Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web IV- Divisional Playoff Pick off

I have to say that I didn't see any upsets this weekend. I would have liked to see Caroline pull out the win, but to be honest the final 4 aren't all that surprising. Hence why we lost 9 this round, but still have 20 people still in the running. And we have at least one pick for all four teams so there will be a winning with the right team, and there are still quite a few teams that could have the right opponent as well, which has never happned.

Alright guys and gals have a great week I won't bother you with another contest update till after the Conference Championship games are done.  I might bother you with other stuff.

Here are the picks that made it to this round. If your pick is in red you're out.

Corky - Seattle Seahawks over New England Patriots, 40 total points and 2 turnovers. PIMP

Cards from the Quarry -Seattle over Indianapolis, 48 points, 4 turnovers

Play at the Plate - Denver over Seattle, 52 points, 3 turnovers. PIMP

ChavezRavining - Indy over Seattle 38 points 3 turnovers.

CaptKirk42 - Carolina over Cincinnati, 46 points, 3 turnovers.

John Hazen - Seattle over New England 36 points, 2 turnovers

AdamE - Denver over Seattle 63 Points 4 turnovers

Wilson - Seattle over Denver, 50 points, 4 Turnovers PIMP

Cardboardhogs.com - New England over Seattle, 63 points, 3 Turnovers  PIMP

Chris - Denver over Carolina, 49 points, 5 turnovers

Robert - Denver over San Francisco. 44 points and 2 turnovers.

arpsmith - 49ers over Denver, 55 points and 4 turnovers

Greg Zakwin - Denver over Packers, 63 points, 2 turnovers  PIMP

gcrl - Denver over Carolina 53 points 4 turnovers

The Big Kahuna - Denver BRONCOS over Da Seattle Seahawks 57 points 5 turnovers

defgav - San Diego over Seattle, 33 points, 4 turnovers

Fuji - Carolina over the Broncos, 42 points, 4 turnovers

Nathan Bell - Denver over San Francisco. 54 Points, 2 TO's

Dion's IP Autos Only - Denver over 49ers 65 points 3 turnovers PIMP

Skroeker - Carolina Panthers over New England Patriots, 55 total points, 3 turnovers.

Nachos Grande - Broncos over Seahawks - 57 points, 3 turnovers.

Dave H - San Fran over Denver 62 points and 4 turnovers

Andy - Denver over Green Bay - 75 points, 2 turnovers

Need More Cardboard - Panthers over Broncos, 48 points, 5 turnovers PIMP

Justin - Broncos over Panthers, 35 points, 2 turnovers

Spankee -Broncos over Packers. 52 points. 1 turnover.

Superduperman99 - Colts over Panthers. 37 points. 3 turnovers.

Colbey -Panthers over the Broncos, 48 points, 2 turnovers.

jacobmrley- Saints over Patriots 47 and 2.

Thank you Mr. Hegan, Thank you

Former Brewer and Ohio native Mike Hegan passed away on Christmas day.  I was lucky enough to get two cards signed through the mail by him in June of 2012. Mike played in the majors for 12 years. Starting with the Yankees and then with the Seattle Pilots, getting the first home run in franchise history. He moved with the team to Milwaukee and played there till 1971 when he went to the A's and got a World Series ring in1972 playing along side two of my other favorite players of all time  Rollie Fingers and Reggie Jackson. Went back to the Yankees for a few years and then finished his career with Brewers.   He then spent 12 seasons as the Brewers TV color commentator and then 23 seasons as commentator of the Cleveland Indians.  He retired from broadcasting in 2012.

I don't know if anyone here follows Tom Owen's blog, Baseball by the Letters, but he's an advocate of not waiting to tomorrow to send out your TTM's and fan letters. You just never know when times going to run out.  So thank you Mr. Hegan, for all the great years and for the kind response to my TTM request. You will be missed.

2014 - State of the Blog Address

Wow another year has come and gone.  And to break up my Super Bowl contest posts it's time to look forward to the New Year and what 2014 might bring for me and for collectors in general.  If you're sick of these blogger New Year's resolution type posts I won't blame you for skipping this one. After all this post is mainly for me.

This year is going to be huge for me. But not in sport cards. No in a few short months I'm going to be a father.  That means that the meager fun money I had to play with and spend on trading cards and other doodads will sadly drop to just about zero.  That doesn't mean I won't be blogging. Of course it doesn't mean I will either.  After looking at my total post output for the year, it's apparent that I  hit  the 4 year slump. Yep this little experiment in creative writing turned 4 back in October and I hardly noticed. I might have to do something for the big 5.  But I definately slowed down.

I recently reviewed my 2013 goals, if you missed it you can find it HERE. I did OK is some areas.  This year will probably mark a big turning point for me as a collector.

1. This one pains me the most, but makes the most sense.  I still want to collect my Topps Baseball and Football flag sets. For as much crap as I give Topps those two sets are still the benchmark for set collecting. And I love building sets. But building sets from busting wax hasn't been economical for years now. Not when a jumbo box cost over $100. Sure you usually get a full set out of the box and the hits, which most of the time I sell off to help pay for the box, but that means my base set of Topps baseball costs me about $200 to build. I don't know if you ever check out Wrigley Wax, but he posts a monthly report on what set prices are doing with a running 12 month average.  You can check it out HERE. What I find interesting is that the last three years sets can be had complete for about $30 or less.  So sadly I most likely will be buying sets. I really do like the building of the set. The collating. The ripping open of packs. Checking out the cards and players. But alas Topps has priced me out. That doesn't mean I won't rip a pack here or there, but I think my box breaking days are over for now.

2. I would still like to attempt putting together the T206 Milwaukee Brewers team set.  I think my goal might just be getting one card for the set this year.

3.  Posting more.  Really? Am I going to have the time?  Hell if I know, but I've slowly been revamping my Robin Yount and Rollie Fingers Blogs.  Instead of just posting whenever I got a new cool card, I wanted to try and make the blogs more of a collecting resource for other like minded player collectors.  That means featuring individual cards and small tidbits about the card, the set, and the issue. I also wanted to be able to link my comprehensive collection list to a blog post that had a high quality scan of the card. Can I do that here? Probably not. When I first started this blog I had the idea of making it a place where the novice collector could come and learn things. I found that most of my visitors and readers are you well seasoned collectors. You don't need me to tell you to put a penny sleeve on a card before putting it in that top loader.

4. Reinvent the wheel? Probably not! Like I said up in #3 I revamped my Yount and Fingers player collection blogs. I don't think I plan to do that here. Over the last 4 years I've slowly found my voice, what I want to say, what I want to post about, ect, ect. And I've found I like having Collector's Crack be a clearing house, with a wide variety of topics covered. From personal box breaks, set reviews, trades, contests, you get the picture. So #4 this year is that I plan to try and stay the same.  And while I will confess I'm a terrible writer, blogging has made me a better slightly less terrible writer.

5. Sampler.  I've been hemming and hawing about doing this. I've seen other bloggers do something similar if not exactly the same. I'd like to put together a nice Topps Baseball sampler album. Starting maybe with the 1951 red or blue backs and working forward.

6. If you happen to read my Robin Yount blog, thank you.  You might have noticed I have a page dedicated to all the cards and collectibles I've amassed in my 25 plus years of collecting. Right now I sit at just over 950 items. I've been digging through a few of my oddball boxes, boxes I keep over sized items, and every now and then I find a card or collectible not on the list, but my goal is to reach 1000 unique items in the collection. Honestly this won't be too hard. I picked up 30 new cards from COMC's Black Friday sale alone.

7. Lose about 30 pounds. Because I need to and I'm feeling old.

All right I'm done. Back to Super Bowl contest posts.

cb out

Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web IV - Wild Card Weekend Whittle Down

Wow that was quite a weekend of football and 3 games decided by 3 points or less!  I'm a little sad my team choked again, but now I can sit back and just enjoy the playoffs without all the anxiety.

We only lost 5 this round, but a lot of players picked teams with byes this week end.
Here's your round up, picks in Red mean you're out.
Corky - Seattle Seahawks over New England Patriots, 40 total points and 2 turnovers. PIMP

Cards from the Quarry -Seattle over Indianapolis, 48 points, 4 turnovers

Play at the Plate - Denver over Seattle, 52 points, 3 turnovers. PIMP

ChavezRavining - Indy over Seattle 38 points 3 turnovers.

CaptKirk42 - Carolina over Cincinnati, 46 points, 3 turnovers.

John Hazen - Seattle over New England 36 points, 2 turnovers

AdamE - Denver over Seattle 63 Points 4 turnovers

Wilson - Seattle over Denver, 50 points, 4 Turnovers PIMP

Cardboardhogs.com - New England over Seattle, 63 points, 3 Turnovers  PIMP

Chris - Denver over Carolina, 49 points, 5 turnovers

Robert - Denver over San Francisco. 44 points and 2 turnovers.

arpsmith - 49ers over Denver, 55 points and 4 turnovers

Spiegel83 - Eagles over Broncos. 64 total points and 3 turnovers.

Greg Zakwin - Denver over Packers, 63 points, 2 turnovers  PIMP

gcrl - Denver over Carolina 53 points 4 turnovers

The Big Kahuna - Denver BRONCOS over Da Seattle Seahawks 57 points 5 turnovers

ShanePatrick - bengals over panthers, 42points 5 turnovers

defgav - San Diego over Seattle, 33 points, 4 turnovers

Fuji - Carolina over the Broncos, 42 points, 4 turnovers

Brian Conrad - Eagles over Broncos 52 points 2 turnovers

Nathan Bell - Denver over San Francisco. 54 Points, 2 TO's

Dion's IP Autos Only - Denver over 49ers 65 points 3 turnovers PIMP

Jeff S - PACKERS over Broncos...58 pts ...3 turnovers (all by Manning) PIMP

Skroeker - Carolina Panthers over New England Patriots, 55 total points, 3 turnovers.

Nachos Grande - Broncos over Seahawks - 57 points, 3 turnovers.

Dave H - San Fran over Denver 62 points and 4 turnovers

Andy - Denver over Green Bay - 75 points, 2 turnovers

alyeac - chiefs over green bay 1 turnover 46 points

Need More Cardboard - Panthers over Broncos, 48 points, 5 turnovers PIMP

Justin - Broncos over Panthers, 35 points, 2 turnovers

Spankee -Broncos over Packers. 52 points. 1 turnover.

Superduperman99 - Colts over Panthers. 37 points. 3 turnovers.

Colbey -Panthers over the Broncos, 48 points, 2 turnovers.

jacobmrley- Saints over Patriots 47 and 2.

Alright, should be some great football next weekend.  I'm still predicting a Seattle/Broncos Super Bowl.  


cb out

Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web IV - Official Entries

Well alrighty. The contest is officially closed, the games have started and this will serve as the official entry post.  I want to thank all of you who entered. And holy crap we got 34 entries. Sure some blogs get hundreds, but 34 is the best turn out for a one of my contests so far and to say thank you I've decided to add a few more cards to the prize pool.

And I want to thank all who promoted the contest on their blogs. I've decided to add another card to the Door prize pool.

Here are your official entries, look them over, if I've made a mistake please let me know.  I'm listing these in the order in which you commented and this will also be how they are entered into Random.org for the door prize drawing.  If you promoted the contest, but forgot to post a comment on it or don't see a pimp by your entry and you did let me know and I'll make sure you get your extra entry!

Corky - Seattle Seahawks over New England Patriots, 40 total points and 2 turnovers. PIMP

Cards from the Quarry -Seattle over Indianapolis, 48 points, 4 turnovers

Play at the Plate - Denver over Seattle, 52 points, 3 turnovers. PIMP

ChavezRavining - Indy over Seattle 38 points 3 turnovers.

CaptKirk42 - Carolina over Cincinnati, 46 points, 3 turnovers.

John Hazen - Seattle over New England 36 points, 2 turnovers

AdamE - Denver over Seattle 63 Points 4 turnovers

Wilson - Seattle over Denver, 50 points, 4 Turnovers PIMP

Cardboardhogs.com - New England over Seattle, 63 points, 3 Turnovers  PIMP

Chris - Denver over Carolina, 49 points, 5 turnovers

Robert - Denver over San Francisco. 44 points and 2 turnovers.

arpsmith - 49ers over Denver, 55 points and 4 turnovers

Spiegel83 - Eagles over Broncos. 64 total points and 3 turnovers.

Greg Zakwin - Denver over Packers, 63 points, 2 turnovers  PIMP

gcrl - Denver over Carolina 53 points 4 turnovers

The Big Kahuna - Denver BRONCOS over Da Seattle Seahawks 57 points 5 turnovers

ShanePatrick - bengals over panthers, 42points 5 turnovers

defgav - San Diego over Seattle, 33 points, 4 turnovers

Fuji - Carolina over the Broncos, 42 points, 4 turnovers

Brian Conrad - Eagles over Broncos 52 points 2 turnovers

Nathan Bell - Denver over San Francisco. 54 Points, 2 TO's

Dion's IP Autos Only - Denver over 49ers 65 points 3 turnovers PIMP

Jeff S - PACKERS over Broncos...58 pts ...3 turnovers (all by Manning) PIMP

Skroeker - Carolina Panthers over New England Patriots, 55 total points, 3 turnovers.

Nachos Grande - Broncos over Seahawks - 57 points, 3 turnovers.

Dave H - San Fran over Denver 62 points and 4 turnovers

Andy - Denver over Green Bay - 75 points, 2 turnovers

alyeac - chiefs over green bay 1 turnover 46 points

Need More Cardboard - Panthers over Broncos, 48 points, 5 turnovers PIMP

Justin - Broncos over Panthers, 35 points, 2 turnovers

Spankee -Broncos over Packers. 52 points. 1 turnover.

Superduperman99 - Colts over Panthers. 37 points. 3 turnovers.

Colbey -Panthers over the Broncos, 48 points, 2 turnovers.

jacobmrley- Saints over Patriots 47 and 2.

Alright it is on like...

you know.

 Good luck everyone. I'll have a Wild Card update after Sundays games.

Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web IV - Last Call Two Minute Warning

Alright last one I promise. You have until Noon tomorrow my time to enter. That'll be 4:00 pm on the East Coast. Click here or use the link on the side bar.  And if you want another entry into the door prize just promote my contest on your blog, but be sure to leave a comment with a link so I know you did please.

And I'll have an official entries post sometime on Saturday with an update either Sunday night or Monday morning.

cb out.

Happy New Year and a 4th Annual Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web - Reminder

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

And what better way to celebrate the New Year than nursing a hangover and entering an easy contest.

Heck there are free autos to win. Autos that even if you don't like them you can probably sell for an easy three or four bucks on ebay!

Head here to enter or click the link on the sidebar. Great prizes and bragging rights for the whole year!!

And don't forget to promote my contest on your blog for an extra entry in the door prize drawing.