I miss the 90's

I miss the 1990's- the music, the movies, the tv shows, and most importantly the baseball cards.  They seemed more magical, and a heck of a lot cheaper.  Even today you can buy cards from that era fairly cheap.  Not that I needed to, but a few months ago I bought a box of Free Willy 2 cards for five bucks.  I will open the packs sometime in the future and post the results.

Today though we are back to talking about my huge order I got from Just Commons.  Yesterday I showed a couple team sets I completed, and today I will show a couple more.  Since these are bigger sets, I won't show all the cards.

We begin with the set I told you I loved yesterday and a few other times- 1994 Score.  I am a fan of black border cards, so this one is easily one of my favorites.  They may show dings and smudges better, but to me they just look bordered pieces of art.

The first card is of Kaufmann Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals.  Obviously you knew that, but I just wanted to reiterate it.  Maybe I still haven't gotten out of my high school days of the late 90's and like to add words to make my writings seem more full.  I'll try to stop that.  It's amazing to look at this card though and think of how much the Stadium has changed in 20 years, but looks almost the same.  I have been to the K 3 times in my life (twice in 1994, one was a rainout), and it still looks amazing.  I never understood why teams need new stadiums all the time when they could save the money to make renovations.  The Braves are getting a new Stadium soon, their old one is 25 years old.  I AM OLDER THAN THEIR STADIUM!  UGH!

Let's move on, next is 1993 draft pick Jeff Granger.  Even in the 90's the Royals made good draft picks.  They had a great farm system, they just couldn't keep them.  Much like today though, the Royals also made some sure-fire picks that were more backfire than surefire.  I only showed this card to show how dedicated I am to completing team sets.  Maybe I'm too harsh, It's been 20 years, I can't even remember if he was good or bad.  He couldn't have been as bad as Tony Coggin or some of the early to mid 2000's relief pitchers we had who couldn't throw.

Phil Hiatt!  My man!  We have the same first name... well not really, Phil is short for Phillip which is my middle name, but it is what I go by.  I'm not sure if that is the reason I liked Phil Hiatt or not.  In my remembering the 90's there are quite a few players I can't remember if they were any good or not.  That's what 29 years of not making the playoffs does- these guys are all a blur.

Now this I should remember- THE ROYALS HAD A THREE-HEADED PLAYER ON THEIR TEAM IN 1994!  Oh, wait, that's Chris Gwynn.  All I remember about him was that he was related to Tony Gwynn (I had to look up that they were brothers).  Too bad Chris wasn't as good as Tony.  According to wikipedia, the Royals traded for him and Domingo Mota and sent Todd Benzinger to the Dodgers.  Two years later Gwynn signed elsewhere... the Dodgers to be exact.  Whatever! (To the younger readers, Whatever was a big catchphrase in the 90s, I'm not hip anymore so I don't know if it is still used).

The good thing about Just Commons is the fact that I know I didn't pay more than about 10 cents for those cards.  Not too bad when I need to complete a set.  Let's see what else was in the set.

We go to the heavy hitters now.  Brian McRae is first.  I always thought he was a solid player but I'm not entirely convinced he held a job in KC for so long because his dad was the manager.  After Hal was gone, and Brian was on his own, he didn't exactly set the world on fire.

If you collect cards just for the pictures, then you should start a collection of Kevin Appier cards.  I swear, he has so many different facial expressions, its like a new one on each card.  I liked Appier a lot and in the later years I felt he got a bad rap.  His record was horrible, but so was his run support.  It seems like if he gave up one run, the Royals didn't score.  If the scored 5 runs, he would have an off night and give up 6 runs.

I just wanted to show off this Stan Belinda card.  He is putting a lot of effort into throwing a pitch that is going backwards.  Stan is another guy that is a blur to me after all these years.  I do like the patch he has on his sleeve though.

Finally we have ole Ham.  Good thing he had decent power, because as evidenced by this photo, he couldn't run the bases for crap.  It looks like he is trying to swim to first.  I'm starting to think that Score had an agenda against the Royals in 1994 to find the most candid photos they could.  At least it gives me happy memories for a mostly dismal period in Royals history.  However, if the ill-fated strike didn't happen, KC had a shot at the playoffs in 1994.

Alright, maybe 1994 Score was a bad set to showcase first.  Let's try another year.  How about... 1993 Score.

Let's start with the back design first.  I like this design.  In 2014 it may seem blah, but in 1993 this was crisp (am I saying that right, I told you, I'm not up on today's slang).  It has stats, picture, logo, and even a biography.  Can't ask for much more.  Mike Macfarlane was a fine catcher,  I think a bit underrated by league standards, but he did a good job.

Kevin Koslofski is another players that had some buzz on him but never quite lived up to it.  I don't remember him being that skinny though.  Maybe if he added some weight he could have added some more power and stayed around longer.

Greg Jefferies was a guy that I liked.  How could you not like him with him wearing those 90's shades? Seriously, I was a fan of his even when he didn't play in Kansas City.  I'm not sure if I have any other cards of him in a Royals uniform, so I like it for that reason alone.

Rusty Meachem is next.  The 90's might have been the last time we had really cool names in baseball.  Sure some cool names pop up today, but how many people named Rusty play?  At least Kansas City still has Rusty Kuntz as a coach.  Meachem on the other hand also looks really skinny in this photo.  If nothing else, you can't say the Royals were shooting up the steroids or else they wouldn't look like someone Sally Struthers would want you to sponsor on TV at 2 in the morning (sorry kids, its another 90's reference).

What else we got?

Jeff Conine had an interesting career. At least it was to me.  He was a Royal, then became a Marlin, then later on became a Royal again.  He was also somehow a MVP of an All-Star game.  I'm not sure why I became a fan of his, but I always was.

Another guy I seemed to always like was Michael Tucker.  This card seems out of place in this set, but I guess they needed a way to differentiate draft picks.  Tucker was a solid player, but as his career progressed, I started rooting for him less. 

1993 would be the final set for George Brett.  He had two cards in the set.  I already had one, but I needed this one.  I would have preferred not having the background on the card, but its still a nice card.  I am having a problem now because in addition to collecting the team sets, I keep my Brett cards in another part of my binder.  I'm not sure if I should keep them as team sets or not.  The same problem comes about with my Johnny Damon cards.

Final card of the day is David Howard.  David was a very reliable player for Kansas City.  He wasn't the best, or the coolest, but the most consistent.  I have a few of his cards including a couple of his minor league cards.  I can't wait to finish more sets with him in them.

Okay, so with these last two posts, I have completed 4 team sets in my collection.  Next time I will show various cards I got that don't complete a set, but gets me closer.  Thank you for reading and have a great night.

Royal Package from Just Commons

A couple days ago I got a package in the mail I was waiting anxiously for.  I bought roughly 180 cards from Just Commons a week or two ago and couldn't wait to open it.  I love buying cards from them since they are cheap.  The only gripes I have with them is that it takes a while for them to process orders (which for the most part I can overlook due to how cheap their prices are on the common cards). The other gripe is that I've placed 3 or 4 orders in the last year and every shipment has had one card wrong.  They just send me the wrong card.  Usually its the same number but the wrong year.  Again I can live with that because the prices are cheap enough, and on top of that, the card they give me isn't a crappy card (as I will show off in a bit).

The next few days I will showcase some (or most) of the cards I got, scattered over the next few posts.  Today I will show a couple team sets I was able to complete and the card they messed up on.

*Editor's note:  I scanned the pictures after I wrote this, so please excuse them being a bit out of order.

Lets begin with the 1991 Topps Traded set. This was an easy Royals set to complete as it only had 3 cards.  First up is Mike Boddicker.  Nothing much to say, this was Mike's third team in the majors (his first two were the Orioles and the Red Sox).  According to the back of this card, he threw his 1000th MLB strikeout in 1989.  Impressive!

Next up is Kirk Gibson.  I collect  Kirk Gibson cards, but have thought about phasing them out as I collect more Royals cards.  This one won't be going anywhere though because I need it.  This card has potential to make it into my Card Hall of Fame at some point.  I mean look at his body language, he's probably thinking "Two years ago I was in the World Series, now where am I?"  Gibson's home run against the A's is still one of my favorite sports moments in history.  I need to get more Gibson cards in Royals uniforms.  Maybe he will be more excited in them.

Finally is Hal McRae.  I have a few of his cards (and got a couple more in this shipment).  I always liked Hal and thought he was a good manager.  He also gave great interviews.  While today's Royals manager is complaining about attendance, Hal would get mad and throw phones.  Kansas City deserves that kind of spirit in the dugout.

The backs are nice in the fact that they have complete stats.  I have always been a fan of complete stats.  I guess today you can go online and find all the stats you want, but in 1991 it was a little tougher to come by.

The other team set I will show today also only has 3 cards.  I should try to complete more 3 card sets.  This one is the 1994 Score Rookie & Traded set.

Before I begin, let me say that I loved the 1994 Score set.  I loved the black border, and it is in my top 5 favorite sets of all time.  Score decided to make the Traded set something totally different.  While I like the design, they should have just used it for the 1995 set and not for a update series.

Ok, first we have Vince Coleman.  Since growing up in the Midwest, the Cardinals were shoved down my throat (and still are to be honest), so I already liked Coleman before he came to Kansas City.  I also liked him because he shared the last name with a robot on Base Wars my friend and I would always intentionally hit.  After a while, the robot would explode and one of us would say "You blew up Coleman".  Ahh childhood memories.  Where was I?  Oh right, Vince Coleman.  I wish they would have zoomed out a bit more.  Who's to say Vince isn't sliding into third but instead trying out a Slip-N-Slide?  I don't see a base to prove otherwise.

Next is Dave Henderson.  I like this photo to be honest.  What is amazing is that this card uses 3 different photos of Dave in Royals garb, I guess its their way of proving he was a Royals player.  At least they used the best picture for the front.

Finally here is Billy Butler circa 1994- aka- Bob Hamelin.  At least Billy has had a few more successful years.  I was a big fan of Hamelin when he reached the majors, maybe because like me, he was husky and wore glasses.  Looking back he looked more like a bad guy in a 1980's made for TV movie.  Maybe he would have had more success at that.  I still like Hamelin now, but I won't be shy to say he was one of many who didn't pan out like the Royals had hoped.

 I like the backs of these cards too.  They have stats, and a short bio, and even pictures.  There is no wasted space.  I still think this design should have had its own year instead of just being a Update set.  If it was produced today, this would just be a variation set.


I mentioned I was sent the wrong card at the beginning.  I was supposed to get a 1995 Collector's Choice- Silver Signature of John Dettmer.  For those wondering why, it is because he was a Missouri Tiger at one point.  Anyways who could be upset when they sent this card instead-

Yep, another Kirk Gibson.  To their credit, they was only a year off, and I won't complain about it.  This card is awesome.  It not only will go into my Gibson collection, it will possibly be added to my Card Hall of Fame collection by the end of the year.  What is going on in this picture? 

Even the picture on the back seems oddball.  Is his cap brim turned up?  It looks like he has totally forgotten about his year in Kansas City because he's smiling. 

So that wraps up part one of what will likely be a few posts.  I was able to complete two other team sets with this package (each with more than 3 cards), and I'll show them off next.  Thanks for reading and have a great night.

A Change of Schedule

I've just decided to switch our Friday schedule to Monday, which means that the test we take each Friday on what we learned during the week will now take place on Monday before we've learned it. But since today is Tuesday, it doesn't matter in the slightest. Pencils ready!


I was under the weather and didn't feel like scanning cards for my post tonight, but I did write it up already.  I should have it done tomorrow and as a bonus, I will post a couple extra times this week too. Sorry about that, but there are many other blogs to read some are even listed on the right of this page.  Check them out if you haven't.

A couple quick notes. The Omaha Storm Chasers can clinch their second straight championship tonight (I think its the final game) against the Pawtucket Red Sox.  The game is on NBC Sports Network.  The Storm Chasers are the AAA affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

In the mail today I got my Mizzou decal from Saturday Down South. It is a pretty nice one, I'm glad I signed up for it.  It is the one pictured above (not the circle one, but the gold one).

Thanks for reading, have a great night, and again, I plan to post throughout the week.

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

This weekend has left me with a roller coaster of emotions.  I've felt really great, then I felt down in the dumps, then I feel like just shutting off all electronics and start building something.  The problem with that is I am not handy with my hands, and if I built something, it would look horrible.

I wish I could make something that good!

After all the events though, I can recap the weekend the best way by describing it The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.  I will start with the Ugly so I can cheer myself by ending with the Good.

The Ugly:

Daniel Nava after a Grand Slam

The Kansas City Royals collapsed at home this weekend, losing 3 of 4 against the Boston Red Sox.  While Kansas City is in the hunt for a playoff spot, Boston is in a hunt of their own- the worst record in baseball.  I normally like Boston, but they could have waited a few days to start winning.  What made it worse was not the 3 run home run KC gave up, but the grand slam they gave up in the 8-4 loss.  Not only a grand slam, but it was Aaron Crow who gave it up.  Crow is Mizzou Made, so I will forever be a fan, and him playing on my favorite team is icing on the cake.  When he messes up though, he messes up big.  Most Royals fans stopped supporting him, and sadly its looking like I might have to soon as well.  From a business standpoint, KC needs someone they can depend on, and you can't always depend on him.

What puts this in the Ugly category is the fact that Detroit swept their series this weekend and now hold a one and a half game lead in the AL Central.  Kansas City still does hold the second wild card spot, but they chose a terrible time to start collapsing.  That's the life of a Royals fan.

Just a reminder though- tomorrow is the 6 year anniversary of Milwaukee Brewers firing Ned Yost as manager as their manager while in the midst of a playoff chase.  They replaced him with Dale Sveum, who finished the season at 7-5 and made the playoffs.

Dale Sveum is currently a hitting coach.... for the KANSAS CITY ROYALS!

maybe we can replace the guy on the left with the guy on the right!

THE BAD:

After a magical start last year, most Chiefs fans expected the same this year.  Hey, I'm just happy not to have a 2-14 season.  Maybe I have a bit higher expectations, but after a week one loss to the Tennessee Titans (which former Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop got his revenge against his former team), the Chiefs at least kept it interesting this week against the AFC Champs Denver Broncos. In the end though Kansas City lose to their rivals 24-17.

Hey Santos, umm, you might want to start making some kicks.

You can't entirely blame the kicker for the loss, yes he missed one, but made a 45 yarder.  Had the Broncos not have a goalline stand at the end of the game, it would have been tied.

So what good came from this weekend?

The Good:

The Missouri Tigers beat the UCF Knights!  Maty Mauk had 4 TD passes as Mizzou got a comfortable 38-10 victory.  At least one of my teams did good this weekend.

As one fan said Saturday "Mauk-tober has started early this year"

To a lesser degree, another football team I follow also won on Saturday- the Central Methodist University Eagles!  I was two days from starting college there back in 2000 when I abruptly decided not to.  Mostly because I didn't spend a lot of time working on financials but was smart enough to know I couldn't afford it.  I still consider them my home school though alongside Mizzou (my goal was to transfer from CMU to Mizzou since I couldn't get accepted at Mizzou).

Anyways, CMU won 35-22 after recording 10 sacks.  Congrats guys!  I hope they can keep up the momentum after losing their opening week game.

Run Steinkamp, Run!

Normally that would wrap things up, but I have decided since I am in a better mood now to add another category.

The Great!

This weekend has saw an unexpected spike in readership for my blog as well as more followers and comments are starting to roll in.  I think I started to find a secret to gaining success on this blog.  You need to interact with other bloggers and they will interact with you.  Not only will they interact with you, upon seeing their interaction and your comments on their blogs, readers will check out your page.  Now, I'm not saying just comment and people will see your page, I never believed in that kind of promotion.  I am saying make a genuine comment that means something and is worthwhile to the topic.  Bloggers love interaction, especially if it is relevant. Basically a "Give and you shall receive" mentality.

OOPS!  SPEAKING OF GREAT!

I forgot, this Friday night was a super great night for me.  Bob Walk The Plank was running a contest, and on Friday night announced his winners.  I was lucky enough to be one.  My first win in a blog contest.  I have won a few contests in my day, but this was the first in a long time, and it hopefully isn't the last.  I followed it up with getting a card I won off Listia in the mail (which I will feature later this week), and won a couple more Listia auctions.  After all that, I can't really complain much at all about this weekend. 

Ok, now I think I can say this (and I mean it every time), thank you for reading and have a great week!

Am I a Happy Collector?

I was browsing my page on Facebook a bit ago and saw a link that COMC.com posted.  It was called 10 Keys To Being A Happy Collector.  Since I had a few minutes, I decided to read it.  If you have the time, you should too.

I'm not going to go over everything they discuss, but I wanted to mention a few things and how they pertain to me.

The first key they listed was STOP TRYING TO COLLECT EVERYTHING!  This one is pretty easy for me, I don't have an intention to collect every set every year, or every card of certain players.  Sure I want as many Greg Maddux and Johnny Damon cards as I can find cheap, and I may go to build a set once in a while, but I also realize my limitations and know I have been lucky to get the cards I have for fairly cheap.  I'm a self-admitted cheapskate and don't think I could ever see myself spending over $20 for a card (earlier this year I balked at a chance to get a George Brett rookie for $17).  I don't think I could ever spend $100 total on an entire trading card transaction.  I have spent close to $50 a couple times but have got a lot for my money.  I'm not going to stress over something I never thought I could attain without a lot of cash.

I think that's a bit excessive

Another key is buy what you like, not what you feel like you have to.  This one is a little tough for me, but again, for the most part, this is easy for me.  I am lucky to have many Maddux rookies, Jeter rookies, Chipper Jones rookies, and so on.  However, I'm not sure if I have the Griffey Upper Deck rookie.  I'm not too worried about collecting Mike Trout or Yasiel Puig cards.  I don't need to complete vintage sets because everyone else is.  If they feel compelled to, that's great.  I'm not going to lie, I would like more vintage cards, but not because everyone else does.  However, there are a few cards that I'm not sure I want because I truly want them or because they are conversation pieces or ones "true collectors" seem to have.  The big one I'm not sure about is the Billy Ripken **** Face card.  I've always heard stories about it and its semi easy to obtain, but I've never held one, much less own it.  At this point, I'm just happy looking up the card every so often and seeing it, if I owned it, it would be in a binder and I would just look at it every so often, so there isn't much difference.

WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?

One key they list that I need to work on is Trade.  I loved trading cards when I was a kid, even if I didn't fully realize how many bad trades I made.  Times have changed and I don't know too many collectors in my area anymore, so face to face interactions are tough.  Online trading seems to be the way to go, but I have trust issues with trading online (no offense to anyone reading this).  A few years back I made a trade with someone for a CD.  I sent one to them, and never got one in return.  That left a sour taste in my mouth, that sometimes I am still bitter about.  Since then I have had much success with ebay, but even this week, I am having trouble with trades on Listia.  I have learned who to buy from on there and who not to, but it still leaves me upset.

Another problem with trading through the mail is I'm not a big fan of mailing things.  I know its not that hard, but I just don't like packing items and sending things.  Though as I am writing this, I have been setting cards aside and plan to start trading communications with fellow bloggers soon.  Maybe I just need to start doing it and all my worries will go away.

Hello, Newman!

I won't list the rest because I think you should read it yourself.  I just wanted to list a couple and mention it was a good read.  I had another idea for a post, but I can save it for another day.  At least I'm not out of ideas right now.

Before I go I want to thank everyone who has been reading my blog and has even followed me.  Last night I was going over some blogs and found a new ones I started to follow.  If anyone has some good suggestions on which ones I should follow let me know.  I can't promise I will follow them all, but I will at least give them a look.  This even gives you a chance to promote your blog on here too if I don't already follow it.  Again thank you for reading and have a great weekend.

I might pass on blogs not written by humans.

Don't be mad, be Maddux!

Yesterday when I checked the mail, I got a plain white envelope.  I was excited because I figured I knew what was coming.  I opened it and it was indeed what I thought it was.  Last week, I won an auction on Listia and I now had it in hand.

For 999 points (or credits, or whatever they call them), I got 13 Greg Maddux cards.  I knew I had a couple, but I figured I could get a few more to add to my every growing collection.  Now at over 100 cards, I try to find ones I need and if I can justify spending points or cash, I will try to get them.   I started a list of the cards I have, but now I need to update it.

Anyways, lets look at the cards.

We will start with the 1990 Donruss cards.  The only doubles in the entire lot, I already had these.  I am okay with that, because deep inside, I still like the 1990 Donruss set somewhat.  Plus with a good photo and the fact he is in his Cubs uniform still, I'm not going to complain.

Another set I like to some extent is the 1988 Fleer set.  I have no idea how, but I did not have this card.  I'm sure when I was younger I did, but after I started rebuilding my collection after selling them in the early 2000's, I have to start somewhere.  So this was a nice grab.

The 1988 Donruss card is one I did have.  I don't like the set just because it seemed like every time I would see cards for sale when I was a kid, it would always be the 1988 Donruss.  Though an extra Maddux in Chicago pinstripes is not a bad thing.

Lastly we have the 1988 Topps card.  I had this card as well.  I think everybody in the world has this card.  Still not a bad card to have, but not digging the uniform he is wearing.

So the rest of the cards I got in this package are all cards I did not have.  I'm liking this.

Let's go to the Braves years next.  We will start with the 1994 Stadium Club card.  I have seen this card a few times recently, and might have even just purchased it days earlier on justcommons.com, but I have had my eye on it for a while.  Actually it was one of the main cards I wanted from this entire package.

Next is the 1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature card.  First off, which collector's chose this set over other sets? I liked the sets to be honest, but always hated the name.  My main thought is I'm curious what is going on in this picture?  Did Maddux land on the mound wrong, was he dancing off the mound at the end of an inning, was he throwing a hissy fit on a bad call?  Maybe I will need to look into this a bit further.

Beside that is another Collector's Choice card.  This one is a 1995 Special Edition All Star card.  At least this card shows him pitching.  I don't really like this card much, the design is not that great.  I do like the full picture on the card, but the picture seems to be a bit dark.

The final card of this series is a 1999 Bowman.  Bowman really has hit or miss sets, I just can't tell if this one is a hit or a miss.  I like the border, except I don't like the signature bar on the side.  Until recently, I never saw a lot of Bowman cards, so I couldn't remember if I ever saw the card before.  I do like the photo in the card though.

The last four cards begins with another Cubs card.  It is a 1992 Pinnacle card, and I am a sucker for black border cards.  I don't remember having this before, but I don't remember getting Pinnacle cards until about 1994 or so.  I'm not sure if I like the picture on the card or not.  I think the picture could still be a bit bigger and still have a nice black border.

I just looked and it seems like I had that card too.  Maybe I got it earlier this year when I bought a ton of Maddux cards on Just Commons.

Anyways, moving on, we have a 2004 Skybox Limited Edition card.  It isn't a base card, but I'm not sure what variation it is.  It is I guess die-cut at the top.  In any event, I didn't have this card, and now I do.  I like it more each time I look at it.

Next is the 1989 Bowman card. I like everything about this card except the fact it is oversized.  The front is perfect except it doesn't show his name besides his signature, which I can live with.  The back is a stat lover's dream come true.  It has his pitching stats versus every team he faced in 1988.  The only reason I didn't have it sooner was because I was not a fan of it being oversized.

Finally the last card in the package is a 2000 Upper Deck Statitude card. I never heard or seen this card before, but I am so glad I have it now.  It has a nice design, and looks even better in person.  The back has lot to be desired, but the front makes up for it.

Overall I am not complaining one bit as I believe this puts me at the 110 card mark for Maddux cards, and if I add a few more before the end of the year, I may try to set a goal of 150 or 200 cards by the end of next year.  The problem now begins that I am starting to run out of some of the base cards, so the price could be going up soon. Though I think I can still find some cheap enough.

Thank you all for reading, and a quick shout out a thanks to all my new followers and to those who leaves comments.  It means a lot to me.  I plan to post at least every other day from now on, and later this week, or early next week, I plan to start showing off some cards I got from Just Commons, who shipped 180 or so cards to me today.  Have a great night.

Where are all the Ladies at?

I'm sorry for what I'm sure most of you guys may consider lackluster posts.  Heck, I haven't even featured a lot of cards lately and when I do they aren't Royals.  Today I promise to post some cards, but sadly, they won't be of Royals.

Instead its Ladies Night!  Well, kind of.   Yesterday while most people was watching endless hours of NFL, or watching their team win or lose a chance at making the MLB playoffs, another sporting event occurred.  Well, I'm sure a few events happened, but I'm talking about the WNBA Finals began.

The Phoenix Mercury and the Chicago Sky faced off, and Phoenix prevailed by 20.  Before you ask, no I didn't watch it.  Luckily the internet saved me and I was able to see the score.  To be honest, I had to look up where the Sky were from.

Truth is, I haven't watched the WNBA since like 2007. To be fair I hadn't really watched it a lot since like 1999.  I do like watching the WNBA in all fairness, I even enjoy watching high school and college basketball, but I just can't find the time or get too excited when its on TV.  The same could be said for the NBA too though.

I loved how the WNBA came about,  I was excited that people got excited about it.  Hell, I even got excited they made a movie about it.

I LOVE YOU JUWANNA MANN!

Wait, maybe this movie was a little better.

Anyways, when the WNBA first came out, I watched.  I even collected cards.  I might post them one day.  I liked the New York Liberty and Rebecca Lobo.  My mom even collected cards and liked the Liberty and the Houston Comets (I think), and liked Teresa Weatherspoon and Michelle Timms.  Neither of us really liked Sheryl Swoopes,

SEE I FOLLOWED IT!

Then I stopped watching.  I had other things on my mind, namely a job, and a life.  However through the years I kept my eyes on the league to some degree.

I'm writing this for a couple reasons.  First I'm out of an idea to write tonight, and it was either wrestling or WNBA, and I don't see many opportunities to write about the WNBA.  The second, is because I have a couple cards already uploaded I can show off.

While this is a newer card, Jackie Stiles was a legend in southern Missouri about the time I was graduating high school.  I went down to Springfield for a college visit and remember her being on the cover of the phone book (its amazing phone books still exist, but that's for another day).  Jackie became one of the highest scoring players in Women's College Basketball and made it to the WNBA.  Sadly she more or less fizzled, more astonishing was the fact that I never even saw her play one game in the WNBA.  She played for Seattle Storm (I think its the Storm), and then went to the LA team (was it the Starzz?  WNBA has odd names). I really wanted her to succeed and was hoping she could make a name for Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State).

I got that card earlier this year, and out of all the cards I wanted to get, this was pretty high on my list.  First because I really liked her, and second because she is wearing he college uniform in the picture.

The only thing better would maybe be a Missouri Tiger Women's basketball player in the WNBA!

Amanda Lassiter I remember her playing for Mizzou.  At this time, I kept up with all Mizzou sports (I still do to some degree), so I knew Lassiter from the highlights on the local news.  Personally I thought Kerensa Barr was the better player on the team, but as I look it up, Kerensa wasn't drafted, but 3 players on the Mizzou team of 2000-2001 were- Amanda Lassiter, Marlena Williams, and Evan Unrau in 2004. 

As it turns out Lassiter was cut by Chicago during the preseason.  Lassiter is the only Mizzou WNBA card I have but a total of seven players have been drafted into the WNBA.  Besides Amanda, Marlena, and Evan, Christelle N'Garsane was drafted in 2006, LaToya Bond also was drafted in 2006, Christine Flores was drafted in 2012, and this past season Bri Kulas was drafted.  Unfortunately none of them are on any current squad, but I hope some are soon.  It might just get me to start watching again.

For those interested, game two of the WNBA finals is tomorrow night on ESPN.

Thank you for reading, and I'm sure you never expected to read so much about the WNBA in your life.  Have a great night.

Saturday Randomness

Sometimes I have plans to do stuff, and sometimes I don't.  Today I had most of the day planned out- sleep until the Mizzou game started at 11, after that ends, hear the rest of the Royals game, then more football.  Then I was going to stay at a hotel and watch some show and have a free dinner.

Last night, I couldn't sleep.  I never went to sleep until about 9 A.M. this morning.  As a result, everything was out of whack.  I missed the first half of the Mizzou game, and everything after that got messed up.  Even the hotel messed up the plans, so I am now at home.  I'm not mad at all. Truth is, I didn't want to see the show, I just wanted a night out of the house.  Oh well, I have other stuff to do, like my blog.

MY BLOG!  OH NO!  I don't have anything to really mention, and its too early in the month to feature another Hall of Fame card.  I need to write something.

So, I didn't have any plans to do a blog tonight, but then I remembered I missed last night too.  My plan was to stay in the hotel room, and the last couple days I scanned a ton of cards to add to the Trading Card Database.  The problem is with that, is that none are interesting enough to talk about.

I haven't got any cards from Listia in a while (I am waiting on a few, and may need to file a complaint soon on a couple), so I can't talk about them.

 I did buy some cards off of Just Commons the other day, but I want to wait until I receive them to talk about them.  In total I got about 180 or so cards, so that should give me a few good posts later this month.





Nothing really new on the COMC front, I have bought a couple cards lately, but I won't ship them until I get 100 cards or until they have another free shipping period, so with only 25 or so cards and no money planned to add, it will be a while before I ship them.

Not all is gloom though.  The other day as I was thinking about ideas for posts, I thought of a few special posts I can make on occasion.  I've already shown off the Card Hall of Fame, and have done a Flea Market Find (which I have one or two to feature in the near future), but I have some other ideas I have been toying with.  None I want to mention yet, because like a lot of my plans, sometimes things change or get abandoned.

So as I wind up my day, maybe I didn't get too much accomplished, but at least I got to see Mizzou win, and even though my Royals lost, they didn't lose the lead in the A.L. Central, but may have lost Danny Duffy.  Also got to see some other games, so the day wasn't so bad.

Sorry for the lack of anything of relevance, but I hope you guys have a great night and weekend.  Thank you for reading.

Am I ready for some football?

No, not really.

I think he is a little more excited than I am!

Oh, I have to write more don't I? I forgot, sometimes I get long winded and write for hours, and then realize a simple yes or no will work.  So I will talk about it a bit more.

I can't really pinpoint why I'm not in the mood for football yet.  Don't get me wrong, as I am writing this, I have the game on (they are singing right now), but only because my Royals have an off day.  I don't really care about the Seahawks or the Packers, though my mom is a huge Packers fan.

I have gone to a preseason NFL game (where I saw the Chiefs and the Bengals), and even went to the opening weekend of the NCAA football season (where I saw the Missouri Tigers and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits).  I had fun at both games, but I still wasn't in the football mood yet.

Part of the reason could be because my team, the Kansas City Royals, have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs for the first time in years (or decades even), and deep down, I will always love baseball more than any sport.  Last year I was in a similar situation where the Royals were looking to get a wildcard spot, but I never believed they could do it, I was just happy with a winning record.  Even so, I still was excited for the opening weekend of the NFL last year.

Even Bo didn't know if he was ready for some football.

Another part of the reason could be because unlike most people growing up, my school didn't have football.  Even if they did, I still wouldn't have played, but it would have gave me a chance to watch football more.  When I was in school I took stats for basketball, and briefly, for baseball.  As a result, I really got into basketball more and to this day I love watching high school and college basketball (the NBA doesn't do anything for me anymore).

As I was thinking of what to write today I was wondering to myself  "Why do I enjoy baseball more than any other sport?"  As I was thinking, I realized that in baseball, I could miss a game or too, and still be able to watch or listen to games during the week.  In the NFL, I can't.  If I miss my team play, I have to wait a week to see them again.  In baseball, there is a game every day.  In football, while they are adding more days to their week, there are only games 3 days a week.  While that feeds an appetite, it doesn't fill me up.

Maybe a little Bocephus would put me in the mood!

I guess since I watch college football in addition to the NFL, I know more of the players who are in the pros, so I don't see too many breakout stars.  Meanwhile in baseball, I'm not a fan of college baseball or even high school baseball for that matter (I would if they got rid of metal bats),  so if someone breaks out, I am amazed more by their talent.  Which also makes me want to watch more teams in MLB as opposed to the NFL.  I even listened to a few minor league baseball games this year.

Another reason I may not be ready is because this year I have spent a lot of time working on my baseball card collection and not so much on football.  So I'm sure I will get into as baseball winds down, I'm just not ready to give up baseball yet.

So while people are listening to George Carlin explain the difference between baseball and football, or hearing Andy Griffith talk about his big orange drink, I will watch this game and wonder "I hope Detroit Tigers lose tonight and give the Royals a 2 game lead in the Central".

Soon I expect to be in the football mood, but for now its time to sit back watch this game, and have millions of thoughts race through my brain so sometime soon I can say YES!  I AM READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!

Time to put the cap back on

I went to a second hand store today and was ready to do a post about Flea Market Finds.  There was a problem though-  I didn't find anything I wanted.  I saw some magazine holders, but I had plenty for now.  So as I left I looked at the store a couple storefronts down, and a quote from Venus Flytrap from WKRP in Cincinnati popped in my head.

I WANT A HAT!  I NEED A HAT, (the) COP'S GOT A HAT, I WANT A HAT TOO!

Besides being a line I use when I see a hat or a cap, I really meant it this time.  There is a new sporting goods store called Hibbett Sports (I always call it Hibbert's and chuckle like the doctor on the Simpsons).  I have been there 3 times now, and each time I go, I ponder which hat I would like to get.

I am a cheapskate, so I don't want to spend a lot on a hat (fyi, hat and cap are interchangeable in my vocabulary).  I have plenty but I don't have a good Royals hat.  I had some years ago, but I never liked them.  So I look now and never see any quality ones under $20.

So like Venus did in the particular episode where he said that iconic line (it's iconic to me), I finally got a hat today.

In the end, I paid about $19 for it, which is still too much for me, but it was a design I liked and as I said, I don't have a Royals hat.  I have plenty of others, I wear many different types of hats (my two other favorites right now are a orange Reese's hat and a Coca-Cola visor.)

The hat will go well with the shirt I got a while back that I showed on an earlier post, and goes with this bag that got when I went to the Royals game a couple months back:

If I get anymore blue, I will have that Eiffel 65 song stuck in my head or be called a Smurf.  I'm not there yet as evidenced by this photo:

Before I wrap this up, as I was looking for the above Venus Flytrap photo, I came across another interesting photo.  I forgot about during that episode, Venus steals the cop's hat and puts it on.  Let's put that image side by side with Pharell from earlier this year with his "Arby's" hat.  Which is easy to do because somebody else already did it for me.

Thank you everybody for reading this post, and hope everyone has a great night.

Hall of Fame Post #2

Last month I decided to explore the possibility of starting a blog based on my collecting.  After posting for most of last month, I have decided that I will indeed be continuing this blog (if you remember, I set a September 1st deadline to decide).  One of the features I mentioned I would be doing is my Card Hall of Fame.  You can click on the menu above to learn all about it and who has been inducted so far.  I decided not to do too many posts about it, but at most twice a month (three if I'm pressed for a post or see a card I immediately want to add), but at the least, once a month.

Since it is the first of September, I decided to do another Hall of Fame post.  Since my blog pertains to a lot about the Royals, I decided I better stick to them on this one.  When I was deciding who, I was thinking of maybe Eric Hosmer since he was activated today, or maybe a minor leaguer who was added to the 40 man roster.  Instead I decided to go with MR. ROYAL!

 That's right when you think of the history of the Kansas City Royals, almost everyone will think of one man- Ron Mahay  er... GEORGE BRETT!  I have a pretty healthy collection of Brett cards since I started collecting again, and some I like more than others.  Here are a few I like:

 I am a sucker for oddball and product cards.  I got the Purina one earlier this year, and its one of my new favorites.  Next to it is a card from Post Cereal.  I don't remember the yellow border cards, but loved these cards growing up.

Next to it is a Studio card that has a really nice design.  Too bad the KC in the background wasn't embossed, that would make it even better.  The last one is a more recent Donruss Threads card.  I like that they used an older photo with him in the old style jerseys.

While all of those stand out to me, none of them quite make it into my Card Hall of Fame.  They all could at a future time, but I have others in mind I would add before them, and I'm not sure how I will place rules on having a player inducted multiple times.

THIS IS THE CARD MAKING IT INTO THE HALL OF FAME!

I love so many things about this card.  First and foremost, I remember it from when I was a child, so when I got it after I started collecting again, it reminded me of my younger days when I never really got to see them on TV much, which is why I rather hear it on the radio.

I also like this card because the 1994 card would be his last regular card in the set after he retired at the end of the 1993 season.  Back then they didn't keep putting players in every year after they didn't play anymore, and it felt right.  Occasionally they would insert one here or there, but not every year.

Looking at this card also reminds me of when Milwaukee played in the American League and played Kansas City often,  Much like how the Seattle Seahawks were divisional rivals of the Kansas City Chiefs until they switched leagues (or conferences as it in in the NFL), I would follow all the rivals of the teams.  Once the Brewers moved to the N.L., I stopped following them at all.  It is nice to have a reminder of this.

The picture itself to me is beautiful.  While it should focus more on Brett himself, the photo is really showcasing the Stadium. You can see the fountains in the outfield, the grass beyond the wall in center,  and the old look and feel of the scoreboard.  You can see the count was 2 and 2, and the Royals had the lead in the bottom of the second.  It not only paints the picture for you, it also describes some of the game play for you.

Don't use too much pine tar there George, you might get in trouble!

The back of the card is just as great as the front.  If you wanted just a picture of Brett, the back photo might be better than the front, but I like it this way better.  The front image shows the action, the back image shows the player.  I must say if this was a 2014 set, this back photo would be the base card, and the front photo would be a short print.

What I also love about the back is that unlike most of today's sets, they show complete MLB stats.  On the 1994 set, they also would write a bit about the player too if space was available.  Since George played so long, his stats is all they could show, and all they really needed to.  Since he never played again, these were his entire stats, so no need to go online to look them up.  The man won 3 batting titles in 3 different decades!  Almost hit .400!  Even as he was getting older still tied for the league lead in doubles.  At age 40 he still played in most of the games.  He would have more than likely been able to do the same if he played in 1994, but I'm so glad he didn't.  He went into the MLB Hall of Fame with Robin Yount and Nolan Ryan, and everything was perfect.  Plus he didn't have to worry about the strike in 1994, so he got out at the right time.

Overall, the 1994 Topps set to me wasn't a better design than the 1993 ones, but this card still make me prefer some of the 1990's Topps sets over some of the early 2000's.

Congratulations to the 1994 Topps George Brett card for being inducted into my Card Hall of Fame!

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog, and have a great day!