Mail Call: Dog Sitters Aren't Supposed To Sit On The Dog.

       I recently spent a week dog sitting my brother's dog Stella.  You have seen her here before as this is certainly not the first time I have done the staycation thing with my favorite canine.  A lot of people think this is not a good way to spend your off time but I honestly cannot think of a better way.  I am not big on travel and adventure; the notion of going to Rome to see the Colosseum or to Tokyo to try to figure out a language that is way over my head sound like more trouble than they're worth.  Plus, going to Disney World with two small children, like my brother did this time around, sounds like pure unadulterated torture.  But spending a week of solitude in a large mostly secluded house with a very low maintenance and adorable yellow lab?  Pure heaven.  In fact, part of my motivation to reignite the blog came from my memories of writing curled up on a couch with the dog sleeping at my feet.

       The only really good part about coming home to real life is the big pile of mail waiting for you. Specifically the cards, the bills can go get fucked.

So let's take a look at the goodies inside these envelopes and packages.

       There is one Listia seller that I really enjoy buying from (he also has a dog as his profile pic. Coincidence? I think not...).  When I order a lot of 6 cards from him, there is always 9 or 10 in the envelope.  I like this both for the surprise and for the maximum efficiency of his mailing as this is about as many cards as you can get into a PWE before you have to add extra stamps.

Can you guess which card I bought this lot for?  Hint, it is not the Bobby Bonilla.  Oddly, it is also not the amusingly named Pete LaCock, who has a wonderful family history.  X for the center square if you knew the answer without clicking.

       There were some players I collect in that pile too.  That is a Frank Thomas I needed as well as a couple of Big Papis. Saints vs. Colts? I always like how that turns out. Also, that's Ron Meyer (no relation).

Joe Flacco has officially been categorized, the verdict is not elite.  But also, still not the worst QB to lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory. So he has that going for him, which is nice.

This year is an Olympic year so when I saw this lot, I had to have it to make a page.

These are 1996 Collect-A-Card Centennial Olympic Collection cards and I'd be lying if I said I had ever heard of them before.  The photography is nifty but you would expect that since the Olympics are pretty much the Olympics for sports photographers too.

       Speaking of collections, these are from the famous (and infamously overproduced) 1992 Sporting News Conlon Collection.

While this batch seems to make a tidy page, they are actually destined for other things.  A few name collections, a couple photo collections, and one is going with my Babe Ruth cards.  Your rudimentary knowledge of baseball history should tell you which.

       Okay, now things get a little more random.  That 1960 Joe Cunningham All Star card is bound for a small collection of cards that I will reveal, well, around the All Star Break (I bought that one on eBay).  That Rocky IV card is one from a set I never knew existed and captures one of the more ridiculous moments in a most ridiculous movie. Apollo Creed deserved better, dammit, and Rock should have thrown the damn towel.  I got that lot of Piazza cards for the MLB Debut insert that I didn't have but it included that UD Masterpieces which might be my favorite non-Met Piazza card. 

Lastly, I bought a set of cards on eBay that I ran into by accident looking for something else, but seeing it, I just had to have it.

        I am sure they are going for a Where's Waldo thing here, just another example of manufactured whimsy from Topps Opening Day.  While nine card sets are ideal, I don't mind ten when I can pluck one of the cards for a player collection - in this case, David Wright - and use the rest for the page (even if it includes a Chipper Jones card). 

I do love how busy this page looks and it will find a place of honor in my weird insert collection binder.  There was also a 2020 Topps blaster waiting for me, but that will have to be another post.  I needed something to cheer me up from missing that cute damn dog.

Football '14 Week 10: There's Something About Drew.

       You saw the title of this post and no doubt thought it was going to be yet another love note to Drew Brees.  Well, you couldn't be more wrong.  If you read this blog with any regularity, you may have noticed I have a slightly off-kilter sense of humor.  One of my favorite funny movies of all time is the origin of that title, There's Something About Mary, the seminal (and semen-al) 1998 Farrelly brother's comedy. Amongst the great gags in that film is that one of Mary's ex-boyfriends is quarterback Brett Favre. 

What I found out this week is that Brett was the third choice to play the ex, which is hard to imagine since he fits the role so well (not to mention the brilliant murdering Ben Stiller does of his name).  Okay, so who was the second choice? 

Steve Young, whose Mormon upbringing wouldn't allow him to be in such a risque film.  No caffeine, weird underpants, and boring movies.  Wuss.  So who was the first choice? 


Would you believe Drew Bledsoe?

I mean, it makes sense in the grand scheme of things, the Farrelly brothers are New England born and bred after all.  Turns out one of the more ridiculous moments in Drew's turbulent Patriots history kept him from accepting the role, which is too bad because if anyone could have used a little joyful tidbit in his past, it is Drew.  As it is now all anyone remembers him for is failing miserably in the Super Bowl and for nearly getting killed (seriously) by Mo Lewis which led to the rise of Tom Brady.  Oh, what might have been. 

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Feel like some vintage baseball?  For nothing?  Head on over to my man Robert's $30 a Week Habit blog and enter his contest.  It is easy, I promise there is no math involved. 

Let's All Go To The Lobby.

       It's been a sad, troubling time the last few weeks for baseball and death (not to mention my Mets have been a worse fate than death to watch...3-11 *rolls eyes*).  So to cheer everyone up, look at this wonderfully goofy page that I just completed:

It combines cards featuring two of my favorite baseball movies.  The Natural cards came with a DVD set from a few years ago and those long overdue Major League cards came out of this year's Topps Archives set.  Now if only they made cards of It Happens Every Spring, Bull Durham, and Field of Dreams I could expand on the concept. 

The backs are fun too, treating the subject with reality and respect:

I hope this post brought a little much needed frivolity into your day.  This hobby is supposed to be fun, dammit.