Say it aint so, Joe

Joe Torre, the fifth-winningest manager in Major League history, with 13 First Place Finishes, 6 Pennants and 4 World Series Titles, will be stepping down as the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of this season.

Donnie Baseball will have big shoes to fill when he takes over next year.

Torre says he will be involved with baseball somehow, someway.  There is even speculation that teams like the Mets, the Braves and the Cubs would love him to manage their teams.

But just in case your role becomes a little less public, I want to thank you, Joe.  Whether it was managing a team I was rooting for or against, the game was always interesting and never over until the final out.  

No... You Sketch It

Fifth grade Christmas recital.  Everyone was required to sing on stage.  We were in height order, which I loved because to my immediate right is the cutest girl in the entire class, Karen.  I'm wasn't too excited to be singing, but I'm went with it because Karen was totally into it and exhibiting signs of being into me.

What she didn't know was, for the past couple of weeks,  I had been experiencing some... um... changes.  Boy to man changes.  Awkward.

Everything was going great until we got to one part of the chorus that I chose to sing with some gusto and thanks to my impending manhood, I cracked a few uneven notes.  After the song was done, Steven, the short guy directly in front of me, decided to turn around and rather publicly stated "You sound like a frog."  Well... this got him quite a few laughs, Karen's interest in me deflated and I was scarred for life.  If we ever play "Rock Band" together, please don't ask me to take the microphone, I'll pick up the sticks and play the drums in the background, thank you very much.

But singing isn't the worst of my abilities, the one thing I absolutely can't do is draw.  Even my stick figures are hard to make out.   It is my true weak point.

While involved in one of my favorite activities, ripping new packs of cards,  I received a card, or should I say "special note" from Topps asking me the question: "Think you have what it takes to be a Topps sketch card artist?  Well Topps... the answer is... no... no I do not.  So I'll gladly pass.

The only problem is in 40 packs of Series 2, I've received 4 sketch cards.  With the odds of 1 sketch card in every 24 packs, I should have one, maybe two, but four sketch cards?   Is Steven working for Topps?

Whenever I look at the card, I think everyone at Topps is laughing at me, just waiting for me to send it back so they can post it on their wall of shame.  Am I doomed to be teased, grade school style,  for the rest of my life?

So, Topps, in response to your request that "I Sketch It" I say, "No... You Sketch It."  That's why I pay you and not the other way around.  Don't send me anymore of those blank white cards, I don't want them, and if you don't stop bullying me, I'm going to tell my Mommy.

First look at Topps 2011 Baseball Cards

This is the first look at the 2011 Topps baseball cards.  Topps just released this photo of the Albert Pujols base card on it's Facebook page..  This can mean only one thing.  Better get to ripping those 2010 cards now.  Posts with box breaks for Series 1 and 2 will be up soon.  Until then, leave some comments here and tell us what you think of the design.

I've always depended on the kindness of strangers

Cards.  I can't get enough of them or read enough news about them.  Nothing is better than ripping into a fresh pack of them, or a vintage wax pack for that matter.

Look at that! 15 cards and a 26 year old piece of gum.  YUMMY!

But like Blanche DuBois, I must "depend on the kindness of strangers" to fuel my addiction. (Wiki it if this confuses you)  If there are free cards to be had, I want them, all of them. (Except for those we are giving away in our contest.)  

I was lucky enough to get chosen for a free hobby pack of 2010 Topps Football Cards over at Sports Card Radio.  This is a great site with checklists, reviews, podcasts and a ton more.  It's run by some really nice folks and you should definitely check them out.  They are constantly doing free box breaks in their fan forum.  

Not all the slots in the 36 pack break were covered so I lucked out and was randomly selected to receive an additional pack. JOY!  Here are the highlights of what I pulled.  Let's start with some guys who had nice games Monday night.

Anquan Boldin, who made the Jets secondary look... human and Dexter McCluster who scored his first NFL touchdown on a 94 yard punt return, the longest in Chiefs history.

A reprint of a 1978 Tony Dorsett card, a Tom Brady complete with a 2010 Topps Attax code, redeemable at Toppstown.com.

A Gridiron Lineage with Randy Moss and Dez Bryant (kind of a loose connection on this one) and a ticket to ride the great Topps slot machine, a John Elway Topps Gridiron Giveaway.  And after entering the code I got this.

A 1961 Lindon Crow, DB for the Los Angeles Rams.  Lindon Crow people.  Lead the league with 11 interceptions in 1956, three time Pro Bowler.  OK, well, its from 1961 and its free and that doesn't suck.

All told, I like the 2010 Topps Football release.  Yes, it looks exactly the same as the 2010 Baseball cards, but the pictures are sharp and the cards are well cut.  And did I mention they were FREE!

So thanks to Sports Card Radio.  Check them out.  It really is a great stop on the cyberspace highway.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

I usually rummage through my old cards whenever a new season starts and it’s finally here.  No more pre-season games, watching guys trying to make the team.  Now it counts.  And incase I forget that, I'll have Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long to remind me, repeatedly, how much it counts. 

They do this because they are no longer football players.  No… they are “analysts.”  Go ahead, look it up.  They get paid to “analyze” which, in their case, means laugh a lot and point out the obvious.   And sure, there is a whole crop of recent retirees who have traded their jerseys and pads for suits and microphones, but even the old timers gave it a try.   Like Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath who stuck around for a bit, but eventually quit. 

But there are those who stuck it out like Dan Dierdorf and Bob Griese and are still behind the microphone to this day.  

Some even went into acting like Merlin Olsen (Little House on the Prairie), Alex Karras (Blazing Saddles, Webster), Dick Butkus (Any Given Sunday, Hang Time)  and John Matuszak (Goonies).

All of this makes me think about what will happen to Kurt Warner?  Will he be in the next Will Ferrel movie?

And what about Greg Jennings and Derrick Mason?  Will they become "analysts" in 2020?

Will Darrelle Revis become the perfect replacement for Drew Carey on "The Price is Right?"

Its a lot to think about, but I don't have the time for that because Football is on and now it counts.