I show you what I won, let me say this.  I won 5 auctions for a total of roughly 450 credits.  That in itself was amazing, but all with free shipping. When I saw these, as I have been known to say "it's just icing on the cake".  A mixed lot of 90's goodies, off hand I knew I needed a couple of these at least.  The Topps Bigs cards were ones that I never cared to collect but I am close to completing the team sets.

Okay, if that was the icing, then let's look at the cake.

How about that for some Flair?  Each of these were sold in separate auctions all ending within 20 minutes of each other.  I told myself I wouldn't spend over 100 credits per card, but after winning the first two for about 70 credits each, I made exceptions.  The highest I think I paid for any one card was about 120 credits.  In the end I think it was 453 credits for all of them.  I didn't have any of these cards, so they all go well into my collection.

Here's a Bip Roberts that until a couple months ago I forgot was in Royal Blue.

Jon Nunnally who I do remember him playing in Kansas City.  I also think of Joe Dirt when I hear his name.  I know Joe's last name was Nunnamaker (or something like that), but I always want to say, "That's why they call you Joe Dirt and not Jon Nunnally".  Which now that I think about it is really mean to say to Jon.  I guess I won't say that to him if I ever meet him.

APE!  Shortly before I started my blog I was starting to collect specific players instead of team sets.  I got a lot of Kevin Appier cards as a result.  Once I have a solid grip on the team sets, I may venture out and try to get some other Appier cards from his time in Anaheim.

Another player I was starting to collect was Bob Hamelin.  In a way I am glad I am collecting team sets that way it doesn't seem like too much of an obsession that I have so many Hamelin cards.

Lastly, we have really the main reason I even spotted these cards in the first place.  Had I not seen this card, I likely wouldn't have gone after any of them.  I prefer to collect lots or sets of Royals cards instead of just one at a time.  However, all that goes out the window when Johnny Damon is involved.  I am a little excited to see he is on the upcoming season of The Celebrity Apprentice.  It's a show I watch anyways, but I have more interest in it this year because of him.  He doesn't seem like the type that will make it too far, but we'll have to see how it plays out.

Overall, I got all the cards listed today for under 1,000 credits (the Brett card was the priciest at between 5-600 credits).  I can't complain too much when I got a total of 26 cards, 20 of which I didn't even win.  These were my first Listia wins in almost two months, so it looks like I'm getting back in the swing of things.

Thank you for reading, and have a great day.  My next post will be post 100, which if not for the miscues in November I would have finished then.  I have a couple ideas for the monumental post, but I don't have anything definite yet.  I'm just glad I managed to make it to 100, as back in August I wasn't sure if I would stick to it.  Anyways, I'll talk about that later.  I hope everyone has a great New Years Eve and Day.

Some Christmas Goodies

I know I'm a few days late posting this but there are a few reasons.  First off, my family hasn't officially celebrated Christmas yet.  We are planning it in early January so everyone can be with their families.  Therefore, will I never ask for anything, and honestly don't expect anything, if I do get something, I will be blessed.

However, that doesn't mean I haven't gotten stuff.  I will show a couple things off today, and the big gift I got in a few days.  I am stalling on that because it involves some work and I want it all worked out or at least most of it before I post.  All I can say is it will be a great blog posting.

Not to take away from today's post however. First I will show you something my nephew bought me.

My nephew bought this for me.  Everyone in my family and most of my friends too know I'm a big wrestling fan.  In recent years I have toned it down some, but this year I had the WWE Network for over half the year so I was able to see some classic WCW stuff.  I always chose WCW over WWF despite the poor execution WCW made with the company.

A week before Christmas, my nephew stayed the night, and we spent some time watching some old wrestling.  I showed him a match where they fought on the back of a semi-truck.  Then told him old stories of Kerry Von Erich, Vader, and Cactus Jack.  Now while I am a huge fan of wrestling, I really don't know how they got into it.  They don't watch much these days, but both my nephews like John Cena.  I used to find matches he would win (it wasn't that hard), and root for the other guy.  After my guy would lose they'd rub it in my face.  I wish I could get them into baseball more, but if our bond is wrestling, I'm glad we can bond over something.  I never watched this PPV, and while I am very appreciative of it, I wish he didn't buy it for me.  But I am very thankful for it.

I noticed on the package it said a Topps trading card included.  I am not a fan of the Road To Wrestlemania set, but it is nice to get as a bonus.  As a matter of fact, my nephew didn't even know about it when I showed him.  I can't get my nephews into card collecting, and to be honest, I'm okay with that, but for a while they would buy packs of WWE trading cards.  They did well for themselves, and I taught them about keeping them nice and how to store them.  A couple cards I even got jealous of (I think I even traded for a Terry Funk card once).

If they decide to collect cards that would be great, but I won't pressure them.  Back when I started collecting, we didn't have computers and access at our fingertips, so I would study the cards to learn about the players I got.  Today, all one needs to do is do a google search.  It's fine to do that, shoot, I do that sometimes, but it takes away from treasuring the cards you have I think.  While I can't blame the internet for the decline of card collecting, it did hurt it to a point that its something future generations will never experience.  A cousin of mine was born about 12 years after me and to my knowledge, he has zero interest in card collecting.  It was because of his dad and my dad that I got into collecting.  Times just change, and as it does certain things in life become less valued.  It won't take away from my collecting and memories.

Ok, let me move on.  On Christmas Eve, my best friend stopped by.  I was excited because while I talk to him nearly every day, I haven't seen him in person in over a month.  I was most excited because I got to see his son.  It's only the second time I have seen him since he was born a few months ago, and the first time he was awake.  My mom also got to see him for the first time and so was so excited.  I think that made her holiday season more than anything.

My friend had a couple gifts for me.  I will show one of them now.

My friend knows I am a huge Mizzou basketball fan.  He doesn't really follow the basketball team much, but he is a huge fan of the football team.  He is thinking about starting a blog himself, and I told him I would help him.  He has a pretty good collection of Mizzou stuff.  To be honest, he is a bigger fan of the football team than I am.  Once he get's started I will give a link for you to follow.

I was very happy to get this guide.  The 1993-94 squad was one of the best ever.  They went undefeated in the Big 8 (man, I miss the Big 8 conference), and had an incredible season.  4.7 seconds is all it took for their season to end.  In the NCAA tournament, Tyus Edney (the nicest I've ever said his name), ran the court and scored the game winning bucket in 4.7 seconds allowing UCLA to beat Missouri and eventually win the National Title that year.  Last year, I had the chance to meet most of the 93-94 team as well as coach Stormin' Norman (Norm Stewart) before an exhibition game at the Hearnes Center.  It was before Homecoming and was nothing short of awesome.  I will discuss it in a later blog, but having this media guide is a great addition to my collection.

Really the 94-95 team was the last great Mizzou basketball team for quite some time.  Norm Stewart was gone a few years later and the Quin Snyder era is best forgotten by many.  While this year is nothing to write home about for the basketball team, at least we have a piece of the puzzle back in place.  Longtime assistant coach for Norm Stewart was Kim Anderson.  He was an assistant in 93-94.  He went on to coach a local University- University of Central Missouri (he lived about 20 minutes from the campus growing up), and he even lead them to a Division II National Championship last year.  Shortly after, he made his return to the University of Missouri, as he became the new Head Coach.

That will wrap it up for today, but the media guide was only one gift my friend gave me.  I will show the other gift in a few days.  Until then, I do have a couple Listia things to show off, and a couple other things to blog about.  Thank you for reading and have a great day.

So close yet so far away

After the incredible year the Kansas City Royals had, I couldn't ask for more.  However the past couple weeks I have been frustrated whenever I watch the Chiefs play.  Not because of them exactly, but it seems a lot of calls have gone against them.  Even what seemed to be videographic evidence has somehow gone against them.  Now normally I'm not super hard on the refs, I understand teams get calls for and against them fairly equally.  However as a result, the Chiefs backs were against the wall today.  In the end, the Chiefs did their part and won to keep their sliver of a playoff chance alive.  However the Ravens won, therefore Baltimore made it in and the Chiefs can heal up for next year.

It wasn't all bad for me though.  Due to a lacerated spleen (OUCH!) Alex Smith was out of the game, and Chase Daniel started the final game of the year for the Chiefs against the San Diego Chargers for the second straight year.  I have always been a fan of his ever since I saw him play at Mizzou.  I followed him in his brief stint in Washington, then again as a backup to Drew Brees in New Orleans.  This was his chance to shine.



























Those are ball card worthy shots.  I might make some if I know I'll see him.  I have met him a couple times, and have a few autographs of him, but nothing in a Chiefs jersey.  So the question is DID HE SHINE?  See for yourself.

I say he held his own against Philip Rivers.  To me that's not saying a lot since I have never been high on Rivers (I think I've gone as far as calling him overrated).  Chase did have a higher QB rating, and should have had a TD pass had Dwayne Bowe not fumbled at the 1 yard line.  Luckily Travis Kelce picked it up in the endzone for a TD, but still.  Chase also showed he could scramble when the O-Line protected him.

Chase even got some screen time after the game on CBS with a post-game interview. 

As one person on twitter noted, The Chiefs should make the playoffs just because of Chase Daniel's beard.  The interview itself will be talked about for some time because of  a moment where Chase made one of his only mistakes of the day.  When asked about the performance of Justin Houston (I'll get to that), Chase told the reporter "He's a better player than he is a person."  Well, in Chase's defense, when you only get interviewed by the media once every few years, you aren't the best at interviews.  I mean the last time he likely had national coverage was when he was a Heisman finalist in college.

Speaking of Justin Houston, he had a monster game.  In the end he set the Chiefs' single season sack record and fell 1/2 sack shy of tying Michael Strahan's NFL record.  The gap was a lot closer than...nevermind.

Justin Houston has also kinda solved a hunger issue in Kansas City as well.  During each game, if the Chiefs score a sack, Big Mac's in the Kansas City area McDonalds are buy one get one free the next day.  They had a sack in almost (if not every) game this year.

Big Mac's for sacks was a huge success this year, needless to say.  Another promotion saw the Blitz Box.  It was 2 Quarter Pounders, 2 Cheeseburgers, 2 Medium Fries, and 20 Chicken Nuggets for $14.99.  At one point they also included a Chiefs flag in the box too.

 All in all, the Chiefs Kingdom has become huge fans of Justin Houston.  With gestures like the one above (honoring Chiefs player Eric Berry), Houston is at the top of many Chiefs fans wish lists for next year.  At best, they resign him long term.  At worst, they franchise tag him.

So with all this talk on Houston, some may wonder whose record did he break?  If you are a Chiefs fan or even a defensive minded fan, you already know that answer.

The late, great Hall of Famer, Derrick Thomas.  DT was one of my favorite things I loved about watching the Chiefs play on Sundays as a kid with my dad and uncles.  I liked all the players, but he was the one that excited me the most.  I remember the SEVEN SACK game quite well, and thanks to the NFL Networks special on him earlier this year or last, I got to relive it.

 As with most players who spent a good deal of time as the face of a franchise, you could still go to Arrowhead Stadium today and still see fans wearing #58 and they still sell them in the team store.  He was there before the Montana/Marcus era, and was there afterwards too.  Sadly he died in a weather related accident on I-70 heading to a Rams playoff game, but he still had some good years left.  If he was still alive today, I have no doubt he would be working somewhere in the Chiefs organization and working with many local charities.

A few years ago, I went to a Mizzou game and afterwards my friend and I waited for the players to come out after the game, and I got to see someone that too this day may be one of my most memorable.

 For a brief stint, one of Derrick Thomas' sons, Derrion Thomas, played for Mizzou.  He was a walk on, but I was really excited to meet him.  I got his autograph and told him how I was a big fan of his dads.  I'm sure he had heard that a lot, but while I never got to meet his dad, I was just as excited to meet Derrion.  In 2013, Derrion graduated from Mizzou, something Derrick was in the process of doing when he died (though Derrick was finishing courses at Alabama, where he played).

The day I met Derrion was one of those days where I handed out some advice I will pass on to anyone who likes to get autographs after games or in person.  When asking for an autograph in person, obviously be nice about it, but give details.  Not about you, but the person you are seeking an autograph from.  Not an obvious one though.  A few years earlier when I was working an overnight shift at Wendy's, one of the members of the band Bowling For Soup came in.  While he was waiting for his food we was talking, and he mentioned he was in band.  I asked him which one, and when I did, I could tell he wasn't expecting me to know of them.  He said "Bowling For Soup".  I said "Oh, cool".  I played it off well.  However, I was a big fan of them, and likely would have tried to go to the show if I knew about it.  Here's where the details come in.  This was around the time they had the hit "1985".  Now anyone could say they love that song, but by being a fan I then said "you guys sing Girl All The Bad Guys Want" and you should have seen his face light up.  "Yeah, thats us".  The idea is to let them know you are a fan of theirs without actually going through all their history.  It reminds me I should do a post on stories from Wendy's one day.

If you don't have any info on the person, just create small talk and find out stuff or let them dictate the conversation.  When I met Matt Hoch during Mizzou fan day when he was a Freshmen, I didn't know anything about him.  All I had was the spring program with his name and hometown in it.  As he was signing I said "you're from Iowa?  You ever go to the Iowa State Fair?"  So we chatted about that.  Be genuine I guess is what I'm getting at.  I never seek autographs for resale.

Anyways, I kind of went off topic, so I will wrap it up by saying, there's always next year Chiefs.  To close it out, I have one more picture.

 Who can hate on that picture?

Thanks for reading and have a great day.

A whole lotta something

I'm trying to clean up some of these scans I've posted recently because I haven't shown my big gift I got from my best friend yet.  Once I show that, it will take up a few posts, and I'd rather not break them up.  All I can say is that the gift will allow me to post many times about the Royals.

In the meantime, I am going to show off a few more Listia wins today, and a couple more books I got at Savvy Seconds yesterday (they still have 20 books for $1, but the selection is really limited).  Let's get started.

I got both of these in separate Listia auctions.  I'm not a fan of die cut for the most part, but this was cheap enough to add to my Pujols collection.  Honestly, I have a few of these Cut to the Chase die cuts, and I don't mind them as much as other die cuts.  As I thin down other collections, and follow Pujols less, I am a bit curious if I will still continue to collect his cards.  If I do I really want to focus on his earlier stuff, especially prior to 2005.  In the meantime, I have no plans of stopping yet.

The Michael Sam card is a Topps Valor card. I collect Michael Sam because he went to Mizzou.  I was a fan before he came out as gay, and I am still a fan. I believe a lot of people overlook his ability on the field because of all the off the field stuff.  Having said that, I'm glad I have this card, but I don't get why they need to make a card for someone who was an untested late round draft pick.  He wasn't even on the team by the time the card came out.  Actually I know why they made the card- money.  It just makes me a bit mad that the circus surrounding him allows him to get a card while his former teammate EJ Gaines is having a killer season for the Rams doesn't get a fraction of the cards.  Sorry for the rant, but NFL cards have a limited amount slots available since they only have slightly over 400 cards in a set but are over 1500 players on a roster each year, yet Sam somehow made the cut for this set but didn't even make a team (as of now he's not on a practice squad).  I never got why MLB had these huge sets, but the NFL has about half as many.  I'm not saying we need a card for every player, but maybe do like in previous sets and feature 3 or 4 players on a card (especially the O-line who deserve cards just as much as kickers and punters).  Maybe make a 650 or 700 card set.  You could still show off rookies too.

Sorry.  I'll move on.  I'm not mad, but wanted to get that off my chest.  Anyways, yesterday I went back to Savvy Seconds in hopes of scoring some more good books, or perhaps another Mizzou program.  No program this time, and to be honest, the selection was a lot different this time, but it was tough to get to 20 books.  20 books for a $1 is still a good deal, but I got better books last time.  I'll try one more time in a couple weeks, maybe I can get some stuff then.  Here is what I got this time, among other books:

A 3 year old hockey price guide isn't exactly something to crow about, however I got it for a couple reasons.  Besides knowing it would be tough to get to 20 books, I don't remember ever seeing a hockey price guide.  I know its not too different from other sports, but I was still curious.  I have a few hockey cards, so I can see what they were worth a few years ago.  Another reason I got it was just so I could scan it for Trading Card Database.  They added publication scans this year, and figured I could add it.  I also figured when I was done with it I could give it to a friend who is a hockey fan and never sees price guides.  What is odd is the fact that this really doesn't have any articles in it, just mainly prices and ads.

Here is another book that once I finish I will give to my friend.  He is a huge Simpsons fan (I am too, but not to his level), and figured he never saw this.  I showed him the scan last night, and his first reaction was the same as mine.  "Isn't it odd The Simpsons are on the cover of a Disney magazine?"  The moment I saw that I thought the exact same thing.  Inside is also a story on hockey with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Leimuex (I know I messed up the names, it shows how much I follow hockey, at least I can spell Alexander Overchkin, I think).  So this magazine is right up my friends alley.  I admit I like this cover, and will get a lot more use from this than the price guide.

I bought some other books, but nothing worth mentioning.  Before I go I thought I'd show off another scan I took a while back just to clear up my computer some.














A couple months ago, I won a t-shirt from the website Gottadeal.com.  I go there every year to see the Black Friday ads, and usually win a t-shirt.  This year I also got a mini calender for 2015. It's nice to have especially when I'm not at the computer.  The site is good to use all year round too.  My favorite part is the Target Perimeter Perusing which lists posts from people on the message boards and what they found on clearance at Target.  Anyways, I thought I'd show it.

That will wrap it up today, thanks for reading and have a great day.

Basketball cards and a moment of Clarity

I'm a little backlogged now thanks to not posting for a month, and then on Christmas Eve I got a present that I'll show in a few days that already has been keeping me busy.  Anyways today I'm going to knock a couple Listia wins from October off my list.

We start with a rare blog featuring basketball cards.  I collect some basketball cards, but am looking into getting rid of some of them.  I don't watch the NBA much anymore, as I prefer seeing the college games more, but I still follow players who went to Mizzou.  I'm a big fan of DeMarre Carroll and Kim English and Phil Pressey.  These cards I'm about to show are 20 years old (plus a couple more), and one of the four is a Legend (not at Mizzou, but in the NBA).

It was a package deal, but I only wanted the first two cards.  I don't remember Charles Smith, and I admit I liked Kevin Johnson in the NBA, but I never was a huge fan.

The main reason I got this was because of the Doug Smith card.  I actually have one already, but sometimes I make exceptions, and I hope one day I can get on of them signed.  He played at Mizzou shortly before I started watching, but I learned about him after I became a fan.

To top it off, was this Larry Bird card.  I always liked Larry Bird, though I will admit I didn't get to see him play during his peak.  I have seen a lot of cards from this set floating around, but rarely see the Bird card.  I got this fairly cheap (I think under 500 credits).  Not too bad for 2 cards I wanted, and being an oddball set such as Kellogg's just added to its appeal to me.  Once I get caught up on things and sort stuff out, I may look into completing this collection.


Let's move on to football, and have a moment of Clarity.  Well, a card of Clarity.  I saw this card on Listia and looking back now that I have it in hand, I overspent (which isn't a terrible thing when I've never spent money on credits on the site), and payed close to 2000 credits for this card.

Jeremy Maclin is having a huge year, and even better for him is its a contract year.  Also a product of Mizzou, I have been a fan of his since I first saw him play at Mizzou.  I'm not sure if I still have it (thanks to multiple hard drive crashes), but I had a video of him at Mizzou I recorded on my camera with him scoring a 20 yard or so touchdown.  It was one of the first Mizzou games I attended. He's one of the few players I never got to meet that has gone to Mizzou in recent years.

This card is odd to say the least.  It's clear, not white.  I took multiple photos to show this.

I like it, and its really thick.  Though after I got it, I got a little buyers remorse.  However I am happy it is in my collection now.

To show that its clear, I took a picture of it and you can see my fingers behind the card.

If you have never seen these cards, they are worth seeing.  My remorse is more because I spent more than I normally do, not so much the card itself.  For some reason I thought the printing on the card would be inside the clear part, instead its more like its screen printed.  Almost embossed (not badly, but you can fell the card).   It is a heavy duty plastic, similar to plexi-glass, I was thinking it would resemble glass a bit more, but glad it doesn't or the edges would be real sharp.

So that's a couple more wins I never got to post until now.  I have some more posts I'll be planning soon, including a present from my best friend that made my jaw drop. Anyways, thanks for reading and have a great day.

A holiday message from Bruce Springsteen

I just wanted to say....

I just wanted to say, MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY!


A light post today, because well, you know, its Christmas.  Plus I got an amazing gift from my best friend last night that will keep me busy for a while sorting.  In the meantime, I wanted to show a Christmas card Julie from A Cracked Bat sent.  Thank you very much Julie.

That's a really cool card.  For some reason, green cards have always caught my attention more than other cards.

These days its though to see personal messages, and when you do they are typed.  It makes me miss the age before the internet where everyone had to write things out by hand.  Then again, blogs would look horrible if they were written by hand, lol.

She also sent me a Ryan Braun card.  He's a guy that I've only heard about or my memory is going away, because I have no memory of him at all.  I might have another card of his, but not an autographed one.  Thanks again Julie!

I was going to show a couple more scans of the Braun card, but since I'm keeping it light, I won't.  I'll finish up with a non-winning scratcher ticket I got the other day.  Our family has a tradition of putting scratcher tickets in stockings each year.  Our family Christmas will be sometime next month, so for now this will have to do.

Thanks for reading, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a great and blessed day!

This one book covered the $1 I paid for all 20.

Yesterday I showed off a few books I got from Savvy Seconds.  Today, I will show the one book that in my opinion was worth the $1 alone.  So in essence I got 19 books for free.

I got a Mizzou program from 2005!  I didn't go to Mizzou games until about 2008 or so, so finding these are a bit of fun.  I try to get a program each time I go to a game, and when I see them available for sale I buy them if they are cheap enough. The only knock is the slight pen marking on the front and a couple pen blemishes next to players names in the book but otherwise, its pristine.

Let's look and talk about the inside, and a bit about some of the players.

Let's start with some advertisements.  I've always been a fan of them and the are a couple showing upcoming Mizzou events.  I always enjoyed Gold Rush, and Family/Band day was good though I will admit I never cared a lot about seeing the bands.  Once when I was in high school I actually worked a Mizzou event during Band Day.  It was odd, we were stationed inside the basketball arena next door, and I never saw the field that day.

IT'S KANYE!  Nope, even in 2005 I wasn't a fan.  It was a big deal at the time, and while I'm game for almost any concert, I would have passed on this one.  I did see a Nelly concert once, which was a lot of fun.  I'd see him again.  I had a free ticket to see Juvenile once too, but skipped the show (I live 45 minutes away and couldn't make it), but he no-showed.  I did want to see the Nappy Roots when they came to town a few times, but these days, I would likely pass on that too.  Maybe one day I'll write about some concerts I went to.

Moving on, let's look at some media ads.

KOMU is actually run by the University of Missouri.  It's good and bad at the same time.  Since it is ran by the University, you see a lot of good talent on the air.  You also see a lot of bad talent on the air.  Chris Gervino has been in the Mid-Missouri market since 1990 if not earlier.  He covers a lot of Mizzou programs including sideline reporter for the football team on the radio and sometimes the basketball team.  Eric Blumberg no longer works at KOMU, but still lives in Columbia.  He had a nice feature on the news called Blumberg Off The Bench.  It focused on overcoming obstacles or high school players.

The other channel in Columbia is KMIZ, the ABC affiliate.  They also run the Fox affiliate, the CBS affiliate is actually located in Jefferson City.  Anyways, KMIZ always seemed second rate compared to KOMU, even in the 90's when Chris Gervino was at KMIZ.  That's not to say Beau Baehman and Kevin Lewis were bad, but neither lasted too long.  I'm not sure where either are today, but I believe Beau is in St. Louis.  Occasionally he covers Mizzou Women's basketball on TV and is the announcer for the Missouri State High School Football Championships.  Today the sports coverage on KMIZ is run by Austin Kim (ESPN's Michael Kim's brother) and Sherree Burres (she isn't that good, I've seen many other female sports reporters, but she can't even say the players names right).  Austin Kim as it turned out got his on air start at KOMU as a student reporter.

Okay, let's move on.

For those that have never been to the campus, one thing you must see are the columns.  They are iconic to the University and have a storied history.  When the ESPN Gameday crew came a few years back, they used them as the backdrop.  In the background is the historic Jesse Hall Auditorium.  I have been inside a number of times, and am glad to been involved with events that have used the building.  If you visit, nearby is also a Beetle Bailey statue you should check out.  Beetle Bailey's creator, Mort Walker went to Mizzou.

The Tigers Radio Network is run by Mike Kelly.  On the left is another photo of Chris Gervino, and on the right is John Kadlec.  Affectionately known as Mr. Mizzou, John Kadlec passed away during the football season.  He had been a part of Mizzou for 40 years if not more.  He always provided great color commentary to Kelly's superb play-by-play.

I never remember him being called Michael Alden, but Mike is still there.  Most of the time I like him, but occasionally he rubs me the wrong way.

Much like Alden, Gary sometimes rubs me the wrong way.  What is undeniable is the fact he turned this program around.  While a few years ago, I wouldn't have cared as much, I am now a bit worried about the time Pinkel either retires on moves elsewhere.  Whoever will be his successor will have mighty huge shoes to fill.

Let's look at some of his staff.

I think it is in my genes to be not a huge fan of someone named Yost.  Dave was actually really good, and I was a bit worried when he left after the 2012 season. However I must note, that I was very critical during his time here, and I stand by a lot of that criticism.  Looking back though, I'm not sure if all the offensive troubles should be blamed on him.  It says QB and recruiting, but he later became the Offensive Coordinator.  Yost worked with Brad Smith, Chase Daniel, Blaine Gabbert, and James Franklin all at Mizzou. All made it to the NFL (Franklin was cut in the preseason by the Lions, so maybe not officially on a roster but still).  My biggest complaint with Mizzou quarterbacks was they always threw too high.

In 2005, Stec was the Linebackers coach.  By 2014, he moved up to the Defensive Coordinator and the Assistant Head Coach.  A couple weeks ago, Coach Steckel left Mizzou for his chance to become a Head Coach.  He drove three hours south on Highway 63 and is now the Head Coach of the Missouri State Bears.  Its sad to see him go, but at the same time I'm glad he gets the chance to show his skills.  I also can't complain as I am also a Missouri State fan as well.  By the way, just for reference, Missouri State has never, and should never be called Mizzou State.  Mizzou is only to be used for the University of Missouri-Columbia school.

So with Steckel gone, Coach Pinkel had a tough decision to make for a new Defensive Coordinator.  It turns out, he didn't have to look far.

Welcome back to Mizzou, Coach Barry Odom.  Recently the D-Coordinator for the Memphis Tigers, he turned their defense around, and gave them a lot of fight (maybe a little to much, if you saw the bowl game brawl).  Odom is a good signing and not a huge shock he came back.

Now let's look at the roster.  As I have admitted before, I didn't follow the football team much at all prior to 2008, so I recognize some of the names, but not all of them.  Let me begin with the name in black border.  Prior to the 2005 season, during a August training day, Aaron O'Neil passed away.  For the next four years, he was honored as he still on the team.  When the class of 2009 was recognized on the field, they held up a sign remembering AO #25.

Chase Coffman, Martin Rucker, William Moore, Brad Smith, Brian Smith, Chase Daniel, Will Franklin, and Evander "Ziggy" Hood all made it to the NFL, maybe a few others might have too.  Stryker Sulak was a 6th round draft pick for Oakland, but was cut before the preseason and spent some time on the Packers practice squad.  Others I thought could have excelled in the NFL were Jeff Wolfert (who I think was in the UFL), Jimmy Jackson, Tony Temple (check out his Cotton Bowl performance vs. Arkansas in 2008), Kurtis Gregory, Tommy Saunders, Brock Christopher, and my favorite player, Jaron Baston.  The roster was better than I first thought.  Below is a picture of the team.

Before we close the book on this program, here's a couple more ads.

The one on the left is for Tan-Tar-a Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks.  The one on the right is obviously for Coca Cola.  I'm not one of those crazy Coke collector's but I do collect some Coke items. It was nice during the first Mizzou game this year, they had the Coke cans you can personalize and my best friend made one for me.  Here's the can.

Okay, time for one last ad, this one is on the back cover:

I'm always conflicted on alcohol ads for colleges.  They ban them in the stadium, most of the students are too young to drink, but they can advertise in the programs.  I may be harsh because I don't drink, but I don't think they should really be able to have ads in the program.  However, the same could be said with the caffeine found in soda, and where would it end.  However, I have come to accept the fact that Budweiser or and of the Busch beers will be a major contributor to ad space in Missouri programs, so it hasn't become much of a deal anymore.

So there is the final book I got from their 20 for $1 sale.  I went back earlier today, but they were closed for Christmas, so I might go back again in a couple days to see if I can find anymore gems.  Who knows, maybe I can find a real steal.  If it is anything close to these books, I will be happy.  Thanks for reading, have a great night, and have a Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you observe.