Sports Cards

This week I thought I would talk to you a little bit about sports cards. There is actually a lot more to them then it might seem.

There are many different varieties of sports cards, as well as subsets. These include:

• Rookie Cards (RCs)
• Inserts- #'d parallels, special chase sets, etc.
• Autographs
• Game Used memorabilia cards- jerseys, shorts, shoes, facemasks, footballs, floor, basketballs, etc.
• Autographed Game Used cards
• Patch cards- both Game Used and Manufactured
• Printing Plates- the plates used to create each card; there are four unique to each card: black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. These cards are numbered 1/1 because only one of each color exist for each card.

There are also several sports card manufacturers, including:

• Topps- includes Bowman
• Upper Deck- includes Fleer
• Panini- bought out Donruss and its brands

Brands and sets from all these companies range in price greatly. They all fall under this umbrella:

• High End- products that cost anywhere from $500 to $1000s of dollars; Upper Deck Exquisite is an example
• Mid-High End- products in the middle of this range; a Topps hobby case (12 boxes) might fall here
• Mid End- products within the $250- $500 range with some variation; Upper Deck SP Game Used tends to fall here
• Mid-Low End- products in the middle of this range; Upper Deck Radiance might fall here
• Low End- products under $100 usually; most Topps products fall here

These are by no means all the possible pricing combinations or levels- that list would be far to complicated to compile here. As a general rule, however, the more you pay the better your odds of hitting "the big one-" a Michael Jordan or Lebron James autograph, or a Mickey Mantle cut signature card- become.

American Saturday Night

Hello again! Last night I went to see Brad Paisley on his "American Saturday Night Tour" at Journal Pavilion. As always, Mr. Paisley absolutely ROCKED!!!

Things looked iffy with the rain yesterday but it cleared up prior to showtime. We planned on going rain or shine- what's a little water after all ;) .

The opening act was Jimmy Wayne. He has a great voice but his songs are whiny, and he had some interesting dance moves. He kept running and leaping, and rolling around on the stage. Very odd in my opinion.

Next up was Dierks Bentley. I love his music! (I am biased but I thought he performed well) He played some of my favorite songs so it was cool.

Brad Paisley came on and played for TWO hours- it was a great show. He can play his guitar like no one else. I suggest youtubing him for examples. He played all his hits, and ended the show with a Paisley/ Bentley/ Wayne rendition of "Alcohol." It was really good!

This is the second time I have seen Brad Paisley, and I would recommend the show to anyone. He is fun, a great performer, and leaves you feeling that you got your money's worth.

Intro to Stitch

In my first post, I mentioned that I had a little dog. I feel like now is a good time ot introduce you to him.

Well, for starters his name is Stitch. He is a Miniature Pinscher/ Dachsund mix. He is black and tan, weighs about 12 pounds, and we figure that he is about 1.5-2 years old.

My boyfriend Josh and I rescued Stitch from the Espanola Valley Humane Society in late May. We'd been looking for a little dog without much luck for some time, and since we are from Espanola I figured that I'd give their website a try. We saw his picture and fell in love with him. It felt really awesome to be able to give him a loving home.

Stitch's namesake is actually Stitch from "Lilo and Stitch." As you can see from his mugshot (ha ha), he has some MONSTER sized ears. This was where the idea for the name came from. It was later on that we saw just how fitting it was- he is every bit as crazy and destructive as the little blue alien in that movie!

Aside from being a baby monster, Stitch is a great little guy. He came to us potty trained and well-mannered; it really surprises me that someone could lose him and not even bother to look for him (the shelter acquired him as a stray pick-up). He is a complete goofball and is highly entertaining; however, all he really wants is love. He has shown us so much of the same in return (and he is a great heater at night ;) !)

So that is the story of Stitch. I hope you enjoyed getting to know him!

Heather

My hobbies

I want to let you all know a little bit more about myself, so I decided that this week I'd fill you in a little on my hobbies.

I have been an avid reader since I was little, and I think that is part of what drew me to pursue an English degree. My most recent read (non-school related) was "The Time Traveler's Wife." I thought it was a really excellent read- but it definitely kept the tissue nearby!

My other huge hobby is sports card collecting. I know, a little out there for a girl- but I have been collecting since I was around 10. My two main sports are basketball and football. I started collecting Danny Granger when he started playing at UNM, and since then my collection has just grown and grown. I currently have somewhere around 150 cards in my Danny Granger PC (personal collection- meaning I do not trade or sell them). I also collect Bull's cards.

My football team is and always has been the Pittsburgh Steelers (no bandwagon jumping here!) My PC for this team is much smaller but more costly. The highlight of my collection right now is a Hines Ward auto /86 (they are tough to come by and I spent 3 years trying to find one!) I also have a Ben Roethlisberger auto /35 coming in soon- maybe I will post some pics.

Anyway, that about sums me up as far as hobbies go. See y'all later! :)