After reading both Night Owl and Fuji's take on the latest topic (originated by Joe @ The Shlabotnik Report and Mike @ Not Another Baseball Card Blog ), I knew I had to jump in. If nothing else, because Bat-Arounds are the best!
I liked Fuji's take on it, as he selected players that he respected even though they were on rival teams in three different sports. So that's what I'm gonna do too. Warning: This is gonna get lengthy!
One thing I wasn't sure about ... Do all of the cards you show have to be in your collection? These are about half and half... They're the teams I dislike the most, but the players I still like (or respect at minimum). And almost all the images are from COMC.
5. New York Giants
Washington's NFC East rivals were the first ones I thought of for this post, and except for a nice Ron Jaworski auto I have on COMC right now, I couldn't imagine any Eagles that I really cared for. But Eli Manning is one of Angela's favorite players, and he's pretty funny as Chad Powers.
I like the 2008 UD Rookie Debut set, and this card is a nice color match to the Giants uniform. (The decent one. The red jersey is lame and the white jersey with the grey pants always look like a rec league outfit. The best are the all white 90's. But I digress).
Another reason to like Eli is his brother - who is Angela's #1 favorite - on the Broncos.
Not to mention that a few of the images of Eli with a stunned look on his face have made it to cards. He looks like he's still recovering from the last sack. Peyton loves putting up these kind of shots on their Monday Night Football broadcasts.
Speaking of Monday Night Football, I wish I had more Frank Gifford cards. This one is cool, but not one I own. Gifford is really old school. It seems like he was playing before they fully developed helmets, etc.
I do have this 1960 though. I have his 1958 Topps as well.
If you're old enough to know him at all, you probably know him from the 70's broadcasts.
And finally, I couldn't do the Giants and not include one of the greatest players of all time, Lawrence Taylor. The dude just eminates intimidation.
He should be card #1 in any Greats of the Game set.
4. Boston Red Sox
As an Orioles fan, I watched the recent Red Sox play mediocre for most of the game and then come back in the last inning and win too many times. Good for them in 2004, but I was over it quickly. I like the old school Sox much better. But Big Papi is such a fun guy - he had that show where he tried all these different jobs. So any cards with a happy David Ortiz are cool.
Plus, he gets a pass since my guy Brian Matusz (RIP) had his number when they faced each other.
Of course, there's my #1 player collection guy, Luis Tiant from the old school Sox. Nobody was cooler than him.
3. New York Yankees
Tiant had a few Yankees cards too!
A few of my PC guys donned the pinstripes. Ya gotta love the jacket and chaw in this '74 Sparky Lyle.
This '83 Lou Piniella is not that remarkable except for the levitating bat. I think he might have as many manager cards as he does as a player.
I will say I always kinda liked Derek Jeter. He had a distinctive mannerism at the plate that was kinda strange, but cool at the same time. Sort of non-chalant, all business, but calm and focused. This 2005 Topps reminds me of an action shot from 1973 Topps cards. I have several singles on my want lists that would kill sets, and they're all him. And those are elusive!
Yankees cards and pink seem to be a thing too. It works.....
And who can forget this one? I don't have a sense of how good a player Gamble was, but his cards are iconic anyway. Be it for the 70's style or the airbrushing.
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
Once again, as a Caps fan, their arch rival just generates disgust. But back when the Capitals weren't very good, Super Mario was a dominant player. Unfortunately, most of his cards are in the late 80's/early 90's. But I found a few that were cool.
This McDonalds Prism has the more modern Penguins uniform. It's not bad, actually.
These blue unis are kinda nice looking too. I'm guessing they're the third alt's or something. Marc-Andre Fleury was another Pengie I didn't mind too much. Especially when he moved on to Vegas (and now beyond apparently). I had mixed emotions when the Caps beat him for the Cup - if the G-Knights would have been against anyone else, I'd have probably rooted for them. But it was a little extra satisfying that it was the Peng's old goalie that we beat.
I have a casual collection of star goalies among my hockey gatherings. The masks and equipment are even cooler than baseball catchers, especially the graphics on the masks. Flower had bright yellow pads for a while that were terrible looking, but the black, white and pale gold would be nice for a team I actually like.
1. Dallas Cowboys
Washington is the nation's capital, but America's team is in Texas? Pfffft. Anyway, if you know me at all, the choice for #1 was a no-brainer. It's a close call between Pitt hockey and The 'Boys on who I hate the most, but Dallas ultimately wins. Jerrah pays extra for the weekly hype boost no matter how they're playing, and they're always praised as championship contenders at the start of every season.
Troy Aikman is a decent announcer, even though being with Joe Buck kinda holds him back. He does praise Washington when they deserve it, so he's OK in my book. Didn't like him much when he played, of course.
Having a career in the 90's puts him on all the wacky inserts...
And he's old-school enough to look good on the retro-style stuff.
The other former lead Cowboy now announcer that I never really hated too much is Tony Romo. These Strata cards aren't bad, and the throwback uni matches well.
Romo has always been a golly-shucks regular guy who is probably fun to be teammates with. He doesn't get too serious, even in games (except when they blow the playoffs again - but then I'm happy, so it works out).
Tony fits in with the frat boys, but is still down to earth enough to be likable. He knows the game well, and communicates it to the general public without being pretentious. Another guy who, on any other team, I'd have rooted for.
That's my rundown. I could have split it up into two posts, but at this point, it's taken me so long to put it together, I figure I'd just throw it all up at once.
Keep the Bat-Around's coming. I'll try to think of one too!
