Football '13 Week 15: Bush League.

     In 2005, Reggie Bush won the Heisman Trophy which "is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football in the United States whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work."
 
In 2010, they took away his Heisman Trophy because he did something so unforgivable, 75-90% of college athletes do it, he took money from a booster.

To put this in perspective, in 1994, I played DIII baseball for the mighty Emerson College Lions.  Our ragtag bunch of players went 2-16.  The highlight of our season was two victories over the Mass College of Pharmacy by forfeit because they didn't have enough players.  We got full use of the college's Exxon credit card which we used routinely to run up $400-$500 worth of beer, food, and sundries every game for the post game party in direct violation of NCAA rules.  I demand the NCAA investigate this, vacate those two wins from the Lions, and strike the 17 at bats and 10 (horrible) innings pitched of the author.  I trust since I am turning myself in for this they will go lenient on me and only suspend me for one of my two remaining eligible years. 


This year, they gave the trophy to Jameis Winston, who has been investigated for rape.  Last year, they gave it to Johnny Manziel - who probably got more money in one day than Bush got in 3 years at USC.  Also receiving the Heisman trophy includes gamblers, drug addicts, and of course, this guy.  As of this writing, none of them have been asked to give back their awards.  That's some quality integrity right there.

Mail Call: Instant Gratification.

       When I was a kid, somewhere I heard the old adage that you never know until you ask and picked up the old positive affirmation that if you ask, all someone can say is 'no'.  This makes me one of the most annoying kinds of human beings: the kind that asks a lot of questions.  I think my point got lost in all that, I guess what I am saying is, I am not shy about asking for things, not that I am an insistent pest.  Sorry, my intros are rusty.  

I got a package in the mail from Night Owl HQ yesterday.  Because we are constantly shuffling things back and forth, I have no idea if this is in response to stuff I sent or if I now owe him stuff.  Either way, I have a pile for him.  This particular package was full of wonderful things:

You can't really see it in the scan, but trust me, the Harvey and Dickey cards are quite shiny.  The Wright card is a manu-patch card, but this one works nicely, good colors, very fancy intricate patch.  I used to hate these cards, but I have grown to not only accept them but enjoy the ones that look very good.  I still think they are confusing and ruin the value of actual game-used pieces, but I guess we have also learned those "actual game-used" pieces aren't worth the paper their disclaimers are printed on.  The bottom three cards are the ones I was sort of addressing my awful opening paragraph.  Night Owl recently posted about the new Topps Archives packs he picked up.  I requested he set those cards aside for me and we could work out compensation.  He told me that not only did he have a package ready to go out to me, he would put these inside.  The package got here in two days; in the world of blog transactions, that is the very definition of instant gratification.

In my last post, I snarkily addressed Topps' photo choices on vintage/retro cards.  The cards on this scan perfectly illustrate my point.  On the Gypsy Queen Gooden, that is a picture I am certain I have seen before but it is now in painting form, so I suppose that makes it better (as long as they don't use the same picture next year).  The Archives Gooden is not only a photo I have never seen before, it is a damn nice one - full of nuance and intensity (please do this more, Topps).  Conversely, the Seaver is a photo that has been used so many times, I could probably make an entire page of cards using it. The Ted Williams photo has also been used ad nauseum, but it is so iconic, you can almost forgive it here.  Almost.  Also, I can give the Williams card a slight pass because there are no doubt far fewer images of him in the Topps vault than of Seaver.  Plus, since he is dead, I am sure they have to okay the use of his pictures through his licensing company, which I am certain adds a layer of annoyance.  *steps down off his soapbox*

Night Owl not only sent that pile of Mets goodness, he has been perusing my want list:

Those 2010 Upper Deck now complete my page of these cards.  I hope I never have to mention this set again.  The next row has not one but two Rookie All-Stars I can scratch off the list, a pair of parallels at that.  The Opening Day Tavaras card has been especially elusive for me for such a recent card.  I wanted that one greatly because his Topps base card omitted the trophy, and that little cup is the whole point of the collection.  Night Owl's love of 1975 minis is well documented, so for him to give up a couple is surprising.  I have this vision of him in my head hoarding them by the thousands in a bunker under his house.  The Nomo will go on my 1997 Upper Deck page, one that has also been difficult to fill (odd, too, that N.O. would give up a Nomo card).  I never bought any of that set and for some reason I also never see them around.  Four down, five to go. 

Also from the want list:

Three Mets of varying importance, from nothing to everything.  I am praying that a stint in the minors will do Ike some good, considering I could hit .165 in the majors.  The 1964 design this year on the Heritage seems to really do the modern player justice.  They just look good to me, better than the last few years, at least.  And I do so prefer the old school trophy on these cards. 

Final batch from Night Owl:

The top three cards finish my Mets Topps set from 2013 Series 1.  I am slightly disappointed the Opening Day set has white borders, I was so hoping they would give it a green border to differentiate it from the flagship set.  I think the abstract ball field design cries out for green - and not the crazy shiny Emerald pattern they used as a parallel, but a nice muted kelly green.  As always, Night Owl wisely includes a little note in his package.  Each and every one of these cards is of use to me, in case you were wondering.  Thanks Greg!

Also in the mail was an odd thing for me, Yankees cards:

I realized I did not own a single Robinson Cano card and I have a feeling he is not going to be on the Yankees next year, so I won't have to automatically hate him, so when I saw a very cheap lot of 11 cards, I snagged it on eBay. That is a rare sight indeed, a current Yankee with his own 9-pocket page.

I was on a roll and scanned all the cards I got in the mail Tuesday, so here are the rest:

Those top three cards are a lot from Listia I picked up literally for nothing.  I got it just for the Reggie Bush, the other two will end up in a box to be forgotten.  I am slowly but surely becoming a user of that site.  The bottom two are the other 2 Cano cards, which I might actually list on Listia since I have no need for them (unless someone wants them).  The last card there in the middle is a mini refractor of Zack Wheeler.  The Mets have threatened to actually let him pitch in the majors next week, I'll believe it when I see it.  But I figure I should grab his cards now while I can.  I am not sure what the purpose of making that card mini is, though, but I do like the shiny.  Shiny > mini.

Ask and ye shall receive! I think that is what I was going for with the opening.  Sheesh, my brain is so sluggish and tired lately.

Football Week 1: Praise Breesus.

       My autumn Sundays are a marvelous blur of pajamas, fried food, and football.  This morning, practically on cue, the morning was crisp and leaves were on the ground.  It was beautiful.  I have a pot of homemade chili all ready to go and a sixer of Sam Adams Octoberfest to wash it down.  My last post about football was a little, um, harsh, so I will try and keep it a little more positive this time around.  As most of you who read this blog may know, I am a New Orleans Saints fan - if you did not know that or are wondering how someone from New Jersey who lived in Boston for a dozen years becomes a Saints fan, click here.  The player that makes the Saints go is a man by the name of Drew Brees.


       I have a hard time throwing the word "hero" around when talking about sports stars.  Not to sound overly cliche here, but people who run into burning buildings are heroes, not quarterbacks.  But some men ingrain themselves into the community with such altruism and grace that you could consider them at least good role models and one of those rare players is Drew Brees.  The Saints took a chance on him in 2005 when no other team did and Brees has returned the favor by not only doing so much for the city after Hurricane Katrina but also leading the team to a Super Bowl title when most people never thought the team would return to New Orleans, much less succeed. Plus he is a decent fellow, a family man, and even my mom has a crush on him.



I thought about doing 11 cards for football, rather than nine, but it didn't look right, so at least for now, I am doing eight to break it up a little.  This also might be because I haven't organized all my football cards yet and put them into pages.  I'll let you sort that out for yourselves.  These last two scans feature all my shiny inserts and such of Drew Brees.  I especially like the 2007 X-fractor up top, the run of three different 2009 Topps cards, and the mini Allen and Ginter mini with his son.  If you're gonna have your infant on a card, it makes sense to have it on a mini.



And finally, to cover the concept of "team" let's look at one of my favorite Saints cards.  It features the aforementioned Mr. Brees with two of his favorite weapons, the gone-but-not-forgotten Reggie Bush and the velcro-handed Marques Colston. (and just for Night Owl, look at how crooked the back is scanned - the horror!) I do like cards that incorporate different players and game used jerseys, which explains why I love this card so much, but also, take a good look at those jersey pieces.  I think they were going for the shape of a fleur de lis.  I think.  I do like cards that make me laugh, too.