The Football Card Blog

Sorry, this was supposed to go live before I left last weekend, but I just didn't get around to finishing it.

After the 1979 cello pack I opened last week, the second old school cello pack I opened was a 1983 Topps cello. 

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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.

All right, this week's football player-turned-actor was on the front of last week's cello pack of 1979 Topps, and correctly guessed (immediately) by Mitch in what turned out to be way too easy of a contest.  Sometime in the not too distant future, Mitch will find some Ohio State alumnus cards on his doorstep.

Matuszak, aka Tooz, was a giant compared to many contemporary players when he was drafted first overall by the Houston Oilers in 1973, standing 6 foot 8 and weighing 280 pounds.  He was the star of the football program at the University of Tampa, which cut it's football program after 1974.

In addition to the Oilers, Matuszak also attempted to play for the World Football League's Houston Texans--until a restraining order was filed, preventing him from playing in two leagues.  Displeased with his efforts to play for a rival league, the Oilers shipped Matuszak to Kansas City, where he played two seasons with the Chiefs.

He moved on to the Oakland Raiders for the 1976 season, helping them win Super Bowls XI and XV, before retiring after the 1981 season. 

Matuszak's playing career often seemed overshadowed by his partying and drug use, chronicled in his autobiography Cruisin' with the Tooz, which included many painkillers, narcotics, and possibly anobolic steroids. 

Matuszak's first major acting role came before his retirement, in 1979's North Dallas Forty.  He became a fairly succesful actor in the 80's, with appearences on shows like Perfect Strangers, M*A*S*H, The Dukes of Hazzard, Hunter (with Fred Dryer), The A-Team, First and Ten and Miami Vice.

Perhaps his most famous role, though, was that of Lotney Fratelli, aka "Sloth" in 1985's The Goonies.

Sadly, Matuszak passed away of heart failure in 1989, at the age of 38.  His death is often blamed on his hard partying lifestyle and drug use, but Matuszak's sister also passed away at an early age due to heart failure, so it is possible that a genetic disorder may have also caused the death.

As for the card, you pretty much know all about it already--it's his 1979 Topps card, which I pullled out of a cello pack recently purchased on eBay just last week.  It's one of only 11 cards Matuszak had during his career, and it books for $0.50.

As I mentioned a week or two ago, I've had to scour eBay trying to find some cards of some of the more notable football players turned actors.  A lot of the somewhat bigger names have had a fair amount of cards available, but I keep getting outbid on them at the last second.

As I started to look through some of the perhaps lesser known names on my list, one auction jumped out at me--the player I was looking for was the top card on an unopened cello pack from 1979.  And I thought, "Hmm...I can get the card for Card of the Week, and do an A Pack A Day style report on busting the pack."

And, per usual, my next thought was "I wonder what else this seller has?"

So, over the next week or two, we'll be busting some cello packs from my youth...and some wax packs...and even a rack pack. 

First up?  The pack that started it all--1979 Topps Cello pack.

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**UPDATE**I just went to check out the video on YouTube, and noticed that it has been ranked 1.5 stars out of 5 (6 ratings), and there have been numerous negative comments on it.  You can check them out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RKSBRY8ocM.

So, I finally got around to adding Beckett Behind the Scenes to my RSS list the other day (not sure why they weren't before--sidenote, is anyone else being asked to login to their server EVERY time you go there?  ), and saw that they had a couple new posts up today.  The first of which was entitled 'You asked for it, and I got it...'

And the post says that they are (FINALLY) going to provide a behind the scenes look at the grading process, via a video post.  Which, given all the negativity I've seen and heard about Beckett and grading in general lately (granted, 75% of it comes from Sports Cards Uncensored:-)), would be a good thing for them to do.

And then this is the crap they give us.

 
Whether they're trying to make it tounge in cheek, or taking an intentional jab at those of us who have raised the question of their grading practices--but this kind of crap doesn't help matters at all.

All right, should be some more posts this week, as a package arrived this afternoon.  More on that tomorrow, hopefully.

This week's Card of the Week honoring a football player who forged a career in acting is the man who started the trend of retiring early to do so--Jim Brown.

Widely considered the best running back ever to play the game, Brown was actually a two sport star at Syracuse in college, and was considered by many to be the greatest Lacrosse player ever as well. (Factoid I learned in writing this--he was born on St. Simons Island, Georgia, where my grandparents used to vacation in the winter.  I wonder if I saw signs when I visited them).

Alas, they didn't have pro lacrosse back in the day--at least, not big leagues--so Brown was drafted by the Cleveland...Browns, in the frist round in 1957. 

Brown played for just 9 seasons in the NFL, but managed to set several records before he retired--including single season rushing record (1,863), career rushing yardage (12.312), career rushing touchdowns (106), career touchdowns (126), all-purpose yardage (15,549).  He was the first player to surpass the 100 career touchdown mark, and was still the fastest to reach it until LaDanian Tomlinson came along.

He did all that, in just nine season.  Four of which only had a 12 game schedule, the other five having 14 games.  He also played in nine pro bowls.

Brown firs started acting in the film Rio Conchos in 1964, and was filming a role in the World War II movie The Dirty Dozen in 1966, when Browns owner Art Modell insisted he report to training camp.  On July 14,1966, at the age of 30, Brown announced his retirement.

He went on to star in several more movies and TV shows, including several with another actor who may just make it into the Card of the Week files, if eBay will cooperate.  Sadly, the role I know him best for is his role in Mars Attacks!

The card shown above is a 2007 Donruss Threads Gridiron King Green Framed Parallel Insert, serial #'d 14/25.  I pulled the card last summer, when I finally found a local card shop that carried decent hobby boxes, and I sunk further into into the hobby, much to my wife's dismay.  If I remember right, the card books for about $15.  I'm pretty sure I have some more Brown cards laying around somewhere, but none of his vintage cards, unfortunately. 
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