Sundays around here can be a little chaotic. Lots of chores to be done before the day is done, spending quality time with the family, and getting ready for the upcoming work/school week. Not to mention finding a way to watch every second of every Redskins game. The swings of my emotions would often swing directly with the results of the game and how each play played itself out. I’ve grown up a little bit though. I’ve been able to manage my expectations a little better and control my emotions and temperment…being a fan of a team that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since 1991 will do that do you i guess.
The 23-31 loss to the Arizona Cardinals today though was quite frustrating. Arizona has a solid defense and a few fantastic players on both sides of the ball…but i think the Redskins had many chances to win the game today…the defense just didn’t get the job done today. Here’s hoping they can regroup for the Philadelphia Eagles next week in Philly and that DeSean Jackson has a big game.
Speaking of D-Jax, there seems to be a lot of build up about him returning to the Eagles next season. Although i wouldn’t be overly happy about that, i don’t think i would lose much sleep over it either. One of the reasons is this guy…Josh Doctson.
Josh is a completely different type of receiver than Jackson.
He’s also a very different kind of receiver than the Redskins have had in a long time. Tall, fast guy that can make some plays on the edges and in the middle of the field…i just hope he can get healthy. He’s been dealing with some odd achilles/foot injury all year and hasn’t been on the field too much this season…two games i believe.
Here are a few of the nicer cards i picked up from Brian the other day. Brian is an Eagles fan.
I’m always a sucker for jumbo patch cards like this…but i’m always a little curious about the crop of the player on these cards. Jumbo patch or player photo…i’ll take the jumbo patch, especially with the burgundy and gold stitched together.
The tri-colored patch is pretty cool, but the autograph is just aiight.
So whether or not D-Jax leaves and Josh Doctson can fulfill his large shoes…or not is to be seen. If J-Dox turns out to be a gem, i’ve got a nice start to his rookie card collection.
I love the Yankees. People give me a hard time about it and when they don’t, they are utterly confused…why in the hell would a boy raised in Texas and who has never ever been to New York City be a Yankee fan.
Seriously?
Why?
The Yankees?
The Evil Empire!
Well, I don’t have a great reason why other than when I was a very easily influenced 9 year old boy my favorite player became a Yankee. He was an Athletic, and he became a Yankee. Being a 9 year old confused little child I decided I would follow my player to the team. Now, nearly 30 years later I am still a Yankee fan and love the history of the storied franchise. I’m gonna miss the hell out of Jeet as i do Mo, Posada, Pettitte, Mattingly…etc…Over the past couple of years though, i’ve developed quite an attraction for the Washington Nationals. Here’s my reasoning. As you can tell, i’m a Redskins fan and i do everything I can to listen to Sports Talk radio from DC, and as one would expect they talk DC sports. So, by default the past 6-8 years my affinity towards the Nationals has been building and building. So much so that i am working all angles to get the kid to become a Nats fan. They’re a lovable team, right? Scrappy, hard working. Dealt with tough losses in big games (looking at you Drew Storen…). Built a strong organization from the ground up, albeit from many poor seasons and in turn drafting well with their high picks (hard to miss on Harper and Strasburg though, eh?).
I’m kinda old school in that i love it when players stay with a team their entire career. I know this isn’t always the players fault, but i greatly appreciate it as a fan. I also appreciate an organization that can draft, develop and lock up their talent for years to come. You build a strong foundation with the kids in the minor leagues and infill with veteran leaders and role players as necessary. You don’t chuck millions after millions for guys past their prime. You take a chance on a kid that your program has developed and lock him up. Make it so he doesn’t even want to look at another club. Make him feel like he is a cornerstone to a strong future. Now this is in total contradiction to what the Yankees have historically done…although, you can very easily argue that their last mini dynasty was due in part to the development and infill mentality rather than poach and overpay mindset. So, i guess what i’m beating around the bush about here is that I will always love the Yankees, but i’m kinda diggin’ the Nats right now. I’m sort of a baseball polygamist.
Albeit one American League Team and one National League Team.
I bought baseball cards.
Remember that part where I talked about wanting a player to stay with one team for the duration of his career? Hanley is one of those guys that, well, he’s come full circle. Red Sox, Marlins, Dodger, Red Sox. Initially i was cool with the first Red Sox run because it was so insignificant in his career. In my eyes he was a Marlin. A Florida Marlin, not a freakin’ Miami Marlin. He was a wonderful player on my fantasy baseball team for a couple of seasons and won me a really nice chunk of change one season. I was cool when he became a Dodger. I kinda like the Dodgers. Great history. Iconic Jerseys and who doesn’t love Vin Scully?
Seriously.
Vin Scully!
But now that he’s a Red Sock again. I can’t do it. I can’t collect his cards and feel good about myself, the Yankee fan inside me can’t handle it. So, I’m only collecting him as a Marlin…Florida Marlin.
Now to the Nats portion of the program. Werth and Strasburg with some Game Worn Memorabilia on display below. Other than Mariano Rivera, I don’t typically collect pitchers. Too risky and their careers can be schizophrenic (is that not PC?). I’ve always steered clear of them, but Stras is pretty special I guess. So far he hasn’t lived up to the hype, but the hype was out of control that nobody ever could live up to that hype. He’s still be very solid and hasn’t been overly fragile, maybe sensitive, but not fragile. Now this Werth cat is something else. His hair is amazing. His beard is amazing, but the DUI isn’t really cool. Maybe hit up the Uber app next time for a $900 ride home. #justsayin
Speaking of wonderful pitchers. Jordan Zimmerman. He has become the most important Zimmerman on the team the past couple of years and luckily isn’t related to the crazy Zimmerman in south Florida. No, he’s a pitcher and a pitcher that will be an important piece to a potentially all time dominant starting rotation. I have his autograph on a sticker on a card that has no logos. I can imagine how annoying it would be to write Z I M M E R M A N every time you sign an autograph, but this is a little too much corner cutting for me. Although I do appreciate the left justified approach. Never know how long that squiggly line will need to extend at the end of Z I M M E R M A N.
HEY! I snuck in a Redskin card! But only because it reminded me of Rocket Pops.
This is a very patriotic, summer-y, popsicle-y card that I had to have. This is one of those parallel cards that makes the rainbow collector happy…i’m assuming?
