Night Owl Cards

(Today is the 40th anniversary of something awful. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 274th in a series): The special one-game playoff between the Red Sox and Yankees on Oct. 2, 1978 began at 2:30 p.m. EST in Boston. School didn't get out until 3 p.m. Then my brother and I took a bus 20 minutes back to our house. Our friend, Matt, lived four houses away. He was a Yankees fan, but it didn't matter. He was a big, goofy guy, harmless as Yankees fans go, and besides, earlier that season I had traded a bunch of 1978 Yankees to him for old cards from 1969 and 1971 that he had received from his older brother. We definitely could head down into his family's basement den to watch the game, aired by WPIX, on a black-and-white TV propped up in the corner. By the time we got over to his house to watch the game, the Red Sox were already ahead 1-0 and soon added another run. Matt was disappointed, but as youngsters who liked to goof off, we didn't watch ...

We're back to the present with "Match The Song Title," although some would say we're "back to the future" with this choice (and those more familiar with Daft Punk will say we're "back to the past"). I can't say I'm a follower of electronic music. I'm more of a rock n' roll guy, who gravitated toward new wave (which actually isn't that far from electronic music) and alternative in the '80s and is now back to reliving the rock of his younger days. In fact, I like just about all of the music of my younger days -- from easy listenin' '70s pop to 25-minute stadium rock anthems to "we got the funk" disco jive. I think some of the dance songs from that time are fantastic (don't you ever say a bad word about the long version of Taste Of Honey's "Boogie Oogie Oogie"). And that's why I've suddenly become a big fan of "Random Access Memories" by Daft Punk. There are m...

The second part of the '75 Mini Trilogy that happened upon my porch early last week doesn't involve a trade with a fellow blogger. But I wouldn't be sitting here babbling about it if it weren't for Scott Crawford on Cards . A little while ago, Scott clued me in on an ebay auction in which a lot of '75 minis was for sale. The price was right under normal circumstances. But unfortunately, I was in austerity mode at the time and I had to let it pass with a note of thanks. Weeks went by and I finally had some cash to spare. Since the auction was a BIN, I checked to see if it was still around. It was. With just a couple of days to spare. I pulled the trigger and for 25 bucks I had me some '75 minis. This is the point where you might be saying, "Night Owl, you got hosed. 25 bucks for a card like that? Do you know that thing is both miscut and diamond cut? There are about 14 things wrong with it on first glance." Yeah, I know. Isn't it wonde...

I am almost certain that the Yankees are going to win the World Series. I've been certain for quite awhile. During this postseason, I have always rooted for the other team, and felt real disgust when they didn't succeed, or -- like the Angels -- make dumb mistake after dumb mistake. But I always knew that the Yankees would prevail. I'm not the greatest evaluator of talent, but I can see what the Yankees have and how they are playing. I don't think the Phillies have a real shot of winning the Series. It could go six games. But I don't see a seven-game series or a Phillies win. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE a Phillies win and I would love to be wrong, but my gut says it ain't gonna happen. Given that, what I'm saying here shouldn't annoy any Yankees fans, too much. Your team is going to win the World Series, so who cares about what some blogger thinks? It's well-established that I do not like the Yankees. I come from a family of Yankee...

I was genuinely excited to get this card the other day. Do you know how ill it makes me to admit that? It's Bucky Bleeping Dent! I'm not supposed to like this guy! I don't like this guy. But that's how the Yankees get you. It's another one of their insidious plots to drive everyone who roots against the team crazy. It's sinister, it's evil. It's so, so, Steinbrenner. This all stems from my childhood growing up in New York state. I've lived in Yankee country all my life. But I knew at an early age that I didn't want to be a Yankee fan. Even as a kid I noticed that the Yankees attracted almost all the mean kids. Bullies were Yankees fans. The loudest, rudest kids seemed to be Yankees fans. There were a lot of nice kids who were Yankees fans, too, but all I could see were the loudmouths. Surrounded by these Yankees types, I could never hold on to any Yankees cards. This was the late 1970s, a time of Yankees excellence. So, anytime I pulled a Munso...