My nod to the Super Bowl

I've been underwhelmed by the NFL this year.  But I will be attending a Super Bowl party.  I'm leaving early to get the kiddo ready for school tomorrow.  Also Downton Abbey is on.  Mostly I see the Super Bowl as a prelude to the return of The Blacklist on NBC.

My brother gave me this card.  I think it was left over from when one of his coworkers was canned.  You know, after the guy leaves, everyone goes to his desk to scavenge?  Find a better stapler.  Hopefully get back the pens that he stole from you.  If you're lucky you get a newer desk chair, maybe just the chair mat.  My brother got Mirro's only football card.

1975 Topps
Mirro Roder (card # 508)

So, the back of the card looks like a pinball machine.  Apparently they don't have schools in Czechoslovakia.  And following one path of immigrants in the Windy City he drove taxis for a year.

Go (insert favorite team name here)!

Superb Owl post

You though this was going to be about the world's number one baseball card blogger?  Nope.  Sorry.

I'm falling for the hype.  I'm going to feature football cards today.

My Listia win came in the mail yesterday. 



5-3/4" x 2-7/8".  A lot smaller than I thought it would be.  I was going to rip it open but I received a few blog comments from Mike over at The Sexy Geek's Sports Room.  Seems like he's a Jets fan, among other New York teams.  It might suit him better than me.  Now, to contact him and set up something.

To celebrate today's game, let's open a pack of 1990 Fleer football cards.

15 cards per pack.  I see some names I vaguely remember but none that stand out.

Overall a clean design.  Game photos, most of them featuring the players in action.

No Broncos or Seahawks.  That's disappointing.

My prediction for the game tonight is Denver 27, Seattle 21.  Yes, I'm a bit of a homer.  Peyton played at the University of Tennessee.  He's still active in community.  And he can play football.  Hopefully it will be a good game.

1972 Sunoco NFL Stamps

Over at Listia I bid on, and won, a pack of 1972 NFL Stickers that were used as premiums at Sunoco and DX gas stations.

Looking around the internet I found that the wrappers featured the Eagles, Jets, Dolphins, and Cowboys.

Nine stamps per packet.  624 stamps total.  Here's what they look like...

But how did they advertise in the newspapers?  Don Shula says:

Springfield Union - September 17, 1972

Apparently they were targeting girls.

Greensboro Daily News - October 1, 1972

And then back to the boys.  Specifically the boys.

Plain Dealer - December 20, 1972

The seasons changed but collecting is still primarily a manly thing.

Plain Dealer - January 8, 1973

Maybe their graphic artists got tired.

Springfield Union - January 11, 1973

Action News 6 - On Your Side...

Trenton Evening Times - February 26, 1973

I don't remember these as a youth.  It would have been in my early collecting period.  I'll have to ask my folks.  Anyone else remember collecting these when they originally came out?

For another look at the stamps, visit Chuck Miller's blog entry from a few years ago.

Newspaper images snagged from GenealogyBank.com.  Other images snagged from the internet in general.  Hunt them down yourself.

A new year, a new player to collect - maybe

1996 Pro Line Autographs
Jeff Lewis (card # 38)

You might ask yourself, "Who?"  Jeff Lewis.

He was a quarterback at my alma mater, Northern Arizona University.  I didn't see him play.  Heck, he was only in grade school when I attended college.

He was a fine student athlete and then went on to the pros, playing a few seasons with the Broncos, behind John Elway, and then a few seasons with the Panthers behind Steve Beuerlein.  He didn't fare well in the pros, completing only 54 passes with no TDs.

He then was an assistant coach at the University of Louisville and then at NAU.

He died in January of 2013, just over a year ago.

As I was doing research to flesh out this blog I came across an article from the Charlotte Observer that discusses the results of his autopsy

Former Carolina Panthers quarterback Jeff Lewis, once thought to be the team’s quarterback of the future, died in January as a result of an accidental drug overdose, according to an autopsy report obtained by the Observer. 
The autopsy found morphine and zolpidem, a sedative and sleep aid more commonly known as Ambien, in Lewis’ blood.
 Medication containers and handwritten documents found in Lewis’ Phoenix home indicated a possible history of prescription medication abuse, including zolpidem and the painkiller hydrocodone, Maricopa County medical examiner Kevin Horn wrote in his report.

This doesn't make me happy.  I've been looking at his cards for the last 12 months and finally found one that was going to do it for me on ebay.  I picked it up.  Delivered for less than $3.  I created a checklist and a plan.  I wasn't going to try to get each of the different cards.  Just a rookie, an auto, a card from his last year in Denver, a card from the first and last years in Carolina.  Five cards.

Tragic ending for a young man.  It makes me sad and I'm now I don't know if I want to collect his cards.

1971 Topps Football Posters Inserts

The other day at Webb's Cards there was a box of oversized cards.  Sell sheets, completed pages, promo cards, posters.  All for a buck each.  These two caught my eye.

1971 Topps Posters Inserts
Joe Namath (# 4)

1971 Topps Posters Inserts
Merlin Olsen (# 25)

I guess I should pick up a few 1971 Topps Game cards so I can play.

1971 Topps Posters Inserts
back

Oh, and I added another two cards to the Topps Type Collection.  A 1953 that I won on listia and a 1968 that I found stuck in a page underneath a pile of stuff.  I really need to get organized.

A St. Louis Cardinal

1968 Topps
Jerry Stovall (card # 112)

Saturday Signatures

Another Listia pickup. This was probably my most expensive purchase on Listia. 5,494 credits later I have this nice, hard signed college football card with the college logo airbrushed right off the helmet.

2010 Press Pass - Saturday Signatures
Montario Hardesty (card # SS-MH)

I think that Montario is actually a new province in Canada.

He played for just over 4 seasons at the University of Tennessee (Go Vols!) before being selected in the second round of the NFL Draft.  He's had two seasons with the Cleveland Browns and has scored one touchdown.  A bit different with the big boys.

Seeing that I can get one of these cards at COMC for just over $2, I think that I might have overbid at Listia.  I'm happy with it, though.

New (to me) Bill Wade cards

I dipped my toes in the COMC waters. It was still and warm. So I stepped in. I'm glad I did, because I picked up four more Bill Wade cards.

1961 Topps
Bill Wade (card # 10)

1962 Topps
Billy Wade (card # 13)

1962 Topps Bucks Inserts
Billy Wade (card # 42)

1994 Topps Archives (1957)
Bill Wade (card # 34)

I've updated my Bill Wade wantlist page to reflect these pickups.

Big game tonight, huh?

I'm settled in with my can of caffeine free Coke, left over Christmas candy, and the TV remote to turn the sound up.

1990 Collegiate Collection
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Joe Montana (card # 1)

Being in SEC country, I feel that I have to root for Bama.  Besides, I don't like the way that NBC has tried to force Notre Dame down our throats as "the team that America should love" for the past decade and a half.

1994 Hoby SEC Stars
Alabama Crimson Tide
Kermit Kendrick (card # 28)

Is anyone else going to watch?  And who are you rooting for?

For whom are you rooting, if you're so inclined to that line of questioning.

1995 Donruss Red Zone

I stopped in at the Antiques and Collectibles shop in south KnoxVegas last night on my way to one of the high school football jamborees.

I came across something that I've not encountered.  Cards from a football card game.  Sort of like MLB Showdown 2000.  Sort of.  There were cellophane packs with two player cards and a card describing the game.  I picked up four packs. 

Here are two Hall of Famers.  I see on Beckett and ebay where the cards have numbers but I can't find them on the card.  Maybe they are unnumbered, but listed sequentially.  I don't know.

Barry Sanders, looking as lost as I am.
"Do I kick?  Am I injured?  A penalty and extra yards?"

COMC has Barry booking at $20.  I paid a lot less.  A lot less.

Dan Marino looking as lost as Barry is.
"Pass or Run?  What is a FADD?  Can I kick?"

Any reader want to help me out with the numbering system?  Or would you admit to playing this back in the day?  Did you understand it?

More Bill Wade Cards

These two Bill Wade cards came from ebay. Less than a dollar a piece, delivered. And I had some ebay bucks, so final price per card was about 55 cents.

1991 Quarterback Legends
Bill Wade (card # 43)

1993 Quarterback Legends
Bill Wade (card # 44)

More 1991 Hoby SEC Stars

This has been sitting in my draft folder for some time. Since I don't have any baseball cards that are scanned and ready to go you get football cards.

1991 Hoby SEC Stars
Ken Stabler (card # 25)

1991 Hoby SEC Stars
Herschel Walker (card # 125)

1991 Hoby SEC Stars
Archie Manning (card # 275)

Feeling like a Patriot?

I visited my local antique store in south Knoxvegas earlier this week and came away with this beaut of a card. I figured I could get about an twelfth of a gallon of regular gas or Jim Nance.  I'll walk to work next week.

1970 Topps Super
Jim Nance (card # 26)