A Sad Day in Lakewood, Washington

I wanted to take today to post about something very personal to me. I have many family members and friends who are police officers and I lived in the Seattle area for 15 years so I felt the need to speak my mind on this situation.

If you have not read, 4 police officers were ambushed and murdered in a coffee house in Lakewood, Washington. The officers were in uniform and meeting before their shift started, a single gunman entered the shop, fired at the officers without any provocation then simply walked out of the shop. Currently there are no suspects and minimal leads for the authorities to follow.

I am greatly saddened by this event; I want to send my condolences and respects to the families of the victims and the officers of the Lakewood Police Department. I can only hope that the suspect is captured quickly and justice is swift.

2009-10 Panini NBA Limited- Glass Cleaners

BoshGlass
Originally uploaded by Jumper48

Today’s post is just a random thought about an upcoming release, more specifically an upcoming insert that will be part of the 2009-10 Panini Limited NBA set scheduled to be released January 6, 2010. I will do some research on the set and write up a preview at a later date but I just wanted to say how much I really like the “Glass Cleaners” insert.

At first look they appear to be similar in appearance to UD’s SPx Shadow Box inserts and to add to the positive list is that the cards contain on-card signatures of the NBA’s top rebounders both past and present. I am really looking forward to the NBA Limited release.

Blowout Cards Black Friday

Blowout Cards will be offering some great deals for Black Friday beginning 11/27 at 6:00 AM EST running through 4:00 PM EST. For a look at the teaser you can check out their forums to see some of the deals they will be offering.

The First NFL Thanksgiving Day Game

PollardThorpe2
Originally uploaded by Jumper48

Most will recognize the name Jim Thorpe, he was an early-20th Century sports figure who made a name playing professional football and baseball and lets not forget his 2 Gold medals in the 1912 Olympics. He made great strides for the Native American movement in professional sports spending most of his time playing for the Canton Bulldogs in the NFL and the for the New York Giants in the MLB and he even played also among the first inductees in to the NFL Hall of Fame when it opened in 1963.

Most people probably will not recognize the name Fritz Pollard though. Fredrick “Fritz” Pollard, along with Bobby Marshall, became the first African-American player in the NFL. He later went on to become the first African-American coach in the NFL. He was also part of the success of the 1920 Akron Pros who went undefeated and won the NFL Championship. He was eventually enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame in 2005.

I decided to create a card containing both Jim Thorpe and Fritz Pollard because of their connection together. One was among the first African-American players in the NFL and the other was among the first Native American players in the NFL. Both players were dominant during their playing days and they met to play in the first NFL Thanksgiving Day game. It was November 25th, 1920, 91 years ago today, and the game ended in a 7-0 win for Pollard and the Akron Pros on their home field League Park.

Winner!

NBARookie
Originally uploaded by Jumper48

Recently Card Corner Club started up a social network and as part of the “festivities”, they were giving away cards and held a drawing for one of five prizes. The prizes included some nice giveaways including a 2007 Bowman Football Chrome hobby box, a McFarlane 2 pack, UD RC Premier Basketball and Football box sets and a Matt Stafford relic/auto card. And as luck would have it, I was one of the winners; I was selected to win the UD RC Premier Basketball box set. I am more a football collector but I was happy to just have been selected a winner.

The set itself consists of the first round picks of the 2007 NBA Draft and anyone who has read my blog knows that I am a Kevin Durant fan, but I only collect cards from his Seattle days because I refuse to support Clay Bennett and his OKC Pirates. So this box was a wonderful selection for me because Durant is plastered across the front of the box.

The cards are actually designed pretty well, consisting of the rookie in an action pose from the 2007 Rookie Photo Shoot. The background is a de-saturated photo of the arena in one of the team’s colors and there is an “energy” burst beneath the player. The front banner lists the player, the team name and logo and some silver foil.

Hand of God II

Being of Irish decent I support the Emerald Isle when it comes to sports. In yesterday’s World Cup qualifier between France and Ireland an injustice prevailed and directly affected the outcome the game when France’s Thierry Henry palmed the before it could go out then controlled the ball before passing it to William Gallas who headed the ball in for the winning goal.

Now I do have to say that Henry has class because he has since come out and admitted the handball, but unfortunately this is considered a done deal. There most likely will not be a re-play of the game and the score will go down in the record books as a 2-1 win for France. This is a situation where we need to accept it as it is and commend Henry for being honest about the situation. I think this will go down in infamy along with Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup against England.

2009 Elite Basketball

Panini has posted a slideshow giving a look at the upcoming 2009 Elite Basketball set scheduled for release next week, Nov 25th. It looks to be a typical Panini release with lots of great pictures, lots of inserts, interestingly designed backgrounds, sticker autos and ill placed relics.

I admit it, I am a Donruss fan! I loved the Diamond King puzzles from the 80s and some of my favorite sets in the 90s were the Diamond King and Studio Heritage releases.

But...it seems as if Panini has limited designs that are reused over and over. I seriously hope that this is a temporary thing while Panini and Donruss work out details and eventually new and creative designs are released. I will continue to support the company in hopes that things change and refreshing ideas begin to flow from their designers. Hopefully Panini is watching the forums, message boards and blogsphere and keeps an open mind on the future.

Is It The End For AI?

AI
Originally uploaded by Jumper48

My favorite a-hole, Allen Iverson, has been waived by the Memphis Grizzlies. I never thought that Memphis was a good fit for AI especially considering he would be sitting behind O.J. Mayo and Iverson is not someone who thinks he should ever be a backup.

At this point there does not seem to be much of an option for him, not this early in the season anyway. As the season grinds on and players get injured or later when teams begin clamoring for playoff position there may be a few buyers but AI may need to wait for the phone to ring. Hopefully when the time comes he ends up going somewhere that he can be used to his strengths… scoring points.

I never collected Allen Iverson cards while he was with Philadelphia, I thought he was an ass who could score but when he traded to Denver I started pulling AI cards out of almost every product. I figured it was time to give him a chance. Now I will grab up the occasional AI card when I see something interesting.

#23

In 1997 Major League Baseball retired #42 to honor Jackie Robinson, new players are no longer able to wear that number. Last night following the Cavaliers/Heat game LeBron announced that he will be switching from #23 to #6 after this season ends and is asking the to NBA retire #23 league wide.

He explains his reasoning as his way of showing respect to Michael Jordan, which seems pretty humbling: As LeBron put it “There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade if there wasn't Michael Jordan first.” On the surface this seems as a respectful offering from one of today’s top players, he sees how the history of the game has set the standard for today’s stars. LeBron wore #6 during international play and it has been rumored that he wears #6 in practice on occasion.

According to NBA rules LeBron has until March to formally request the jersey number change if he remains with Cleveland. If he signs with a new team he will be able to select any jersey number at that time. There are only about a dozen players in the NBA that wear #23 and so far one of them, the Suns Jason Richardson, has come out in full support of LeBron’s suggestion.

Would this be a wise decision for the NBA? History says, “Yes”. When Jordan came back wearing the #45, jersey sales increased, the same thing happened when Bryant switched from #24 to #8. This could turn out to be a positive for the card companies too. Collectors will be racing to pick up the new releases to get LeBron in his new jersey number. Upper Deck having the exclusive with LeBron could profit as well.

Our Veterans

Today’s post is not about sports, but instead it is about Veterans Day. Today is the day that we recognize our veterans, both past and present. Almost everyone has a connection to a veteran, be it you, a parent, sibling, aunts or uncles, cousins or other. My family is no different both past and current. My brother is currently in the Army and has done 3 tours in Iraq; his wife did 2 tours in Iraq before retiring earlier this year.

No matter what your political beliefs are we need to always support our soldiers. The soldiers that have been to Iraq or Afghanistan need to know that we appreciate what they have done for us. Please take a moment to tell them.

Veterans Day is directly connected to WW1; the Armistice that ended the war was signed on November 11th, 1918 at 11am (11/11 at 11am). There is only 1 living American veteran from that war, Frank Buckles, he is our last thread to that era.

Support the troops, let them know we care and have not forgotten what they have done for us. To support the troops currently serving overseas you can send a care package directly or anonymously. Talk to soldier’s commanding officer, spouses or families to send a package directly or you can make donations through non-profit organizations like Red Cross or USO.

Larry Johnson Released

Looks like there will be some happy fans in Kansas City today, the Chiefs released troubled running back Larry Johnson. I was expecting him to be deactivated for the remainder of the season or even traded but I guess an out-right release makes a point too. I am happy to see that teams and owners are willing to make a stand on their beliefs.

Sadly there is rumor that my Seahawks may look to work a deal with him. I do not understand Seattle’s recent running game decisions. In 2007 they release fan favorite 30-year old Shaun Alexander and sign Julius Jones, which in hindsight now seems to have been a bad choice. This year to shore up the running the game they sign 30-year old Edgerrin James, again the plan backfires and this past week they release James. Do they really need to plug in another 30-year old back with a poor attitude?

Matt Leinart... Does He Have A Future?

Pulling a Matt Leinart 2006 Bowman Chrome RC was nice but when I realized that it was actually an autographed refractor numbered to 75 I thought I had pulled a winner that would definitely appreciate in value. Within a few weeks I was offered as much as $275 but I decided to sit on the card and wait for Leinart to show his talents.

Three years later we see Leinart sitting while the 38-year old Kurt Warner continues to carry the Cardinals to another winning season. This is not how the 26-year old Matt Leinart pictured his career. He was suppose to be the future of the franchise, the face that gets used to advertise season tickets offers and plastered on billboards around the Valley. You have to wonder if he will ever overcome his frat boy image, the guy from USC that likes to party, shirks his parental duties and hangs out with college girls.

It does not help that he only plays in mop up duty, coming in to games when the score is so lopsided that it does not matter how he plays. Today he came in with the Cards up by 20 over the Bears and immediately throws an interception. Leinart is still young but he needs to take control of his destiny.

UD Begins Shipping Favre Letterman Card

Upper Deck has announced that they have finally completed manufacturing the letter patches for the Brett Favre NFL Icons redemption and they are ready to begin shipping. As a bonus, collectors who have been waiting patiently for these Favre Letterman cards will receive 1 of 6 special edition cards featuring Favre in a Vikings uniform.

OK, now that is out of the way, you have to wonder what has taken UD so long to release the cards? The patches are manufactured; there is no reason that collectors should have waited this long to receive the card. Adding to the humor of the entire fiasco is that the Letterman cards feature Favre as a Jet. This really turned out to be an ugly situation for the company. If they delayed the cards this long they should have just redesigned the entire card it to show Favre as a Viking and manufactured the letters accordingly.

Larry Johnson's Timeout

Many Kansas City Chiefs’ fans have taken serious offence to Larry Johnson and his attitude and few have decided to begin an online petition to ask the Chiefs organization and specifically GM Scott Pioli to deactivate Larry Johnson.

Larry Johnson is currently 74 yards from tying Priest Holmes as the All-time Chiefs leading rusher, something that many fans see as blasphemy, and this petition specifically states that as fans they do not wish to see Johnson’s name atop the Ring of Honor with some KC greats like Okoye, Holmes and Derrick Thomas.

There are currently 5810 signatures on the petition and it seems to be gaining steam and with Johnson’s most recent actions, which got him suspended from the team until Nov 8th, I could see this petition gaining a lot of attention. Sad to say though, sports teams are businesses and run on a “for profit” credo. A petition, online or other, will receive little response from the team.

If you are interested in reading up on the petition or to sign it, you can find it here: Deactivate Larry Johnson

Patch Works- Utley & Kinsler

Player: Chase Utley and Ian Kinsler
Team: Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers
Set: 2006 Ultimate Collection Baseball - Ultimate Tandem
Card # : UT-UK
Serial # : 16/35
Description: Contains patches from the team name from each player’s jersey

I felt this was an appropriate post considering Utley's play last night. I recently sold the card, maybe I should have waited another month before putting it up for auction.

The World Series Moment?

Top of the 9th, two outs and Johnny Damon comes to bat. Lidge ends up sitting at 3-2 and Damon tips one that Catcher Carlos Ruiz drops which should have been the final out for the Yankees. Is this the fateful situation that changes the fates for the Yankees? Will these events go down in history like Steve Bartman, the bloody sock and Bill Buckner?

To make things worse, Damon ends up stealing Second and Third on the same pitch… note to Phillies pitching staff, cover Third Base when a shift is on.

Burnett steps up to the mound tonight to try and clinch the series for the Yankees but I think that Game 4 will probably be the topic of discussion for years to come.