Great start to the year

The MLB Network is on!!! It's ON!!! You can't see me now, but I'm typing this while performing my happy dance. I'm ecstatic.

This is an absolute fantastic start to 2009. Baseball in the dead of winter! Jimmy Rollins! Harold Reynolds! Al Leiter! Don Larsen! (OK, Larsen's not so great. I'm a Dodger fan, remember). It's going to be fascinating to see in which direction this network is going to go. I'll be glued.

But this is only the first great bit of baseball news I received today. The second came while doing what has become something of a family tradition around here.

You see, for me January 1st has always been kind of a bummer. New Year's Eve is great. But January 1 is a day for unwinding or recuperating. And a lot of people, including me, unwind or recuperate by watching TV. Well, on January 1st, TV is dominated by bowl games. I do not like college football one bit (I could come up with a list of 50 reasons why, but I know a lot of you like it, so I won't).

So my January 1 options haven't been great these many years. The Winter Classic has taken care of that a little. Outdoor hockey is very cool. I saw quite a bit of last year's game because it involved the Sabres.

But long before the Winter Classic came into being, my wife and I decided to make January 1st a day of shopping. We usually had money from Christmas to spend. We hate fighting the crowds in the immediate days after Christmas. So we'd wait until January 1 -- when people were either hung over or watching bowls -- and hit the stores.

We did that again today and it was great. I picked up a bunch of stuff that I asked for but didn't get. (so there, Santa!). And then I got a nice little surprise as we were about ready to wrap up the trip. In the mall is a sports collectibles shop that I have ignored for years. I had been in there a long time ago and wasn't impressed. They had very little in the way of cards. And over the years they seemed to keep adding stuff that I have no interest in: team jackets and jerseys, NASCAR collectibles, bats, caps, all of that. I hadn't heard much about the shop from other collectors I knew.

I don't know what made me go back in there, but I'm glad I did. Behind the counter, the guy had just about every kind of hobby box you could think of. My eyes couldn't focus on it all. I was stunned. I didn't know what to buy. I didn't have enough for a whole box, so I went with some loose packs. I should've picked Topps Heritage as I'm still collecting that set, but I saw the Allen & Ginter and I couldn't resist. Even though I have the base set, I'm still collecting the state cards and the world's greatest victories cards, and, of course, the minis.

I bought eight packs and he handed me them (you can't choose your own packs in his store -- take that pack searchers). From those eight, I did OK. I was looking for an autograph, but I didn't get it. I still haven't pulled an auto from that set.

This is probably the best of what I received:

Two black-borders, including the bizarre card of Mr. Litz.

Four state cards that I didn't have, including Derek Jeter at the top of the post, as well as Brandon Lyon (the Dodgers might be able to use him), Brian Bannister (everyone loves his signature), and Curt Schilling (I don't have anything against him, I just wish he'd tone it down once in awhile).

And one of the "rare" shark cards, which are one per case, I believe. The corner is dinged on this, which annoyed me. The shark cards are OK, I guess. I could take them or leave them. But some would consider this the pull of the packs.

Still, the best news is not the packs. It's the fact that I finally have a place to go that is not an hour-and-a-half away to get hobby packs and boxes! (Of course, now I'm going to have to watch my wallet more than ever).

Also at the mall, I picked up this book, on the recommendation of several bloggers:

A lot of you have read it already and know what it's all about. I'm looking forward to being informed, shocked and outraged. That is, if I have time to read it. I rarely find a free moment to read books anymore. (It's kind of odd for someone who enjoys baseball writing as much as I do. But parenthood, my job and this blog take up almost all of my time these days).

The book is the ugly side of the sport and the hobby. But right now I'm about as pleased with both as I can be. Today I've found a network that broadcasts baseball 365 days a year, and a card shop that sells just about anything I want 10 minutes from my house.

I love 2009!