I've lost a part of my mind ....officially

Hey folks! Just a small note to share with all of you:

Some of you may find that what I am about to share with you is very hard to believe but I assure you that it is all 100% true (scout's honor). It has come to pass that a part of my mind has vacated my body and while he has gained his own independence in terms of freedom and thoughts, he feels that it would be in his best own interests that he does not come back home to the brain where it's ultimately safe. Instead he has decided to start his own little blog and while I am totally against the concept of it I still do love him (hey....it's a part of me) and I've decided to support his habit for now until he realizes that he needs me and that he finally comes back home soon. Feel free to pay him a visit but please.....I beg you please....do not feed his ego by following what he has to say about baseball as it will only make him stronger in his feelings of independence. Please don't feed him hot dogs, beer, peanuts, and women dressed in skimpy bikini outfits either! Make sure you wash your hands after your finished too!

http://youknowyouhaveabadbaseballteamwhen.blogspot.com

The TOPPS Million Giveaway cards have arrived (the horror)

I knew that ordering these cards from the TOPPS's Million Card giveaway promotion was going to be a big risk. I did not expect to see mint cards by any means (it's topps-what would you expect) and I was really expecting to get cards that looked like they were in the spokes of my children's bikes. Truthfully I didn't know what to think considering some of the horror stories/pictures that I've seen on different blogs and how some of the cards that arrived shouldn't even be called cards because they looked so mangled up. Here's what the "butcher shop" sent me:

The 1955 Gene Conley card is in poor condition to say the least thanks to some horrible corners and off centering and a crease mark in the card. No way this card was in a vault. The 1957 Mike Fornieles is horribly off centered with wellllllllllllllllllllllllllll rounded corners.

1972 Ollie Brown is in fair condition. I'd say the 1968 Bill white has some better centering but once again the corners are killers!

MY MAIN MAN HOJO is horribly off centered. As for the 1972 Angel Mangual it's corners are bad.

The 1974 Willie Crawford has off centering issues. The 1976 Larry Dierker isn't too bad. once again rough corners.

The 1971 Danny Combs is in fair condition but rough on the corners. The 1967 Mayo Smith is off centered.

It was $10.00 for shipping everything out.

What say you?

Chicken Scratch: Ian Krol Edition

How Obtained:
I pulled this lovely autograph from a Bowman Platinum blaster box at the Huntingdon Wal-Mart.

Cost:
19.95 plus PA tax for the blaster box

Comments:
This is the first autographed card that I've really enjoyed pulling based on the layout of the card design. I love the fact that is was touched by the player to sign it since it's an on card autograph. The other reason I like this card is how the layout design was done as the autograph next to the player really stands out even with the white in the background. Of course the refractor background helps it to stick out as well.

Autograph Laziness:
I can't really make out the first name portion of his autograph as it looks like some kind of Hybrid "S". I'm not really sure how you get "Ian" out of that one? As for the last name portion of his autograph you can easily make out the "K" and the "L". The other letters are "missing in action" (somebody call Chuck Norris).

Sharpie Results:

Shout out to "I AM JOE COLLECTOR"

Jeff over at "I AM JOE COLLECTOR" had a contest last month for a 2010 Leaf R&S Daniel Orton team patches rookie auto and I was rather surprised to find out that I had won the card. I'm not usually very lucky with these kinds of things but somehow Lady Luck must have smiled on me that day. I've always been a fan of the Orlando Magic and some of the players I enjoyed watching over the years were Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, Penny Hardaway and Shaq. Unfortunately Dwight Howard is about the only bright spot left on the team currently. Gilbert is too busy cleaning his guns.

Make sure you check out Jeff's blog and webpage! He's got some great articles and good reviews and I think he may be slightly addicted to UD masterpieces!

Thanks again Jeff!

My Topps Million Cards have shipped....Finally!

I had a total of 17 cards that I had "opened" on the Topps Million Cards giveaway site. 10 of those cards I felt were worthy enough to be purchased and I was rather quite surprised as I did manage to pull a few vintage cards and I just about had a heart attack when I pulled my favorite all time NY Mets rookie card of: HOJO (clap I say....Clap fool) ! As for the other 7 cards that I chose not to order I decided it was best to let Topps throw them back into the vault because they were mostly junk and I do mean junk (1990 topps, 1989 topps and 1995 topps). So Four score and seven years ago, after billing my credit card quite some time ago Topps deemed me worthy enough and decided to finally ship my order out. Hopefully these cards will not be in poor condition when they arrive as I've been hearing some awful horror stories lately.

Thank you for your order

1955-BB-TS1-81-NA  Gene Conley              1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 
1972-BB-TS1-551-NA Ollie Brown              1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 
1957-BB-TS1-116-NA Mike Fornieles           1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 
1968-BB-TS1-190-NA Bill White               1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 
1985-BB-TS1-192-NA Howard Johnson           1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 
1972-BB-TS1-62-NA  Angel Mangual            1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 
1974-BB-TS1-480-NA Willie Crawford          1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 
1976-BB-TS1-75-NA  Larry Dierker            1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 
1971-BB-TS1-126-NA Danny Coombs             1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 
1967-BB-TS1-321-NA Mayo Smith MG            1  02/16/11  SHIPPED 

THE BEST DAMN MADDEN FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM that stunk in the NFL.

THE BEST DAMN MADDEN FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM that stunk in the NFL.

Now that the 2010 NFL season has been completed I find myself already dealing with some minor "football withdraw" symptoms. The outlook for the 2011 season is up in the air as the owners and players try to come to terms of the business side of the game. So I've decided to give in to my football cravings and that I was going to create the "BEST DAMN MADDEN FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM that stunk in the NFL". So I have created a list of two teams for Madden 2010 and I will be inputting the individual players ratings/points based upon their first year in the NFL stats. I may also consider using their last year of college stats as the basis for their current player ratings. Here is the listing for team A:

Quarterbacks:

Dave Klinger
Dave Brown
Akili Smith

Runningbacks:

Blair Thomas
Siran Stacy
Curtis Enis
Ron Dayne

FULLBACKS:

Roosevelt Potts
Dick Leftridge


WIDE receivers:

Kevin Dyson
Limas Sweed
Hart Lee Dykes
Troy Williamson

TightENDs:

Johnny Mitchell
Ken MacAfee

CENTER:
Eric Ghiaciuc
Ethan Albright

GUARDS:
Everett McIver
Kevin Allen

TACKLES:
Tony Mandarich
Kenyetta Walker
Eugene Chang

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE ENDS:

Courtney Brown
Eric Curry
Andre Wadsworth


DEFENSIVE TACKLE:

Steve Emtman
Jimmy Kennedy
Ryan Sims


LINEBACKERS:

"Your Mom"
Trev Alberts
Brian Bosworth
Aundray Bruce


CORNERbacks:
Michael Booker
Bruce Pickens
Erik McMillan
Otis Smith


SAFETY:

C.C. Brown


KICK RETURNERS:

Ki-Jana Carter
Lawrence Phillips


PUNT RETURNER:

Peter Warrick


KICKER:

Happy Feller
John Lee

PUNTER:
Matt Dodge

This will complete team A: Polk High. Over the next few days I'll put the finishing touches on team B and post them up here as well. Is there anyone you can think of that should be added to the list? Shout em out!

PA Water Authority issues water shortage notice due to the Steelers

ATTENTION: WATER SHORTAGE ISSUED: Please stock up on any necessary drinking water you may have as the STATE has issued a water shortage for the mid-state/west-state area. There will be water shortages due to the excessive use for cleaning up from Steelers fans throwing up in/on their toilets, sinks, tubs, couches, chairs, dogs, wives, children, and mother-in-laws when the watching the PACKERS win tonight.

It's cops.......you go now.......you run fast.....run like wind!

Feds seize $1.5M in counterfeit sports gear in Pa.

Associated Press - February 4, 2011 6:35 PM ET

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Federal authorities in Pittsburgh have seized thousands of unlicensed Steelers and Penguins jerseys and other Super Bowl-related merchandise.

The crackdown is part of a nationwide effort by customs and homeland security agents to fight counterfeit goods.

Packages confiscated over the past three days at a DHL office near Pittsburgh yielded nearly $1.5 million in unlicensed Chinese-made gear, including 5,000 jerseys.

Scott Best, assistant special agent in charge of homeland security investigations in Pittsburgh, said Friday that fans should be suspicious of cheap merchandise.

DHL released a statement saying it is cooperating with law enforcement and does not knowingly transport counterfeit goods.

At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall!

PRIME SAYS:





OVER THOSE LAME PITTSBURGH STEELERS 33-27

A little FROZEN OUTSIDE!!!

It's freezing outside right now. Everything is frozen with lots of ice coatings. Think I'll stay inside where it's nice and toasty warm! Perhaps take a nap or something....