Sports Cards Ate My Brain

As a Falcon's Fan it has taken me awhile to write this post but the Super Bowl loss is mitigated by the fact that Tom Brady is my favorite player. My second favorite player is the other QB from that game that, unfortunately, did not execute in the 4th quarter.  All year I have known that the Falcons had to get to 30 points in a game to win and I was excited when they were in FG range with a change to get to 31 points.  As is well documented, that all went south. My favorite Matt Ryan card is from one of those hobby store giveaway sets: This is from 2008 Topps and is number 1 in the set. For those Atlanta haters out there, stop it (Michael Wilbon).  Everyone says we don't support our teams like other cities.  Half of our citizens grew up in other cities and they came to town with favorite teams, so get over it.  I'm sorry so many people chose to leave other cities to live somewhere better.

I love soccer and was elated a few years ago when NBC Sports Network started showing English Premier League Games. Then in 2013 Topps came out with a Premier League Gold set.  My favorite collecting store got a case and held a box for me while I bought one pack at a time.  Each pack comes with an autograph or a relic.  I bought a second box online when I won some lottery money. I like the base card design since the front is devoted to the picture and does not have unnecessary froo-froo cluttering it up. I chose Brad Guzan because it has been announced that he will be playing for Atlanta United in MLS when the premier league season ends.  I cannot stand Brad Guzan. I'll have to reconcile this. The inserts all have the same basic design with the name, in this case "MidfieIld Maestros on the left.  Not a lot of imagination for the inserts to all have the same design. I've only gotten 3 or 4 printing plates in my collecting history.  This...