Night Owl Cards

    I crab a lot on this blog. I know that.   This is how I handle stress. Writing gets it all out. I don't drink to excess. I don't speed down the street. I don't gamble or use substances. I don't talk to a therapist. This is it. Whatever is going on my life -- whether it's mentioned specifically or as vaguely as possible -- appears in some fashion on this blog. I'm getting it all out.   So I'm aware I'm turning some people off. I'm "too negative" or maybe not what someone wants to read in their down time. They want to see happy, little cards. I get it. Sometimes when I'm reading blogs, I just want to get in, see the cards, and get out, too. But other times I want to see that the people who are writing about the cards are human, too.   June was a difficult month and full of grousing, when I was blogging at all. So I feel like I should write about the good times, too. Like now.   Now is a good time. I started a vacation. Today. It's...

I'm not one to think that Topps seeds packs with cards representing the cities in which they're pulled. In other words, I don't believe that if you live in New York, you have a greater chance to pull Yankees or Mets, or if you live in Kansas City, you pull a whole bunch of Royals. But sometimes I wonder. I took a trip to see some relatives over the holiday break. A bunch of them live in the Buffalo area, which is about a half hour from the Canadian border, sometimes less depending on where you are. I happen to live close to the Canadian border, too (also about a half hour away), but for some reason, I think of being closer to Canada when I'm in Buffalo. I guess that's because Canada is talked about as more of a realistic destination for activity when you're in Buffalo than when you're in my town. Plus, there's all that hockey talk in Buffalo. We don't get that where I live, although we should. So, while in Buffalo I received some cards f...

The Dodgers have been flexing their farm system prowess the last couple of years and seem to be ramping it up most recently, calling up instant successes like Alex Verdugo, Matt Beaty, Will Smith and Gavin Lux, which followed other very recent rookie success stories like Walker Buehler, Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager and Joc Pederson. There is nothing I like more about my favorite sports team than their ability to churn out talent. Not only does it help lead to a consistent winner, but it's my go-to argument against fans of other teams who whine about the Dodgers' big-market ways. Granted, you need money to sign and scout players and develop them, but that's just part of being a fully functioning franchise. If you can't create your own quality farm system, then, well, you deserve to be the Tigers or Padres or whatever incompetent, every year. Don't accuse my team of doing something wrong or unfair. To me, the ability to produce your own superstars indicates the...

Those of you who frequent the card aisle at the two main big box stores that sell cards probably know about the bottom shelf. At both stores, the bottom shelf is usually reserved for things like binders and pages or sometimes big boxes of cards (complete sets, for instance). This is also where you can find discounted cards, which almost always are filled with nothing but football or basketball unless you get really lucky. With the exception of an impulse search of the discount area, I usually ignore the bottom shelf. Merchants aren't going to put anything that I want down there anyway. They especially aren't going to put loose packs down there -- where little kids can get their grubby hands on them -- and that's what I was looking for this afternoon. I was actually at Target to get a few decorative items for the card room. I'm still waiting on some drawers to house my card packaging materials, which will officially complete my room. So in the meantime, I look...