May Day 10

I won that Josh Allen card!

High Stakes Breaks. The break group itself has slowed down and on its way out though. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1036175296817822/permalink/1104878126614205/?comment_id=1105238079911543

I recently got back into it. During the shut down I got into a few Card Collecting Games like OOTP baseball and MLB The Show. It got me into the itch to get some real cards and that is what I did. I have participated in a lot of breaks. Have gotten a few really good cards in the process and even an Autographed Eric Hinske ROY 2002 Blue Jays jersey. There are breaks of all varieties from low-end product, to high end stuff and even memorabilia. I actually dont mind that people are buying stores out of everything to break it. Breaks are a great way to claim 1 team at a much cheaper price than a box would cost, but also get the cards from a variety of products. Some have cards for multiple sports. I really like how the card hobby is. It is overwhelming and people are turned off by the variety... but that is something that I consider a positive. There are cards (valuable ones) that I think are ugly as hell and wont go near. There are other sets that I think are gorgeous. They release cards modeled after old Topps cards which look great. This year, in their main card set they did the 35th anniversary insert set of 1985. They also have a heritage set and an archives set that mimic older card sets. I got this Henke this year I also really like how autographs and relics are worked in now, and even lots of past and historical players. The Topps Stadium Club cards are also fantasic looking I came on like gangbusters and really spent too much money. It really tickles the gambling gene, so its easy to blow through some cash if you dont set limits. I have a pretty cool start to a collection. I want to try to focus it more on some themes though for my personal collection. Don't know what yet. All Shortstops or something. I also want to dip more into pre-1975 cards where I can for my collection. I would like to dip a toe in football and hockey as well As far as anything between like 1983 - 1994. It is worth almost nothing outside of a few Griffeys and if you have certain top-notch "Tiffany" cards https://www.beckett.com/news/how-to-identify-topps-tiffany-baseball-cards-using-the-star-method/ Someone in one of my facebook groups is raffling this off right now. 10 spots for $6.50 each spot

Goalies are very important for sure. The issue is, the position has become very technical as opposed to athletic and reactionary. It is a spreadsheet on where to be depending on the positioning of the puck/players, etc. In the late 80s/90s and even early 00s, you absolutely needed 1 of 8-ish 'franchise goalies' to stand a chance at finding playoff success. Now, not so much. Its not hard to be at the top of the league if you are willing to do the homework. The spread between the top goalie vs the #20 goalie is really negligible... and even down through like the #40 goalie. Who are the 'franchise' goalies these days? it seems to change year to year. Goaltending results are largely a result of how the team is in front of them and how well the defensive schemes are being executed. Goalies also develop in a really weird pattern, always have. It is VERY tough to figure out who a top goalie is at the age of 18. The best practice it try to grab 1 goaltender every draft for a stable of goalies and let them flesh out in Juniors, NCAA, in Europe, etc, then the ones who emerge to the AHL when they are ready. The Sabres have actually done this somewhat well.

I dont think they should have a forfeit. Its a terrible/amateurish look.

I compare goalies closer to running backs at this point.

Guys like sullivan, schoop, etc really want the Bills (and sabres) to be good. Believe me. Schopp is like giddy right now. Spanning multiple decades, do you think they like covering the groundhog day mediocrity and misery the Bills were and the Sabres have become?

Yeah, the prospect of no-experience Kevyn Adams does not excite me in the least. A hype video surrounding him is insulting

It sounds like they have a bit of a russ brandon situation in the organization with that easterby

If this continues.... our best hope is that he has learned from many who have come before him, and he is selective about choosing his spot. If it is an 'opportunity' to join the Jets' or Lions' trash heap of failure or wait a year... then maybe he sits it out and waits for a great situation not set up to fail?

If you are evaluating your coach over 2 games, you might as well get on with it and fire him and start to fix your franchise.

The easy answer is whichever version more of your friends own.

ugh. I hate the acquisition game. Hopefully they dont ruin fallout and elder scrolls

thats what I was going to put. New England looks pretty good and need to be ranked ahead of Buffalo until proven otherwise (other than a nail-biter loss @ Seattle)

Welcome to the post 2005 nfl, bills

The preorder thing is nonsense. I hate how that went down. For me, backwards compatibility is a major issue. I really wanted it for PS5. Actually considering making the jump back to XBox.

Pretty much all this.

It was great when it first started. Unlike most things, I was an early-adopter of the vinyl resurgence. Record Store day was for actual end-users to add to their collections. It was a really cool event. Many years later though, its only an ebay supply line. Last round, I really wanted the Live Frogs from Colonel Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.... to *gasp* listen to. I went to the place on Hertel when it opened and dozens of people were there on lawn chairs. People in front of me were just talking about what is "worth" what... and how many of X were being pressed, etc. People were leaving with armloads. By the time they were 10 people deep, it seemed like they were sold out of anything good, let alone what I wanted. I ended up reluctantly paying a small premium for the Vinyl.... then it just gets released anyways even though it was supposedly an exclusive to RSD. I really wanted the Green Jelly Cereal Killer album from the April one last year 2019. Same type of thing, but its still out there for $80 and I never bought it.

I've grown to dislike record store day. It's basically a neckbeard flipping paradise, and I'm not going to wait outside at 4am so I can try to get what I want. I miss record theatre. The used vinyl room was an absolute goldmine

So Bojorquez is the punter? I cant imagine they cant improve on that

No leg any more. Great kicker while he was here though. Thank god I never have to hear Murphy say "Hausch money" again

I worked there pre-pegula. Out of college, entry level. It is awful. Low salary, long hours, treated poorly. They knew that once I was fed up and left, there would instantly be 400 applicants. It felt like all promotion opportunities were already set. If I stayed I could have probably carved a career in sports.... but the work was exhausting, my friends all made more $, and the mental pressure my managers would put on me caused permanent damage. I had yearly performance reviews with russ brandon, lol. There were some cool things... like receiving a chocolate football from ralph and mary, getting a picture frame and christmas card from the Gregg William's family, 45 yard line season tickets I couldnt use, and sipping gin at a christmas party with drew bledsoe. With that said, typically the VPs and higher execs seemed to have it much better. At that time, the "marketing department" was way way more than 3 people.

My one that gets me yelled at is that I believe Lee Evans was vastly overrated

Im willing to just forgive and forget.... but Id imagine his employers (Fox and the Reds) are pretty furious

Bojorquez (sp) was terrible at times.