Good things come to those who wait

Though the title could suggest it (in a somewhat pretentious way) – this isn’t a post saying “I’m back”.  I hope to be back posting regularly in a few weeks or so.

But I had an interesting thing show up in my mailbox tonight when I got home, and I thought it was worth a post.  Those of you who don’t know basketball cards – or those of you who do know basketball cards but get confused because all of the Panini card sets seem to run together – may recognize that this is from a 2012-2013 card set.

I bought this redemption on eBay in very early 2013.  I thought it was earlier than that, but I looked it up.  I’ve redeemed 3 Jalen Rose cards from Panini, and they’ve all been quite a while in getting redeemed.  I think two of the 3 have been over a year, and I opened up a “Query” on the website for all 3 back in 2013.  I’m confused, too – because this is a sticker autograph, and Jalen has had plenty of autographed cards come out in the past few years, so it seems that Panini could have stuck one onto this guy earlier than 1.5 years after the product release.  Regardless – I guess it’s good to receive it eventually!

Plus – this is a really nice card.

Go blue

This Michigan team doesn’t have the historical significance of these guys.  But they have now made it just as far!  GO BLUE!

 

Go Blue!

I don’t post about it all that often, but some of my first memories of sports other than Reds games come from the Fab Five.  I’ve been a University of Michigan sports fan my whole life, but the Fab Five really got me into basketball.  Michigan has had some down days in hoops since then, and the banners from the 1992 and 1993 Final Four were taken down in Crisler Arena.

Jalen Rose is still my favorite athlete in any sport, and I collect his cards – some of the better of which are shown above.

Michigan’s hoops team made a big stride last week, reaching #1 in the AP poll for the first time since the 1992-1993 season.  I’ve seen them play once this year – we went to the game here in Chicago when they played Northwestern in early January.  They are the real deal – Trey Burke is probably the front-runner for player of the year, and three sons of former NBA players (Tim Hardaway, Jr., Glen Robinson III and Jon Horford) are all contributing.

They have a huge game tonight against #3 Indiana.  I don’t have the greatest hope for this game – it’s in Bloomington, and the starting center Jordan Morgan may not be able to play after badly spraining his ankle last weekend.  So their stay at #1 could just end up being for a week.  But if they do win, they’d also have a really good chance at overtaking Kansas for the top spot in the USA Today coaches poll (they are just 3 points behind at the moment).  Either way, they are good and it’s been fun to watch after the program has been on a steady upward trend the past few years.

I haven’t watched Game Day yet because I’m working today, but recorded it and will watch it before the game tonight.  Should be very interesting since Jalen himself is on College Game Day this year!

GO BLUE!

Fab 5 on ESPN, and attending the Big East semifinals

First, I’d like to note that ESPN has a documentary for the Fab 5 tonight after the selection show airs and everyone has had the chance to debate the picks.  I’ve noted this in a post or two, but The Fab 5 was what really got me into sports, and I can’t wait to watch it.  The show is produced by Jalen Rose, who has long been my favorite player in any sport.  It airs on ESPN at 9:00 tonight.

Second, on Friday night I cashed in on my birthday present to myself and attended the Big East basketball tourney semifinals in Madison Square Garden.  I had no rooting interest in these games, but for the couple of years I’m going to live in the New York area I promised myself I’d take advantage and go to things like this.  I went for the semis over the final because you get two games and the likelihood of a complete dud is far less – I’d hate to drop a considerable amount of cash and feel I wasted it.  My wife and I went, and we got the opposite of 2 duds.  The first game pitted Syracuse against 9 seed Connecticut, and that was the best game of the 2.  Connecticut felt like the better team the whole game, but except for a brief period midway through the 2nd half, it was close the whole time.  UConn had a 6-point lead with less than 20 seconds, and I still can’t quite figure out how, but Syracuse actually tied the game.  The crowd clearly came for this game – and the Garden was rocking as both teams had a large contingent of fans!  The Huskies pulled away in OT and Kemba Walker was looking to bring the league’s 9th seed to be the first ever conference champion (any league) to do so by winning 5 games in 5 days. He made good on that attempt when he beat Louisville the next night.

The second game was Rick Pitino’s Louisville squad against Notre Dame.  ND had a 14-point lead at the 2nd half, and led by 10 with 9:30 to go.  I honestly didn’t realize it was getting close, and all of a sudden it was a 5-point game.   Louisville turned up the press and hit some 3’s, and this game also went to OT.  Louisville had the momentum and pretty much dominated the overtime period.  This game wasn’t quite as good as the first – it felt like ND let it go more than UL came back – but it was still a great game all the same.  All told, 2 OT games made for a great Friday evening!

A half-dozen Roses for Valentine’s Day

I didn’t collect cards from about sophomore year of high school until about a year and a half ago -> except I always bought cards of my favorite athlete in any sport, Jalen Rose. I grew up a Michigan fan and loved the Fab 5, and these are my 6 favorite Jalen cards (I have just under 1,000 total):

• the Finest Refractor of his RC,
• a Classic 4-Sport autograph – the draft pick set just after his last year in Ann Arbor
• a really cool SP Authentic auto from when he was with the Bulls
• 2 BuyBack autos of his first 2 SP Authentic cards
• A Finals Jersey card with his opponent from that year, and another former Michigan player, Glenn Rice