ballcards08@gmail.com

News:

November 15, 2007

I was able to knock out six cards from the '52 Style set over the past week. Not shown is Cuttino Mobley. I managed to get everyone possible with the exception of Carmelo Anthony and Elton Brand - who is out with an injury for a while. Carmelo signed about 8 autographs and I was no where near. It's pretty exciting to have gotten Allen Iverson on my first attempt at the Nuggets. They suprised most of us by signing eventhough there was a crowd of at least 75 outside of the hotel. I'm not sure if I get why people hang around outside a hotel for almost an hour just to see something and then leave. It's wierd enough that we're out there waiting that long to get autographs, but to just stand there with your cellphone camera wating for something to happen. None of those people were even going to the game!

I've also decided to take on a small basketball project with getting the subset of the coach/player cards signed out of the 1990/91 Hoops set. I haven't even looked at the checklist to see if it's possible but so far I've gotten Mike Dunleavy, Sr. and Jerry Sloan. The cards are perfect for signing and the players I'm familiar with being in the set are pretty neat and some are challenging. Lenny Wilkins will be out in the mail soon. Let me know if you have any of those you'd like to trade. And on the topic of little projects, I've taken on another mini-set. I'll have a scan of a card from that set in my next post. Maybe I'm over my head with all of these projects but I need some focus!!

FYI: If you ever get a chance to get Al Thornton, make sure you ask him for a full-sig. His initials are one of the worst graphs I've ever seen. And speaking of worst graphs, I promised a while back I'd post some scans of my worst looking autographs. I need to compile a list of those first, and then I'll post them.

I've updated the MySets page with quite a few new cards over the past 3 weeks. I'll probably be re-arranging that page and updating the checklists before the next update as a result of the new projects that I mentioned earlier. I'm hoping people out there can help me get these sets close to finished!




November 8, 2007

I've added some new pages and moved or deleted some others. Check out the unsigned and signed photos I have for sale/trade. I've also added some more information about the custom card sets I'm working on. You can find that information on the CustomCards page.

The Patriots, Wizards, and the Miami Heat were here recently. That was a great football game wasn't it? Well, it wasn't a very good day for autographs though. Last year the Patriots stunk at signing and this year it may have been slightly better but still not very good. Moss, Harrison and Seymour signed no more than 10 a piece and no way was I getting in there, as I would have probably missed a lot of the guys that I did get. I handed out a couple cards to some players and traded a photo for an autograph with Kyle Brady. Seems kind of silly really but why not?



But the weekend was no failure. I managed to accomplish my goals of getting Dan Reeves who was in town along with defensive back James Sanders. That may seem like an odd goal, but for me, I tend to lead towards the more obscure and retired guys or towards the players who may only have short print rookie cards. Most of them are usually looked over by the blood-sucking dealers and are usually more than happy to sign. Sanders was one of those. Phil Simms was here again and I got him too. I'd take those three guys over Richard Seymour any day. Not to mention, I got Peyton Manning over the weekend too. Moss who?



I managed 31 signed cards over the weekend including Maroney, Addai, Vinateri and some Colts rookies I hadn't gotten yet such as Tony Ugoh, Quinn Pitcock and Brandon Condren. Check out the new Bowman Football set. There are some good obscure rookies in there with great photography and the back of the cards are pretty cool too.

Patriots:
Brady, Kyle 1/4
Evans, Heath 4/4
Faulk, Kevin 2/4
Gaffney, Jabar 4/4
Gay, Randall 1/1
Koppen, Dan 1/3
Maroney, Lawrence 1/1
Sanders, James 1/2
Warren, Ty 2/3
Colts:
Addai, Joseph 1/1
Bethea, Antoine 1/1
Condren, Brandon 1/1
Giordano, Matt 1/1
Johnson, Charlie 1/1
Keith, Kenton (4x6)
Metzelaars, Pete 1/1 - Coach
Mudd, Howard 1/1 - Coach
Pitcock, Quinn 3/3
Reid, Darrell - Super Bowl XLI Program
Thorpe, Craphonso 3/3
Ugoh, Tony 1/4
Vinateri, Adam 1/1
Other:
Palantonio, Sal (ESPN Commentator)
Reeves, Dan 1/1
Simms, Phil 1/1

The Wizards in my opinion are the 2nd or third best signing team in the NBA and the Heat are probably the second worst signing team. The best two in my opinion being the Jazz and Knicks. Gilbert Arenas never disappoints but I kept it simple and had him sign a magazine and one card, yet I missed a lot of the players that I got last year. I heard all of them signed though. The Heat stunk period. Udonis Haslem is probably the best signer on the team. Though I did manage to get one of my favorite players growing up: Penny Hardaway. On a side note, it's really sad to see the dealers using dirty tactics to get autographs. The things people do to make a buck or to have an upperhand on the other, more reasonable and respectable graphers.



On another side note, I've decided to take on one final set to get signed: 2005 Leaf Rookies & Stars Football. There's a good selection of rookies in there, including guys who aren't in the league anymore so soon after the cards were released. Should make for a good challenge. Let me know if you have any of those signed or unsigned.

Wizards:
Arenas, Gilbert 2/2
Butler, Caron 1/1
Haywood, Brendan 1/1
Stevenson, DeShawn 1/2
Young, Nick (Rookie) 1/1

Heat:
Askins, Keith 1/4
Cook, Daequan (Rookie) 3/3
Hardaway, Anfernee 1/1
Rothstein, Ron 1/2

The scanner makes these 4x6 photos look like crap. That's Kenton Keith on the left and Daequan Cook to the right >





October 30, 2007

It's been brought to my attention that my email account is down (cards@generalacres.com). In the meantime, email me here: ballcards08@gmail.com

October 26, 2007

We're finally going through a little break here with no teams visitng for a while so I thought I would update. Over the past 2 weeks we've had the Hornets, Sonics, Grizzlies and Timberwolves come to town. I also managed to get former Nascar driver Ernie Irvan at a conference he was attending.

I've also decided to do another set! I went through my 2005-06 Topps '52 Style basketball cards and realized that I have over 30% of the set signed without even trying. Granted, to get this project complete I'm probably going to have to wait until Garnett and LeBron retire and pay an enormous fee to get them, yet I've managed to get some pretty tough guys so far. I actually have a good chance at knocking out the remainder of the set this year as unlike other pro-leagues, you actually have a shot at every player as all the teams come to town. It's just a matter if 1) will I try to get them 2) if I do go, being at the right place at the right time when they do sign IF they sign; and 3) if they don't travel then I'm screwed. We'll see how it goes. I'll be updating MySets page soon with my checklist. Let me know if you have any signed.




The Wolves seemed to be a much easier team to get this year compared to last. And the proof is in da puddin: Kevin Garnett is gone. The downside to that is the Celtics will probably be the worst signing team in the league now, after being one of the best in my opinion. It's not like Ray Allen being on the Celtics is going to help anything. With that said, for my next post I'm going to include my list of Top 15 in-person basketball signers...from my personal experience obviously. So your opinion may differ, but I'm sure it will be insightful to some.



Above is a three-player 4x6 signed by Big Al Jefferson, Corey Brewer, and Randy Foye. The other photo is of Ryan Gomes.

Craig Smith 1/1
Gerald Green - 4x6 photo
Juwan Howard 1/1
Marco Jaric 2/4
Ricky Davis 3/3




New Orleans Hornets: Darrell Walker said we were too old to be gettng autographs as he signs cards for 3 guys with gray hair.

Butler, Rasual 1/1
Chandler, Tyson 1/1
Gattison, Kenny 2/4
Jackson, Bobby 1/1
Paul, Chris 1/1
Peterson, Morris 1/1
Scott, Byron 1/1
Stojakovic, Peja 1/2
Vinicius, Marcus 1/1
Walker, Darrell 1/4
West, David 3/3



Saturday the Supersonics were in town to take on the Pacers. Last year I only managed to do these guys at the arena, so I didn't do so well then. Rashard Lewis, PJ Carlesemo, Gelabele and Jack Sikma I think.

But this time around I got 15 cards signed including some guys who I would have like to have gotten last year but didn't get, such as Wilkins and Swift. It was a Saturday game, so there were more fans and graphers than usual thus making the chances of getting Kevin Durant, or any other guy for that matter more difficult. Luckally for me, I was the first to get Durant and he signed no more than 8. Others guessed it was more like 4. I wish some more of my friends got him instead of the dealers he signed for. Robert Swift is a gnarly looking dude, with his long hair and huge tattoos. He looks nothing like his rookie cards. Looking at him today t's hard to imagine he's only 22. I was really suprised that Delonte West didn't sign more because he's usually a really good signer. Plus, I was suprised Kurt Thomas didn't sign at all getting on the bus, for he's probably in the top five best signers in the league.

Brooks, Scott 4/4
Collison, Nick 1/2
Durant, Kevin 1/1
Gelebale, Mikael 1/1
Green, Jeff 1/2
Swift, Robert 1/2
West, Delonte 1/4
Westhead, Paul 3/3
Wilcox, Chris 1/3
Wilkins, Damien 1/3


October 10, 2007

I've added a new page to my website called "Multi-Player Autos" with scans of multiple-player cards I've been able to get completely autographed. As I'm trying to find ways to focus my collecting, I've found that trying to complete those cards has been a fun and challenging task. I'll update that page whenever I finish a card.

It's been a busy past couple days as the Buccaneers were in town and I've been getting ready for the beginning of the NBA graphing season which begins on the 10th. Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets come to town to kick it off. I almost typed Charlotte Hornets. Still not used to the new name yet. Kevin Durant this upcoming weekend.

I figured this past Saturday wouldn't be a good graphing day as the Bucs were staying at the notoriusly worst hotel in town, not to mention the thousands of people who were downtown Indy attending the festivities for the annual Circle City Classic football game. People were everwhere. But we actually did pretty well and I think a lot of that had to do with the great weather we had much like the rest of the Midwest. It was in the upper 80's the entire weekend here so the players weren't hiding in their hotel rooms. Right off the bus about 3 or 4 guys signed, yet I only managed to get Chris Simms. Considering the circumstances, that's more than I thought I would get. And Chris is an impressive guy, just like his father. The Simms are a-o-k in my opinion.



During the evening while we're waiting for players we managed to see a lot of skin that belonged to several overweight women, and one older autographer mentioned that he had seen more cleavage that night than he had in 35 years of marriage. Not sure if that's good or bad. Nope, bad all around. Also, someone was having a "Sweet 16" party at the hotel and over 100 yelling teeny-boppers come running out of the hotel to the drive-up as the bride-to-be, or the 16-year old-to-be....I don't know what you call them, is presented with a new Lexus for a birthday present. Thanks Dad, way to teach her responsibility and the need to earn the nicer things in life. No, just show some skin and men will give you whatever you want right?. Ah, now it makes sense to me seeing those women earlier in the night. That place was a zoo.

Nonetheless, we managed to get Mike Alstott and a few other guys before the night was over. And speaking of Alstott, before the season started someone asked me who I was looking forward to getting autographs from this year, and Alstott was definetely on there. And since I know you're interested, here is the top 10 list of football players' autographs Kurt wants from the visiting teams this year (minus the rookies on the poster I'm doing), in no particular order:

Roy Williams (DET), John Lynch (DEN), Joey Galloway (TBAY), Brian Urlacher (CHI), Danaiel Mannning (CHI), Mike Alstott (TBAY), Derrick Brooks (TBAY), Marques Colsten (NO), Drew Brees (NO), Cedric Benson (CHI), and Junior Seau (NE).

I know most of you would choose a different group of guys, but I could care less about people like Tom Brady. It would be cool to get him, but I'd take 5 Patriots lineman in-person over Brady. Well, add Teddy Bruschi and the lineman.



Sunday was fun as usual. A buddy of mine who only does baseball graphs came over to do the Colts for the first time. I think he enjoyed himself. Meanwhile, the dealers were there in numbers as usual, wearing their dealer uniforms (huge bags, twelve 8x10's for Ronde Barber, 34 full-sized items to get signed by Rocky Boiman, etc.).

And I almost forgot, Saturday night I was able to get the best autograph of the weekend: Mr. Kid Capri, the hip-hop legend walked right past us as we're getting Colts autographs. Check the scan for that one. That totally made my weekend. Not to mention me being able to peg former Chicago Bear Doug Plank who was in town covering the game for some network. He laughed and was very welcoming when I asked him for his autograph. He asked me "where did you get those cards!?" The dealers were like wha?? whois dat?




As I'm writing this, I'm listening to the radio as the Cowboys take on the Bills. What's up with Romo throwing four interceptions in the first half? Boomer just said he's "out of sorts." Not sure what that means actually. Did he mean out of shorts? Where's the equipment manager!!!!?

After the game, I managed to get one guy from the previously mentioned list, Joey Galloway. He personalizes, along with Maurice Stovall. Galloway makes sense, but Stovall? Another grapher and I discussed athe topic of personalizations, and we couldn't count more than 10 guys we've gotten in all of sports who personalize. For an upcoming blog entry, I'll list the football players I've gotten that insisted on personalizations. It's not a big deal to me, just interesting to see who does and trying to understand why.

Notes: Derrick Brooks does not like to sign; The kicker and punter did not pick up a pen all weekend, BJ Askew draws an arrow as a part of his sig; I got Gaines Adams to sign my Rookies Premiere poster, yet I don't see him becoming a great signer in the future as he seemed very annoyed that people wanted his autograph at all and he's only a rookie.

So the numbers go like this:

Buccaneers:
Galloway, Joey 1/1 - personalized
Sears, Aaron 1/1 - rookie
Jackson, Tenard 5/6 - rookie (the '07 playoff prestige is not him, he won't sign it)
Alstott, Mike 1/1, 1/1
Simms, Chris 3/3
Gradkowski, Bruce 4/4
Carter, Kevin 4/4
Adams, Gaines (Rookie Poster)
Becht, Anthony 1/2
Smith, Alex 2/3
Askew, BJ 4/4
Clayton, Michael 1/1
Darby, Kenneth 1/6 - rookie
Garcia, Jeff 1/1
Hilliard, Ike 4/4
Hovan, Chris 1/2
Joseph, Davin 1/2
Phillips, Jermaine 4/5
McCown, Luke 3/3
Allen, Will 1/2
Pittman, Michael 1/2
Stovall, Maurice 4/4 - personalized
Spires, Greg 1/1
Black, Quincy 1/1 - rookie

Colts:
Vinateri, Adam 1/1
Boiman, Rocky 1/1
Sorgi, Jim 2/3
Diem, Ryan 1/1
Colts Program: Matt Giordano, Dan Klecko, TJ Rushing, Josh Thomas, Hunter Smith and Robert Mathis

Other:
Plank, Doug 2/2
Siragusa, Tony 1/1
Johnston, Daryl 1/1 + Cowboys mini
Dilger, Ken 2/2

I ended up with 60 signed cards. I've updated all of my trade pages.

I may head over to the westside of town tonight to get former nascar driver Ernie Irvan. Don Shula will be in town this week also. I'll update this weekend with basketball scans.



October 3, 2007

The Broncos were in town this past weekend. Early on I thought it was going to be a bust but everything turned out ok, even though the dealers are growing in numbers thus making it a little more difficult.

My buddies and I chased some Colts around for the first time this season and I managed to get a few sigs for my Super Bowl program and some new cards that I didn't have previously. I'll probably add a scan of the program after the season is over. Also, it was nice to get a couple retired players who are coaches for the Colts and Broncos. I always enjoy getting the retired players.




Some highlights of the weekend were: John Lynch signing; some rookies really racked out -Tim Crowder, Jarvis Moss, and Dante Hughes (I think the only reason I got 3 signed was because I offered him some of my cards and he took one); Amon Gordon flipped out as I had a card of his which he had never seen eventhough it was three years old - he wanted it bad but since it was the only one I had, I said I'd send him one in the mail once I find another; and I saw the hall of fame commentator John Clayton too. I managed to get 61 cards signed plus 4 players on the program this past weekend.

Also, Elvis Dumervil, Jay Cutler, Jevon Walker and Mike Bell didn't pick up a pen all weekend. I barely missed Jason Elam, yet he only signed about 15-20 autos. Shanahan signed for those of us who waited around until the end. I got my first custom football card that I've made signed by linebacker D.D. Lewis.

All-in-all, I did very well, and it's funny to be able to peg random guys out of nowhere like Ronnie Bradford, Montrae Holland and Darrell Hackney. And those 2006 Bowman Sterling cards look awesome signed and I'm a big fan of the new Donruss Threads when it comes to autos. Finally, Phil Simms was here too. Super nice guy as always.




Here are the numbers from this past weekend for both teams:

Broncos:
Adams, Sam 1/1
Bly, Dre 2/2
Bradford, Ronnie 1/1
Crowder, Tim 4/4
Foxworth, Dominique 2/2
Gordon, Amon 1/1
Graham, Daniel 1/3
Hackney, Darrell 2/4
Hall, Andre 1/4
Henry, Travis 1/2
Hixon, Domenik 4/4
Holland, Montrae 1/1
Jackson, Nate 1/1
Lewis, D.D. 1/1
Lynch, John 1/1
Moss, Jarvis 4/4
Paymah, Karl 1/1
Ramsey, Patrick 2/4
Scheffler, Tony 3/3
Shanahan, Mike 1/1
Stokley, Brandon 2/2
Watson, Steve 2/2
Webster, Nate 2/2
Young, Selvin 1/4

Bethea, Antoine 1/1
Clark, Dallas 1/1
Diem, Ryan 1/1
Giordano, Matt 3/3
Hayden, Kelvin 1/2
Hughes, Dante 3/3
Keiaho, Freddy 1/1
Klecko, Dan 1/1
Perry, Rod 2/2
Utecht, Ben 1/1

SUPER BOWL XLI PROGRAM:
Robert Mathis, Adam Vinateri, Rocky Boiman, Marlin Jackson & Bob Lamey (Colts Announcer)
OTHER:
Simms, Phil 2/2

The Buccaneers are coming to town next weekend. Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa will be in town too.

September 27, 2007

Here are some University of Kentucky football cards I just finished. In total, 27 players with stats and photo on the back with coinciding colors. The colors of the cards seperate the players by which year they are in school. For example, blue is for the juniors and green is for seniors. I'm also wokring on the UK mens and womens basketball team sets. More custom cards can be found on the CustomCards page.



Besides those custom cards, nothing much is going on. Got a couple cards via the mail including a trade for two cards out of my 06 BHP set. Finished this Cuddyer + Restovich card. First time I've finished one of those via the mail. The Broncos are in town this weekend, so I'm busy with that. I'll post what I got after they leave town. I've made some custom cards for guys who I don't have cards of, so hopefully I'll be getting some of those signed.




September 10, 2007

NFL Kickoff in Indianapolis this past week which included the Saints taking on the Colts and an interesting collection of retired and hall of fame football players. Not to mention John Mellancamp, Faith Hill, Hinder and Kelly Clarkson.

Wednesday night at the hotel I did pretty well - meeting a few players who had never seen a football card with their face on it before. I gave out quite a few cards to players. I learned that some players don't receive free cards from the card manufactuers, but some do. Managed to get Drew Brees to sign a card and book for me. Reggie Bush and Will Smith were the only two not to sign. A highlight was getting 5 multiple-player cards completely signed. See scans below.




An added bonus for the day's festivities was the presence of several retired players in town, some not announced. I missed getting Fred Bilitnikoff by 20 seconds and I saw Marcus Allen driving down the road as I walked home. The other (confirmed) players in town were: Eric Dickerson, Tim Brown, Deacon Jones, Anthony Munoz, Jack Youngblood, Jack Ham, Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, Jim Plunkett, Brian Mithcell, Curtis Conway, Ottis Anderson, John Randle, Irving Fryar, Herman Moore, Antonio Freeman, Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk and Boomer Esiason. Some of these guys we found out about after-the-fact, so there was no way to be prepared. I did manage to get a few of these guys that I knew about previously. In addition to those players, there were obviously many more retired players in town, but we couldn't determine who was who. It was completely overwhelming really, knowing that there were many retired players in town, but you couldn't anticipate who was here and where they would be.

In other notes: Marcus Allen and Marshall Faulk said no on various occassions; a buddy ran into Gale Sayers on the sidewalk and he signed; Deion Sanders signed; got Deacon Jones on an 8x10 and he is quite the funny/aggressive type; got rookie Robert Meachem to sign my Rookie Premieres poster but Antonio Pittman was cut so I need to head over to St. Louis if I want him; got Joe Nathan TTM; Colts rookie DB Damieon Hughes (who has changed his name to Dante) throws away his fanmail; and I was kicked out of a couple hotels.




Here's a breakdown of what I got from the Saints, Colts and retired players:
Saints:
Brown, Jamaal 2/2
Brees, Drew 1/1 + Book
Bullocks, Josh 1/4
Clancy, Kendrick 1/1
Colsten, Marques 2/2
Copper, Terrance 1/1
Faine, Jeff 1/1
Fujita, Scott 3/3
Fincher, Alfred 2/3
Grant, Charles 1/1
Harper, Roman 1/1
Karney, Mike 2/2
McAllister, Deuce 2/2
Mare, Olindo 1/1
Martin, Jamie 1/2
Meachem, Robert 2/2 + Rookies Premiere poster
Owens, John 1/1
Patten, David 1/1
Shanle, Scott 1/1
Simmons, Brian 1/1
Stecker, Aaron 1/2
Stinchcomb, Jon 1/1
Thomas, Hollis 1/1
Thomas, Pierre - CIC
Weatherford, Steve - CIC
Young, Brian 1/1

Colts:
Betts, Josh 1/1
Gonzalez, Anthony 1/1
Jennings, Tim - Super Bowl program
Johnson, Charlie - Super Bowl program
Sanders, Bob 1/1

Retired Players:
Conway, Curtis 4/4
Esiason, Boomer 1/1
Jones, Deacon - 8x10 photo
Mitchell, Brian 1/1
Munoz, Anthony 1/1
Plunkett, Jim 2/2
Stewart, Kordell 1/1

All in all, a very eventful couple days. Would have been cool to get a few more hall of famers, but it was a success nonetheless. I'm taking a little break until the Broncos come to town at the end of the September. Will be working on some custom sets until then.

Below to the right is a signed custom card I made of UCLA alumni and Houston Astros prospect Eric Taylor. I've added some new cards to the Custom Cards and My Sets pages also.




September 4, 2007

This past weekend was the last homestand this year for the Indianapolis Indians. Nothing too interesting, considering I think most of us were burnt out with getting autographs for the season. Two particular interesting things were Zach Duke - who was making a rehab start - and the long-time veteran infielder Jose Hernandez retired.



On Labor Day, I took a trip down to Cincinnati to do my first MLB graphs in about 4 years and the first time I've ever done the hotel for baseball. Before the game at the hotel (Mets were in town), I got Tom Glavine on 3 cards, Shawn Green for my set, former Met great Howard Johnson, and current Reds utility player Jason Ellison (SAL ball sweetspot). Lastings Milledge was late for the bus, yet wouldn't sign for anyone as he walked to the stadium. Later, as we're at the ticket office, here comes lost Milledge, and I managed to get him on a card I needed for my set.



Prior to the game at the stadium, none of the Mets were signing (and there were a ton of Mets fans there) so I headed over to the Reds side and managed to get a few guys, eventhough I had gotten them before while they played at Louisville this year (Gosling, Bray, Coutlangus and Majewski).

After the game at the hotel, we waited for 3 hours and got rejected A LOT.

Since my last update I've managed to get quite a few new cards for my 06 Bowman Heritage set signed. I still have a couple out in the mail.



This week we have the Saints in town and I'm not expecting to do as well as I did with the Bears and Lions. It's going to be pretty crazy considering the NFL kickoff events. I might head down to Cincy next weekend for the Brewers series and then take a break. It's been really busy lately with autographs.

For my next update I'll add some more custom cards that I've been working on. People have requested some custom University of Kentucky football sets and 2007 Aflac All-American sets. I'll be pumping those out over the next couple weeks. Are any of you interested in a specific set?



August 28, 2007

I've added a Hall of Fame Autographs page. While your at it, check out the new homemade cards I'm making. See the CustomCards page for those.

This past weekend was a very good weekend, again. The Detroit Lions and Toledo Mudhens were in town and they did not disappoint. Friday night, I ended up alone at the hotel for most of the time. Some people were there earlier to get Calvin Johnson only. Once they got what they wanted, they weren't to be seen for the rest of the weekend. That night I was able to get Kalimba Edwards, Brian Calhoun, Idrees Bashir, Pat Carter, Nick Harris, AJ Davis and Shawn Jefferson. AJ Davis mentioned he had never signed a card before. That was kind of neat for the both of us and I gave him a card for his time. I also managed to get Calvin Johnson and Drew Stanton at the same time to sign my Rookie Premieres poster. Now I have 4 of the 34 needed to complete the poster. 2 more next game: Robert Meachem and Antonio Pittman of the Saints.



The next morning a buddy of mine and I showed up at the hotel early but the players were in meetings so we headed over to the Colts hotel. There, the meetings were ending and the players were just hanging out waiting for their cars, yet the team security was heavy. So we only ended up with a couple guys. We then headed back to the Lions hotel, post-meetings, and managed to get Jon Kitna, yet that move got us kicked out of the hotel.

Now it's time for the Lions to jump on the buses to head over to the dome, and I managed to get Calvin Johnson, J.T. O'Sullivan, Fernando Bryant and Sam Gash. There were maybe only 7 people getting graphs there.

After the hotel, we went over to the dome for Colts graphs as they head in for their pre-game preperation. This is a really great place, as the general Colts fan population has access to a lot of the players. We got there as the majority of the players were already in , but I did manage to get Norman LeJuene on a card, as he is more than likely getting cut from the team this week. Also got Jeff Saturday.

Immediately after that, I attended the Indians and Mud Hens game (yes, a lot of graphing this weekend). Great game, and also the last "autograph day" at Victory Field. Got my first Andrew McCutchen and managed to get Zach Miner and Jordan Tata for my sets.



After the Lions game was over, I managed to get almost all of the remaining guys I wanted to get, with the exception of Kevin Jones, Roy Williams, and Tatum Bell - which none signed at all. I was kind of bummed about Williams, as I have this neat high school football program with him and I on opposing teams. I happened to play against him as a senior in high school (I was the starting free safety with a couple tackles and he also smoked me on a punt return) and I've been holding onto that program in case I got the chance to meet him. Oh well, I still have an unsigned program.



At the end of the weekend, I ended up with about 85 cards signed. Plenty of good stuff to trade as I'm getting more into obtaining the cards for the sets I'm working on. For those cards (2006 Bowman Heritage), I've gotten 6 in the past week, most via trades and TTM. See scans and MySets page.


August 21, 2007

Football season in Indinanapolis has officially started! This past weekend could perhaps be my best graphing experience so far, or pretty close - not sure if it beats my Boomer Esiason, Steve Young, Carson Palmer weekend..... I've got a ton to talk about and I'll break it down here with a day-by-day summary.

Saturday, August 18
A couple buddies of mine and I (a different group than the Lexington trip) headed west to Terre Haute, Indiana to catch the last day of training camp for the Colts. I was there for whomever really, unlike my cohorts who were primarily there for Peyton. And that's actually a big thing for me, as I just love going wherever and being able to peg a random dude I have cards for (which no one else does) and leave feeling good about that. If you just go for the big guys like most everyone else, you may end up being dissapointed. Regardless of that, I was really looking forward to getting former Bills and Panthers quaterback Frank Reich who was with the Colts during the entire training camp, but unfortunatley he had left the day before I was there. I also had my eyes set on two guys who probably wont't make the cut: former FSU wide-out Craphonso Thorpe and former Miami Dolphin DB Norman LeJuene. Out of the 6 players and staff we ran into after their evening meetings, the only guy any of us had anything for was Craphonso Thrope. I managed to get 6 cards signed by him. He mentioned he hadn't seen his 2005 Bowman's Best rookie card so I gave him one and a couple others. That encounter made the trip for me. BUT, an equally imporatant story was prior to the beginning of their evening practice.

There were maybe 600-1000 people in attendance. 200-300 wanting autographs. Out of all the players to stop and sign (which there was only one guy), who would of thought that it would be the man himself, Mr. MVP, Peyton Manning!? We were all surprised that it was just him. For me persoanally I've been getting Colts autographs for a little over a year now, and I've only seen him once. Now, I see him for the second time, and he's signing his butt off for about 10 minutes. I somehow managed to get a card signed in the middle of all the madness.

Now it's dark and the practice is over. A total of 6 or 8 guys come over, and they were all stars on the team - 5 pro-bowlers. I figured we'd get the 3rd string guys to sign. But no, Reggie Wayne, Bob Sanders, Jeff Saturday, Bryan Fletcher (who is actually harder to get than Freeney), Vinateri, Dungy, Michael Coe, and Peyton, again! This time, he signed for about 30 minutes. The dealers who are there are trying to get their 246th item signed by him (kidding, kind of), meanwhile I'm going after Sanders and Fletcher. So now, I own just as many Bob Sanders and Bryan Fletcher autos as I do Peyton Mannings: 2. All 3 of those guys are tough.



Sunday, August 19th
Waiting for Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn at the hotel -who are the coaches for the WNBA team out of Detroit. Mahorn ignored us with his i-pod, Laimbeer gave us a bad excuse with his shopping bags in hand. While we were there, we managed to run into Monday Night Football commentator Ron Jaworski and he signed a card.

The Chicago Bears rolled into town around 6:30. 6 buses, 120+ people walking down the sidewalk into the hotel. So it's a matter of pick-and-choose quickly. I manage to get former Chargers running back Tim Spencer. And that may seem a funny choice, but the guys I have the most fun collecting are those guys who played when I was a kid - and they're usually really good about signing. I wanted to get that one out of the way. I knew I would have a good night inside for I was just getting started.

The hotel the team was at is the best to get graphs at in Indy, but unfortunately teams hardly stay there! While waiting for guys to go to dinner, we managed to get Grossman and Urlacher, back-to-back as they wait for their ladies to make it down to the lobby. Rookie TE Greg Olsen was there too. There were only 8 of us getting graphs, including 2 kids, so I'm sure that helped with our success. Plus, I think because it's pre-season these guys aren't tired of it yet. Would be interesting to see how they are about signing in December. Also managed to get Lance Briggs, Adam Archuleta, Benson, Tillman, Danaiel Manning and a few other guys that night. Archuleta and Danaiel Manning were a plus for I haven't gotten them before (denied by Archuleta last year with the Redskins) plus they play the safety position, which I'm a fan of. Also, Danaiel Manning's coach in college was my coach in high school. His name is Gary Gaines and he's the real-life person who Billy Bob Thornton portrayed in the movie Friday Night Lights. And speaking of high school, I played against Cedric Benson my senior year, so it was kind of neat being able to meet him.



Monday, August 20th
Ran to the hotel after I got off work. Missed Garrett Wolfe, but managed to get another Benson and my first Devin Hester. He's a stud. Also pegged newly acquired Darwin Walker. Meanwhile, the dealers are wasting their time yelling at Urlacher. I think I was the only guy to get Walker the entire weekend.

After the game, it was nuts like usual. Got my first Benard Berrian and Ricky Manning cards signed. Mushin Muhammed signed but I couldn't get close and he didn't sign for long. Griese is a prick and I forgot to tell the story why. I'll save that for some other time. I managed to peg some random dudes that I had stuff for - Leon Joe (card) and Brett Price (custom index card). It feels so good to get those guys because most people get so caught up with the hot shots that they miss out on so many other guys. And speaking of dealers, how come they don't know who anyone is? "Who is that?" It's Cedric Benson dummy.

In other notes, Robbie Gould said "No" a lot; I need 32 more autographs to finish the 2007 NFL Rookies poster (got my first two - Wolfe and Olsen); the most I got signed by one guy at once was Greg Olsen (4).



It was a great weekend of warm weather and good autograph experiences - Urlacher, The Manning(s), Grossman, Jaworski, and Addai (before game).

Next weekend it's the Detroit Lions and Toledo Mud Hens. Maybe Andrew Miller will be here. Oh, and Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker are finally in Triple-A Indianapolis.


August 15, 2007

Louisville and Toledo passed through town this past week.We had already seen them and not much was different with the exception of Jorge Cantu who we had seen a couple weeks ago but on a different team and Jay Bruce who has gone from high-A Sarasota to triple-A Louisville in half a season. I missed out on Jack Hanahan out of the '52 Rookies set, as he was traded to the Athletics. Jordan Tata was up with the Tigers and then sent down after the series with Indy along with Joel Zumaya and Andrew Miller. . Hopefully they'll be with the Mud Hens next time they come to town. I managed to get more 06 BHP for my set signed by Chris Dickerson, in hopes I can trade those for other signed cards out of the set at a later date (I have about 16 signed of his for trade.) Also got Chris Maples out of the set, as he was sporting a wierd mustache. Other guys who I got where: Jose Capellan, Pete Janish, Chris Shelton, Todd Coffey, Joey Votto, Ryan Jorgensen, Jorge Cantu, and not to forget, the stud himself, Mr. Jay Bruce. He'll more than likely be Ken Griffey's predecessor once he leaves Cincy. He slapped the crap out of the ball at the one game I attended.



This past Sunday before Louisville came to town, myself and a couple buddies headed down to Lexington, Kentucky to catch a low-A ballgame with the Legends taking on the Savannah Sand Gnats. I love that name! Savannah has almost no prospects, with the exception of Francisco Pena, son of Tony Pena and who is also the guy who caught the ball for the controversial Danny Almonte in the Little League World Series a few years back. It was a good experience as I enjoy visiting new ballparks and I was able to get Koby Clemens for my 06 BHP signed set. Also managed to complete my first ever signed team ball, signed by Savannah. Former '86 Met Tim Tuefel is they're manager, and I managed to get 8 cards signed by him.



Finally, Pittsburgh signed the struggling mlb veteran pitcher Victor Zambrano to a minor-league contract. He will sign when asked but will only do one and do it quickly. Nonetheless, it's always cool to get guys to sign play here in Indy who've seen considerable time in the majors, albeit if they're career isn't looked upon with high regard to some fans (ie. the Mets fans - V. Zambrano for Kazmir?)

The Bears should be getting to town sometime on Sunday, if not Saturday, so it will be a weekend of good graphing fun. I may also head over to Terre Haute to catch the last day of Colts training camp. Next Tuesday or Wednesday I'll post whatever happens with my experience with the Bears and Colts.

August 5, 2007

This past week brought the Durham Bulls and Charlotte Knights to town. We've already seen these guys earlier this season, so there were no big surprises. Maybe there were a lesser amount of the bigger prospects for the Devil Rays and White Sox than last time- with the exception of struggling slugger Darin Erstad who's on Charlotte's squad getting some needed reps at the plate. He was nice to the graphers, I guess. I'm thinking more that he understands it's a part of the job. He would sign one for you and never did he run away or make up excuses. I managed to get two cards signed. Also, I managed to get the recently sent down Mike MacDougal for my 2000 Bowman set.

Soon I'll add scans of the worst graphs I've ever gotten in-person. During this homestand Juan Nieves, former Brewers pitcher and member of the no-hit club, signed his butt off like usual, but he signs the absolutely worst graph ever. It's always different and you can't even tell how it relates to his name. It's almost a waste of a card. Stay tuned for my scans of "The Worst Scribblers."



In other notes, I've decided to work casually work on the 2006 Topps '52 Rookies set. By the end of the season I'll have about 12% of the set signed doing just in-person collecting. To see what I have, check out the MySets page.

Next week we have the Toledo Mud Hens coming to town and I'll be making a trip down to Lexington to see the Legends take on the Mets farmclub from Savannah.

Finally, a couple weeks ago I sent out my first TTM request in about 3 years. I was 3/3 in about 12 days with former basketball stud Dan Majerle c/o his restaurant in Phoenix.

July 25, 2007

This past week was a great week for graphs in Indianapolis. The AAA affiliates for the Yankees and Devil Rays played 4 games a piece against the Indianapolis farm club, yet Indy was only able to get one win. Regardless of the winners or losers, the names that showed up for either side put on a good show for the Sharpie junkies. Probably the best we've seen all year.



Erubial Durazo signed a minor-league contract with the Yankees the day before the series started and arrived at the stadium at 5:00 prior to the first game. Needless to say, he's not so friendly. I figured he had some social skill issues as he seemed skiddish around people approaching him, rubbing his arms and talking lightly, but I guess it turns out (from what I've heard about him when he was with Oakland) that he is just not friendly. He signed a total of 5 autographs during the series outside the stadium.

And who would of thought Shelley Duncan would be an overnight stud in the Bronx? Good thing we got him the day before he was called up. He signs one item at a time, no multiples or dupes.



I managed to get a few signed 2006 Bowman Heritage for the set that I just started - Ross Ohlendorf, Shawn Riggans (MLB rehab), Justin Christian, and Jorge Cantu (who was sent down prior to the series and looks like a pirate). I didn't have Omir Santos or Joel Guzman on me because I have yet to purchase the entire set. I hate when that happens. If you have any for trade or sale, signed or unsigned, please shoot me an email at cards@generalacres.com.

The highlight of the series was getting the chance to grab autos of Skeeter Barnes and Gary Gaetti. Barnes, a former Indianapolis Indians skipper; Cincinnati and Detroit ballplayer; and long-time Indy resident was there the entire series helping the young guys out with their mechanics. Gaetti was great, pretty much signing whatever, though the numbers of things he would sign decreased as the series finished up. I managed to get my first Sports Illustrated signed, along with a 1987 World Series program and 5 cards over the 4-day span. Xavier Hernandez (current Durham pitching coach and former Blue Jay, Astro, and Red) is possibly the best signer out of all the former major leaguers I've run into in the International League. I've got plenty of those to trade. If you get the chance, talk to him about his playing career.

Scranton's batting coach and former Yankee Alvaro Espinoza, with a championship ring bigger than my head, was there putting on a signing show. He is joined on his staff by former Yankee pitcher Dave Eiland who was the complete opposite. He isn't the biggest fan of signing autographs for the peanut gallery. He's now in the angry-signer, ex-ballplayer club with Rod Nichols and John Russell (both with the Ottawa Lynx).

Tyler Clippard was an added bonus too. His pro-debut against the Mets was actually the first game I watched from beginning to end this year and I'm glad I did. He's has an akwardness to his pitching style that seems like it originated in the 40's. I like his game and he's slightly spastic, very intense. It may have been the nerves. Keep an eye out for the Yankee Clippard.

The Indians also had an "Autograph Day" for the fans. We did pretty well with that. I managed to get everyone's '52 Rookies for Pittsburgh that were sent to me over the past 2 weeks with the exception of Rajai Davis and John Van Benschoten (who is getting rocked right now in Pittsburgh).

I ended up with about 200 cards signed after the dust settled. Here are a few more names:
Ben Zobrist (super great guy who was handing out his own bible card), Matt DeSalvo (personalized), Jeff Niemann, John Wasdin, Sean Henn, Chris Britton, Kevin Reese, Joel Guzman, Humberto Cota and Eric Duncan.

Less than a month left until the first pre-season football game against the Bears here in Indianapolis. I can't wait for football graphing season! The new 2007 football cards are starting to hit the shelves.




cards@generalacres.com