Cedar Hills Show – The low budget version ep.IV

Posted by cardboard hogs on July 2, 2013

I’m finding that scanning cards is an arduous task. I imagine this is why so many bloggers choose to not scan that many cards or just eventually allow their blogs to fade to black. So I’m going to ride out the next couple of posts with some more cards that are sitting in my queue. As you would imagine they are all Redskin cards, so I understand if you stop reading from this point on…but you really shouldn’t bail…this is going to be a great visit. I’m feeling wordy tonight and have a ton of stuff to show.

Buckle your seat belts.

Digging through dusty old boxes gives you time to think about things. Things you could have done. Things you should be doing and most importantly, things you completely struck out on. That’s what this trifecta of young, future stars represents for me. Justin Tryon and Malcolm Kelly were products of a Cerrato draft. Those last two words are almost always followed by the following two words ‘…which sucked’. Look at those crazy eyes!

Vinny did all he could to single handedly destroy the franchise for many many years. Constantly selecting guys that should have never been drafted or shouldn’t have been drafted so high. That’s all assuming, of course that the Redskins had picks to make. Cerrato hyped Kelly up so much that he mad me believing we had the next Art Monk on the roster. Unfortunately for Kelly, he had Greg Oden knees and never really played that much…but made some nice money. Tryon was supposed to be a nice kick/punt returner and future cornerback. Neither really happened and he was eventually jettisoned to Indy. Thompson was a free agent pick up for the Redskins in 1999, never really making an impact with the team. BUT he was the homecoming King for Cedar Hill High School, so that’s a thing. He did two things I will never accomplish. Play in the NFL and be called a King by anyone, ever…

Speaking of big disappointments, Michael Westbrook. This guy and Health Shuler should have been the next great QB/WR duo, but both never really panned out. When these cards initially came out, they were probably going for $8-$10 each…now, you can pick the trifecta up for fifteen cents. Don’t let your kids ‘invest’ in cards.

This is a great trio right here. B-Mitch, Stephen Davis and Champ. Mitchell should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame already! Dude is only behind Jerry Rice in all purpose yards for a career. JERRY RICE! That’s it. Anytime you are on a list and the only guy ahead of you is Jerry Rice, you are a winner. Davis is really special…He’s from Spartanburg, SC. I have lots of family there. I should write something about him soon, very soon. Champ. This is the guy that brought Portis to DC. There was a time that I really disliked (read hated) Champ. Anytime a player begs to not play for my favorite team, they might as well be dead to me. But, being the forgiving man that I am, I have seen the light and appreciate his phenomenal career. I just wish he could have had his success with the Redskins.

The three greatest Redskin quarterbacks. Sammy, Sonny and Joe. Three photos. Three face mask bars. These guys are old school like suede pumas. Sammy Baugh was a Texan and was one of the main catalyst for the forward pass in the NFL. If money was no object, he is a guy that I would love to get some vintage stuff of…instead i’m relegated to reprints and new releases. The Sonny card is pretty fantastic. Love the colors and the determination in his eyes is priceless. Plus I love the spear helmet. The Theismann sticker is actually a duplicate, but i figured for a nickel, you couldn’t go wrong.

Mark Rypien was one of the three quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl under Joe Gibbs. He’s sort of a local guy…went to Washington State and still lives in Spokane I believe. He’s also made a few appearances in Vancouver just across the big river.

Who loves parallels. I always have to double check these things…’I know i’ve seen this card before…do I have this one or that one?’ #cardcollectorproblems

I’m losing gas here, so i’m just going to show you the goods. Coles was annoying, so glad he’s didn’t last long. LaVar was the first jersey I ever bought and Gardner goes along side Westbrook for good, but not as good as he could have been.

I love the Redskins. This is MY team. I love going through all of the old cardboard and seeing guys that had great careers. Some players have the ability to meet or exceed their talent while others fail to live up to whatever standards have been set for them. As a fan, it’s difficult to understand that these guys deal with a lot each day and sacrifice their physical health and well being to entertain us. So that said, I would personally like to apologize to Champ Bailey, Lav….Coles (sorry dude, your name is weird), Michael Westbrook, Sean Gilbert and Rod Gardner. I have said many bad things about you guys in the past and it wasn’t fair to you. You have accomplished things that I wish I could have done…and made a lot of fans happy (or pissed! Vinny!) That’s what I was really thinking about when sorting through these pieces of cardboard, not getting upset with these men in Burgundy and Gold. They are doing their best.

This was probably one of the most rambling posts about nothing I have ever done. It will get better…

One Dollar and Five Cents Pt. II

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 31, 2013

In continuation with last weeks post from the Cedar Hills Show, here are a few other cards pulled from the nickel and dollar boxes. My back is finally at it’s full strength from being hunched over the boxes, so all is good…just need to work on the neck strain thing and i will be 100%, taking it day to day.

The Redskins in the late 90’s were pretty much a directionless team led by Norv Turner and a carousel of stop gap quarterbacks. The one constant for a couple years was Stephen Davis. A pretty powerful back in his day and a guy that i loved watching run. I’ve been collecting his cards for a while now and love it when i come across a few cards i’ve never seen before. This is around the time when i wasn’t collecting and they came from the nickel box.

When the Redskins drafted Malcolm Kelly, i was really excited about his potential and thought he would be a phenomenal compliment to Moss. Unfortunately for the kid, he had Greg Oden’s knees and never really got on the field. Jimmy Zorn the Zornado loved him though and they kept him around longer than they should have. I don’t think he is playing anymore, which really sucks for him. These types of stories are a dime a dozen for young athletes. I just hope he has his money right and is a productive member of his community. Love the Diamond background on Santana, he owns the game.

Three years ago, this guy was traded to the Redskins and they got worked by their divisional rival Eagles on the deal. The Shanahans thought they were just a QB away and that McNabb was that QB. I guess the best part about McNabb being terrible as a Redskin was that it lead to Rex Grossman being the QB which led to John Beck being on the roster which led to the Redskins having two guys that shouldn’t be starting in the NFL which led to a terrible season, which finally led to RG3 coming to DC. Life as a Redskin fan looks brighter, assuming of course, RG3 doesn’t also have Greg Oden’s knees.

Jason Campbell, i feel terrible for this guy and think he could have had a solid career if he didn’t play for such a terrible organization. He’s with the Browns right now, which is basically the equivelant of bottoming out in the NFL (sorry Browns fans). I still love Campbell and hope he becomes the starter and does great things in Cleveland this year.

Art Monk, one of my all time favorite Redskins and Michael Westbrook, one of my least favorite. I’m going to refrain from talking too much shit about Westbrook as he can easily kick my ass. I do love the short shorts though, nothing weird about that at all. How about that strategically placed photo with football in the upper right…whattajob Topps, you are indeed the finest.