Football '13 Week 10: Veteran's Day.

       Today is Veteran's Day.  If you have any friends or family that served in the military, please thank them for their service today.  Heck, even if you see someone on the street, shake their hand and offer thanks.

Except for one glaring exception, you don't hear much about professional athletes who served in the military.  This is a blessing and a curse, I suppose, since without the draft they can focus on their sport and not Uncle Sam. 

If you watched any football this weekend, they had moments for our military at all the stadiums.  Of all the mistakes and horrors that came out of the Vietnam war, one of the worst was how we treated the men and women who returned from that conflict.  Luckily, we somehow learned a lesson from that and while we still participate in fruitless wars, we try and show our appreciation to our service members who return.

So as you settle in to watch a god awful Monday Night Football game this evening, keep in mind all those around who protected your freedom to be incensed at ESPN.

Just Because.

Keith Hernandez is the only one mentioned in this graphic three times, a minor upset.  I've always felt Rollie Fingers had the definitive mustache in the 20th century.  What do you think?

Football '13 Week 9: Party Crashers.

       I am currently sitting at home in my pajamas on my couch about to watch the Saints and Jets play.  Pretty nice, right?  Well, my mother is currently at the Meadowlands in a suite about to watch the game.  That bitch.  Anyway, I had this game circled early in the year as the most possible Annual Saints Total Ass Whupping. Instead, the Jets are 4-4 and actually look like a professional football team.  Funny how these things work out sometime.  I still anticipate a Saints win, but it won't be the automatic walkover I was imagining. 

The only Jets cards I own are a page of Joe Namath cards that I have featured before, so let's instead look at some shiny 90's oddballs that kind of represent the Jets this year:

Ah, you gotta love Upper Deck Collector's Choice and their wonderful convoluted contests.  I never quite understood the criteria for how you won these cards, which is just as well.  I picked these up in a dime box ages ago, which is much easier.

You gotta love how 90's looking these are; so much foil, so many bright colors, so much full bleed and odd backgrounds. 

Anyway, I look forward to a wonderful quiet day at home watching football and I pray my mother doesn't get punched or sexually harassed by irate Jets fans after their loss.

I Love It When You Call Me Big Papi.

       David Ortiz.  2013 World Series MVP.

David Ortiz went 11 for 16 (.688) with two home runs and six RBIs.  They walked him three times intentionally in game six alone because he was so blazing hot.  David Ortiz reached base more times in a six-game World Series than any other player in history, breaking the mark previously held by Paul Molitor for the Blue Jays in 1993.

David Ortiz.  Scrap heap free agent signing in 2003.

David Ortiz.  Three Time World Series Champion and future Hall of Famer.

David Ortiz.  Team leader and Boston legend. 

What a lovely day for a parade. Cue the duckboats.

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.