BRING ON IU

     It was 2091 days ago since the last time that THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY won against the Team up North playing at the Outhouse in Fanny Farbor on Saturday. As Sage & I were sitting down, me with my 3 hot dogs, cheesy breadsticks, cheese curds, 4 bottles of 1 liter Pepsi & Sage had her snacks of Friskies Delickables of chicken,fish,steak & egg gearing up for THE GAME. We were ready all week long we both said we don't want to have the streak reach 5 games. On Friday we watched the 1987 game as well the 2006 game. So we sat down turning the TV on then saw them moving to score the field goal hoping that was the only time they would score today. Then we saw the interception Sage let out a huge hiss I agreed with her that they should have thrown a flag after the play cause they did a cut throat celebration but no flag instead they kicked another field goal 6-0 comes from a friend of mine in a text saying as well ".....5 in a row I should start preparing for my singing session as well having my wardrobe in corn (maize) & Bleah (blue)" I responded like legendary ESPN analysis & former Indiana University Head Coach (more on IU later keep reading) Lee Corso said once to a little kid "Not so fast ya Flamingo(I think ya know what I said instead) Midget we'll be scoring soon." Sure enough before the 1st quarter was done we got on the board 6-3 quick message to the friend ".....No shutdown tonight & at least we're not afraid to throw it or run it compared to a certain 5 *coughing* tooled frosh Quarterback that was supposed to throw bombs on us or scramble if needs to run to avoid our defense" his response was "its cold outside" I responded "I'm Jul ian Sayin (like that little play on THE OHIO STATE quarterbacks name) our quarterback is outside too but he's hotter than yours"

           

        2nd quarter we watched as Jeremiah Smith haul in a touchdown catch to put them up 10-6 & then we saw them score another field goal then just before the end of the 1st half we see Brandon Inniss tight walk the line to make the score 17-9.

        Once the start of the 2nd half Sage ran out of snacks as we watched the snow fall on the field & watched Brutus making a snow angel as well watch the field crew trying clean up his effort.

Brutus's snow angel 

Just have to wonder if he got a raise for cleaning up the field but missed a bunch of the Bleah 💩 on the sideline. 

Then we saw Carnell Tate make a nice 50 yard catch to say the score 24-9. Unfortunately by then I turned to Sage said well.....we got IU next week she then got off my lap looking at me saying she was off to nap & then she left me alone to watch the celebration on the field.  The final score cause we got another field goal to make it 27-9 so bring on IU!!!!!!

Now I leave it to Coach Day instead of Rogers Hornsby to leave the quote "The best thing to do is win with humility"

Well said Coach congratulations. 

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES

            

                        Happy Thanksgiving everyone I'm sending you my very thankfulness from my family to yours this season. This year's meal will be hard for my parents especially my mother cause as some of you readers have read my blog throughout this 2025 year I lost my baby brother back in January of this year that means one more empty spot that won't be there for dinner this year. I look back in years past how my family tradition would be eating Thanksgiving meal then turning on the game listening to Pat Summerall & John Madden or Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen as well many others in whomever was calling the game between the Detroit Lions taking on that year, this year its the Green Bay Packers hopefully the Lions can beat them from losing earlier this season up at Lambeau Field in Green Bay otherwise the Lions will be looking for some kind of a Miracle to make the post season this year. 

                     As you gather around your tables this year remember those that we miss having around this festive meal remember that's one thing to be thankful for as well those that are still around for us to share & as well those joining for the first time. Normally I would leave ya with the quote from Rogers Hornsby instead I leave you with this Thanksgiving with a heartly Thank you again from my family to yours & just remember to save room for some pumpkin pie for dessert. 

5 DAYS AWAY

 

      5 days from now I will be sitting in front of my television to watch THE GAME that I have waited for since last year after the Flag posting in the middle of the field. FOX Sports advertised it correctly this year, The National Champions are seeking revenge against the #15 little girls of the city known as Fanny Farbor,Muchigan. Sure they have had the upper hand the last 4 years but this year.....its payback for all the things that happened. 

                                                              Coach Day is ready for this 

         Again all year we have heard the critics say they lost a bunch of key players to the draft in April so they won't be a contender for the playoffs they have an inexperienced quarterback (Last checked he was at 80.1% Completion rate leading all FBS teams), No true running back (Bo Jackson a true Freshman has 835 yards rushing yards I really hope he can get 165+ yards rushing on Saturday) they said we were to have a 7-4 season.

Regular Season
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT	W-L (CONF)	HI PASS	HI RUSH	HI REC
Sat, 8/30	vs1 TEX	W14-7	1-0 (0-0)	Sayin 126	Donaldson 67	Tate 49
Sat, 9/6	vsGRAM	W70-0	2-0 (0-0)	Sayin 306	Jackson 108	Smith 119
Sat, 9/13	vsOHIO	W37-9	3-0 (0-0)	Sayin 347	Jackson 109	Smith 153
Sat, 9/27	@WASH	W24-6	4-0 (1-0)	Sayin 208	Jackson 80	Smith 81
Sat, 10/4	vsMINN	W42-3	5-0 (2-0)	Sayin 326	Jackson 63	Tate 183
Sat, 10/11	@17 ILL	W34-16	6-0 (3-0)	Sayin 166	Jackson 47	Smith 42
Sat, 10/18	@WIS	W34-0	7-0 (4-0)	Sayin 393	West 55	Tate 111
Sat, 11/1	vsPSU	W38-14	8-0 (5-0)	Sayin 316	Jackson 105	Tate 124
Sat, 11/8	@PUR	W34-10	9-0 (6-0)	Sayin 303	Jackson 75	Smith 137
Sat, 11/15	vsUCLA	W48-10	10-0 (7-0)	Sayin 184	Jackson 112	Graham 40
Sat, 11/22	vsRUTG	W42-9	11-0 (8-0)	Sayin 157

BEATING THE VULTURES

 

                I don't know about most of you but I am sure that we all in our places where we live have experienced this dilemma whenever were shopping at any retail store that should carry sports cards. Empty shelves whenever a new product is released & is available in the retail form & we don't want to make the trek to our local hobby shop to pick up the hobby version of the exact same thing or wait for our pickings from a case breaker & we want to crack open something to crave our crave on the new product. I blame the Vultures that crave the same thing we want.

Gotta get me something new to crack open cause I am not a serious collector I am a hungry for the $$$$ cards & latest hot Rookies

              They know the schedules of the distributions of the cards & sit waiting for them to finish filling up the shelves of the new product or they even just wait for them to open the sealed boxes & take what they feel is the right amount of the new product leaving nothing behind for the next person cause they believe they're entitled to it first & they think of the old saying early bird gets the worm or they want it to open right away to post it on YouTube showing ya what your missing out on as well get excited when they pull that rare of a card that some of you player collectors wish you were so lucky to own leaving you I hope they sell it on eBay right away & maybe you can get it before someone else does. Then the lowest part of the collecting spectrum the Set builders which yours truly is a member of are wondering why cant I locate that last card to complete my set cause someone had to take all the boxes from the store & get that hot product sent off to be graded ASAP!!!!! 

                    Now last year I was at a Walmart looking for some individual packs of a product that I thought might not Garner any attention mind you it was 3rd Walmart I stopped at cause the other 2 didn't have anything on the shelves of the product & well my driver didn't want to go to anymore after this stop it was either get something here or wait until ya get back home to find the missing ones. After finding the card section there was the vendor stocking the shelves of the latest newest hottest product that everyone was clamouring over but not me no one else was around the vendor had it roped off like it was a crime scene waiting for the SCCI (Sports Card Collectors Investigating) team to do the investigation on it as I approached the scene the guy said sir I am asking you give me 20 more minutes I am not done with setting the new product but please wait I told him that I was on borrowed time that if I could just look beyond the rope I won't take anything until he was completed. He said he would never understand in hopes to get his job done that someone always has to get something just as he places it on the shelf or out of his distribution box but since he saw there was only me he let me glance & I didn't touch anything until he said alright go at it but then saw me go towards a product that was reduced in price & said if that's all I was looking for then I could clean them up cause he was going to replace them regardless with the new product that I had no part of so said give him a minute still & reached into another box that he didn't pull out reason it was more of the product I was going for & said tell ya what instead of paying $6 for them let the clerk call me & Ill reduce the price by another $2 didn't have to tell me twice so I took them all cause he really didn't want to restock the shelf with the new price & sure enough I took them up to the register to told the clerk to notify them & he stopped stocking the shelf told the clerk that I was good for getting them all for $4 a piece so I bought them all little did he know that I had 20 of them but clerk rang them as $4 for all 20 of them not as individually like he said it should be so I walked out got back in my friends car as we headed back to crack them open. As of this writing I still need 11 more inserts to complete the set from my site hopefully someday I am able to find those last 11 cards. 

Until then I am reminded of what Rogers Hornsby once saying about signing Autographs for little kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

COOPERS FOUND WHILE IN THE POOPER!!!

 

           Yesterday I didn't have my school job so I got my haircut & went to lunch w/my mother since I didn't have to go to Dollar General until 4:30. While at lunch I received a text from a friend who was wondering if I was going to be home any time soon I said before 4 I should be he said he had my `25/`26 Topps Basketball set done along with a surprise blaster. Well I came home he stops in with the set along with a blaster box of the Basketball for me to crack open for the Inserts that I might want other than the `80/`81 45th Anniversary set to go with the set he made I ask how he do on finding any Cooper Flagg cards other than his base card he said he didn't luck out he was happy to get 3 Regular Flagg cards for the 3 sets he was making mine,his, as well an extra to sell.

I think I did pretty well with the blaster.

Well after saying bye to him I had another call to the office. I took my blaster in with me for something other than making usual noises while in there. 1st pack I opened from the blaster yielded me the 8 bit insert of Cooper I thought to myself that's about a $8 to $10 I saved if I were to add them to my set the 2nd pack I got the `80/`81 insert of Cooper not bad 2 packs 2 Coopers while in the Pooper. As for the other 5 packs not much hoopla so I told my friend about it he was like surprised on my pulls but I mentioned what other stuff I got he said I did well maybe next time I should choose the box that he should open. Anyways I thought I share my excitement during the week of working 37.75 hours this week at Dollar General hopefully I can get Saturday off to go to a show in Grand Rapids if I do I'll be sure to post it until then I'm reminded of what Rogers Hornsby once saying to signing Autographs for kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

ONE HAS TO WONDER

     

                   As I write this blog piece I am currently watching the bottom of the 15th inning of Game 3 of the World Series. After watching the last out in the inning I have to wonder what it might have been like had I been in attendance back on April 18th & 19th only to conclude on June 23rd in 1981. The 2 teams were the Pawtucket Paw Sox taking on the Rochester Red Wings. Yes it was a minor league game but when the game concluded the Majors were on a labor strike so of course it made news for being the longest game in history of organized baseball.  The game lasted 8 Hours 25 minutes can you imagine telling your significant other saying your going to the game & you sit through all 33 innings how would you explain where you were when asked where the hell have ya been & they don't believe that you were at a ball game that long. Also as you can see from the picture featured on the top of the post it featured 2 Future Hall of Famers Wade Boggs for the Paw Sox & Cal Ripken Jr. for the Red Wings.  

Imagine doing this scorecard.

Cal Went 2 for 13 in the game Wade well he did a little bit better he went 4 for 12. Again I pose the question for you with the 1981 design Heritage year only 5 years away will Topps discuss this game or will they only offer it in the Minor League version. Well as I type this line Freddie Freeman just hit his Game Winner ending the game in 18 inning again I have to think of all those times I would go to a ballgame if the game was something memorable what type of a piece of history would I want to own from that game. What I am refering about say I attended a perfect game would I want a foul ball from the team that was being held to no hits or one that was hit by the team doing the Perfecto. This thought is always on my mind when I go to a game due to the fact that I remember that in 1974 when Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth for career home runs the ball he hit was caught in the bullpen by relief pitcher Tom House who ran all the way from the bullpen to home plate to present the ball to Hank. That leaves me with a lot of unsolved mystery type questions about certain balls here's a list of balls that somehow no one knows who actually has that ball in no particular order & keep in mind as I type this another unknown person made the list.

1. 2025 Game 3 World Series walk off Winner Home Run hit by Freddie Freeman.
2. 2024 Game 1 walk off Grand Slam winner hit by Freddie Freeman. 
3. September 27 1999 The Grand Slam that marked the last home run at Tiger Stadium hit by Robert Fick that hit the roof.
4. July 13 1971 The Home Run was hit by Reggie Jackson during the All-Star Game that hit the light tower at Tiger Stadium.
5. October 3rd 1951 The Shot Heard Around the World hit by Bobby Thomson off Ralph Branca giving the Giants the National League Pennant over the Dodgers. 

Many claim they have it but no one knows for sure 

6. September 28 1960 The last time The Spendid Splinter (Ted Williams) hit a ball in his final at bat at Fenway Park for the Red Sox.
7. October 18 1988 The only at bat during Game 1 of the World Series Kirk Gibson Home Run off Dennis Eckersley.



These are 7 Home Runs that are not countable that have some very valuable so I leave it to my readers tell me what Home Run do you wish you could catch from my list or let me know what ones I am missing that could be added to the list. Until then I am reminded of Rogers Hornsby talking about signing autographs for kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."