The last Bengals cards you'll see on this blog

On Saturday night, I watched in disgust as the Bengals gave away an opportunity to win a Playoff game due to lack of self-control.

As a fan, I don't care that they lost. I'm used to that. I was prepared for it. The Jeremy Hill fumble was awful, but that (unfortunately) happens. But the way they responded in that last minute, by caring more about dirty/cheap shots and bitching to the refs than actually winning the game, infuriates me. I know it's unfair to lump in guys like AJ Green and Andy Dalton with guys like Pacman Jones and Vontaz Burfict, but to me, the latter outshines the former. It's sad, and it's all I'll be able to remember.

I kept thinking about what if my son was old enough to watch the game. I would have been horrified telling him that grown men, at the pinnacle of their careers playing in the most important game of their lives, can't keep their composure and just do their job. We all want to go nuts at work sometimes But we don't. We put our heads down, keep our mouths shut, and do our jobs. Somehow, that doesn't apply to some professional athletes.

Many said they feel bad for Marvin Lewis. Please. He was nowhere to be found when his players were going off the rails. It starts at the top, and the lack of discipline was present all season, not just in the last minute of the final game of the season.

I don't care if my thoughts are viewed as an overreaction or jumping ship on your team. That's fine. When the players care more about themselves than the team, why should I care about the team as fan? I don't. I'm not going to root for another team in particular. I'm not going to say "Hey, I'm a Giants fan now." Nope. I'm just not going to root for the Bengals. I'm not. I can handle losses on the field. I can't handle a team behaving the way they did on Saturday night.

Therefore, I thought I'd show some Bengals cards for the last time. One batch came from Uncle Tiny, and the other from JBF. While I appreciate their gestures, I hope they no longer go out of their way to send me Bengals cards as a result of Saturday night. These guys also sent me awesome Yanks, which I'll show off later. I appreciate that they always find some Bengals to send my way, but I just don't have the heart anymore.

From Tiny:

And from JBF:

 

JBF shocks me again

With nearly 700 different Tino Martinez cards, I'd like to think I'm a fair expert in Tino cards. I can pretty much spot ones I don't have when I see them. I know the early cards like the back of my hand, receiving many as throw-ins in various trades and card packages.

Tino's 1991 Donruss may be one of the most frequent cards I receive. It tends to pop up in every couple packages. Its fine. I don't mind. So while flipping through a recent Jaybarkerfan's Junk bombing, I saw the familiar blue 1991 Donruss borders:

However, that's not Tino's pose in the one from JBF. This is:

Gasp! I've never, ever seen that. Turns out it's a 1991 Donruss Preview card. I felt foolish for not knowing this existed after 19 years of collecting this guy. Leave it to JBF to find one! Tino's not a Yankees rookie in this one!

There was also this Tino from The Lost Years that I didn't have:

The package made its way to me after I claimed a Bobby Abreu Yanks relic. I really liked Abreu as a Yank. He fit the team perfectly. It was one of Brian Cashman's best moves. BOBBY YOU GET ON BASE AT A 40% CLIP NO BUNTING!

Like Wes would stop there. Next, this sweet CC Sabathia quad relic popped out.

Like Wes would stop there. This crazy cool Deion Sanders manu-coin weighed the package down. These are pretty cool in person. I wonder if there's chocolate inside?

Like Wes would stop there. Say hello to a dual-jersey of Jeremy Hill, the guy who will be the best running back in the NFL this season.

Like Wes would stop there. A David Cone mini /199.

 

Like Wes would stop there. Don Mattingly in a frame!

Like Wes would stop there...

 

He never stops. Wes, thank you, my friend!

The JBF Mystery Box

This past spring, Jaybarker fan held a Big Fun Game in honor of Napkin Doon of the dormant The Adventures of Napkin Doon blog. Napkin actually participated, but then didn't keep his word about blogging about then game. Figures.

As part of the Big Fun Game, I swiped a Mystery Box of cards. What could be in there? 1987 Topps? Some sexy Bench Warmers? Dick Tracy cards? Packing peanuts?

I anxiously awaited, and here's what I found:

Ohh yeah! In typical JBF fashion, of course he would tailor the cards to whoever won the mystery box. Below the Cano is also an unopened pack of top loaders (always helpful!), and the cards were flanked by some 1988 Donruss was packs. I opened one pack, and saved two for my kids to open one day in the future. Here are the highlights from my pack. Two HOFers...not bad!

You can already see the Cano, but here's a scan. I loved these blue foil Opening Day cards, as this one is from 2013. They were super nice. Behind that was an emerald foil Jeter, so these two looked awesome falling out one after another.

More foil! Although this one is from Panini. This is a pretty sweet Ichiro!

I was thrilled to see this one fall out! I do have a copy of this card, but I was never expecting to have another one. It was sandwiched in the loose cards section over on the right. It's one of my favorite cards of all time!

A nice assortment of other Yanks to give you an idea of what else was in there:

 

And finally! Wes also included a bunch of sweet Bengals hits! I love the Jeremy Hill jersey. He's a stud and can't wait to see him in year two. And the Devon Still auto is great. He's obviously been pretty front and center this season as his daughter, Leah, has undergone cancer treatment.

Wes aka JBF, this was awesome. Thank you!

JBF Week: AJs for AJ

My Bengals collection has grown immensely since Jaybarkerfan found out I support the team. I have a really nice binder of AJ Green cards going, and he often includes some nice Bengals hits and cards with his packages to me. While I don't think I'll ever dive fully into football collecting, I love having these Bengals cards of current players.

Mostly, after really just seeing baseball cards, it's fun to see what football products are out there. Some are really nice. Some make baseball cards look like crap in terms of design or production value. Mostly, it's just enjoyable to see the diversity in sets and brands.

Here are a bunch of Bengals recently sent my way in various packages: