The Football Card Blog

For some reason--most likely something to do with the fact that I was one in high school--offensive linemen are most often my favorite players.  When doing their jobs, they go unnoticed, and the good ones always seem to have the kind of attitude I like in a player--that is, they aren't the prima donnas on the team, screaming for attention after a 6-yard gain on 2nd and 10, or dancing around like an idiot after making a tackle 8 yards downfield.

And a lot of lineman seem to like to have fun while playing--from practical jokes, to contests to see who can go the furthest into the season without wearing long sleeves, to fining other linemen in Kangaroo Court just for talking to the media (both of the latter of which Hall of Fame Tackle and former Viking Gary Zimmerman was famous for).  Seems offensive linemen are often some of the smartest players on the field as well--which if you really knew the complexity of some of the blocking schemes, you'd understand why they need to be.

I think it's that reason that this comment, left by a regular on a local sports blog that I follow, drew my attention--granted, it was from two months ago, but it's getting to be the football time of year, and I just came across it again.

Tim Irwin wasn't the greatest offensive lineman in NFL history--in fact, he was probably the 3rd or 4th best lineman on most of the Viking teams he played for (granted, those were some high quality lines with Zimmerman, Hall of Famer Randall McDaniel, center Kirk Lowdermilk and the like), but Irwin was a solid right tackle who brought his lunch pail, did his job, and played for a long time.  In fact, although it probably won't stay this way much longer, he's currently in the Top 100 for career games started in the NFL, with 187.

Irwin was no dummy, either--he ended up getting his law degree, and started his own firm after his career was over.  I think he served as player agent for a couple of guys at one point, but more recently has served as a Judge of a Juvenile Court in Knox County, Tennessee.

So the fact that Irwin likely spent an entire preseason answering requests for autographs by requesting that the seeker write to Topps asking that they include him in the next years football card set is awesome--and exactly the kind of story that I get a kick out of.   The fact that Irwin was included the next year makes it even better.

Offensive lineman rarely get much love in today's sets, given that they lack the big name--but back when sets were a bit bigger, you'd regularly see a couple offensive linemen, a couple of defensive linemen, and even maybe the kicker and punter from each team get cards.

Irwin had a few cards over the years, several of which are available on Ebay today..
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Well, after more than 3 months, I'm finally going to post again.  No promises this time about regularity, but I'm hoping that I will be back with some regularity.

So where have I been, that has prevented me from posting on my football card blog during the football season?

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The 2008 football season got under way this past weekend.  Huh?

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Adam McFarland at SportsLizard.com posted a blog today about 'How [He] Thinks the Card Industry Will Be Saved' - and I just wanted to post a link to it, just in case there is anyone who happens to read this blog who hasn't yet stumbled across his.

And it isn't just because he lists my little old site as one where collectors may end up turning for "real" opinions (although, I do appreciate the mention).

I just want to link to it because I think he hit it right on the head--blogs may not be the total solution to what many view as a somewhat (or more than somewhat) screwed up indistry, but I believe they can be a huge part of it. 

As I mentioned in my comment on Adam's site, companies bigger than Beckett (and even Topps and Upper Deck) have suffered some serious ramifications when bloggers have called "Shenanigans" on them.  They may not be put out of business, but they certainly can get knocked down a few pegs--and with smaller companies, that can be fatal.

So, when the big names in the card world do things that  don't make sense, or do things that might be considered a slap in the face of some of those people who are raising legitimate questions about the business model, they should expect to be called on it.  And as the card blogging world grows, and more collectors find that there is a huge community of people talking cards on the interweb, they can only expect more and more scrutiny and criticism.

So go check out Adam's post if you haven't already.  And if you've been thinking about it, start a blog about your collection.  If you need help, or some pointers, just ask--there are a ton of great resources in the community.  And then you too can be a part of the solution.  Whatever that solution may be.

Just came across a post on Sports Cards Uncensored, responding to a post on The Baseball Card Blog, regarding the state of price guides in the industry.  I started to leave a comment on SCU, but when I saw how long my comment was, I decided maybe it was worth a full post.

I actually don't mind the price guides, although, their proliferation into side businesses--grading, selling, marketplace, etc--is annoying, and an in my opinion a blatent conflict of interest, even though they deny deny deny. Not the first company to profit off of a conflict of interest, not the last. 

I know that the price guides don't  provide a "true value," of a card, but at least it gives me some comparative indication into what I can start to expect if I wanted to list a card on eBay, or what to ask if I am at selling it at my local card shop, or what to offer if I was at a show.  Of course, I can do all that research on eBay too, but the price guide can save me some initial legwork, and is more portable than a computer (for now).

I don't think price guides are killing the industry, though--at least not directly.  Price guides have existed for well over 20 years--it's just the last 25-30 that they've turned into monthly publications rather than yearly books.

I think the single most destructive thing in the industry is the card manufacturers themselves, and their inability to do anything in moderation.

They hear a handful of people say "That's kind of cool" when they see a game used jersey card from a superstar, and next thing you know, I'm pulling a game used Nick Punto patch as a "hit" from a box.  Then, in order to make more memorabilia cards, we start having 'event worn' cards, and 'was in the same room as this jersey card' cards, and 'personal assistant opened and tossed the unsolicited invitation to event where the jersey was' memorabilia cards.

And then no one wants to buy big bucks for them, and the industry suffers.

Of course, one could argue that the price guides listing those cards as 'valuable' is what made the manufacturers overproduce them in the first place--but if people hadn't started buying cards on the secondary market in the 50's/60's/70's, proving that cards had value beyond use in bicycle spokes or card flipping games, we never would have had the price guides in the first place.

Regardless, whether you love the price guides or hate them (or, like me, not really care that much, other than when your issue is a week late), they certainly aren't going away any time soon.  At least until eBay starts putting out their price guide... (talk about conflicts of interest)...

Well, Topps has gone and done it now--used to be, I pretty much just disliked Upper Deck--and even that was only after a couple of the stories I heard, about their response to Hurricane Katrina and about how they've treated my local card shop as he tries to get up and running.

But now, I have to start considering adding Topps to my list too.  What crime did they commit?

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