Member's Only!

This year's stadium club seems like a really cool set. Wish I had a bit more card budget this year then I would've jumped in on it more. I busted the one blaster, didn't hit anything crazy but each card was a beautiful piece of photography. It was refreshing to see. I was able to pick up this rare parallel unnumbered but the print run is rumored to be around 7 (it's what I've read, feel free to correct me)

I whole 99 cents with free shipping! Love a good deal!

A nice action shot, which fits the theme of the rest of the set. I wonder what the Phillies are going to do with Howard next year. They won't be a competitive team again and some of the young guys are not quite ready to come up. We shall see but it would be nice as a fan to get one last curtain call.

Let's not talk about the Eagles.

On the good news front. The Allen and Ginter box has been purchased and should arrive tomorrow! I will be doing Gint A Cuffs ASAP since final scores are due in 8 days.

Also, days off from work are great!

Thanks for reading!

The start of Chrome!

I picked up one semi low numbered card recently.

My first Ryan Howard Chrome Card Orange Refractor out of 25!

Topps decided to keep the colors across Bowman the same as Chrome. Kinda like the idea. I've missed out on a few golds but I'm sure they'll surface again. The red out of 5 and the super haven't surfaced yet as far as I know!

Thanks for reading!

Ongoing trade with Mr Bob Walk the Plank!

I recently received a sweet package from Bob Walk the Plank! One of the more active traders out there. I hope to be more active next year just have had too much going on to focus my energies toward striking up some deals. I don't have much new cards either and haven't really highlighted any trade bait so there's that. Always nice to get 4 new cards that go directly into the PC! That is a successful trade package.

 

One great defensive third baseman Scott Rolen! I like the picture in picture on the card, very regal. The Gypsy Queen auto's are nice being on-card and Kruk has a fairly decent signature. Always a fan favorite because of 1993. 

Excuse my terrible cropping job there but regardless the Tommy Joseph is a nice looking inception auto relic card. I know Joseph has had some concussion issues but he's still in the Phillies minor league system. Maybe he gets a shot next year with the team being very in flux at most o the positions. The Mike Schmidt is a large wooden bat relic. I had never seen this card before and anytime I can add a Schmidt hit I am happy. I have a few autos but not that many relics oddly enough.

Thanks for the trade Matt, I'll hopefully be able to get some nice Pirates for you!

Thanks for reading!

Happy Start of Football!

I know the official start was Thursday night but the first Sunday is always more fun! I personally enjoy the red zone channel since the Eagles aren't playing until Monday night. I get to see all the games! We don't do commercials on Red Zone!

I completed my other 2 fantasy drafts. The first one was a 10 teamer with very slanted rules towards QB's and RB's. They always go before receivers. The only receiver taken in the first was Antonio Brown at #8.

I ended up with:

QB Matt Ryan
RB Eddie Lacy
RB Lamar Miller
WR Calvin Johnson
WR Jordan Mathews
TE Jordan Cameron
K Brandon McManus
DEF Texans
BN Golden Tate
BN Nelson Agholor
BN Teddy Bridgewater
BN Joseph Randle
BN Kniles Davis
BN DeVante Parker
BN Dwayne Allen

I ended up taking Tate to handcuff Megatron. He got most of the targets when Megatron was hurt last year. I hope Agholor does well this year he has the skillset to be the #2 on the high flying Eagles Offense. If Randle emerges as a decent back I'll be set at RB. We shall see!

My other league is much different. 14 teams, low scoring. If you pop 60 in a week you should win.

I had 5th pick out of 14. The first 4 picks were RB's, so I said screw it and took Antonio Brown.

I ended up with:

QB Ben Roethlisberger
WR Antonio Brown
RB Chris Ivory
WR/RB Joseph Randle
WR/RB Jordan Mathews
WR/RB Nelson Agholor
K Matt Bryant
DEF Vikings
BN Ronnie Hillman
BN Charles Sims
BN Andre Williams
BN Philip Dorsett
BN Greg Olsen
BN Steelers D

You don't have to start a tight end but grabbing Olsen late was fine with me. He will be a good bye week fill in or if one of my starters aren't doing well I'll put him in. I'm obviously slanted towards the Eagles and Steelers. I got bailed out by that TD with 2 seconds left on Thursday night.

That's all my fantasy teams. I always enjoy the drafts and constructing the teams, we shall see how some in season moves work or don't work!

I received some baseball cards in the mail the other day so I'll be back to regular posting shortly. Been a crazy week!

Thanks for reading!

Go Eagles!

One of my nicer football cards, Barry Sanders RC!

One more draft down, 2 to go!

I have 2 more fantasy drafts this week leading up to the start of the season on Thursday. I completed my 2nd one on Saturday after the Penn State vs Temple debacle. Penn State just did not look good, they are going to get trounced by the good teams in the Big Ten. Oh well, always next year? (Right Cubs fans!)

This draft was interesting because it was an auction format. No Keepers.

200 Dollar Budget start QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, Flex, TE, K, DEF

It was tough figuring out how to fill the roster to make it competitive. I had literally no plan going into it but I ended up with I think a decent team.

In no particular order here is my roster

QB Andrew Luck ($44)
RB Jeremy Hill ($49)
RB TJ Yeldon ($9)
WR AJ Green ($42)
WR Jordan Mathews ($31)
WR Davante Adams ($11)
Flex Michael Crabtree ($1)
TE Dwayne Allen ($3)
K Matt Bryant ($1)
DEF Eagles ($1)
My bench was one 2 dollar player Kyle Rudolph
a few backup RB's Matt Jones, Cameron Artis-payne, Ronnie Hillman and Karlos Williams
a few backup WR's Philip Dorsett, and Kenny Britt

I already made a trade pre season. I was offered Matt Forte straight up for Jordan Mathews. I decided to accept. Mathews might be good but I was worried about my RB2. I think with AJ Green being my receiving anchor I'll still be in good shape. I don't love Crabtree starting but maybe he'll get some targets playing opposite Amari Cooper.

Hope everyone's draft is going well... only a few more days til you find out!

Thanks for reading!

PSU Vs Temple today!

Today my wife and I are heading down to the Linc and going to PSU vs Temple. I am a PSU Alum, she is a Temple Alum. (Although we are still sitting together despite the obvious conflict of interests) Penn State is only favored by 6.5 or 7 points depending on which website you use. I don't personally bet on games but I sure hope its not that close. Hope everyone has an enjoyable Saturday, I plan on tailgating for at least 3 hours and then watching some real live football! (Eagles games are freakin' expensive this ticket was much more reasonable)

Shockingly, not a lot of people wanted the 1989 Donruss extras. I am sending a few to Captain Canuck (had some on the want list!) and I'm not sure if you were serious Junior Junkie if you want them all.. If you do I will gladly pay the shipping.

I've yet to get one Topps Chrome base card this year. I've picked up one Ryan Howard that I'll show soon (aka once I scan it). I really do want to open a case at some point. Maybe I'll wait for the offseason and hope the price drops some.

Enjoy the long weekend (if you are off on Monday!)

Thanks for reading!

This is a shot I took in Yosemite National Park in 2011. This was on the top of North Dome looking down into the valley. Pretty fantastic!

First Draft done!

I was away for the weekend and I didn't schedule any posts (I'm pretty bad about doing that) so the blog was quiet. I went to Portland and Hood River for my first cousin's wedding. It's really a beautiful place out in Hood River and then we had one day to go around Portland so we did touristy things. We went to the Rose Garden, Powell's Books and Sip N Straw for Ice Cream. It was a lot of fun and all in all a worthwhile trip to see the family. The red eye flight back is tough but we survived and immediately went to bed as soon as we got back.

I did have my first fantasy football draft on Thursday night. My next one is Saturday (auction draft).

This one is standard scoring, no ppr. I was pick 10 out of 12. I think my team is solid with some upside guys.

QB Ryan Tannehill (8th Round)
RB Jeremy Hill (1st Round)
RB Latavius Murray (3rd Round)
WR Julio Jones (2nd Round)
WR Brandin Cooks (4th Round)
TE Travis Kelce (6th Round)
K Cody Parkey (14th Round)
DEF Eagles (11th Round)
BEN WR Golden Tate (5th Round)
BEN WR Devin Funchess (9th Round)
BEN WR Brandon Coleman (13th Round)
BEN RB Ameer Abdullah (7th Round)
BEN RB Knile Davis (10th Round)
BEN QB Jay Cutler (12th Round)

This draft went very RB heavy in the first round. I was the 10th pick and only Rodgers and Antonio Brown were off the board for non RBs. I considered going wideout/wideout but I knew one of the top guys would fall no matter what so I decided to grab the RB I wanted then take Dez or Julio. Dez went so Julio it is!

We shall see if this strategy works. It's been a while since the top tier of QB's is so small. I feel like its usually 4-5 top guys not just 2. The middle tier is quite large and there is value to be had. Even if Tannehill is just league average the rest of the talent should carry the team.

Opinions? Thoughts?

I literally have no strategy going into this auction draft. I'm not sure if I should just go after 2-3 first rounders and then try and fill out the roster or go for middle tiers and have all decent guys but no studs.

Thanks for reading!

Obligatory Football picture.. A whole lot of McNabb.