Night Owl Cards

  I don't know what the weather is like in your area but around here, it's pretty warm pretty early. It's 85 today and that's not typical in May in the north country. I quite like it but I know if it's like this nonstop through the end of September there is going to be a whole lot of whining around here. And speaking of whining, what a weird time to still be playing hockey. I know that the Stanley Cup playoffs have been stretching into June for decades now. It's played some portion of the final series in June since the early 1990s. Not the first time this Gen-Xer looked at some new occurrence from the early '90s with puzzlement (although nothing will ever top Color Me Badd). When I was in high school, the NHL was done by mid-May. Part of that is because the Islanders were sweeping everyone out in four games, but it seemed in sync with the calendar and the season. It's so hot to be playing hockey in June. It's probably nice for people in Florida, Dall...

As this is published, the Buffalo Sabres are either en route to their ninth straight victory or their first loss since Nov. 4th. I'm not used to this kind of success for my favorite hockey team. I don't follow hockey as much as I did in the 1990s and part of the reason for that is because the Sabres -- except for that red-and-black blip in the late '90s -- have been consistently mediocre-to-bad for years. They haven't made the playoffs the last seven seasons. During the 1970s and '80s, the Sabres were consistent contenders. I didn't really collect hockey but I knew who the players were. Then the Sabres and I gradually went our separate ways until the point that if you told me Richard Smehlik was still on the team, that would totally make sense (FYI: Smehlik is 48 years old and retired in 2003). This Sabres' win streak has convinced me to start paying attention to the team again. Yes, I'm a fair weather hockey fan. Sorry not sorry. I have a full-...

I don't like wishing my life away, but I really want my vacation to stop dawdling and get here already. I need one in the worst way. Work is so oppressive lately that it's difficult to write a coherent post. Mostly what I want to do is eat and goof-off. So this post will be more aimless than usual. I'm sure you were alarmed when you saw "playing games" in the title and then, immediately after, a Yu-Gi-Oh wrapper. Don't worry, I still haven't the slightest idea what Yu-Gi-Oh is about -- this is just the wrapper for the latest Zippy-Zapping from Torren' Up Cards ! Kenny -- or, ahem, Luis Torrens as the return address stated -- sent a few random cards that are perfect for aimless writing. Such as: A couple of these Japanese cheerleaderish cards. I don't know who Kana is but she is not sitting ladylike, which, of course, is why I like her. A Cody Bellinger rookie card that I've naturally left in the top-loader because I must p...

I will never collect hockey cards with the enthusiasm and conviction of baseball cards. I didn't grow up with the sport and there's little chance of me doing with hockey -- collecting a nonbaseball set for nostalgia reasons only -- as there is with football (1977 Topps, looking squarely at you). But I like my Sabres and if there is any hockey player whose cards I get a thrill out of owning, it's Dominik Hasek. For years, this was the only Hasek card I owned. I have no memory of acquiring it -- I must have actually bought a pack of hockey cards in 1996 or 1997 -- but I put it in a single page in a binder devoted to hockey cards. It was one of the special ones, dedicated to players I had interviewed or thought were particularly cool. Hasek was one of the latter. Hasek, as any hockey fan knows, was the best goalie on the planet for a period -- it's so rare for the Sabres to have anyone who's the best on the planet in anything -- and he was a major figure in Bu...

Last weekend I was out of town, in an attempt to erase the travesties of the previous week from my brain. I was successful. And that's because a box filled with 6,000 cards can cure just about any suburban woe on the planet. Remember that box of cards my brother-in-law found for me at the flea market? Well, it contained six smaller boxes, the majority of which were 1,000-count trading card boxes, packed full. I brought home with me between 6,000-7,000 cards. I am not going to to reveal the price he paid until the end of the post, for that is the most interesting part of the box. Also, there will be a short-and-sweet contest at the end of this post, so pay attention. OK, now I know what you're thinking after hearing I received up to 7,000 cards from a flea market. You're thinking, "how's that 1991 Donruss set coming?" And I am replying with "very well, thank you. How nice of you to ask. I may be close to completing the whole thing." Ye...