The Football Card Blog

Well, finally broke down and purchased another hobby box of a 2008 product--in fact, two boxes, since I hadn't in quite some time, my local card shop gave me a bit of a deal.

Also, it might be the only 2008 product I collect this year--even Bowman Chrome, which I bought a ton of (too much?) in 2007 might be on the chopping block, depending on how the rookie class starts to look once the regular season gets under way. Right now, I'm not holding my breath--I still think what little superstar talent was in this draft was at positions that doesn't bode well for prospecting--so any additional 2008 cards I buy this year will have to be more for fun. Or of specific players.

I bought a bunch of Threads in 2007 as well (again, too much?), and did manage to pull a couple of the letter patches (Isaiah Stanback & Darius Walker--sold the Stanback, believe I still have the Walker), as well as a few other nice hits (Michael Bush Auto Patch card, Trent Edwards Prime Patch, Dan Marino Gridiron Kings Patch).

Anyway, since posts have been slow around here, I think I'll go at a slower pace for opening the boxes--not quite A Pack A Day style, but a few packs here, and a few there. Or I'll get bored in a few days and bust the rest, who knows?

Anyway, first two packs:

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You may have heard that the new Beckett.com launched this week.  You might also have heard that early reviews have not been positive.  In fact, a posting on their blog has generated 93 responses--which range from complaints, to thanks from other site operators for increasing their readership, and yes, a couple of complments mixed in.

Maybe I should have taken my duties as a beta tester a little more serious (that's right--despite the fact that I've been negative in the past, I was approved as a beta tester).  If I had taken the time, I could have told them that the site seemed slow--especially given that only beta testers were using it.  I also could have probably told them that they were making what should be a fairly simple concept, and making it waaaaaaaay too difficult (I have to agree with the commenter that chastised them for launching something that basically REQUIRES users to watch tutorials to be able to use it--that's just not good practice).

I don't fault Beckett for trying to improve things--their previous site sucked.  Unfortunately, it seems like they may have tried to take too big of a leap.  And maybe too soon.  And without looking before they leaped.  And into the wind.  Whatever you want to call it.

In the mean time, despite the mis-step, and all of the other problems I have with Beckett, I look forward to seeing where they go with the site, because I do think that it can be useful (for certain things).  I'm just not sure I'm willing to continue to pay for an annual subscription right now to see that progress.

**UPDATE** Eric's comment below reminded me that I did have one other point to make about the situation created by the new site--and that is to commend Eric for the job he's doing in handling the response, specifically in the post I linked to above.  I have a feeling that if 30+ people (probably even more off blog) started unloading on me in comments (even if some of them are warranted), I don't know if I could keep things as calm and composed as he has--although it is a problem I hope to have on this site at some point.

So, last week was the Pro Football (read: NFL) Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and Hall of Fame game.  Inducted this year were Redskins Art Monk and Darrell Green, coach and player Emmitt Thomas, Patriot Andre Tippett, Viking/Bronco Gary Zimmerman, and probably the original pass rush specialist Fred Dean.

But, as it seems like every year, there were players who many felt should have gotten in, but didn't.  Topping this years list for most people was wide receiver Cris Carter--who many felt was only made to wait so Monk could get in before him (despite Carter being better than Monk or Michael Irvin, who was somehow inducted last year in his first year of eligibility).

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OK, it's been almost a month, and no action here on The Football Card Blog.  So what's up with that?  A whole bunch of things have basically led me to just not really "feel it" over the last few weeks--from the Favre fiasco, to the disappointing rookie class this year, to some of the stuff I've been reading in the hobby blogosphere.

But, I saw some of the game Sunday night, and I'm starting to get back into it.  I've got my first fantasy draft coming up, I think the first set of 2008 cards that I might actually buy a couple boxes of comes out soon, and I've got a couple of other site related projects that are underway.

So, hopefully moving forward things will get a little more regular around here again.  If not, I promise a full refund!

On my way out the door for an extended weekend, but I wanted to get a post up before I left, since I haven't had much going on lately.

Getting back to the Football/Screen Stars themed Cards of the Week, this week featuring Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith.  The first overall pick in the 1967 draft, Smith was considered a huge athlete in his day, playing defensive end at 6 foot 6 inches, and 260 pounds (today, that would be a little taller than average, but about average for weight).

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Chris Cooley may become to football card collecting what Pat Neshek is to baseball card collecting.  Neshek, who until injured this year was a very successful relief pitcher for the Minnesota Twins, has a blog where he discusses collecting cards, and trades autographs and sports memorabilia with other collectors.

Cooley doesn't have his own blog (yet), but has a blog at http://chriscooley47.blogspot.com/ (thanks to Sports Cards Uncensored for that--I thought I beat you to the punch for once!), and contributes to the Shutdown Corner on Yahoo! Sports.  In the past, he has discussed his own fantasy football experiences, including the 2005 season when he knocked one of his own teams out of the playoffs with a three touchdown performance late in the season. 

His most recent entry deals with his re-entry into football card collecting--specifically ending up ripping $70 worth of product one afternoon, and not finding what he was after (a card of himself--sounds like an egotist, but let's face it--I'd do it too).  He did get an Adrian Peterson rookie auto #'d 062/199, though.

Thinking that cards today are pretty cool, he went back to the store and bought more--and now it sounds like he (and his wife) are hooked.

And they've even got a profile up to sell cards on ebay--you can see what he's listed here.  His first foray netted some decent cards--that AP auto is going for about $163 so far (ends in 8 hours or so), and he has a handful of other jersey cards up, going for between $31 and $61.  Looks like today he added a Tom Brady jersey, and a Chris Cooley autographed card--which is already up to $28, presumably because Cooley pulled and signed the card himself.

Looks like there may be more of these in the future--at least until Topps/Donruss/Upper Deck tell him he can't do it any more (would they do that?).
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