Night Owl Cards

It was a lot of fun putting together the top 100 cards of the 1970s and also a lot of work. Overall, I enjoyed relaying what I loved about these cards and getting into the spirit of the decade that was my childhood. It was also nice knowing that at least once a week, from September to December, I had a post ready to go. Best of all, after promising to do this for like four years, I did it. Here are a few lists that I compiled from the completed greatest 100 list: SET THAT APPEARED MOST OFTEN 1. 1973 Topps - 16 2. 1976 Topps - 14 3. 1971 Topps - 11 4. 1975 Topps - 9 4. 1978 Topps - 9 6. 1977 Topps - 8 7. 1970 Topps - 7 7. 1976 SSPC - 7 9. 1974 Topps - 6 10. 1972 Topps - 5 The '70s Topps set that I knew the least about, besides the 1970 set, when I started this blog came out on top. But it was a close race as the 1976 set came on strong in the final 20. Four of the top 10 and seven of the top 20 were 1976 Topps cards. This supports what I've read abo...

I changed my favorite listening device to Christmas music today. I'm a big fan of this time of year. I know that doesn't sound like I'm going out on a limb until you read some miserable (yes, this is a noun, this is an entire group of people now) complain about how much they hate Christmas music. But I think I understand the lashing out. There's a lot of stress at this time and only part of it is created by the holiday. The holiday also happens to land seven days before the new year, so businesses, etc., are always implementing end-of-the-year regulations, issuing meetings that you have no time for, calling you into work for some stupid thing because the government said so, that type of nonsense. So you've got all that stuff in the middle of all the holiday stuff. Maybe Christmas should be in September. The decorations are up in the stores then anyway. And while all that is going on, I'm throwing the grand finale of the Greatest 100 Cards of the '...

One of the many things that's distressing about getting older is that at some point not only are the people and moments and items of "your era" no longer popular, but even the nostalgia for the people and moments and items of your era no longer popular. The key time to be nostalgic over the 1970s was the 1990s. There were plenty of shows and movies and fashions devoted to it. Unfortunately, I was too damn busy in the '90s for nostalgia. Too much devotion to developing a career, a family, tackling all those grown-up things that seem so daunting in your 20s. By the time I had time to be nostalgic, everyone had moved on. These days people are nostalgic over the '90s -- ewww, yuck. Why do I want to remember my first jerk of a boss? Why do I want to remember the garbage tenant downstairs? Why do I want to remember foil parallels? But that's the way it goes. The world keeps turning. Some people aren't reading these posts because they're about the ...

Greetings, food-preppers and TV vegetators. It's the day before Thanksgiving and I've got a post that hopefully will last you the whole holiday. Perhaps you've seen that map of the United States separated into regions according to the side dish that is most prominent on the Thanksgiving table. The Northeast was declared squash country. I've lived my whole life in the Northeast and have never had squash at Thanksgiving. In fact, the whole map was filled with stuff I never eat at Thanksgiving -- macaroni and cheese, cornbread, salad. Here is a proper Thanksgiving table according to me: Turkey STUFFING (in capital letters as it deserves to be) Mashed potatoes Sweet potatoes (I like the melted marshmallows on top) Cranberry sauce Green bean casserole (this comes from my wife's side of the family, it's OK) Rolls of some sort Pies (any kind will do, but pumpkin must be an option) Most of these food traditions are rooted in the '70s when I was a k...

My apologies for a slight delay in uploading a new episode of the Greatest 100 Cards of the '70s Countdown. My busy schedule of late has delayed a variety of fun activities, and for me, there is nothing quite as fun as reviewing the most memorable cards of the '70s. I'm finding that the deeper I go into the countdown, the easier it is for me to select which cards belong where. To me that means maybe a countdown of the greatest 50 cards would improve my accuracy, but if Kasey Kaseem could do 100 songs at the end of the year then I can categorize 100 cards. Believe me, there are lot more than 100 great cards from the '70s. "Greatness" measures in the thousands when we're talking 1970-79. So, let's get right to it. Slip Meco's Star Wars Theme onto your phonograph player, cook up a Swanson Salisbury Steak TV dinner and wriggle into some hot pants. It's the greatest cards from the '70s, numbers 40-30: 40. Ron Pruitt, 1979 Topp...