I Am The Smartest Man Alive…

Let’s look back at my predictions for the 2011 baseball season:

AL West -  I refuse to pick this division as I do not want to jinx the Rangers. 
AL Central- The Royals, with the help of some young ultra talented Naturals are 2 years away I think.  And I can't get a feel for this division at all, so I'll pick the Twins.
AL East-  I'll take the chalk and pick the Red Sox.  Although, I think the Orioles will make some noise this year. 

NL East-  Even with the injuries, I'll go with the Phillies.
NL Central-  The Brewers look good to me on paper, but I've said that before about them.
NL West-  Giants again, but the Rockies will be tough I think.

World Series-
What the heck:  Brewers vs. a team whose name I will not mention so that I do not jinx them.

AL MVP:  Someone who plays in the outfield with last year's MVP whose name rhymes with Pelson Pooze.
NL MVP: Ryan Braun

AL CY Young:  Felix Hernandez
NL CY Young:  Roy Halladay 

I was a measly two games from nailing the World Series contestants.  I only went 2 for 6 on my division picks, but, the Red Sox were headed toward winning the division until injuries decimated their lineup.  That would have been a .500 mark.  I also may have picked the NL Cy Young and MVP award winners, although I bet Kershaw takes the Cy Young.  I missed on Nelson Cruz winning the AL MVP, but he did with the ALCS MVP, which I would rather have any day since it means the Rangers ARE AGAIN IN THE WORLD SERIES. 

I wonder what my payoff would have been had I placed $5 on every prediction I made?  Surely I would have made a profit. 

I’m telling you, when my brain isn’t preoccupied ogling the lovely wife, it is capable of inhuman power.  All hail Napkin Doon. 

eTopps Football 2011 Value Tracker Update 10/16

Another strong addition this week with Drew Brees, who's card is up 40% a few days after release.  Adrian Peterson has also climbed a quarter as his strong performance this year has likely driven this price up for the eTopps football challenge.  Overall my purchases are up 43% compared to the overall program which is up 17.7%.  I'm anxious to see what the Newton does after it's released into ports in the next few days.

My Greatest TTM Auto Ever...

As you may know, I've made it a mission to get George Will on an Allen and Ginter card. Aside from some pub from the magnificent Lost Collector, I've not had a lot of traction.  My facebook page dedicated to this project has been met with the chirping of crickets.  Hell, I'm not even making any friends with my Napkin Doon profile page (cue violins).   However, today in the mail I received something that has renewed my enthusiasm for the project.

A few weeks ago, I sent a note to Mr. Will, expressing my appreciation for his work, and to let him know what I was up to regarding the Allen and Ginter project.  I didn't really expect him to a) read my letter or, b) care, but I thought I might take a shot and at least try to get an autograph.  Today in the mail I received this and was just slightly disappointed:

So, at least I knew my card (a 2010 blank Topps "You Sketch It" card that I had absolutely no use for) had almost made it, and would have been autographed had bad luck not intervened.  I was already deciding what other card I could send for an auto, as I kept digging through the day's mail and found the SASE that Ms. Walton referred to above.  Huh?  I opened the letter and found this note:

More importantly, this was tucked away in the note:

Yes, what we have here is a genuine autograph from my hero of all heroes, George F (as in F'n) Will.  I didn't realize until I got this back how lame the "You Sketch It" caption looked for this purpose, but I'll still treasure this card forever.  I wonder if he did read my letter and thought I was a total lunatic.  I did have the sense to use my real name and not Napkin Doon.

Cleve’s Auction Night- Enter ….The Villain

I’ve been doing this blog about 9 months now, and so far I haven’t had anyone materialize as an arch- nemesis.    The Lost Collector and Dimwit beat me so regularly at Words W/ Friends that they could have been good candidates, but they are nice guys, and I don’t have any motivation to destroy them.  I need a good, solid enemy.  There is a “lady” that lives down our block who gave my son candy from her “cheap candy” dish on Halloween a few years ago which really pissed me off.  I saw the good candy dish on the table behind her with Reese’s and Kit Kats.  She made my boy choose from the dish with little tootsie rolls and sweet tarts and caramel squares.  I sneer at her house every day, but she’s not really a satisfying enemy.  I need a nemesis in the card collecting world.   A yin to my yang.  A Jabba the Hutt to my Han Solo.  A Redskin to my Cowboy.   A night to my day.  A Hatfield to my McCoy.  A chicken to my Peter Griffin.  A Joker to my Batman.    

That enemy arrived Tuesday night, and announced himself to the world at Cleve’s auction.  Before we get into that, let me show you what I won. 

My first 1952 Topps cards.  I’ve decided to construct a sampler album from every year Topps has put out cards, and will only be able to afford the cheapies from the early years.  These were $3 each.  

This was only $3 also, which was a no brainer for an auto/relic from 2011 Triple Threads.  

Finally, these two relic cards were $2 each.  The Kemp was a great value, considering his budding super stardom, and the Beltre will be a nice addition to my Rangers album, even though he’s in a Red Sox uniform.  Overall, a pretty solid B for the auction.

Now let me tell you about what I DIDN’T win.  I went into the auction with three cards on my wish list:  Autographed relics of Elvis Andrus and Craig Gentry from 2011 Triple Threads (gorgeous cards), and a very cool Derek Holland auto with a little USA flag patch from Upper Deck Black.  These were all beautiful cards that I really wanted and needed. 

The Holland came up for bid first.  Bids at Cleve’s usually go quickly.  There is no dramatic pause between bids like on Storage Wars (great show by the way).  The bidding started at $2, and I offered $3.  Someone else said $4 and I said $5.  No one else said anything, and Cleve started to write my name on the bidding sheet as the winner.  I was so stoked.  Holland may never amount to much, but then again he may, and this card was a work of art.

Then out of nowhere I hear, “Oh, wait no, $6.”  I glanced around to get a look at who was killing my buzz.  He was two rows behind me: young guy, late twenties, glasses, spiky hair.  Well, I was not going to be pushed around.  “$7” I said, with a gravitas that should have made this guy understand who he was up against.  “$8” he replied without missing a beat.  “$9” I said.  Some of the children in the room huddled against their fathers at the pure intimidation in my voice. 

“$10,” he said, not even looking at me.  There was a deafening silence in the room.  Well, I didn’t want to let this character beat me.  I prepared to keep going, and then remembered there still were the Triple Threads cards of Andrus and Gentry on the docket.  I also wondered how I would explain to the lovely wife if my purchases got out of control.  I said nothing, and gave a dismissive wave of my hand to let everyone know I couldn’t care less about that card.  He could have it.  Whatever.

Soon after came the Andrus card.  $6 was my opening bid.  Immediately, $7 was counter-bid by the same guy behind me.  This time, I whipped my head around and made sure he could see the fury in my eyes as I bid $8.  Did he stop?  Nope, he upped the bid to $9.  I got a better look at him too.  He definitely is one of those people you can tell has an evil soul and probably tortures puppies.  There was a certain menace to him.  I said “$10” and he said “$11.”  I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.  I had to pass again.  

Next was the Gentry card.  Surely, this guy had blown his wad on the Holland and Andrus cards, and would lay off and let me get the Gentry.  Nope.  He bid it up against me all the way up to $10 again, forcing me to pass again.  I was now 0-3 on the main cards I really wanted.

When the auction was over, I turned to face my tormentor, and get a good look at him.  This time, I noticed he was sitting in a large leather chair, wearing all black, and stroking a white cat.  He looked at me and began to laugh, a slow, evil laugh.  I started toward him, ready to punch him in the face, or perhaps break a finger.  He opened his jacket to reveal his gun and slowly shook his head.  

I backed away, paid Cleve for my winnings, and headed home.   I fumed all night.   The Rangers losing didn’t help any.  I couldn’t sleep.  Was my new enemy out there, plotting his schemes for the next auction?  Or was he watching my every move right then, perhaps through a scope on a sniper rifle?  I dusted off my Chinese throwing stars in case I needed them.    

We’ll meet again, arch-nemesis.  We’ll meet again. 

Wax Wednesday: Topps Update

When I was in high school, I used to think that the act of physically seeing things was not a one way process.  I didn’t so much think our eyes took things as much as they shot out imperceptible rays that gathered information and bounced back to our eyes.  Kind of like sonar.  And I wondered if on some microscopic level, our vision “rays” left an impact on whatever they bounced off of.  Obviously, I knew it had to be imperceptible if this were  true or else we would all be shooting lasers out of our eyes at each other.  But I thought perhaps if the object you were looking at were sensitive enough, the impact of our vision rays could be perceived if you stared at it for a long enough period of time.  So one day in my photography class, I spent 10 minutes in the darkroom staring at some blank film.  Then I tried to process it and see if some little dots showed up where I was staring.  They didn’t.

Here are some Topps Update cards I got in a rack pack this week:

 SQUAT.

The 2011 Napkin Doon Hot Dog Tournament Championship!

It’s over!  Today, the final match-up of my hotdog contest, featuring Five Guys Burgers vs. White Oak Station,  was held on a kitchen counter in a quiet neighborhood in Northwest Arkansas.   

The sky was overcast and gloomy, but that didn’t dampen the electricity in the air.  Fresh off of watching Nelson Cruz’s walk off grand slam Monday night,  and with the anticipation of attending an auction at Cleve’s tonight, I thought I should make the day even more special and wrap up my hot dog contest.  Since both final contestants are in close proximity to each other, I decided the best, fairest way to handle this round was to pick both hot dogs up and bring them both home during lunch today.  I was so nervous; I couldn’t concentrate on work all morning.  This ranked just below the births of my children and right above my wedding day as the most important, profound, dignified day of my life.

Here are the contestants, side by side. 

 I was baffled when I opened the Five Guys dog, and it once again looked like they had forgotten the relish.  Thankfully, it was in there this time.  The lovely wife thought the neon green Chicago Style relish on the White Oak Station Dog looked disgusting.  I thought it was gorgeous.  Speaking of the lovely wife, I asked for her input on this contest and she agreed to try each one. 

I flipped a coin and tried the White Oak Dog first.  Stupendous!  They put their best foot forward on this day, and served up a real winner:  fresh bread, outstanding condiments and a superb frank.

Five Guys was next.  Unbelieveably good again!  Even fresher, softer bread, outstanding condiments, and a perfect frank, deep fried with slightly crisp outer edges. 

The lovely wife and I were in agreement:  wonderful effort from White Oak Station, but Five Guys has once again triumphed!

Congratulations Five Guys!  You are the winner of the first and only Napkin Doon Hot Dog Tournament Championship!

 

Thank God this is over!  Maybe a year from now I will do something similar.  There are a lot of good places to get chicken fried steak around here…

Blog Dog Semifinal Match 2: An Injury On The Field!

I knew this hot dog competition would be intense, but I wasn’t expecting one of the contestants to sustain a serious injury during it.  More on that later.

Yes, I have put this little project to the side for a bit, but that is mostly due to a very hectic work/travel schedule these past 3 weeks.  But I hadn’t forgotten about it, and was kind of excited to pick back up where I left off, which was semifinal match #2:  Five Guys Burgers vs. Chicago Dog.  The contest between these two is probably the de facto championship, since I can’t imagine either of them losing to White Oak Station.  But, as we’ve seen before, and as you'll see in this round, ANYTHING can happen in an amateur baseball card blogger’s regional hot dog tournament.  ANYTHING.

Five Guys was up first.  I placed my order online (the absolute best way to avoid the ridiculous lines that are still occurring at the Five Guys here).  One hot dog:  regular mustard, regular relish.  No more, no less.  The lovely wife picked it up on her way home from shopping.  I sat down, peeled back the foil, with much the same anticipation I sense when I peel back the wrapper on a pack of cards, and…

No relish.   I checked the receipt, and there was “relish” listed plain as day.  I looked at my hot dog again.  No freaking relish.  What a boneheaded move Five Guys!  Well, this did not bode well for them, who I  considered a favorite to win this tournament.   I went ahead and ate it, since I just don’t want to keep dragging this series out.   To me, it was like sending out your starting 9, but forgetting to field a shortstop.   You can do it, but you are going to suffer for it eventually.  And no, Lost Collector, this wasn’t the same situation as what occurred at White Oak in the other semifinal.  Don’t ask me to explain why, it just wasn’t.   

Yes, the hot dog, even with only mustard,  was  $&@*%-ing  delicious.  But Chicago Dog now had a total cake walk toward a championship match  against White Oak, and likely just were handed the crown by Five Guys because of an unforced error.

Today at lunch, I decided to drive over to Chicago Dog and get this formality out of the way.  I was very much looking forward to another Chicago Dog hot dog I must say.  I parked, walked up to the front door and saw:

One of the most unbelievable turn of events in the history of amateur baseball card blogger hot dog tournaments!  What a shame for Chicago Dog, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  I’m a patient guy, but I am not waiting until November 1 to resume this tournament.  Five Guys wins, and will face White Oak Station for the first and only Napkin Doon Hot Dog Tournament Championship.   Will Five Guys shoot themselves in the foot again?  Will White Oak pull the upset?  Hold onto your butts everybody!

eTopps Football 2011 Value Tracker Update

I'm still in the black on my eTopps Football tracker, and have mostly been right on the cards I've declined to buy.  A couple of cards are new to the tracker this week:

I added Ryan Mallett and Adrian Peterson.  The Peterson is up as I suspected, and the Mallett is down as I suspected.  I normally would have waited to get Mallett later, and cheaper, but decided the former Razorback was worth buying at IPO price.  And he's only down 20 cents.  I missed the boat on Andy Dalton, but I just didn't want to pay $7 up front for that card.
Overall, the cards I've bought (up 47%) are above the overall average (up 26%).    Brees should be allocated on Tuesday, and I completely expect his card to stay above IPO as well.  As far as tomorrows new offering, I have a feeling we'll be seeing Cam Newton, and that one will be huge.