The SoapBoxers

Last week I attended the National Sportscard Convention in Rosemont Illinois. The National moves around the country from year to year, but having it in Chicago is a popular stopping point because it is pretty much centrally located and also it is easy access for people to attend if they want to fly there.

I should say normally, it is easy for people to fly there..

As Johnny G was arriving at the Omaha airport last Wednesday just before noon, and was going through TSA screening, the fine blue uniformed folks saw something they did not like on the scanners. We were ushered back from the security area and then shortly after a wave of police officers, a bomb sniffing dog, and others came through, we were moved off the concourse entirely. After a short 4 hour delay, we went back through security and finally got on my plane, and to Chicago, 4 ½ hours later than expected.

No complaints here, I am glad the TSA folks are doing their jobs!

Anyway, I arrived on Wednesday night for the “sneak peek” A chance for mainly dealers at the show to do deals with one another before most of the public arrives. Since I was already missing out on 3 hours of show time, I decided to do the so called “speed pass” route and went booth to booth, scratching some notes down in preparation for my full day at the show on Thursday.

Each of us in the realm of sport card and memorabilia collecting have our own niche. For some it is baseball cards. For others football autographs. For me…vintage Golf cards.

Yes they made cards of golfers too. Long before the likes of Tiger Woods and the more recent golf card products produced by Upper Deck in the early 2000’s.

I scraped around the show and found some nice vintage cigarette and tobacco issues from W.A. & A.C. Churchman Cigarettes. I saw numerous Bobby Jones Lambert and Butler rookie cards from 1926. I even found a guy that had a complete set of 1923 Copes Golf Strokes. (if you are in the golf card circles you know how rare this 32 card set is to find in any condition)

I picked up a few freebie catalogs, and made sure I ran into Reed at Baseball Card Exchange since I sold him a bunch of graded football and baseball cards during March Madness of this past year. I then headed to the Aloft Hotel to check in, grab a quick change of clothes, and then head out for the night.

I would recommend the Aloft Hotel to anyone – especially the younger crowd. It has a retro look to the rooms and lobby and the staff was very very friendly. They also had a kicking bar with a great selection in the main lobby (and nice drink specials I might add)

I decided to head to Gibson’s Steakhouse for a really good meal. Not surprisingly the place was wall to wall jammed as it is directly across the street from the convention center, not to mention the food is epic there as well. I finally secured a spot at the bar and introduced myself to a gentleman from Minnesota named Bill.

Bill was at the convention trying to complete his run of Topps Baseball card sets from 1952 until the present! WOW. That must be quite the collection. Bill was a great guy, we swapped collecting stories, talked about baseball players of today, the Yankees, the Twins, the Red Sox, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and solved most of the world’s problems over scotch and crown and cokes. He was going to try and find a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie to round out his 52 set. This is the crown jewel of the Topps cards and also one of the most expensive. I thanked him for a good night of chatting at the bar and camaraderie.

For me it was back to the Hotel where I just missed closing time at the WXYZ Bar in the lobby (DARN) and off to bed for an 8 hour day the following day at the National!

Interested in Johnny’s trip to The National? Continue to part 2.

The summer of 2011 is quickly coming to a close. This is evidenced by many tell-tale signs. There are back to school sales at the stores, school sports practices have begun, county fairs are wrapping up, and the professional football teams are in camp. Games behind in the baseball pennant race is actually starting to mean something. In a couple of weeks, the schools will be packed with eager students. A few weeks later, the trees will start changing colors in the far north east and the upper peninsula of Michigan.

All of this is a relief; relief from the heat that most of the country has endured over the last month, relief from houses crowded with kids of all ages, and the bounty of the harvest soon to be gathered. Each of the seasons has benefits and drawbacks. The change between the seasons can be inspiring and relaxing. For those who live in the north, the transition from winter to spring is a release from the confinements of the home. In the Deep South, it is autumn that signals the drop in temperatures that many crave.

Summer is the season of playing. The holidays and events that fill summer are for the whole family. The kids are out of school and most adults take vacations to take advantage of warm and usually dry weather. But all playing must eventually be followed by rest. As we approach the end of summer, we gather. Physically, we gather the crops, emotionally we gather our memories. We settle into a routine of school and work that will last far into next spring, with a few holidays sprinkled in. The Holidays ahead require planning and organization.

Summer is much more free wheeling. On the fourth of July, no-one worried if Granddad and Grandma would get through the storm, or if Aunt Sally would like the gift. In summer, gatherings are spontaneous and open ended. There is more daylight, and more life. This season ends with feeling for regret. Some people will try to pack in as much as possible before September actually arrives. But rather than regret, consider all of the activities that will fill next summer. And if you are out and about, cook one more hot dog on the grill for me.

Editor’s note: this was the second Fiction Friday story I published (the baseball-themed Release Point being the first). A co-worker told me that this story gave him nightmares, which I took as a compliment.  Originally published on April 3, 2009, and pulled out of the vault today … Tale of the Wolf!

The wolf was at the top of the food chain. He had stalked his prey for three weeks. He knew her habits better than she knew them. He could have moved in for the kill sooner, but sometimes it was fun to watch.

At the precise time as she had in the past, she broke away from her flock and entered the lush green field of the killing ground. The wolf moved slowly from his lair and followed her into the death zone.

The wolf was wrong. He was not at the top of the food chain. As the wolf closed in on his prey, he was becoming the hunted. The lion surveyed the killing ground. As the wolf pursued his prey, the lion slowly moved into position to capture the wolf.

The girl always took the shortcut through the woods to get back to the dorms. Her friends told her that it was dangerous, especially at night. The girl was not afraid. She had been taking this shortcut for nearly three years, and she knew the woods better than anyone else.

The girl should have listened to her friends. On this particular night, she was not alone in the woods. As she broke into the small clearing in the middle of the woods, she sensed that she was not alone. The wolf pounced on her and forced her to the ground. The girl screamed, but the forest drowned out her screams.

The wolf’s excitement had been building toward this moment, and he was immediately ready. He forced himself upon her, enjoying immense pleasure at the same time that her screams embodied the incredible physical and emotional pain. He finished quickly, and the girl lay on the ground, unable to move. The wolf pulled out his knife. With one strong, swift motion, he plunged it into her torso, finding her heart immediately. As the girl’s life quickly ebbed away, the wolf felt immense power.

The lion watched the full encounter. He waited until he was certain that the wolf had experienced an ultimate high. Then the lion moved quickly into the clearing. The wolf sensed danger and turned, but it was too late. The lion forced his own knife deep into the chest of the wolf, and the wolf was dead before he realized the extent of the danger.

The lion dipped the tip of his finger into the wolf’s blood, and then mixed it with the girl’s blood. As he licked his finger, he could feel the life force of both of them entering his body.

My kids love the idea of a credit card. You walk into the store; you pick out what you want, slide your card, sign the screen or receipt and leave. In their minds you never have to pay for it. They don’t see the bill that comes 30 days later. They don’t understand that when I’m sitting at the computer I’m using bill pay to funnel money from checking or savings to the credit card. The concept just won’t click in their beautiful (but naive) minds.

The idiots in Washington apparently don’t get it either. The difference is that they’re not six years old, they’re not cute like my daughters and those idiots are elected to not spend us into bankruptcy. I understand that everyone has “pet” expenditures. Some items mean more to someone living in Pigsnuckle, Arkansas than they do to someone living in Intercourse, Pennsylvania. However, in the act of cutting budgets, not everyone can win. There always has to be a loser.

What I don’t understand is why some people can’t see the importance of trimming the budget. Maybe it’s the accounting side of me, but if my family had a budget of $100,000 and I made $75,000 I would be worried. How long could we sustain that? Not long with the amount of savings that we have. We certainly couldn’t borrow money for 50 years without making changes.

So, why do we expect the government to do it? Where do we expect the money to come from? If they print more money, the currency just drops in value, so that does us no good. If we borrow more money from China we just incur more debt and have more interest to pay. No one likes it, but we have to trim spending significantly. I’m thrilled that the parties and the president have been able to come up with an agreement, but this is just the start. Wait until government healthcare kicks in, do you really think the government is going to make money with it? I would be thrilled if we could break even with it, but that isn’t going to happen.

The economy is weak; many businesses are making less money which means they pay less taxes which means that the government is taking in less revenue. To better determine what that means to us, remember the formula:

Revenues – Expenses = Profit (or loss if negative)

Try not to freak on me, but this is not just a democrat/liberal/regressive problem. I read a few weeks ago that spending has not shrunk since 1955. I don’t know if revenues increased every one of those years, but I would doubt that we hit an increase every year. Why would any congress or any president think for a moment that it was OK to continue increasing spending every single year? Why do we want to build a ridiculous amount of debt to pass on to the next generation? Doesn’t anyone realize that there will be serious repercussions if we can’t fix this spending mess that we are in?

In a few months I will be turning 40. As I approach middle age, I naturally start to think about what kind of legacy I want to leave behind. I have been thinking about my career, my personal life and how I conduct myself on a daily basis. What will my kids remember about me when they’re 40, 50 or 60 years old? What will their lives be like? Will they have the same opportunities that I have had? Are we going to hit another massive depression? If we don’t begin to act responsibly with our money, I think a very bad recession or even a depression is very likely.

Let my ADD kick in for a moment on another budget related item. Have you seen the article about free cell phones in Pennsylvania? Yes, there is now public aid so that people can have a free cell phone and 250 minutes each month because it’s a civil right. It’s paid for by the Universal Service Fund that is included on your cell phone bill each month. It’s yet another example of people latching on to the community tit, sucking it dry and you’re paying for it.

The time for fiscal responsibility is now. Demand it. That being said, all you’re going to hear is how bad the conservatives are for wanting to cut program costs. Those damn conservatives have no heart. They take advantage of people and don’t want to help anyone out. Well, truth be told, we’re just trying to live within our means. Obviously, we have a problem with that in this country and it’s time for everyone to learn what it means.

Squeaky…

Well, another week has gone by and 2 more houseguests are up for eviction. After Dominic was voted out last week, Julie (the host of BB) announced that the duo concept is no longer, and everybody would be playing for themselves. Jeff and Jordan and Rachel and Brendon will obviously still be playing together, but everybody else in the house will be playing for themselves.

After last week’s update, you know that Danielle’s plans came to a crashing halt, with Dominic getting evicted and with her master plan coming out to the entire house. After the eviction ceremony came the next Head of Household, and of course who wins? Danielle. Things could not have worked out better for her. It was no secret who she was going after either, Rachel and Brendon. Once the nomination ceremony came, she in fact did nominate the most annoying couple in BB history, thankfully. I have to think that one of them will be going home no matter what.

If one of them DOES win the veto tonight, it’ll be a tough sell to convince Danielle to backdoor somebody, and I highly doubt any other houseguest would get more votes for eviction than Rachel or Brendon.

Personally, I can’t wait until both of them go home, but it will be more fun for them to go one at a time. I know whoever stays will turn the house upside down, and I think I’d rather see Brendon stay, because Rachel would be much more annoying in doing so. Rachel is extremely good in competitions, though, so she could very well win the veto and save herself. Meaning Brendon will most likely be sent home. If neither of them win the veto, I think the houseguests dislike Rachel more, so she’ll go home. No matter what, I hope ONE of them gets booted.

On a completely unrelated note, I have a gripe about DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket

So, I’m a DirecTV subscriber. Once the NFL lockout ended, they started running promotions announcing that they were now INCLUDING the NFL Sunday Ticket for new customers at no extra charge (with the Choice Ultimate Package or above). This pisses me off a little bit….I mean, I understand signing contracts and such and that wasn’t included in my contract. And I understand they’re using that to lure in new customers.

But, as an NFL fan, WHY CAN’T I HAVE THE SUNDAY TICKET TOO?!?! And actually, our contract with DirecTV is expired, so I do have a little bit of leverage. My plan is to call and demand that they give me the Sunday Ticket like they’re going to give every other new customer that qualifies. Will I be the first existing customer to do that? No. If I threaten to leave and join the cable ranks, will they give it to me? I’m saying doubtful, but I’m going to give it a shot. I may even compliment them on using Deion Sanders as a little fairy in all of their Sunday Ticket commercials. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll tell them how annoying those commercials have already become!

Last night was supposed to be all about the House voting on the bill to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.  A compromise had been reached, and the Republican House and the Democratic Senate were poised to pass a bill and send it to the President for his quick signature.  Crisis averted, economy back on track, cue the chorus of Hallelujah.  The United State of America could once again return to what we do best – spending money!

Suddenly, in a moment, the political wrangling had been shoved to the side.  The politicians put their ideological differences aside and welcomed back one of their own.  Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona), still in recovery from a January assassination attempt, entered the chamber and cast her vote.

It’s worth noting that Giffords, a Democrat, did not return on Friday to help her party defeat the Boehner.v3 bill – which squeaked through with a 218-210 vote.  Instead, she returned to support a bipartisan effort last night.  In truth, her vote wasn’t necessary to secure passage of the bill, as it sailed through by a 269-161 margin.  There’s much to be learned from Giffords’ actions – it is a time to work together, rather than being quite so adversarial.

What does the future hold for congresswoman Giffords?  I hope this is a sign that she will be able to resume her full duties before long.  One of many unfortunate effects of Jared Loughner’s rampage is that her constituents have been without representation in congress.  (A sidebar – perhaps we need to prevent this situation from occurring in the future?  Allow a temporary replacement to be appointed in situations where a legislator is temporarily incapacitated.)

Will she run for re-election in 2012?  I think House Democratic leaders will strongly urge her to do so.  If there was ever a candidate who was a slam-dunk for re-election, it’s Giffords.  Short of a major scandal (along the lines of embezzlement), I’m not sure she can lose.  Her opponents may point out ideological differences, but will this be enough to outweigh public sentiment in her favor?

The fact of the matter is that it’s quite easy to paint Giffords as a martyr for democracy.  She wasn’t shot as she was lounging around the pool or eating filet mignon at an upscale restaurant.  She was shot in the line of duty.  Not even at some mundane committee meeting in a far away building in D.C. – but at an event (Congress on Your Corner) where she was actively soliciting feedback from her constituents.  It wouldn’t take a spin master to turn this to her great advantage.

Is it wrong to play on the sympathy of the public for political gain?  Of course not.  This is politics, where you push every advantage and the game is no holds barred.

(Let us not forget the six people that died in the January shooting – Christina-Taylor Green, Dorothy Morris, Judge Roll, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwan Stoddard, and Giffords staffer Gabe Zimmerman.)

According to most observers, the biggest losers in the new collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association are the rookies.  There will be a new cap for rookies.  A team will be alloted a bucket of money to distribute among rookie contracts based on the slotting of their picks (the team with the #1 pick will be allowed to spend more money than the team with the 18th pick, for example).  A team could choose to spend all of the money on their top pick and non-tender their others pick, if you wish (along this is not likely to happen).

There has been much complaining about unproven rookies making more money that veterans who have been in the league a long time.  While we can argue all day about whether athletes are overpaid, within the existing context of player salaries, I really wonder if this is an attempt to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.  I have a couple of concerns with the new rookie cap.

It removes accountability for owners.

You know the best way to keep rookie salaries from spiraling out of control?  Have owners put their foot down and refuse to pay.  Pass on a guy who wants too much money and make a safer, cheaper, pick instead.  This happens in the baseball draft all the time, when prospects drop due to concerns about signability (baseball draftees often have a lot more options, since many of them are high schoolers or have college eligibility remaining). 

Not willing to pass on Joe Smith (who is demanding $50 million) to settle for Bob Jones, who is willing to take $25 million?  Guess what?  This means that Joe Smith is worth $50 million to you.  Suck it up and write the check.  Otherwise, let him drop a few spots and have your rivals pay the big bucks.

No upside for rookies

The new CBA calls for rookies to sign contracts for four years, with a team option for the fifth year.  In baseball, a player gets arbitration when they have accrued slightly less than three years of major league service.

If you blossom as a pro and out-perform your contract, there’s no reward.  You’re still going to make the same money.  This doesn’t sounds so bad, except that teams can cut a player who under-performs their contract.  In other words, the teams are protected against under-performance and at the same time don’t have to pay for over-performance.

Some writers say that teams need to be able to lock players up for five years because of how much money and effort goes into coaching.  Just a second … are these also the same writers who talk about a top pick being able to step in and start on day one?  These are contradictory statements.

There needs to be some sort of escape for the rookies.  Perhaps something as simple as baseball’s arbitration system, which would kick in after a player has three years of service.  Perhaps an “overachiever” pool of money to be divvied up each year.  Perhaps allowing playing time to trigger free agency earlier (maybe a sliding scale that gives a 7th round pick more “credits” toward free agency than a 1st round with the same amount of playing time – since the 7th rounder overachieved more than the 1st rounder?)

Taking money away from deserving veterans?

Sure, there are some underpaid veterans in the league.  Guys who have paid their dues with many years of stellar performance in the league.

Then we see the Cardinals giving $63 million over five years to Kevin Kolb.  Kolb has done a helluva job of carrying a clipboard for the Eagles, but has he really earned that contract any more than, say, Andrew Luck (the presumptive #1 overall pick in the 2012 draft)?  Sure, Kolb has “potential”, but at this point in his career has more inteceptions (14) than touchdowns (11).

Get back to me when you stop talking out of both side of your mouth, owners.