We have a winner!

In honor of my 750th post I subtly announced a contest. Since no one guessed that the Marlins would be the team to commit the 500,000th error in MLB I figured that I'd better randomize the contestants. Full disclosure: entrant Steve is my brother. He didn't win. No harm, no foul. So, into the randomizer the contestants went.

buckstorecards is the big winner.  Congrats.  Contact me with your address and I'll pop your prize in the mail.

Thanks for reading.  Thanks for playing.  Thanks to Jose Reyes for committing the big error.

A Blast from my Past

And yours, too, if you were reading blogs a year ago.

Greg, the Beard from The Mojo Beard and I were chatting the other night.  He's sort of dropped out of the card blogging scene.  Okay, no sort of.  He's out, but his name and legend of designing cards live in our minds.

He hasn't blogged in ages but he's still involved with cards.  He is assisting Ryan, of the defunct Card Cache blog, to bring Viceroy Cards to life.

Viceroy Cards' first release is a sketch card set, Cryptids, based on cryptozoology.  You know, the study of and search for animals and especially legendary animals (as Sasquatch) usually in order to evaluate the possibility of their existence.

I've been interested in mythical creatures. Not enough to be a member of the International Cryptozoology Museum.  But I grew up in the Champlain Valley, on the western shore of Champ's watery home.  I don't know if Champ is specifically portrayed in this set or not.

Let's look at some of the cards.

Bruce Gerlach, artist

Now why didn't I have access to this card during Gint-A-Cuffs III?

Autumn Frederickson, artist

I guess that evolutionary process determined that the trout needed fur?

Beck Seashols, artist

And now we know how the chupacabra works.

These cards are a limited run.  Each one is truly a 1 of 1.  There is one sketch card per pack, plus a "surprise" or two.  The sketch cards come in a 100 pt magnetic holder. All cards in this set are the standard 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" in size.

From everything I've seen, they are a nice set of cards. They don't ship until September 25 but you can pre-order them now.

It is nice to see something fresh in the card market.  If you want to own some art, head over to Viceroy Cards and order up a pack or two.

Recent Stuff

1989 Score
Kevin Bass (card # 226)

I've been a bit busy as of late.  Things are good, just busy.

 
A few weeks back Nick, over at Dime Boxes, shared that he plays bass.  Another meaning to the "low-end   baseball card collector".   I've played bass since 1976.  One of the things that's kept me busy this last week is that I was asked to play bass on a recording session.

Well, I was asked several months ago, the session was last week.  A good friend of mine, Rick, wrote some lullabies and wanted to record them.  He's from Miami Beach and traveled up to KnoxVegas to record.  It went well.  I met Rick some 20 years ago.  We played in various praise bands and garage bands.  Well, a bit more than garage bands.  We actually did several gigs.  Respectable gigs.  But that was then.  This week our families have been catching up.

Fantasy football is in swing.  Not full swing, just swing.  David, from Tribe Cards, beat me in week one.  Darn his Baltimore defense.

I recently passed the 750 posts on this blog.  There have been a rash of contests so I figured, "Why not have one of my own?"  It has been a while since I've hosted a contest.  So, here's the deal.  No pimping.  If I find out you've pimped this thing I'll visit you and rip out your ethernet cable.

To enter, leave a comment on which MLB team will commit the 500,000th error.  You can only enter once. Each team can only be selected once.  That means a maximum of 30 entries.  Yeah, I know.  Too many numbers.

It is estimated that the 500,000th error will be committed on Saturday.  So, the contest closes on Friday.  The prize?  I don't know.  Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.  Wait, that's for weddings.  I really don't know.  It will be something.

If you guess which player makes that error, I'll toss in something very, very special.  Again, I don't know what it will be.  You've got to trust me on this.

You do trust bass players, don't you?

Gint-A-Cuffs Winner Announced

We have a winner.

Hopefully the Mayans have been appeased and will rescind their prophecy of doom.  I've got a few Christmas parties to attend.

1993 Leland's Auction Catalog

I was at Central Street Books (facebook link) in KnoxVegas and found this gem for a dollar. The proprietor, wanting to clear cruft out of his shop, sold it for fifty cents. A winner is me.

There are quite a few uniforms, signed balls, even Pete Rose's Rolls Royce.  Say that three times fast.

I like the Ruth poster and the mechanical bank.

One of the things that I like about this catalog is the way that the group photos were taken. Sure, I only give you one example.

How did it turn out?  Here are some newspaper articles describing the auction results.

Beaver County Times - February 21, 1993

The Sunday Gazette - February 21, 1993

Ah, to have lived in the early 1990s with a boatload of cash.  I could be driving a Silver Wraith now.

Football Night in Tennessee

Last Friday night was the home opener for The King's Academy High School football team.

My boy? #51. Edison plays center and defensive line.

A bit of holding, perhaps?

They lost to Cosby, 41-14.  Tonight they play Tri-Cities.  Local sports guys are split on who will win.  Edison thinks that TKA will.  I'll go with my boy.

He's one of the captains of the team this year.  He says, "Dad, I'm one of four seniors.  We're all captains and I'll be a captain all year long."  I'm still proud of him.  His play is tough and his encouragement, both on and off the field, is one of kindness and help.  He's at every practice when he's in town and would be in on every play if the coaches would let him.  He's out there most of the time, except when he needs a breather.

This is what I'll be doing on Friday nights this semester.  And I wouldn't want it any other way.

images courtesy of my sister-in-law, Lori Higgins

Food City Race Night - the aftermath

Hmmm, I thought that they'd have cards. Nope. Lots of cars, great music, sponsor giveaways, but I didn't see any trading cards.

Carwise, probably the highlight of the show was the Trevor Bayne 'We Back Pat' car honoring Pat Summit.

Oversized food was everywhere.  Vienna Sausage was sponsoring a Pit Crew challenge.  You had the opportunity to change a tire with an air wrench.  I didn't try.  But I did eat a sausage.  Yum.

Who doesn't like the General Lee?  Cooter's Place is just up the road.

Ah, baseball.  A respite in the sea of gas fumes.

Dale Jr.'s car.

Andy Armadilo, the Texas Roadhouse mascot.  If that doesn't scare you...

... maybe Twinky the Kid will.

Or a real live mermaid.

Local short tracks provided a few drivers.  This is Robbie Comer's car.  He races at 411 Motor Speedway, just down the road from my house, about five miles.  He graciously gave me two tickets for an upcoming race.  He's got a new fan.

I was invited to the show by my friend Darrell Webb.  Here's a video I shot of him performing with Cody Shuler and Pine Mountain Railroad.


All in all it was fun hour and a half. That same day my cell phone died, so had to get a new one. While I was at it, I made arrangements for my wife to get one as well. Of course, nothing is easy when people and stores are on the other side of town.