Football '14 Week 7: I Still Just Can't Even.

       I am like an overwrought teenage girl right now, football and all the nonsense from earlier this year still has me with a bitter taste in my mouth.  I will watch the Saints today, but I probably won't enjoy it.  In the meantime...

Here is a little reminder of better times; this magazine is my latest Listia pick up and it goes nicely with my Super Bowl coffee table book.  Living in New Jersey, I wasn't able to get all the cool local swag back in 2010, so I am overjoyed when I find it for free online.  And yes, those are Christmas Ornaments on the left, but I am sad to report they have been left out all year.  Don't judge me!

Football '13 Super Bowl Sunday: The Big Game.

       This afternoon I am rooting, in order, for the meteor, the food, the commercials, and the puppies.  I might even watch the game for five minutes.  And as you watch the Super Bowl today, remember that every time you say the words the big game, there is only one professional football league that was going to refer to its game as The Big Game:

OK, so the XFL changed the name to The Million Dollar Game, but still...

...and as you can see, I was really interested in collecting all the players from that failed experiment.  Enjoy yourself tonight and don't drive drunk.  Pitchers and catchers report in two weeks.

Football '13 Week 16: A Passing Record.

       This afternoon Peyton Manning set the all time single season record for passing touchdowns with his 51st.  He did this in his 15th game of the season which means he could add to this total before the regular season ends.

Peyton Manning: Center square, er, rectangle.

Sure, this is quite an impressive accomplishment to add to his resume (for a second time, even) but let's analyze the last few seasons in which the TD record had been broken...

1963: YA Tittle, 36 touchdowns.

Y.A. Tittle: middle right

Team result: Lost NFL Championship game. 

1984: Dan Marino, 48 touchdowns.

Team result: Lost Super Bowl.

2004: Peyton Manning, 49 touchdowns.

Team result: lost AFC Championship game.

2007: Tom Brady, 50 touchdowns.

Team result: lost Super Bowl.

I see a very inauspicious pattern here.  You have to go back to 1961 and George Blanda to the last time a quarterback set the touchdown record and won a title - and he did it in the AFL.  To get to the last time an NFL quarterback did it, you need to go back two years further to 1959 and John Unitas.  So cherish your new record Peyton because your playoff history and the last 50 years of NFL history shows that it might be all you get this year.

Football '13 Week 8: Complete Set Sunday - 2010 Upper Deck New Orleans Saints Super Bowl Champions.

       This week I am bringing back one of my few recurring topics.  A little while ago, after my trip to New Orleans, I decided to augment my Saints collection to fill in a few holes. While I was there I found out there was a commemorative set from the Super Bowl win that I did not have.  I went on to eBay and  got into a bidding war for this 2010 Upper Deck New Orleans Saints Super Bowl Champions set.  Turns out, this is a pretty rare set.  I mean, some of these kinds of sets are still on the shelves today from 5+ years ago.  But of course, for my favorite team, it is rare and hard to get.  Well, I didn't win that one from the bidding war and believe me, we took the closing bid far over the actual retail price.  My collection would not stand for this, so I found another one with an even more ridiculous Buy It Now price.  Luckily, it also had a Make An Offer, so I did.  Sadly, this also turned into a nasty bit of negotiating, but after a bit of back and forth we agreed on an exorbitant price.  Dammit thought, it is all mine so lets take a look.

The design integrates the bright bright orange and blue of the Super Bowl XLIV logo, which is a jarring contrast to the black and gold of the Who Dats.

The font for the player name is really tiny, but believe me, they included a lot of the players from the 2009 roster/

They certainly got a lot of nice action shots.

Did you know that technically, Scott Fujita is the first Japanese-American to play in the NFL?  You can look it up.

OK, enough of those garish fronts, let's see the backs...

Whoa, just as bright.  Nice mirror reflection of the picture on front, though.

The page placement splits the regular season highlights and the post-season highlights quite nicely.  I still have the call from the Porter interception on my ipod and smile every time it comes on.  A sad oversight is the lack of a card for the onside kick from the start of the second half of the Super Bowl. Still the ballsiest call I have ever seen (especially since it worked).

The only other drawback?  50 card set...leftover spaces...nooooooooooooooo!

The set also came with an oversized card.  I have left it in the little cellophane sleeve just because. 

I watched this Super Bowl up in Boston with my usual party crew.  Oddly enough, I had won the lottery for season ticket holders for the chance to buy tickets for Miami but I would have had to get a certified check in person to Metairie LA on a Tuesday morning.  It just wasn't gonna happen.  It's just as well. 

One last thing.  The set came nicely packed and padded in bubble wrap and still got crushed by the USPS.  Look at that box:

Luckily, the cards inside were safe.  Stupid post office.