Night Owl Cards

I don't know about you, but by the time I was 11 or 12, I thought I had everything figured out. I knew how the world operated and how I fit into it. I knew the routine. Get up in the morning, go to school, return home, play baseball with my buds, do a little homework, goof off, and go to sleep. In between there were other constants. Frankenberry and Count Chocula. Happy Days. Kiner's Corner. They were always there. So it was with card backs. I knew what card backs should be. They should be horizontal. They should be green. They should have a cartoon on the left and statistics on the right. For the longest time, this is what I thought was the ultimate template for a card back. The 1977 Topps set was the standard. Any deviation from this formula was to be treated with suspicion. Of course, looking back at it now, the '77 card back isn't much to see. Most of the 1970s card backs were drab and dark. The '77 back is a little difficult to read. But when I thin...

I have often thought about what might be the easiest and most difficult jobs in pro sports. I haven't thought it all the way through, so I'm sure there are some sports that I've missed, like Australian Rules Football or Mongolian cliff diving. But among the sports I've thought of (now there's a category for you), I imagine these two are the easiest: 1. Pro golfer. Golfing is an insanely difficult game to master. But if you are very good at it, you have got it made. The game is leisurely. There is little danger of major injury. You almost always play in warm climates. And everyone has to be quiet every time you do anything. You can't beat that. 2. Pro bowler. The surroundings aren't great (how many hot dogs can you eat?), the footwear sucks. But again, the sport has "fat guys can do this, too" written all over it. Now onto the most difficult jobs, which is what this post is all about. I've often though that hockey goalie was the most difficult...