A Football Card in March, Why Not?

I recently won another contest from Sports Card Info, for an autographed football card.

2008 Upper Deck SP Authentic – Autographs #SP-MK Malcolm Kelly

As is usually the case with a 9-year-old card, the player shown is no longer in the league. Malcolm Kelly played just 21 games in two seasons in his career, after getting drafted in the 2nd round. But, according to Wikipedia, he recently joined the staff of the University of Houston football team, so maybe we'll see him back on the sidelines.

Thanks to Sports Card Info for the contest!

eBay Wins #204

Every now and then in my eBay trawling, I see a football card listed in my baseball card search results. I'm not sure if that's an eBay bug, or people listing their cards wrong. Either way, I usually throw my customary 1 cent bid that I'll put on just about any card, and this Roddy White happened to fall to me.

2013 Topps Strata #40 Roddy White

I tend to watch the Rams and whatever teams are good, that are getting put into primetime and/or the "game of the week" slots on Sundays, so I didn't see much of the Falcons this year. I had to think twice about whether Roddy was still in the league. In case you're as out of the loop as I am, he is. He's had an impressive career spanning 11 seasons already, and he's still got 3 years left on his contract, not that contracts ever mean much in the NFL.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	3406
Total Spent	$52.53
Per Card	1.542 cents
Change	0 cents

A Rodney Hampton Contest Win

I'm falling a little behind on posting due to several days a week of NFL projections and NCAA Football Power Rankings, so now's the time I start catching up. I won this contest back in September, by guessing how many Rodney Hampton cards were in a lot purchased at Sport Card Collectors. If you follow that link, you'll see everything I won, but here it is again anyway, because I like cataloging stuff, as well as posting my winnings to show my gratitude to the generous contest-runner.

1995 Fleer Ultra - Gold Medallion #14 Bert Emanuel
1995 Fleer Ultra - Gold Medallion #15 Jeff George
2014 Sage Hit #51 Blake Bortles
2014 Sage Hit #60 Jimmy Garoppolo
2007 Topps - Ring of Honor #RH41-PM Peyton Manning
1995 Fleer - Gridiron Leaders #10 Steve Young
2014 Sage Hit - Autographs #A58 Travis Swanson
1990-91 Topps - Team Scoring Leaders #12 Wayne Gretzky

I didn't wait until today to post this for any particular reason, but now's a great time for a Peyton Manning card. He's getting ready to play in what is probably his last Superbowl, and possibly his last professional game. On the opposite end, there are some nice pre-draft rookies, and a hockey player you may have heard of.

1995 Flair - Preview
#10 Barry Sanders
#18 Dan Marino
#28 Chris Warren
2014 Sage Hit #7 Jadeveon Clowney
1996-97 SPx #17 Doug Weight
2014 Topps Chrome - Refractors #179 Carlos Beltran

These are all the horizontal cards from the prize package, because I despise scanning whitespace. There's another pre-draft rookie in Jadeveon Clowney, and some top football players from 1995. There were only two hockey cards in the package, and both features former Blues players, this one being a holographic Doug Weight. And, that Carlos Beltran is the first 2014 Chrome card in my collection. I need to expand my horizons into Chrome more often, because I always like how they look.

Since I like to label all my posts with every card set and hometown player shown, I'm out of space for this post. I'll cover the rest in the next one, including what's inside the unopened packs.

Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web 6

I've submitted my winning entry for year 6 of Collector's Crack's great "Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web". But, I suppose you can go give it a shot, still. You've got until one hour before Saturday's Chiefs @ Texans kickoff.

After a stunning victory in year 4, in which I picked the winner, loser, points within 1, and turnovers, I suffered a bitter defeat in year 5. I had the participants, but picked Seattle to beat New England, which they may have if they had simply handed off to Marshawn Lynch at the end of the game. At that point I was already set to lose in the third tiebreaker, points scored, though, as Seattle over New England was a pretty popular pick last year.

Anyway, enough about me. Go enter here for a chance to win some as-yet-unannounced prizes.

eBay Wins #193

Today's eBay lot involved one card I ordered, and two sent along as either a bonus or insurance against dinging the purchased card.

1992 Topps #139 Jeff Innis
1992 Topps #143 Paul Gibson
1996 Topps #167 Toby Wright

I've only got a few Rams cards in my collection, but I figured for a penny I'd go ahead and bid on this Toby Wright card that was mistakenly put into the "Baseball Cards" section of eBay.

I'm surprised the seller bothered with the Jeff Innis and Paul Gibson packing material cards given the price, but I'm happy to have them. They're even in good shape, unlike some dinged, bent, and creased late 80s cards I've seen used for that purpose. A full 1992 Topps factory set was one of the first big purchases I ever made when I started collecting, so these two will wind up in my duplicates list for trade.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	3368
Total Spent	$52.16
Per Card	1.549 cents
Change	-0.001 cents

Yet Another Sports Card Info Contest Win

I just won one of the weekly contests from Sports Card Info back in August, which was my first baseball card win among the many contests I've won there, and now I have my first football card win. And it's gloriously shiny.

2006 Bowman Chrome - Rookie Autographs #228 Jason Avant

My football card collection is rather minor compared to my baseball cards, so thanks to a few contest wins it's got a relatively large percentage of autographs in it. Jason now plays on my favorite AFC team, the Kansas City Chiefs, who are still considered the favorite AFC team in St. Louis by the TV broadcast schedulers, so I get to watch them almost as often as the Rams. He's only seen limited action so far this season for KC, but I say he catches a 60 yard TD against Pittsburgh this week.

Thanks once again to Sports Card Info for having contest after contest, especially this one.

A Meta-Contest Win

Maybe this is more of a Contest Meta-Win. Why's that? Because I won third prize in Card Hobbyist's July Contest. The prize wasn't cards, but 3 entries in his August Contest, which I then won. As a result, I won the team of my choice in his 2013 Score Football box break. I chose the Rams, naturally, and here's who showed up.

2013 Score
#174 Lance Kendricks
#176 Isaiah Pead
#177 Daryl Richardson
#178 James Laurinaitis

I got both Rams RBs from the set, but neither of those guys made it very far into the season, especially once Zac Stacy came along. And I love that Lance Kendricks card with him in the throwback uniform.

2013 Score
#172 Sam Bradford
#173 Jared Cook
#175 Chris Givens

I mostly collect baseball cards, so the card of Jared Cook in a Titans uniform caught me off guard. Topps usually edits photos to show the new uniform if the player hasn't yet appeared in it.

2013 Score
Future Franchise #324 Chris Givens
Franchise #292 Sam Bradford
Airmail #246 Sam Bradford

At first I thought that was the same Chris Givens photo, but his left arm is in a slightly different position. The background certainly looks the same, so I'd say these were a fraction of a second apart. I also got 2 more Bradfords.

2013 Score - 2013 Rookies
#428 Tavon Austin
#335 Alec Ogletree

Here we have the Rams 2 first-round picks from the 2013 draft, both of whom have looked very promising so far.

2013 Score - Scorecard Parallel
#172 Sam Bradford

As far as I can tell, this parallel is only different from the original due to the shiny foil "Scorecard" printed on the right side of the photo. But still, another Bradford!

2013 Score - Hot Rookies
#8 Stedman Bailey
#30 Tavon Austin

More rookie cards, but actual insert cards this time. I'd like to know how the 00 photos came about, whether they're posed, manipulated, or there was really some workout where the rookies had double zero jerseys. Here we have our 2 West Virginia wide receivers, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey.

Thanks to Patrick from The Card Hobbyist for the contest and the Rams cards.

Make Your Superbowl Picks

No, not here, over at Collector's Crack. You can enter the Almost The Easiest Superbowl Contest on the Web III. I've already put in my pick of the Patriots over the Seahawks based on my questionable projections, but you can pick a different point total or number of turnovers to edge me out in the tiebreaker.

Last year, no one picked the Giants, so when it came to tiebreakers, I was just 5 TDs away from the win. That's sort of close. Everyone around me during the game was wondering why I was screaming for both teams to throw the long ball and just score already.

See? This contest can make the game fun, even when it has 2 teams I don't really care about. And, being a Rams fan, I may have to deal with that for awhile longer. So go enter, good luck, and enjoy the playoffs.

(And of course, promote it on your blog like I have, for a bonus chance at the door prize.)

My Favorite Sets

Fuji asks another question, via The Daily Dimwit: What are your all-time favorite products to collect in each sport?

I only really collect baseball actively, but I've come into some cards from other sports along the way, and I figure, I have enough to pick a favorite of each. Here they are from least favorite to favorite sports.

Basketball

Since there's no team in St. Louis, my interest in the NBA peaked with Michael Jordan's success with the Bulls, and quickly dwindled as that dynasty ended. Even so, I have a few basketball cards, so let's see my favorite:

1990-91 NBA Hoops #308 Phil Jackson

I mostly love this one because it's such a cheesy shot. Phil looks like someone dared to call a foul on Michael! Thus, 1990-91 NBA Hoops wins this prize.

Football

I love watching football, but never got into the cards much. I'd say my favorite product would have to be the 1993 McDonald's GameDay set. Of course, the fact that a "pack" (really an uncut sheet) of cards yielded nothing but superstars probably made it seem pretty great. For some reason the cards weren't regulation-sized though. I remember collecting points on their products, which peeled off much like the monopoly game, but the pieces would be worth 6 (TD), 3 (FG), or 1 (PAT) points. I think it took 10 points for a sheet, and I must have managed to get 30. Usually when it came to McDonald's giveaways, I'd get some bonus pieces from my Grandpa when he'd come to our house to sneak in his unhealthy lunch on Saturdays when my Grandma wasn't aware. But, I digress. Also, I remember worrying they may not let me turn in 3 FGs and a PAT, because how could you have a PAT without a TD?

1993 McDonalds GameDay Sheet A

1993 McDonalds GameDay Sheet B

1993 McDonalds GameDay Sheet C

I actually went and borrowed a Junior Seau scan from CheckOutMyCards as I was drafting this post, but then found these in my basement. I forgot I had the complete set. I never cut the sheets because I had no idea what I would keep the cards in.

Hockey

Hockey is a new collection to me, but I've won several cool cards via SportsCardInfo's contests, and some others. I steal from Fuji on this one and choose a newer version, 2010-2011 Panini Zenith, because I won this nice 5x7:

Which, as you can see, I tore into. And I found this:

An autographed rookie of the #1 draft pick, no big deal or anything.

Baseball

This is the only one that really has a well-considered answer. The others were mostly "what's the neatest thing I've got in this sport?" I decided it needed to be a set that I bothered to complete, which led me to 1997 Studio.

I don't think I actually completed the base set, but I did get all 24 of the 8x10s. These make for a pretty cool binder to flip through, and these are the only cards I keep in a binder. I bought many packs of this product, as this was right around the heaviest of my card buying. The packs were awfully awkward since they had an 8x10 in each one. Eventually I purchased the remaining 8x10s at a Flea Market and 2 local card shops. I found 3 McGwires in my binder, so I really wonder if I lucked into my favorite player from the set, or bought multiples on purpose.

So there you have it, my favorite sets in the Big 4 sports. Also, if there were an "other" category, I'd say the TMNT cartoon cards, but I couldn't find mine anywhere to scan.

TitleTown poll

Earlier today I saw a post at Too Many Verlanders asking how successful my hometown teams have been during my lifetime. Not me personally, but anyone reading. Anyway, here's a look at Saint Louis sports in my lifetime (since 1982)

Cardinals:

• World Series Appearances: 6 (1982, 1985, 1987, 2004, 2006, 2011)
• Championships: 3 (1982, 2006, 2011)

Blues:

• Stanley Cup Finals Appearances: 0 (if only I had been born by mid-1968, I'd have 3 here)
• Championships: 0

Rams:

• Superbowls: 2 (2000, 2002)
• Championships: 1 (2000)
• While the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals were in St. Louis, there were no Superbowl appearances

Looking back, it almost feels surreal that there was a 3-4 year period in which the Rams were pretty good. The Cardinals took a long time off between championships but have 2 I'm old enough to remember. All in all, Saint Louis has had 8 Finals appearances and 4 Championships during my lifetime in the 4 "major" sports. Some folks might consider college football another major sport, but SLU is without a team, and the basketball team isn't quite top-tier just yet.

Now here's one quick championship story that's a little funny. In May of 2001, a friend of mine got free tickets to a minor league basketball team called the Saint Louis Swarm who played in a little suburban arena. We knew nothing of the team, but found out when we go there that Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Jr. played for the team. That was kind of neat I guess. Both of us were Michael Jordan fans, but didn't care much about basketball at that time, as Jordan was retired for the second time at the moment. We watched the game, our team was winning, so that made it a little more fun. Then near the end of the game we overheard that, apparently, we were sitting at game 3 of the best-of-3 championship series. Sure enough, they won and had a trophy presentation at the end and everything. To date it's my only championship moment witnessed live in person, and I came to it completely by accident.

Another Contest win at Sports Card Info

Many of you know Sports Card Info runs a weekly contest where you can enter by commenting on the contest post up to once per day.  I won one last July, and another just a few weeks ago.  Here's the nice Relic of Niklas Backstrom, a little blurrier than I realized:

2011-2012 ITG Canada Vs The World

Not only did he send me this card for free, but included two bonus packs:

2010 Panini Adrenalyn XL

I don't really collect football cards too seriously, so I didn't know what this product was.  Apparently you can enter the codes from the cards to play a game online.  I believe this game is expired, but if not, and if anyone wants the codes off the back, drop me an email and I'll send them.  Or, I'd be willing to trade the physical cards for some baseball stuff off my wantlist as well.

Sadly, no Rams were inside.  There was former Mizzou Tiger Justin Gage, though.

A big thanks to Ross at Sports Card Info for the contest and the bonus!