Mailday Goodness - - Part 3

This is the third and final part of my mailday extravaganza that has been occuring since last week. I saved the best for last (in my opinion, which is what this blog is anyway so I don't know why I even bothered to say this). A ton of Steeler stuff for my PC.

I'm so glad the NFL season is about to begin. I hate the couple months between the end of the NHL season and the beginning of the NFL season. It is excruciatingly nauseating when the only sports to watch on TV are Golf, Tennis, and Baseball. I am an action sports guy and if someone isn't getting beat up or slammed to the ground, I'm not really interested. No offense to any baseball, golf or tennis fans out there. I enjoy golfing. I love tennis (on the Wii). I have no problem going to see the Cubs or Sox, or my personal favorite, the Gary/Southshore Railcats. They won last night 4-3, by the way, in game one of the Northern League semi's. But nonetheless, I just can't call myself a fan.

At any rate...the cards...There were two packages that I missed when scanning. I think I already filed the cards away in my Steeler box before I could get them. However, I did get these.(Click on the pictures for bigger images)







I almost forgot how hideous 1991 Fleer football cards were until this gem of a Rod Woodson card showed up. Boy did we take the forcefed crap of the early 90s too serious or what?



I don't know how this Heath Miller 2006 Topps card got mixed up with these 2007 Topps cards. I think that is my 58th copy of that card too. Somehow in all my trades and card packages that I have been receiving, this card seems to keep popping up. It's like the wax box of 1989 Topps baseball cards I bought back in 1993 at the National. I pulled 16 Barry Larkins and 9 Candy Maldonado cards in the same box. Good Times!

Preseason makes me happy and angry

The NFL preseason always makes me happy because it is the only time of year that you get to see some of the talent that the Steelers will relegate to the practice squad or simply cut. It is also the one time of year that pisses me off to no end because all the games are meaningless unless you are trying to make the team and the threat of injury to key players is 10x greater than in the regular season because of the inexperience of the players on the field.

Once again, the Steelers have injuries that could carry over into the regular season. Big Ben is down with a "foot" injury. You can only speculate as to what happened after Max Starks stepped on him in practice. Some reports say foot, others say ankle, I even saw one that said his knee. The Achilles reports scare me a bit but the fact that he was standing the entire time on the sidelines during the Washington game made me think otherwise. Either way, it is still a little bothersome to know that our main QB is down for awhile.

Speaking of QBs, Dennis Dixon also went down with a shoulder injury and will miss the rest of the preseason. He didn't have much of a chance to replace Charlie as the #2 but he was the solid #3 and he has a rocket for an arm. I was hoping to see some "trickery" with him in the offense but I guess that will have to wait for the season.

Mendenhall averaged over 5 yards/carry so that was encouraging. Stefan Logan was a missle on special teams, racking up yards that I haven't seen since Woodson ran back kicks. He is also like 5' 6" and disappears once he hits the sidelines. Most impressive, at least for me, was the play of Ziggy. He had 2 sacks, 3 solo tackles, and an assist. At this rate, he will be a beast on defense once he develops.

I have some card trades brewing and will be getting some Steeler goodness soon so that I can start posting my collection. It should be interesting.

Mid-Afternoon Ramblings

I can't say that I have a whole lot to say right now other than the fact that I am soooooo amazingly happy that football season is back. That lull of time between when the Stanley Cup Finals ends and Training Camp begins is excruciating. I watched so much football between the NFL network and other local stations that I feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Just a few thoughts...

- - My Steelers looked pretty decent at home against AZ on Thursday. Not much from the starters but the prospects and hopefulls were very impressive. I hope there are spots for Frank "The Tank" and Redman. Those guys were beasts.

- - Was I the only one that thought Donald Brown, the running back for Indy, looked scary good?

- - The Bears still suck, The Bears still suck, The Bears still suck, The Bears still suck. They really really really really really really suck. Yes the Bears, stil, suck. (Everyone sing along).

- - Jay Glazer...go away!

- - Ladell Betts with a wardrobe malfunction. Wishful thinking??

- - I'm not even commenting on Vick to the Eagles. It speaks for itself and further entrenches my disdain for the other PA team.

- - How long before an NFL team signs Usain Bolt to a special teams contract? He would need two contracts; one for him and one for his ego. I'm looking your way Dallas.


That's all for now.