Night Owl Cards

Have you ever thought you've said everything you could say about a card, that there are no more words left, and anything else would be pointless regurgitation? I have that experience every time I come to the end of one of these Cardboard Appreciation vote-offs. By the time the championship card is revealed, that card has been featured at least four or five different times. I can't find anything new to say. So I'll just reveal the championship round vote totals: 1. 1971 Topps Lindy McDaniel: 32 votes 2. 1978 Topps Doug Ault: 27 votes And I'll just say this: Lindy McDaniel's 1971 Topps card, a truly worthy champion, is the second entrant into the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame. I've even created a page to honor the champions, up at the top of the blog, on the right there. If you visit the Hall, it'll be kind of boring there, with just two cards. But I plan on doing this vote-off thing over and over, so eventually there will be a bunch of Hal...

I am scarred by my childhood. I didn't grow up in a dysfunctional family. No bullies beat me up. I wasn't picked last on sports teams. All of that was too cliche. No, for me, my punishment was being surrounded by dozens of obnoxious classmates who happened to be Yankees fans. I've mentioned this before and I'm not going to get into it now, but it's a significant part of why I really dislike the Yankees. It's also the reason why half of me suspects that the Cardboard Appreciation, the Review 2 Championship was rigged by Yankees fans. I've experienced plenty of this behavior in the past. Night Owl's paranoia is at a fever pitch, because: We have two Cardboard Appreciation finalists that prominently feature Yankees. Now, the Doug Ault card actually doesn't feature a Yankee as a main subject, but he's definitely a key part of the card. I wonder if his presence pushed him past the Harmon Killebrew card in the second semifinal vote-off? Here...

Do Lindy McDaniel's family members read my blog? Is there a Lindy McDaniel fan club out there all these years after his retirement? Did somebody circulate a petition last week to get the McDaniel card voted to the Cardboard Appreciation, The Review 2 Championship? Because something happened about Monday-ish. Suddenly, the massive lead that the 1973 Topps Lyle Alvarado card held began to shrink. And shrink. And shrink.  By Wednesday, Alvarado didn't have a lead anymore. McDaniel was ahead. And that's where he stayed after a record turnout for this round of Cardboard Appreciation, The Review. So the victory that appeared to be Alvarado's easily -- that happy little scene of baseball in a 1970s parking lot -- ended up as merely second best. Oh well. Here are the final votes for the first semifinal: 1. 1971 Topps Lindy McDaniel: 34 votes 2. 1973 Topps Lyle Alvarado: 28 votes 3. 1956 Topps Vic Power: 12 votes 4. 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson: 9 votes I love the ...

The aptly named Killer slaughtered the field in the final round of the first round of Cardboard Appreciation, The Review 2. Everyone saw it coming. The beloved slugger. The autograph. The bevy of bats. Keep walking son. There's no competition to see here. But if you must, here are the vote totals: 1. Harmon Killebrew, 1970 Topps: 22 votes 2. David Nied, 1993 Stadium Club insert: 9 votes 3. Johnny Grubb, 1977 Topps: 5 votes 4. Dan Quisenberry, 1985 Topps: 5 votes 5. Astros Leaders (Yogi Berra), 1987 Topps: 4 votes 6. B.J. Upton, 2009 OPC: 4 votes 7. Gerald Laird, 2009 Topps: 0 votes 8. Dennis Leonard, 1979 Topps: 0 votes Killebrew is the last of the eight semifinalists. And since I'm in a hurry to wrap up this vote-off and find the second member of the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame, that means I'm going to position the first four semifinalists against each other and get to this final swiftly. The nominees, please: 1. 1971 Topps Lindy McDaniel: This...

The two-sport star is supreme on Cardboard Appreciation the Review 2. We do love our super-heroes, and you can't get much closer to a superhero here in reality than someone who can play at the highest level in the two most popular sports in the U.S. So, Bo Jackson follows Deion Sanders as two most recent winners in the first round of CATR2. Jackson edged a player with another popular feature, a nickname. Tim "Rock" Raines fell just two votes short. Here are the results: 1. 1989 Bowman Bo Jackson: 15 votes 2. 1989 Topps Rock Raines: 13 votes 3. 1984 Donruss Rudy Law: 5 votes 4. 2005 UD Pastime & Pennants Tommy John: 5 votes 5. 2011 Topps Heritage News Flashbacks Dodger Stadium: 4 votes 6. 1995 Fleer Update Carlos Perez: 3 votes 7. 2010 Upper Deck Josh Fields: 3 votes 8. 2010 Upper Deck Eric Stults: 0 votes Jackson is the seventh card to advance to the semifinals. Yup, I've decided the second round will be the semifinals. No screwing around this time...

Congratulations. You've just voted the football fairy into the next round of Cardboard Appreciation, The Review 2. Let's all celebrate by staring at football on television from noon until 11 p.m.! Oh, wait, it's only preseason crap now. That's flat-out nasty. So, on with baseball: The 1992 Upper Deck Deion Sanders SP card was voted as the top card in the last grouping, as I expected. Here is the final tally: 1. 1992 Upper Deck SP Deion Sanders: 14 votes 2. 1974 Topps Traded Fernando Gonzalez: 9 votes 3. 1990 Donruss Bart Giamatti: 6 votes 4. 1982 Fleer Bob Sykes: 5 votes 5. 1981 Topps '80 NLCS: 4 votes 6. 2005 Topps Fan Favorites Bob Feller: 3 votes 7. 2008 Opening Day Fausto Carmona: 2 votes 8. 1981 Topps Larry Gura: 0 votes No votes for Gura. That's distressing. But I was happy to see some love for Fernando and Bart. So, now it's time for Part 7. It's another variety-filled offering. There is really no favorite here at all. I...

I suppose you noticed that I took a little break from the blog. I went away, and I didn't leave any posts behind. I usually try to plan some posts for when I'm gone, but I didn't do that this time. You know why? Because I don't care anymore! Screw this senseless ritual of two posts a day, 12 posts a week, 46 posts a month! I have a job! I have a family! I have obligations! What has blogging ever done for me! I don't need it! It's senseless, unsatisfying and time-consuming nonsense! Time to grow up! Move on! Leave the cards behind! OK, you didn't believe any of that, did you? Good. I hope I am never that serious (would a serious person hold this contest ?) I will be no fun at all if that ever happens. And there are already too many of those people. I didn't post while I was gone simply because work has been crazy this summer and I was determined to enjoy this week the way I wanted to enjoy it. And that involved staying away from the computer fo...

OK, I admit, Robinson is a ringer. I'd be a little surprised if he didn't win the entire Cardboard Appreciation, The Review 2 contest. Although this contest is intended to pick the best card, regardless of who might be featured on it, there are just some players that cause everyone to forget everything they've been told. "Is that Jackie? I'm voting for him." It's just got to happen. So, yeah, the 1955 Robinson easily won the last round of the Cardboard Appreciation vote-off, and it heads off to join Lindy McDaniel, Vic Power and Luis Alvarado. That is definitely an old-school crew there. The newest card in that bunch is from 1973. Here is how the voting went: 1. 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson: 25 votes 2. 1978 Burger King Tommy John: 8 votes 3. 1974 Topps Don Hood: 7 votes 4. 1978 Rookie Shortstops: 7 votes 5. 1999 Flair Showcase Gary Sheffield: 2 votes 6. 1991 Line Drive Jerry Manuel: 1 vote 7. 2006 Opening Day Justin Huber: 0 votes 8. 1...

Greetings from the '70s! A heartfelt thank you for voting for my childhood, Buick Skylarks, and strange photography. The Luis Alvarado card has advanced out of the first round in the Cardboard Appreciation, the Review 2 contest. It even beat out the '74 Steve Garvey card, which is very impressive. To be honest, I probably would have picked Alvarado over Garvey as well. That's how much I enjoy the awkward '70s. Here are the final votes: 1. 1973 Topps Luis Alvarado - 18 votes 2. 1974 Topps Steve Garvey - 14 votes 3. 1954 Topps Jim Gilliam - 4 votes 4. 1991 Topps Oscar Azocar - 4 votes 5. 1995 Upper Deck Wonderful Terrific Monds - 3 votes 6. 2010 Bowman Chrome Bo Bowman - 3 votes 7. 1975 Topps Bobby Murcer - 2 votes 8. 1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken Jr. - 1 vote That's right. The Topps Traded Ripken received just one vote. I like my readership. The next group of first-rounders isn't nearly as strong as last week, unfortunately. I expect a certai...