2011-10-31

NCAA Football Power Rankings, Week 9

LSU stays on top in its idle week, but Alabama drops to #6.  Clemson stays at #3 despite the loss, due to its strong schedule.  LSU-Alabama this week will definitely boost the strength for both, with the winner likely taking a strong lead at #1.

In Mizzou news, they gain 15 spots, and A&M loses 9.  At least they'll be able to keep up with 1 team in the future SEC.

1LSU8-0
2Oklahoma State8-0
3Clemson8-1
4Virginia Tech8-1
5Penn State8-1
6Alabama8-0
7Stanford8-0
8Houston8-0
9Oklahoma7-1
10Nebraska7-1
11Boise State7-0
12Kansas State7-1
13Michigan7-1
14South Carolina7-1
15Georgia Tech7-2
16Oregon7-1
17Southern Miss7-1
18Arkansas7-1
19North Carolina6-3
20Michigan State6-2
21USC6-2
22West Virginia6-2
23Georgia6-2
24Washington6-2
25Auburn6-3
26Illinois6-3
27Wisconsin6-2
28Arizona State6-2
29Arkansas State6-2
29Louisiana-Lafayette7-2
31TCU6-2
32Cincinnati6-1
33Texas5-2
34Toledo5-3
35Texas A&M5-3
36Notre Dame5-3
37Eastern Michigan5-3
38Ohio State5-3
39Wake Forest5-3
40Brigham Young6-3
41Syracuse5-3
42Southern Methodist5-3
43Texas Tech5-3
44Virginia5-3
45Rutgers5-3
46Tulsa5-3
47Wyoming5-2
48Florida State5-3
49Miami (FL)4-4
50Western Michigan5-4
51Nevada5-3
52Florida International5-3
53Baylor4-3
54Iowa5-3
55Northern Illinois5-3
56Missouri4-4
57North Carolina State4-4
58Temple5-3
59Utah4-4
60Ball State5-4
61Iowa State4-4
62San Diego State4-3
63South Florida4-3
64Louisville4-4
65Vanderbilt4-4
66Ohio5-3
67Hawaii5-3
68Pittsburgh4-4
69Mississippi State4-4
70Florida4-4
71Marshall4-5
72California4-4
73UCLA4-4
74Louisiana Tech4-4
75Air Force4-4
76Purdue4-4
77UTEP4-4
78East Carolina4-4
79Tennessee3-5
80Bowling Green4-5
81Western Kentucky4-4
82UCF4-4
83Kentucky3-5
84Duke3-5
85San Jose State3-5
86Kansas2-6
87North Texas3-6
88Fresno State3-5
89Central Michigan3-6
90Northwestern3-5
91Connecticut3-5
92Maryland2-6
93Miami (OH)3-5
94Washington State3-5
95Arizona2-6
96Navy2-6
97Minnesota2-6
98Ole Miss2-6
99Kent State2-6
100Army3-5
101New Mexico State3-5
102Rice2-6
103Boston College2-6
104UNLV2-5
105Troy2-5
106Utah State2-5
107Oregon State2-6
108Colorado State3-5
109Louisiana-Monroe2-6
110Middle Tennessee2-5
111Buffalo2-7
112Colorado1-8
113Indiana1-8
114Memphis2-7
115Tulane2-7
116Akron1-7
117Idaho1-7
118UAB1-7
119Florida Atlantic0-7
120New Mexico0-8

2011-10-27

eBay Wins #6

I was in a random mood, so I bid a penny on a bunch of "Random 1980-90s baseball card" auctions.  The results weren't bad, actually, at least for a collector of Cardinals.  In all, I won 41 of them.


1988 Score
181 Carmelo Martinez


1990 Fleer
183 Randy Milligan
192 Jay Tibbs
205 Keith Hernandez
241 Gerald Young
324 Jim Gantner
1990 Score
88 Steve Lyons
222 Jesse Barfield
447 Ernest Riles
453 Bob Melvin
467 John Kruk

1990 Topps
135 Dave Magadan

1991 Donruss
384 Norm Charlton



1991 Score
Even for a Junk Wax set, I had to scan all 3 former Cardinals
22 Kevin Gross
81 Lee Smith
82 Dave Martinez
84 Bill Spiers
87 Tracy Jones
112 Mike Heath
115 Barry Jones
125 Jay Buhner
128 Greg Hibbard
130 Mike Greenwell
192 Jeff Robinson
197 Tom Gordon
234 Marquis Grissom
237 Don Carman
241 Larry Walker
257 Steve Buechele
299 Omar Vizquel
322 Mike Harkey
325 Gary Gaetti
328 Frank Tanana
330 Barry Bonds
336 Jeff Schulz
339 Mike Bordick
393 Wade Boggs AS
399 Roger Clemens AS
401 Bobby Thigpen AS
415 Ken Caminiti
418 Bobby Thigpen

All in all, I'm happy with my random assortment for 41 cents.  I seem to have an attachment to the 89-92 years because I started collecting in 1992, so although I know most of them are overproduced, it's a nice cheap way to get nostalgic.

2011-10-25

Superbowl XLVI Projection, Week 7

Baltimore over Green Bay

Bye weeks really mess with the stability of my rankings.  Green Bay takes over the NFC lead while San Francisco is idle, even though the SF playoff chances are up to 98.76%. Meanwhile, my Rams are over 40 times more likely to go 0-16 than make the playoffs.

TEAMRecordDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
BAL4-247.0274.1259.6735.0220.2310.79
GB7-081.0797.3889.2051.4627.9115.64
SF5-197.9298.7684.7547.1024.7913.62
NO5-276.5287.9663.2132.9717.199.34
DET5-216.7073.2346.8123.1711.726.18
HOU4-385.7687.4657.5330.6716.308.05
NE5-159.4185.9869.8836.6218.518.81
PIT5-226.6857.6639.8419.809.814.52
BUF4-229.4164.1344.6122.1510.784.96
CIN4-224.3349.9034.5216.888.203.70
DAL3-341.0253.8728.8012.165.272.44
CHI4-32.2324.8013.015.492.431.12
NYJ4-311.1733.1820.249.474.361.89
NYG4-233.2747.5624.309.593.871.68
SD4-258.0162.6135.1915.096.472.62
WAS3-316.1527.7812.864.891.930.82
PHI2-49.5715.616.872.591.020.43
ATL4-314.9938.9117.566.572.541.05
CAR2-51.103.951.560.540.200.08
OAK4-327.6335.9917.476.722.600.94
TEN3-311.6319.308.633.261.240.43
CLE3-31.976.243.051.150.440.15
MIN1-60.000.110.040.010.000.00
DEN2-44.596.952.921.050.380.13
ARI1-50.611.750.630.200.070.02
SEA2-41.457.562.810.890.290.10
TB4-37.3820.717.592.350.770.27
KC3-39.7613.525.501.830.610.19
MIA0-60.010.050.020.010.000.00
JAC2-52.562.870.900.270.080.02
IND0-70.050.050.010.000.000.00
STL0-60.030.050.010.000.000.00

First to 10% chance of Superbowl win: Detroit (week 3)
First to 15% chance of Superbowl win: San Francisco (week 6)

First to 80% chance of Playoffs: Detroit (week 3)
First to 90% chance of Playoffs: Detroit, San Francisco, Green Bay (week 5)
First to 95% chance of Playoffs: San Francisco, Green Bay (week 6)

2011-10-23

NCAA Football Power Rankings, Week 8

LSU stays on top with a win.  LSU vs Alabama should have a huge impact in two weeks, with both teams off next week.  On the other end of the rankings, I'm disappointed UAB won, because they were set up to face Florida Atlantic in a few weeks in a battle for #120.

1LSU8-0
2Clemson8-0
3Alabama8-0
4Oklahoma State7-0
5Virginia Tech7-1
6Boise State7-0
7Penn State7-1
8Kansas State7-0
9Houston7-0
10Stanford7-0
11Oklahoma6-1
12Nebraska6-1
13Michigan6-1
14USC6-1
15Michigan State6-1
16South Carolina6-1
17Wisconsin6-1
18Oregon6-1
19Arkansas6-1
20Illinois6-2
21Southern Miss6-1
22Georgia Tech6-2
23Cincinnati6-1
24Texas A&M5-2
25North Carolina5-3
26Toledo5-3
27Syracuse5-2
28West Virginia5-2
29Texas Tech5-2
30Georgia5-2
31Arizona State5-2
32Eastern Michigan5-3
33Washington5-2
34Southern Methodist5-2
35Auburn5-3
36Brigham Young6-2
37Wake Forest5-2
38Louisiana-Lafayette6-2
39Arkansas State5-2
40Rutgers5-2
41TCU5-2
42Miami (FL)4-3
43Iowa5-2
44Temple5-3
45Notre Dame4-3
46Ball State5-3
47Texas4-2
48Baylor4-2
49North Carolina State4-3
50Ohio State4-3
51Northern Illinois5-3
52South Florida4-3
53San Diego State4-2
54Vanderbilt4-3
55Virginia4-3
56Ohio5-3
57California4-3
58Florida4-3
59Wyoming4-2
60Florida State4-3
61Tulsa4-3
62Nevada4-3
63Western Michigan4-4
64UTEP4-3
65Bowling Green4-4
66Utah3-4
67Purdue4-3
68Florida International4-3
69Tennessee3-4
70Iowa State3-4
71Missouri3-4
72Hawaii4-3
73Pittsburgh3-4
74Louisville3-4
75Air Force3-4
76Marshall3-5
77Kentucky3-4
78East Carolina3-4
79Mississippi State3-4
80UCLA3-4
81San Jose State3-4
82Louisiana Tech3-4
83Kansas2-5
84Maryland2-5
85Duke3-4
86Connecticut3-4
87Western Kentucky3-4
88North Texas3-5
89Fresno State3-5
90UCF3-4
91Ole Miss2-5
92Washington State3-4
93Arizona2-5
94New Mexico State3-4
95Navy2-5
96Colorado State3-4
97Central Michigan2-6
98Troy2-4
99Rice2-5
100Oregon State2-5
101Louisiana-Monroe2-5
102Northwestern2-5
103Buffalo2-6
104Utah State2-5
105Miami (OH)2-5
106Army2-5
107Middle Tennessee2-4
108Minnesota1-6
109Kent State1-6
110Indiana1-7
111UNLV1-5
112Boston College1-6
113Akron1-6
114Memphis2-6
115Colorado1-7
116Tulane2-6
117Idaho1-6
118UAB1-6
119New Mexico0-7
120Florida Atlantic0-7

2011-10-20

Free Cards from Cards on Cards

I've been holding off on this post while I try to get my scanner to work, but I'm irritated with it, so you get photos with trapezoidal cards!


Free? That's right, Cards on Cards ran a Free Fleer Group Break a while back.  The boxes were 1995 Fleer Update, 1993 Fleer Ultra Series 2, and the1993 Fleer flagship set.  Since it was free, I figured I had nothing to lose, and jumped in to take the Cardinals with the caveat that I was only getting what he didn't want.  When the time came for the 2nd team, I took the A's, who were my second favorite team for a long time.  As you'll see, it paid off with some PC hits.

First up, the packing material:




I had actually completely forgotten about this break, even though I read all the posts about the Fleer box breaks. So when I opened the envelope and saw Sandy Alomar facing me, I thought I had received someone else's trade package.  I then realized some beat up junk wax was being used to protect the outside cards.  After opening the first team bag I remembered the break and excitedly tore through the stacks.








1993 Fleer
All cards included:
124 Rheal Cormier (2)
125 Bernard Gilkey (2)
126 Felix Jose (2)
127 Ray Lankford (2)
128 Bob McClure
129 Donovan Osbourne (2)
130 Tom Pagnozzi (2)
131 Geronimo Pena (2)
132 Mike Perez (3)
133 Lee Smith
134 Bob Tewksbury
135 Todd Worrell (2)
136 Todd Zeile
290 Lance Blankenship
291 Mike Bordick (2)
292 Jerry Browne
293 Dennis Eckersley
294 Rickey Henderson (2)
295 Vince Horsman (2)
296 Mark McGwire (2)
297 Jeff Parrett (2)
298 Ruben Sierra (2)
299 Terry Steinback (2)
300 Walt Weiss (2)
301 Bob Welch (2)
302 Willie Wilson (2)
303 Bobby Witt
Rookie Sensations: 9 of 10 Mike Perez




1993 Fleer Ultra
All cards included:
460 Rene Arocha
461 Brian Barber
462 Rheal Cormier (2)
463 Gregg Jeffries
465 Omar Olivares
466 Geronimo Pena
467 Allen Watson
603 Scott Brosius
604 Storm Davis
605 Eric Fox (2)
606 Goose Gossage (2)
607 Scott Hemond
608 Dave Henderson
609 Mark McGwire
610 Mike Mohler
611 Edwin Nunez (2)
612 Kevin Seitzer (2)
613 Ruben Sierra (2)
Dennis Eckersley Career Highlights #1


1995 Fleer Update
All cards included:
U-70 Jim Corsi (2)
U-71 Mike Harkey (2)
U-72 Dave Stewart (2)
U-73 Todd Stottlemyre (2)
U-153 Allen Battle
U-157 John Frascatore (2)
U-159 Tom Henke
Diamond Tribute 7 of 10 Rickey Henderson (2)

There were quite a few of my favorite players in there, including A's who later became Cardinals (McGwire, Eckersley, Stottlemyre).

Thanks for a great group break, especially for the price!  I'll definitely have to send some extra stuff in our next massive trade.

2011-10-18

Superbowl XLVI Projection, Week 6

San Francisco over Baltimore.

How about that, it's stabilizing. Week 5 also had the Niners over Ravens.  The Rams, Colts, and Dolphins now have less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of winning it all.

TEAMRecordDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
GB6-065.2395.4882.4947.4026.0514.62
SF5-195.4397.7586.8250.9727.6815.52
BAL4-159.9282.1868.1039.8122.9412.25
DET5-133.1686.4363.2933.5617.759.64
NE5-162.2486.6169.3936.9919.169.39
BUF4-230.1864.0143.6622.0511.005.21
CIN4-223.1651.5334.4016.998.413.91
NO4-257.5469.6541.7218.538.343.98
PIT4-215.5342.7826.7412.736.112.75
HOU3-350.4455.0729.6513.836.472.87
WAS3-234.2751.1228.9612.535.512.57
NYJ3-37.5321.7112.415.752.661.16
CHI3-31.5813.667.493.211.450.67
TEN3-247.7255.2831.2514.316.542.84
SD4-153.8266.0041.9119.048.613.71
OAK4-242.4460.3736.5616.407.353.13
NYG4-236.1451.6728.3711.694.882.17
PHI2-49.6916.677.773.031.240.54
DAL2-319.8931.0815.135.812.300.97
ATL3-315.3525.6811.874.411.710.70
MIN1-50.030.430.190.070.030.01
ARI1-41.364.231.810.650.240.09
CAR1-51.192.050.810.270.100.04
CLE2-31.394.652.160.830.320.12
SEA2-33.0814.666.512.260.800.30
DEN1-41.523.431.460.530.200.07
TB4-225.9239.1316.675.581.930.71
MIA0-50.050.200.070.020.010.00
IND0-60.400.410.140.050.020.00
KC2-32.224.201.590.500.160.05
JAC1-51.441.570.500.150.050.01
STL0-50.120.300.100.030.010.00

First to 10% chance of Superbowl win: Detroit (week 3)
First to 15% chance of Superbowl win: San Francisco (week 6)
First to 80% chance of Playoffs: Detroit (week 3)

First to 90% chance of Playoffs: Detroit, San Francisco, Green Bay (week 5)
First to 95% chance of Playoffs: San Francisco, Green Bay (week 6)

2011-10-16

NCAA Football Power Rankings, Week 7

Nothing too exciting this week, my top 3 6-0 teams all confirmed their position with another win each.  Houston lost a lot of ground by simply not playing this week.  That should even out for everyone over the course of the season though.  And good news for Missouri: If we ever go to a 6-week playoff system, you'd be in!

1LSU7-0
2Clemson7-0
3Alabama7-0
4Penn State6-1
5Virginia Tech6-1
6Oklahoma State6-0
7Oklahoma6-0
8Boise State6-0
9Michigan6-1
10Kansas State6-0
11South Carolina6-1
12Illinois6-1
13Wisconsin6-0
14Georgia Tech6-1
15Houston6-0
16Stanford6-0
17Nebraska5-1
18West Virginia5-1
19North Carolina5-2
20Georgia5-2
21Louisiana-Lafayette6-1
22Arizona State5-2
23Auburn5-2
24Southern Methodist5-1
25Michigan State5-1
26Rutgers5-1
27USC5-1
28Washington5-1
29Oregon5-1
30Arkansas5-1
31Temple5-2
32Southern Miss5-1
33Brigham Young5-2
34Cincinnati5-1
35Texas A&M4-2
36Toledo4-3
37Texas4-2
38Notre Dame4-2
39TCU4-2
40Eastern Michigan4-3
41Baylor4-2
42Virginia4-2
43South Florida4-2
44Syracuse4-2
45Texas Tech4-2
46Ohio State4-3
47San Diego State4-2
48Iowa4-2
49Wake Forest4-2
50Arkansas State4-2
51Wyoming4-2
52Western Michigan4-3
53Ball State4-3
54Utah3-3
55Florida4-3
56Florida International4-2
57Miami (FL)3-3
58Tennessee3-3
59Northern Illinois4-3
60Vanderbilt3-3
61Ohio4-3
62Iowa State3-3
63North Carolina State3-3
64Missouri3-3
65Pittsburgh3-4
66Air Force3-3
67UCLA3-3
68UTEP3-3
69Marshall3-4
70California3-3
71Florida State3-3
72Tulsa3-3
73Nevada3-3
74Maryland2-4
75Mississippi State3-4
76UCF3-3
77Bowling Green3-4
78San Jose State3-4
79Connecticut3-4
80Duke3-3
81Fresno State3-4
82Kansas2-4
83Washington State3-3
84Purdue3-3
85Hawaii3-3
86Navy2-4
87Ole Miss2-4
88Colorado State3-3
89New Mexico State3-3
90East Carolina2-4
91Louisville2-4
92Utah State2-4
93Kentucky2-4
94Central Michigan2-5
95Rice2-4
96Louisiana Tech2-4
97Louisiana-Monroe2-4
98Buffalo2-5
99North Texas2-5
100Troy2-4
101Northwestern2-4
102Army2-4
103Miami (OH)2-4
104Western Kentucky2-4
105Indiana1-6
106Arizona1-5
107Kent State1-6
108Akron1-5
109Oregon State1-5
110Minnesota1-5
111Tulane2-5
112Boston College1-5
112UNLV1-5
114Colorado1-6
115Middle Tennessee1-4
116Idaho1-6
117Memphis1-6
118Florida Atlantic0-6
119New Mexico0-6
120UAB0-6

2011-10-15

Updated Trade and Want Lists

I've successfully entered the following haves and wants into Zistle.com:

2011 Topps Series 1
2011 Topps Gypsy Queen
2011 Topps Heritage
2011 Topps Lineage
2011 Topps Opening Day
A few miscellaneous cards from previous years.  It'd be weird if they were from future years

I've got a 3000 count box, stuffed full. In total there are 2,149 cards in sleeves or toploaders, 6 year dividers (pink 3mm craft foam), and I'll guess about 75 set and subset dividers (plain white index cards trimmed to 3" by 4.5"). It would seem that sleeves really diminish the capacity of the box. Of course, all those thick Heritage cards aren't helping either.

I've got all of my cards, even from sets I'm building, in the box.  Once I complete, for example, Series 1, I'll be removing 330 cards.  Same with 200 Lineage cards, 220 Opening Day cards, and 500 Heritage cards.  And at the rate I'm going, 350 Gypsy Queen cards in about 5 years.

I wrote some quick and dirty code to read and parse the exported files from Zistle and make more blog-friendly lists for trading.  Check them out and make me some offers.  I'll be moving on to filling up a second box, starting with 2011 Series 2, Update, and any older cards that get in my way while I'm sorting.

Want List
Trade List - any cards of which I have 2 or more
Have List - I'm adding this for the first time. Anything on this list could be traded for the right price, but if it's not a duplicate I probably value it more highly and might not be reasonable.  I definitely suffer from the fallacy of valuing what's in my hand way more than what's in yours, even if the hands were reversed.

Thanks to everyone who reads my blog, and especially to those who peruse my lists looking to make a trade.

2011-10-13

eBay Wins #5

1982 Topps Phil Niekro, for $0.16. Not bad for a Hall of Famer.

He must have been at least 42 if not 43 in this shot (born April 1, 1939), it's hard to believe he pitched another 5-6 years past that.

2011-10-11

Superbowl XLVI Projection, Week 5

San Francisco over Baltimore.

San Francisco put up 48 points to Tampa Bay's 3, which really increased their strength, because each team's predicted strength is based on Points For vs Points Against.  However, this doesn't look completely crazy, because my Week 1 projection was Baltimore over San Francisco.

With their wins this week, San Francisco, Detroit, and Green Bay all beak the 90% mark for playoff probability.

At 0-5, the Colts are in danger of falling below the 0.01% chance of winning it all that makes them show up positively in the table.  Even once their chances fall below 0.005%, a 0.00 will show in the table if it's greater than 0, with a dash if the chance is actually zero.  Luckily with 78 of 267 games complete (256 regular season plus 11 playoffs), a season simulation runs faster now than it did in week 1.  Each week I'll keep increasing the number of simulations, hopefully so that each team shows a non-zero chance of being champs if they are not mathematically eliminated.  This week I ran 130,000,000, which takes just under 1 hour.

TEAMRecordDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
SF4-191.4594.5375.1942.5323.1112.89
DET5-050.6193.7773.4340.7222.2212.34
BAL3-154.1373.3957.0932.0717.779.29
GB5-048.4493.1071.4837.7819.7210.58
NE4-148.2281.6960.6631.8416.578.17
BUF4-147.1777.7357.2829.8315.427.56
HOU3-261.8069.8145.7523.5012.025.84
NO4-177.7384.1656.9927.1412.776.33
WAS3-150.4168.6243.7520.579.634.75
CIN3-222.9644.7828.7413.926.713.07
PIT3-218.0640.4924.8511.875.662.57
TEN3-235.6750.5029.9014.116.642.97
SD4-162.2672.8148.3022.5110.434.64
MIN1-40.393.791.910.820.360.17
NYG3-220.7338.5120.538.683.691.66
OAK3-233.1549.8628.9212.925.772.47
DAL2-223.9341.4821.698.943.711.64
NYJ2-34.1912.246.492.851.260.52
PHI1-44.939.814.451.770.720.31
CAR1-43.016.142.641.010.400.17
CHI2-30.565.492.561.000.400.17
CLE2-24.8512.426.372.601.060.41
ARI1-42.335.392.210.830.310.12
ATL2-35.9512.635.411.980.740.29
SEA2-35.5017.167.322.670.980.38
DEN1-41.794.051.740.660.250.09
MIA0-40.411.270.540.200.080.03
TB3-213.3123.879.903.381.170.43
IND0-50.600.790.300.110.040.01
STL0-40.721.550.550.170.060.02
KC2-32.795.512.120.690.230.07
JAC1-41.932.660.970.320.110.03

First to 10% chance of Superbowl win: Detroit (week 3)
First to 80% chance of Playoffs: Detroit (week 3)
First to 90% chance of Playoffs: Detroit, San Francisco, Green Bay (week 5)

2011-10-09

NCAA Football Power Rankings, Week 6

We're still a week away from any offical BCS standings, but my computer rankings have officially put LSU at #1.  I've got Alabama at #2, so the top of the AP poll matches.  Oklahoma is #1 in the USA Today poll, #3 in the AP poll, and all the way down to #13 in my rankings.  On a side note: I need a name for my ranking system, because it feels repetitive to keep saying variations of "my computer ranking system".  I'll be interested to see what the dispassionate BCS computers have to say about Oklahoma and any other teams I have ranked far outside the poll average.

As for Mizzou, hey, at least we're still in the 2nd tercile.

1LSU6-0
2Alabama6-0
3Clemson6-0
4Michigan6-0
5Illinois6-0
6Georgia Tech6-0
7Houston6-0
8Penn State5-1
9North Carolina5-1
10Boise State5-0
11West Virginia5-1
12Nebraska5-1
13Oklahoma5-0
14Oklahoma State5-0
15Wisconsin5-0
16Virginia Tech5-1
17South Carolina5-1
18Arizona State5-1
19Kansas State5-0
20Arkansas5-1
21Stanford5-0
22Louisiana-Lafayette5-1
23Southern Miss5-1
24Texas4-1
25Notre Dame4-2
26Georgia4-2
27Rutgers4-1
28Baylor4-1
29South Florida4-1
30Washington4-1
31Auburn4-2
32TCU4-2
33Southern Methodist4-1
34USC4-1
35Syracuse4-2
36Western Michigan4-2
37Texas Tech4-1
38Wake Forest4-1
39Brigham Young4-2
40Michigan State4-1
41Oregon4-1
42Florida4-2
43Temple4-2
44Florida International4-2
45Cincinnati4-1
46Arkansas State4-2
47Toledo3-3
48Texas A&M3-2
49Iowa State3-2
50Pittsburgh3-3
51Vanderbilt3-2
52Ohio4-2
53Tennessee3-2
54Eastern Michigan3-3
55Iowa3-2
56Air Force3-2
57North Carolina State3-3
58Wyoming3-2
59San Diego State3-2
60UCLA3-3
61Virginia3-2
62Duke3-2
63California3-2
64Ball State3-3
65UCF3-2
66Utah2-3
67Ohio State3-3
68Bowling Green3-3
69Mississippi State3-3
70Maryland2-3
71Hawaii3-2
72Washington State3-2
73Kansas2-3
74Northern Illinois3-3
75Purdue3-2
76Marshall2-4
77Navy2-3
78Tulsa2-3
79Miami (FL)2-3
80Missouri2-3
81Rice2-3
82UTEP2-3
83Nevada2-3
84Louisville2-3
85Ole Miss2-3
86Utah State2-3
87Colorado State3-2
88Florida State2-3
89Troy2-3
90Fresno State2-4
91Kentucky2-4
92Central Michigan2-4
93Louisiana Tech2-4
94Connecticut2-4
95San Jose State2-4
96North Texas2-4
97Northwestern2-3
98Buffalo2-4
99East Carolina1-4
100New Mexico State2-3
101Kent State1-5
102Army2-4
103Tulane2-4
104Oregon State1-4
105Indiana1-5
106UNLV1-4
107Arizona1-5
108Boston College1-5
109Louisiana-Monroe1-4
110Colorado1-5
111Akron1-5
112Minnesota1-5
113Western Kentucky1-4
114Idaho1-5
115Miami (OH)1-4
116Middle Tennessee1-4
117Memphis1-5
118Florida Atlantic0-5
119New Mexico0-5
120UAB0-5

2011-10-07

Trade With Reader Ryan

Without realizing it at the time, I put the kibosh on Ryan's trade offer with Too Many Grandersons when I filled out his 2010 Update set. You can still see my faux pas in the comments.  Luckily, he didn't hold that against me, and contacted me too make a trade.  He wanted a bunch of my spare Heritage and 2010 Update, and saw I had some Series 1 on my want list.  To even it out, he also sent a bunch of Gypsy Queen and Lineage base cards.  I sent him an entire 300ct box, and he sent a huge envelope with 6 or 7 team bags full of cards, so I'll just cover the highlights here.

All the 2011 Heritage were base cards, so here's the only one with a playoff team

The 2011 Topps were also all base cards, so again, here's one from a playoff team.

The only Cardinal of the 2011 Lineage base cards. I really like this set. I foresee a few blaster purchases.

Two 2011 Gypsy Queen SPs, to represent the dozens of base cards.

Four 2011 Gypsy Queen Wall Climbers

Two 2011 Gypsy Queen Future Stars

2011 Gypsy Queen Sticky Fingers Pudge

Two 2011 Gypsy Queen Minis of two Cardinal greats. But wait, didn't I already have the Schoendienst Mini, and its Green Border couterpart?

The Red Schoendienst is the Red Back Mini.  At this point I feel like I should go for the whole 2011 GQ "Rainbow" of Red.

2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History

2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces

Two David Freese Rookie Cards, the hero of Game 4.  2009 Topps and 2009 Topps 206.

And now, I see that I've let my Want List and Trade List get woefully out of date.  I've got lots of unsorted cards lying around.  I'm working on getting them entered into Zistle.com, and hopefully exporting the resulting want and trade lists to a nice format.  I'm starting with any and all 2011 cards, and hopefully I'll be able to get them all in before the first 2012s come out.  Then I'll try to keep up with 2012 while working back through 2010 and beyond.

2011-10-05

NCAA Football Power Rankings, Week 5

ESPN didn't post their Division II/III results until today, which is why this is late.

Clemson obviously isn't getting the respect they deserve, as they climb to #1 in my rankings but are #8 in both polls this week.  LSU's weak opponent dropped them down a notch despite the win, and Michigan moves up to #2.  I've noticed my system favors a 5-0 team much more than a 4-0 team, but frankly I think that's how it should be.

1Clemson5-0
2Michigan5-0
3Alabama5-0
4LSU5-0
5Illinois5-0
6Georgia Tech5-0
7Wisconsin5-0
8Houston5-0
9North Carolina4-1
10West Virginia4-1
11Nebraska4-1
12Penn State4-1
13South Florida4-1
14Texas4-0
15South Carolina4-1
16Virginia Tech4-1
17Oklahoma State4-0
18Oklahoma4-0
19Boise State4-0
20Washington4-1
21Stanford4-0
22Arizona State4-1
23Kansas State4-0
24Auburn4-1
25USC4-1
26Michigan State4-1
27Southern Methodist4-1
28Texas Tech4-0
29Ohio4-1
30Florida4-1
31Louisiana-Lafayette4-1
32Arkansas4-1
33Southern Miss4-1
34Notre Dame3-2
35Cincinnati4-1
36Iowa State3-1
37Rutgers3-1
38Georgia3-2
39Iowa3-1
40Vanderbilt3-1
41Pittsburgh3-2
42Wyoming3-1
43Tennessee3-1
44Eastern Michigan3-2
45TCU3-2
46San Diego State3-1
47Baylor3-1
48Syracuse3-2
49Air Force3-1
50Western Michigan3-2
51California3-1
52Virginia3-2
53Brigham Young3-2
54Florida International3-2
54Duke3-2
56Wake Forest3-1
57Ball State3-2
58Washington State3-1
59Oregon3-1
60Arkansas State3-2
61Ohio State3-2
62Temple3-2
63Bowling Green3-2
64Utah2-2
65Marshall2-3
66Hawaii3-2
67Kansas2-2
68Texas A&M2-2
69Maryland2-2
70Toledo2-3
71Miami (FL)2-2
72North Carolina State2-3
73Navy2-2
74Tulsa2-3
75Missouri2-2
76UCLA2-3
77UTEP2-3
78Ole Miss2-3
79Florida State2-2
80Louisville2-2
81Mississippi State2-3
82Fresno State2-3
83Troy2-2
84Colorado State3-2
85Central Michigan2-3
86Kentucky2-3
87Northwestern2-2
88Northern Illinois2-3
89Army2-3
90Connecticut2-3
91UCF2-2
92San Jose State2-3
93Purdue2-2
94Kent State1-4
95New Mexico State2-3
96Rice1-3
97Nevada1-3
98Tulane2-3
99UNLV1-3
100East Carolina1-3
101Arizona1-4
102North Texas1-4
103Utah State1-3
104Louisiana Tech1-4
105Colorado1-4
106Louisiana-Monroe1-3
107Idaho1-4
108Minnesota1-4
109Indiana1-4
110Middle Tennessee1-3
111Akron1-4
112Buffalo1-4
113Boston College1-4
114Memphis1-4
115Florida Atlantic0-4
116Oregon State0-4
117Western Kentucky0-4
118New Mexico0-5
119Miami (OH)0-4
120UAB0-4

2011-10-04

Superbowl XLVI Projection, Week 4

Baltimore over Detroit.

Baltimore's convincing win and Buffalo's loss brought the Ravens to the top of the pack in the AFC.  Detroit is being chased by Green Bay, but they still hold the top of the NFC.  Their two divisional games should clear up a lot.  There were no new 10% milestones this week.  The worst-positioned team is Indianapolis, but even they still hold a 1.40% chance of at least a playoff berth.  The Rams still make me sad.

TEAMRecordDivPlyffWCQtrSemiChamp
BAL3-165.6379.8463.3835.7719.9011.00
DET4-048.3384.5466.2036.4620.1510.73
TEN3-145.7574.1253.5028.3114.857.81
HOU3-151.9874.3753.9428.3214.767.71
GB4-047.4084.8065.1034.3818.309.42
BUF3-143.1767.0747.7124.3212.226.22
NE3-141.8768.3948.6524.7312.406.29
WAS3-144.0364.1744.5922.6111.265.56
NO3-149.5463.0342.7121.4910.655.23
SF3-176.4179.6752.1825.9812.756.19
NYG3-132.8253.7035.2717.018.083.81
TB3-135.8550.7931.4914.806.863.17
CIN2-218.1937.6222.5110.384.792.24
SD3-156.8964.7139.9418.218.263.84
NYJ2-214.2727.8016.227.413.371.56
PHI1-36.0211.796.212.801.260.56
ARI1-315.4920.6910.334.652.100.93
OAK2-232.0741.7322.809.994.381.97
DAL2-217.1431.0717.998.073.581.58
CHI2-24.0316.849.304.141.870.82
PIT2-29.0722.7512.045.102.170.93
CAR1-35.408.334.061.730.740.31
ATL2-29.2117.619.183.891.640.69
MIN0-40.241.630.770.320.130.05
CLE2-27.1217.338.833.591.460.60
DEN1-37.4911.585.312.060.800.32
MIA0-40.691.590.680.260.100.04
SEA1-35.988.803.681.360.510.19
IND0-40.561.400.580.210.080.03
JAC1-31.714.301.810.630.220.08
STL0-42.122.530.920.320.110.04
KC1-33.565.412.090.700.230.08

First to 10% chance of Superbowl Win: Detroit
First to 80% chance of Playoffs: Detroit

2011-10-02

eBay Wins #4

1 card.

1 cent.

1991 Donruss Dana Kiecker

How can anyone resist $0.01 shipped, for any card in decent shape?  I guess the key thing is I got there first, and lots of people can resist $0.06 for a 1991 Donruss common.