A Plug and Cool Surprise from Angus

I spend a lot of my free time -- in between posting here, working, reading blogs, and trying to be a good husband -- on Twitter. Often, it's the first thing I read in the morning (usually to catch up on what is new in the world of European soccer) and many times it's the last thing I actively read before playing a mindless game of "Civilization Revolutions" on my iPad and nodding off to sleep.

A few weeks ago, I got a new follower on Twitter called @CardMavin. Card Mavin is a completely free website that gives people a realistic view on what their cards are worth based on real time eBay sales and listings. Perhaps, in the not-too-distant future, the site may include aggregation of information on sales -- or at least asking prices -- from COMC, Sportlots, Just Commons, etc.  That probably will take some intellectual property rights agreements with those sites, I'd suppose.

That said, the folks behind Card Mavin reached out to me and told me how much they enjoyed my writing. After I asked if they had the right "Tony" from the blog world, and after I asked if they had actually read my blog -- oddly, the answer was yes on both counts -- I was sufficiently flattered enough to be receptive to their approach for me to write a guest blog. 

After a couple of weeks where work conspired to keep me both busy and lacking in inspiration, finally I sat down and hacked out my post: "Advice for Getting Back into Card Collecting." Thanks to trying to be brief -- which, as many of you know, is more of a challenge for me than trying to extend a post to a particular length -- I set forth a list of three pieces of advice for folks considering whether they should get into collecting or back into collecting. 

Please take a read of my thoughts there and provide some advice of your own. And, while you're there, check out how CardMavin works and give feedback on Twitter to @CardMavin.

Okay, now that I have plugged one of the first appearances of my writing that does not involve writing about construction law (I am, in fact, general editor of a book published 15 years ago and I am a general editor as well of a book that is in the works now about trial practice in construction cases...seriously), I need to give full props to the blogosphere's Canadian Cleveland Browns fan, Angus of Dawg Day Cards.

First, he has watched as his team has actually improved its QB situation with RGIII, a QB who caused his own offensive line to hate him in DC -- to the point where they hardly helped him up after sacks and whose seeming refusal to take any blame for mistakes rubbed everyone the wrong way. I mean, after Johnny Manziel, perhaps everyone who is a sentient being is an upgrade at QB, but when people from around the league come out and say that you are a "jerk" who "didn't stay humble", you know you have some problems.

Still, as a Browns fan as Angus is, he found the bright side of things and noted that having a guy like RGIII for the here and now while the team tries to build isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Is there a comparable situation in all of the Big 4 sports to being a Browns fan? I mean, at least in baseball, most every team has gotten to the postseason in the last 15 years.

I really feel for Angus on that level. It is close to the situation in Milwaukee from 1993 through 2006, when the team just sucked and sucked and sucked and it didn't look like there was any plan in place under the Seligs other than, "Let's suck as bad as possible so that we can prove our point that small market teams can't compete."

Amongst all this, Angus still finds time to sprinkle sunshine around to all of us bloggers. 

I've seen two others of these now around the blog world, and I'm happy that Angus sent one my way. The nine discs on the Milwaukee Brewers "Triple Play Funmeal" include Robin Yount, Sal Bando, BIll Travers, Sixto Lezcano, Von Joshua, Charlie Moore, Jim Slaton, Jerry Augustine, and the cleft-chinned Eduardo Rodriguez. 

Even without seeing the 1977 copyright date, I could have dated this item to that very year for a couple of reasons. First, if this had been issued in 1976, Hank Aaron would have been included. Second, Sal Bando would not have been included in 1976 because he signed as a free agent from Oakland after 1976. Finally, it could not be from the 1978 season because the Brewers simply cut Von Joshua after spring training in 1978 and they traded Jim Slaton after the 1977 season to Detroit for Ben Oglivie. Slaton then re-signed with the Brewers after the 1978 season.

Angus, many thanks once again for the fantastic surprise you sent my way.