Chad Finn’s An Ode to Baseball Cards at The Baseball Analysts has got to be one of the best articles I’ve read in a while. Finn’s recap of his childhood baseball card collection is near identical to mine. The gum, the love of horrible players, how Upper Deck ruined collecting, etc.
A rare card in your collection allows you to dare to dream of untold riches… I could not have been the only 11-year-old in 1981 who discovered he owned the allegedly scarce ‘‘Craig’’ Nettles Fleer card, immediately got dollar signs in his eyes, and began plotting to buy a new 10-speed, cards by the case, a Cheryl Ladd poster, perhaps a red Lamborghini, and whatever else it is that 11-year-olds desire.
I had an inexplicable baseball card love affair with Will “The Thrill” Clark. I recall my uncle giving me a few packs of 1989 Topps cards. The Thrill was the only double I had in the pack. My 11-year old mind said, “I have 2 of this guy, he must be awesome!” (Not to mention how bad-ass he looked leaning on his bat). I then proceeded to vigorously amass every Will Clark card until I stopped collecting around 1992-1993, when collecting your favorite player’s card each year went from grabbing 10-12 cards to 100+.
I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but my baseball card obsession went even deeper. Probably due to a lack of funds (and friends) I even invented my own baseball card company (”Beam”), hand-drawing each card (my mom would photo copy uncut sheets at work for me) and distributing them around my neighborhood. I even made a price guide. Maybe I shouldn’t tell people about this.
Regardless, if you collected cards in the 80’s or early 90’s, this is a must read.
Finally, a cooking (and drinking) site I can endorse. Eat Drink or Die serves up simple to follow recipes with features like Drink of the Day (see below) and What’s for Dinner Tonight. They’re a little too focused on the healthy crap, but do a search for bacon and you can by pass that stuff.
Nerd Girls, a new reality TV show, proves that engineers can be hot chicks too (and vice-versa). Part Myth Busters, part hot chicks on TV, Nerd Girls answer email calls for help from loser guys who want to watch hot chicks solve engineering problems. Did I mention these chicks are hot?
I can’t tell you how excited I was when I saw a movie trailer entitled “Death Race” because I thought it was a remake of the classic Death Race 2000. Unfortunately, its not. Instead of getting points for killing doctors and babies, the 2008 version of Death Race is simply a competition of prisoners racing for their freedom. I’ll still Netflix this, but it’s not Death Race 2000.
Lots of studies by very smart/lazy people show that naps improve just about everything. Check out this guide by Boston.com to make sure your next nap is perfect.
I’m a softball player–a fat, lazy, beer-drinking player, but a proud one nonetheless. Since I started playing, I’ve told my wife, doctor and anyone else who would listen that it’s good exercise despite my lack of effort and massive beer intake. So I decided to prove my theories with hard scientific evidence.
According to this chart, 1 hour of “Softball or baseball, fast or slow pitch” for a 130lb person burns about 295 calories. Estimating the average softball game is 2 hours long and the average player can’t remember the last time they weighed 130lbs, I’d say the average fat guy softball player burns between 800-900 calories per game. Even assuming you half-ass it most of the game, you’re still killing roughly 500-600 calories per game.
Chad Finn’s An Ode to Baseball Cards at The Baseball Analysts has got to be one of the best articles I’ve read in a while. Finn’s recap of his childhood baseball card collection is near identical to mine. The gum, the love of horrible players, how Upper Deck ruined collecting, etc. 
I’m a softball player–a fat, lazy, beer-drinking player, but a proud one nonetheless. Since I started playing, I’ve told my wife, doctor and anyone else who would listen that it’s good exercise despite my lack of effort and massive beer intake. So I decided to prove my theories with hard scientific evidence.
