Ike Knows Accounting

In the last post we saw that Bo Knows Shoes.  But he's not the only one who knows something -- consider Mr. Ike Harris.

1979 Topps Ike Harris - #257

Now Ike looks like your typical "dumb-jock," right?  Fast legs, but not too much going on upstairs?  Surely that's the case.  Let's check out the back of his card...

HE'S A CPA, BABY!!!!  Putting all that Iowa State book-learnin' to good use.

So if he's a WR and a CPA, that means he knows about:

• Bubble Screens and Tax Liens
• Hook-and-Go's and Cash Flows
• Exercising and Amortizing
• Acceleration and Depreciation
• "Caught It!" and "Audit!"

We tip our cap to you, Ike Harris.  A real-man of genius.

(Are there any more good football/accounting rhymes that I missed?)

2013 Super Bowl Champion...

...Kelechi Osemele!

2012 Fleer Rookie Sensations - Kelechi Osemele - RS-96

Kelechi was a late 2nd-round draft pick for the Ravens in 2012 and he won a starting job on the O-Line.  He parlayed his protection of Flacco into a Super Bowl ring during his rookie season.  Not too shabby of a way to start off!  He's an Iowa State alum (obviously). 

This one was a Listia purchase.  I got it for 1,700 credits...I was prepared to do at least 3,000, if necessary, so I was happy.  This seller threw in several extra cards for me in my package, so if you are looking for autos/relics...check him out.

Blaise Bryant

This is my man, Blaise Bryant.  When my Dad took me to Iowa State games a a youth, he was the stud RB.  Didn't have much of an NFL career...played in Canada for awhile.

But you wanna know why I really love him?

THE HAIR!!!!  Oh, the hair.  Such a thing of beauty.  Exploding from his scalp like a Saturn V rocket.  I hope he still has it cut that way today...

NOPE.

I guess when you are a real estate broker / financier, you can't go around looking like Kid 'N Play.*  At least he's still got that "head to the left" tilt.

(*In case you didn't get the reference.....)

Who's got the best hair ever on a sports card???

Reminders of My Youth

Iowa has cold winters, but no mountains.  That means from December-March you aren't doing too much stuff outside.  Growing up there, that meant watching a lot of college basketball during those cold, dark months.  My Dad was an Iowa State alum, so we cheered hard and loud for the Cyclones all those years.  One of their best players during m Junior-High/High-School years was Loren Meyer.  From Ruthven, IA, Meyer would go on from Iowa State to play three seasons in the NBA with the Mavericks, Suns, and Nuggets. 

Imagine my surprise when this came up on Listia recently.  It's my first Loren Meyer auto, and the only one I have ever seen. I got it fairly cheap, since most people have no idea who he is, and most who know don't care.  :-)

1995-96 Classic - Autograph Edition - Loren Meyer

The guy guarding him is "Big Country," Bryant Reeves of Oklahoma State. 

Des Moines, Iowa Baseball Card Show

I was back home in Iowa in October to visit my parents and my little sister.  I knew I was going to be in Des Moines one weekend, so I just checked the Beckett Show Calendar to see if there were any card shows happening then.  It turns out that there was!  Here's what the listing said :

Urbandale American Legion Hall, 6805 Douglas Avenue, 8-3, 80T
Ryan Grother 515-491-8403 ryancardz@gmail.com

Based upon that, I was pretty stoked.  80 TABLES?!?  This thing is going to be massive!!!!  Well.........not so much. When I got there I counted 8 or 9 dealers (10% of the advertised amount).  I only had to go about 4 miles from my sister's house to this show, so it was no biggie for me, but if I'd made a longer trip based on that info I'd be pretty ticked.

However, this show DID redeem itself.  6 of the 8 dealers had either dime or quarter boxes to sift through, and I was able to find a bunch of "treasures" for myself.  Some of them were also willing to negotiate on bulk pricing on those dime/quarter cards, helping me to stretch my budget a little farther.  All-in-all, I came home with a 250-count box nearly full.  It was all cards I wanted for myself or for trades, and I think my total spending was under $30.

Here's a sampling of the stuff I picked up.

The greatest athlete to ever come out of Iowa State.

2007 Allen and Ginter - Cael Sanderson - #23

The last two "State" Royals that I needed from that Ginter Subset.  I am still looking for the Iowa card (Casey Blake) if anyone has that.

Three more MINDS.  Now I want to go do electro-magnetic experiments on a steamboat...

One guy there had a whole mess of Panini Americana.  He must have just busted a few boxes and was looking to dump cards.  He had Presidents with lovely facial hair:

A Married Couple (The Yale card will go in my wife's binder):

And some gentlemen with VERY unique leaping styles:

I always liked Barbara Bush.  She felt like "America's Grandma" to me.  She was the REAL Barbara Bush...not like that fake one.  :-)

Here were a few dime-box cards I grabbed for trade.  Do any of my Dodger-blogger friends need any of these?  The "Invincible" card is half-cardboard/half-plastic.  The Goodwins are minis.

After that I was just looking to pick up miscellaneous Royals cards.  Neither of these gents are with KC anymore, though. 

Some randoms....Bo Knows Archery!  Don Denkinger is the favorite umpire of all Royals fans everywhere. 

Finally, I grabbed a card off my "Most-Wanted" list for just 10 cents.  Justin Maxwell taking BP in the construction site.

2008 Upper Deck - Justin Maxwell - #326

Just think what I could have come back with from an 80-table show!  Probably 10 of each of those cards above....

Butlers, Lemons, and South Park

That's pretty much the best "Certified Auto" I've ever seen.  No, it's not actually from the 1987 set (I knew you were wondering).  It was on top of the latest trade package I received from Rosenort at the Condition Sensitive blog.  He had already posted the stuff I sent him.  However, everything he sent me wasn't just "Terrance and Phillip"-style Glamour Shots (unfortunately).  He also included some real cards, and they all hit my want-lists, too.  Among everything he sent me, I had a few favorites...

Like this.  These guys are Iowa State alumni.  That initial Skybox set was OUTSTANDING.  I remember those and the "computer generated backgrounds" so well.

This guys is an old, odd-looking, Royals manager!  Everything I am looking for!

1971 Topps Bob Lemon

A few miscellaneous cards for my burgeoning Brookens collection.

And the whole reason we kicked off the trade...the Billy Butler Gypsy Queen relic card. 

2012 Gypsy Queen Relic Jersey Card - Billy Butler

Thanks so much, Rosenort!!! 

My Kind of Basketball Players

In May I offered up a bunch of NBA cards for trade.  Roger from Cool Breeze Baseball Buzz wanted some of the Shaq's and Dwight Howards that I had.  He hooked me up with some Royals, a bunch of Iowa State Cyclones basketball, and my mid-childhood man-crush, Mark Price.  He was a great free-throw shooter, you know.  All the kids LOVED him. 

Here's Mark...being the Mark-iest that he can be:

Mark Price

The Cyclones are here...being all cold and Upper Midwest-y:   We've got Victor Alexander, Jeff Grayer, Kelvin Cato, Loren Meyer, Fred Hoiberg, and Jeff Hornacek.  I think Roger was reading my Want-Lists!!!  :-)   -------------->

Iowa State Cyclone Basketball Alumni

Thanks for the great trade, Roger!

College Football Cards - Cyclones and the Dog Days

I haven't posted another "Most Wanted" card in quite awhile, so it's about time I do that.  How about I do better than that?  Here's two!

These are both cards that I have seen while browsing the Interwebs lately and want to add to my list.

First, Upper Deck's 2012 College Football offering has a subset of College Mascot patch cards.  They are cool, but they don't have my favorite team (Iowa State), so there is no card of this guy:



"Cy"

Thus, I will need to go after the next best thing...the wife's Alma Mater.  You may not know this, but my wife is one smart cookie.  As in, Ivy-League math-degree smart.  And they've got her mascot in the set!



Handsome Dan - Yale - Upper Deck College Footbal 2012 - College Mascots - CM-60

That will be going in the binder of cards for her if we ever manage to get it.  The prices on those are a little high right now, but it is not one of the super-short-prints, so I am confident it will come down to our level one day.  If anyone has one for trade, please let me know!

So after I get that one for her, I will need to get something for myself.  And I know just the thing.

2004 Bazooka College Collection Jerseys - Lane Danielsen - Iowa State - BCCLD

This is a 2004 jersey card of Lane Danielsen.  He was an undrafted Iowa State alum who never made it big in the NFL.  He was on the Vikings' practice squad for awhile.  I always would have Seneca Wallace throw bombs to him on the PS2 NCAA Football games.  As far as I can tell, this is his only relic card, and one of only two cards of him.  He's now married with kids and has some sort of a medical career. 

Do you have any of those?  That would make my day.  My Dog Day, that is. 

Burgeoning

burgeoningpresent participle of bur·geon (Verb)

Verb:

Begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish: Put forth young shoots; bud.

My Royals collection is big, but the rest of my collections are still burgeoning.  I picked up these two guys for free off Listia.

For the Kickers/Punters collection:

Bob Scarpitto - 1968 Topps Football - #147

 For the Iowa State Basketball collection:

Kelvin Cato - 1998-1999 Topps - # 61

Slow and steady, good sir.  Slow and steady.