Night Owl Cards

  Yesterday my vehicle received four brand-new tires. It was long overdue. I hadn't changed them since I bought it four years ago, and it had been hovering over my head for awhile now.   You know how it goes. Tires are expensive -- everything is. And people who aren't made of cash are always pushing it. But I don't like the chaos in my brain of the multitude of unfinished tasks, and when something is accomplished -- even something as mundane as new tires -- I feel that endorphin rush, that rush of "Done!" Finally, something I can cross of The Massive List.   This is something that translates easily to the hobby, especially if you are some sort of completist, as I am. I like finishing sets, large flagship sets in particular, but also team sets, and sometimes a mini insert set, when I need a fix fast.   There is no better feeling in the hobby for me than finishing a set, yelling "Done!" in the privacy of my own home as I slip the final card into the binder...

I missed a lot of things by ignoring cards for half of the 1990s, and I can't say I regret it most of the time. Amid all of the innovation and mass quantities of sets was some really weird stuff. I wish I had never witnessed the fashion shoots that were disguised as draft pick cards in the early '90s. And the cards where players are parading around with their shirts off? Please, find the person who thought that up and fire them. And if they've already been fired, fire them from their current job. Although the '90s could produce such fantastic out-of-context cards like this , for the most part I don't really want to see my baseball players in cowboy hats or fishing or barbecuing. I want to see them baseballing. But the '90s really wanted you to see the athletes doing things other than why you were collecting their cards. They wanted you to get to know them. What are their interests, their talents? Who are their family members? Where do they like to hang out...

I figured if I'm going to show a football night card, this is the right time to do it. After all, this likely will be my last post until the weekend. And given that I'm taking a break for Thanksgiving, a football card is appropriate. As much as I hate to admit it, no one is thinking about baseball much on Thanksgiving. Football is king. I don't have many football cards anymore. I sold just about all of them about two years ago. All that's left are a handful with special meaning tucked away in a binder, its location unknown. But the football cards that Adam of Thoughts and Sox sent me will be reserved for that binder (as soon as I can find it), as well. Adam said it took him two days to find this Warren Moon 1990 Score card. Such dedication should be rewarded. Also, Adam said he came across this other card when he was searching for the Score card: He couldn't have possibly known that Moon and Kenny Stabler were my favorite quarterbacks on my favorite team when I was...