A YEAR AWAY

                     Wednesday night will start the 44th annual National Sports Card Convention that will take place in Cleveland, Ohio. Now you ask me am I attending this years National not really I may have love for the entire state of Ohio but,somehow the city of Cleveland has always been a sore side to me. I guess it really struck hard for me back in the summer of 1994 I attended a show outside the Cleveland are in a suburb called Strongsville. 

                     Now this show was great I was able to pick up some great finds there from a factory set of the 1987 Fleer set for $10 at the time, 1981 Fleer hand collated set (the first of 2 I owned) for $15 got to meet the great Alan "Mr Mint" Rosen who well.....lets say believed in the 6 foot rule when observing his stuff as well was rude to anyone who would ask questions about his finds like he wanted to keep those secrets to himself instead of sharing them. I also was able to thank the people who were creating the infamous Charles Conlon Collection known as MegaCards in hopes they would continue to enrich some younger collectors to when the game was only 16 teams & no ESPN, no internet,No big Multi-million contracts except for maybe some guy with skinny chicken legs with a huge belly & he only got more money then the President of the United States 1 year & was quoted saying about that contract "....Hell I had a better year the Hoover."

Now back in 2014 with some twisting my arm my old pal Greg convinced me try Cleveand out & if I found 3 things wrong he'll understand why I will never attend at National in Cleveland. Afterall 3 strikes & your out at the old ball game so I said fine Ill attend it but Ill keep track of the 3 things. Sure enough the 1st strike came in April of with the 1st round 22nd player taken in the NFL Draft the Cleveland Browns select quarterback from Texas A&M Johnny Manziel who was coming off winning his Heisman Trophy 2 years prior to being drafted by the Browns. I asked Greg make sure you reserve a hotel room close by since Ill be leaving to meet up with him there since Cleveland would be almost halfway spot from our respective homes me in Michigan him in Maryland he got a hotel room alright but it was way outside of the Cleveland area by a good 45 minute drive more on that later plus we were in near Berra, Ohio where the Browns were having their preseason working out with the new rookie at quarterback.

The 2nd strike occurred in hearing that NBA star LeBron James was trying to figure out where to play after leaving the Miami Heat he decided I am going back home to play & bring a title to Cleveland. As we all know he came back & eventually won the title for the Cleveland fans. So were just weeks away from meeting up in Cleveland I ask Greg what were his plans were to find some more great finds like he found in Baltimore during his first ever National then going to Chicago the following year having a blast finding Allen & Ginther as well Gypsy Queen as well. By the time the week of the show was here I had made previous plans to meet up with a collector from Cleveland area only to have him back out at the last minute stating he couldn't have me stay with him the day before so I ended up getting dropped off to meet with Greg at the convention hall calling him & we found each other in the mass of collectors who make the journey to the event.

The final strike came after asking him where we were staying which as you read earlier is a 45 minute drive away from Cleveland due to the fact most of the hotel rooms were booked due to the show as well surrounding areas had to deal with a PGA golf outting known as the Bridgestone-Firestone Classic held in nearby Akron, Ohio which was going on that was the last major golf outing Tiger Woods was in before his melt-down. Needless to say I wasn't happy that those were the 3 things I wasn't happy about besides going broke within the first purchase I made which was 12 of the 1991 BBM Japanese Hologram cards #240. 1 card was the same number for each of the 12 teams. 

I thought I had completed my set for $200.00 after a dealer remembered me from the previous times I've attended the National in Chicago asking about them & not realizing how scarce they were. The dealer  brought him with him just for some odd chance I were to attend he could sell them to me or wait another year for me to get them in Chicago. That's when the dealer told me about the high numbered All-Star Game 50 card box set to complete my set he didn't have one so for a long time until I eventually got it in 2016 I was on the hunt for it. Well as I type this I am look at back the 1 National Sports Card Convention that I really didn't enjoy myself. I ended up getting a loan from Greg for some of my purchases great pals help out others but true to my word I haven't been to a National in Cleveland since & never will again unless somehow someway I get my arm twisted again to go but keep in mind I might be not happy attending it. I am now gearing up for next years event back in Chicago for the 45th Anniversary even though it will be the 44th actual show since in 2020 the show was postponed due to Covid 19.  I wish all that are attending this years show a great time & look forward to reading about their adventure at this years show. In my next posting I'll look back to the first time when I went to the National with Greg as well other memories I have of past Nationals until then I remind you all that famous quote from Rogers Hornsby about signing autographs for kids. "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids, ain't an American, he's a Communist."