Digital Race for Physical Cardboard - a Contest

With the state of the world being what it is, much of our lives have had to go on pause.  COVID-19 has cancelled vacations, graduations, birthday parties, sporting events.  Of course, it's impossible for society to completely halt.  When possible, in order to prevent transmission, we've had to work from home, order groceries and supplies, and socialize through the internet.  Zoom has facilitated conference calls and workplace collaboration, retailers have pivoted to online ordering and curbside pickup, and graduation commencements have been simulated through YouTube broadcasts.  To the latter point, I've personally created two of them thanks to the Adobe Creative Suite.  Hell, even most of the pro sports leagues have taken to the web to fill the vacuum.  iRacing and an MLB The Show tournament were actively being discussed on ESPN and even broadcast on live television, though auto racing has since come back (with empty bleachers, of course).

In short, during the age of Corona, a lot of our everyday lives has gone digital since our reality is not an XBox game with a pause button.  In this scenario, does that make the Corona virus the mom beckoning us to the dinner table?  Anyway, I digress...

via GIPHY

Like all sports, running has had to pivot, as well.  Of course, the Olympics have been put on hold and all of the major track meets and road races across the world have been postponed.  In fact, the Boston Athletic Association has truly embraced the upset apple cart by uploading the 124th annual Boston Marathon to the internet.  Registered runners will complete their 26.2 miles on their own time (with GPS tracking) and submit their times to officials, which will later be compiled to generate the official race results.  Will participants get the same thrill as they would staggering up Heartbreak Hill on a hazy, fall morning?  No, but it's something - something to distract from the troubles of the world and create a semblance of normalcy.

With that in mind, the charity for which my wife works, St. Coletta's of Illinois, has had to make a similar adjustment.  All of their in-person fundraisers have had to be cancelled since the outbreak hit pandemic status.  As a non-profit, you can imagine what this has done to their funding and their work with adults who have developmental disabilities.  One of the events that had to be struck from the calendar was a charity 1K walk, which was expected to be one of the pillars of their summer fundraising schedule.

However, not all hope was lost.  Instead of outright cancelling the event, my wife had the ingenious idea of following the Boston Marathon's example and using the internet to our advantage.  Now, St. Coletta's is hosting the Digital Dash 5K Run and 1K Walk, an entirely virtual road race.

Now, why am I telling you all about this?  Like I said, this event is being hosted by St. Coletta's of Illinois and - more specifically - my wife.  Of course, I want to see her succeed and I will do anything I can to lift her up as high as humanly possible.  Furthermore, seeing as she married a crazy runner dude, she brought me onto the project as the official Race Director, so I have an even more vested interest in this event's success.  The Digital Dash will be the first time I get to don the Race Director hat and, again, I'm going to promote this race as loudly as I can using every avenue available to me.

I know that I am not the only card collector who also dabbles in running and/or fitness.  With that, if you are like me and have been looking for ways to replace the races you had planned this spring and summer, I humbly ask that you consider the Digital Dash.  Race information and registration can be found right here.  For your troubles, you can have a soft, cotton t-shirt (that I designed, btw) mailed your way to commemorate your participation. There's also a bib available for download to truly complete the simulation.  Furthermore, there are medals up for grabs for the top finishing men and women, as well as participatory awards for all who submit a time.  All in all, we've tried to make this as much like the real deal as possible.

The biggest difference here between the Digital Dash your more traditional charity 5k is that, instead of the race taking place at one place, date and time, participants can complete their chosen distance whenever and however they'd like.  Do it on a treadmill, jog it on a trail, push a stroller or walk your dog - however you'd like to exercise.  Just make sure that the result has been submitted by next Sunday evening, so that we can compile the official results in a timely manner.

Most importantly, I'm not just taking to the blogosphere for selfish reason.  The money raised from this event will go completely towards St. Coletta's of Illinois and their work with adults with disabilities.  If you are not familiar, you can read all about the nonprofit's goals and what they do for the community right here.  I've seen first hand what great work they do and they need all the help they can thanks to the Corona Virus crisis.

If you do decide to jump on-board, please let me know in the comment section down below.  Everyone that does so and who's registration I can confirm will be entered into a drawing for a special prize package, headlined by a super-vintage, Type I 1936 Goudey Wide Pen Premium, featuring Ethan Allen.  Plus, many other goodies will be tossed in with it, in order to sweeten the pot.  I will randomize and draw once the event concludes, a week from tomorrow.

If you've read this far, thank you for tolerating this non-card content. I hope you decide to take the plunge and join me for the Digital Dash!  Run or walk a virtual race for charity and maybe get some physical, vintage baseball cards to go along with your t-shirt, souvenir bib, and award!

If you have any further questions about the event, please feel free to ask here and I will do my best to answer them.

And don't worry, you don't have to suffer through another Zoom call.  Even though this is a virtual event, we know you've surely had enough of those, at this point.

Losing the Lottery

Those of you who have followed Wrigley Roster Jenga for a while might know that, besides being obsessed with the Chicago Cubs, I am equally obsessed with long distance running.  After eight years of cross country and track in high school and college and a subsequent seven year road racing career, I think it's safe to call my still (almost) daily running habit an addiction.  While the 5k distance has long been my specialty, I've competed in races running the distance gamut from 100 meters all the way up to the marathon, the latter of which I attempted as a lark right after college.  Injuries in the month leading up to the 2011 Chicago Marathon nearly kept me from even starting the race, though I still was able to stumble across the line at 3:36.  All told, that experience was enough to satiate my urge to run 26.2 grueling miles and I was content to stick to my local 5k's and 10k's.

Still, over the past couple of years, something has been rattling around in the back of my head.  Seeing as I was hurt and was barely able to run or train in the weeks leading up to my last attempt, I knew I could post a better marathon time.  Plus, the allure of qualifying for the prestigious Boston Marathon was an accomplishment that I would like to list on my running resume.  So, after six years of hemming and hawing, toying with the idea of giving it another go, this fall, I finally decided to quit being coy and enter the 2018 edition of the Chicago Marathon.  I'm not getting any younger, after all!

Not so fast.  The Chicago Marathon has become such an event that you can no longer simply sign up and compete.  There are so many runners anxious to run across the Windy City that you now sign up for a lottery and hope to be selected for entry.  I know - to non-runners, the thought of so many crazies falling over each to other to destroy their bodies must sound insane; but that's just how we're wired.

via GIPHY

The results of that drawing were announced yesterday and... guess who's number did not come up.  I'll give you a hint, he runs a niche blog about Cubs baseball cards and his name rhymes with Stony Curbs.

Now, all hope is not lost.  I could still pair up with a charity and fundraise a ton of money to earn an entry into the crowded field.  Of course, I'm an introvert and the thought of begging my family and friends for money gives me the willies.  Also, I could forgo my hometown event and seek entry into any one of the dozens of other marathons held across the United States in search of a Boston qualifying time.  That said, the allure of running in Milwaukee or the Twin Cities doesn't quite appeal as much to this lifelong Chicago native.  Harumph.

Anyway, I have some options and, once the initial disappointment wears off, I'll sit down and weigh them objectively.  In the meantime, I'm going to take the opportunity to turn this negative into a positive and use this long, drawn out rant as an excuse to show off one of my favorite pieces of sports memorabilia.  It's sort of card-like:

Way back in 1999, Khalid Khannouchi won the Chicago Marathon in world record time, breaking the tape at a (then) astonishing mark of 2:05:42.  The Moroccan native then graciously signed this New Balance poster for my high school cross country coach at some point thereafter.  When I graduated from high school in 2007, that coach (and good friend) generously passed it on to me as a selfless graduation gift.  Obviously, he didn't have to that for little, ol' me and, to this day, this poster has followed me to college, several apartments, through marriage and is still mounted proudly and prominently on my wall.  Without a doubt, it's easily one of the best gifts that I have ever received.

Since that world beating run, the official world record for the marathon distance has come down considerably,as human kind gets closer and closer to the fabled two hour tick.  As of now, the official record is 2:01:39, set by Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin just three months ago.  All told, 19 years later, Khannouchi's time longer ranks in the top 25 - that's how far distance running has come over the past two decades!

That being stated, this advancement does not diminish Khalid's stature - he's still a bonafide badass!  Just look at his body of work.

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Khalid in action during the 1998 running of the Chicago Marathon (he would place second)

Mr. Khannouchi has won the Chicago Marathon a total of four times, including his very first attempt in 1997.  In fact, he's never placed any lower than fifth overall in the storied race.  Plus, although the New Balance sponsored athlete is a native of Morocco, he officially became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 2000 and his third win in the the Second City that year set the American record for the marathon distance at 2:07:01.  Just for good measure, he went out and won the race again in 2002.  In short, he's kind of a legend in Chicago.

Additionally, Khalid has a win in the London Marathon (2002) and several prestigious road races of various distances on his resume.  Unfortunately, Khannouchi was forced into early retirement in 2012 due to recurring, serious foot injuries.  Those are kind of important to runners.

All in all, I'd say that his is not a bad autograph to have in my collection!

1992-00 Sports Illustrated for Kids - [Base] #889 - Khalid Khannouchi

Speaking of collections, while I do have this signed poster, I am still looking for a standard-sized, Khannouchi card for my three-ring binder full of runners.  Seeing as the sport of distance running is does not show up on cardboard very often, according to my research, Khalid has just one trading card to his name - the 1992-00 Sports Illustrated for Kids single above.  The fact that his only card shows up in this product certainly comes as no surprise, as the publication is celebrated for it's wide array of subjects when it comes to their complementary sheets of cards.  As and added bonus, it too celebrates the athlete's historic triumph in the 1999 Chicago Marathon.

If anyone has a lead on one of these bad boys, please give me a holler.  Khalid Khannouchi, while he looks great on my wall, would also fit in nicely with my pages of Roger Bannister, Alan Webb, Wilma Rudolph, Kara Goucher etc. singles.

So, while I was not able to win the lottery and earn my entry into the 2018 Chicago Marathon, at least I got the chance to stroll down memory lane, show off one of my favorite bits of sports ephemera, and examine the career of one of the true greats of the American running scene.  One has to look at the positives to keep from going insane, right?

In the meantime, I'm not going to let my disappointment keep me from hitting the trails and treadmills.  After all, unlike Khannouchi, my feet have healed up just fine since my last marathon attempt.  In fact, I've already signed up for a 5k race in Hammond, Indiana this Saturday in order to keep me focused on my training rather than my dismay.  As an added bonus, it's ugly Christmas sweater themed; so, despite the frigid temperatures we've been experiencing in the Chicagoland area, I'll be warmed with Christmas spirit and heavy wool (at least for my warm-up, anyway).

Are there any other runners on the blogosphere?  If so, do you have any special running memorabilia or running trading card collections?  Has anyone else attempted a marathon, be it in Chicago or elsewhere?  Please feel free to share in the comment section below, I'd love to hear from you!

That is, unless you took a spot in the lottery... then you're dead to me.  Just kidding! Sorta....

Sundays at Goodwill

Have you ever been to a Goodwill on the weekend?  If so, you know that you were extremely fortunate to live through the ordeal and to tell the tale.

This past Sunday, my wife and I spent the morning thinning out our closets, cabinets, and junk drawers.  We considered it a cursory round of spring cleaning, despite the fact that the weather here in the Midwest is decidedly more Christmas-like.  Since we try not to be wasteful, we boxed up all of these lightly used articles of clothing, dishware, mugs, and odds & ends, loaded up our automobile, and hauled all of these donations to the local Goodwill.  Not only did this save us considerable clutter and keep this stuff out of the local landfill, but these donations are tax deductible AND it gives me the perfect excuse to go thrift shopping!

Okay, so maybe immediately going into a secondhand shop to buy more junk after de-cluttering the apartment slightly defeats the purpose.  I never claimed to be a logical creature.  Although, after fighting my way into and out of that Goodwill, I'm just happy to be a still living creature.

Weekends are generally a busy time for any sort of retail establishment - naturally, a great many people have those two days off, after all.  However, Saturdays and Sundays at Goodwill are an entirely different, apocalyptic, lawless wasteland.  Within minutes of opening, store displays are rifled through and torn beyond all recognition, children are running everywhere, checkout lines wind into the aisle-ways, and people are urinating in the changing room.  I'm not even kidding with that last bit, my wife worked for GW for two years and this happens more than any civilized human being should expect.

This Sunday afternoon was no exception, although to my knowledge, the only thing pissy was the mood of my fellow, close-quartered patrons.  For instance, above you can see what was left of the toy racks, which had become some unsupervised kid's unofficial playroom.  No matter, I still pressed on, as I pull of undiscovered treasures was too great to resist.

What a minute - enhance that image!  I spy trading cards among that mess of Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, and carnage:

Not only were they trading cards, they were Sports Illustrated for Kids oddballs from the 1990's.  I'd hit paydirt!  Just underneath them was a full, unopened pack of cards, as well; but, that foil envelope was for Orange County Choppers or some other such nonsense that holds no appeal to me.  Sporting-based oddballs, however, that's much more my speed!

Speaking of speed, that pile (headed by NFL Hall of Famer, Tony Dorsett) even included a new runner for my burgeoning collection of track & field/cross country/marathon runners; the multi-sport SI for Kids panels are a constant source for these rarely shown on cardboard athletes.

Edwin Moses took home gold medals in the 400 meter hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics and set the world record in the event four times throughout his career.  Speaking as someone who still thanks the heavens for cancelling the one meet I was scheduled to hurdle, that's incredibly impressive!  Along with Mr. Moses, we have Mike Schmidt, a man who I'm sure requires no introduction on this (mostly) baseball blog.

According to my research, before they ended up in the Orland Park Goodwill disaster zone, these cards were included in perforated panels in a 1997 edition of SI for Kids.  Unlike their normal in-magazine premiums, these "Legends" cards are over-sized with dimensions similar to that of you average police set.  That is about all I could dig up on these bad boys; I do not know what specific issue they were included with, who else was part of this set, or what dictated their choice of sporting legends.

Throwing me for another curve was this extremely similar, collation of  "Leader" cards included in the stack.   Featuring a green border instead of the muted grey found on their brethren, these pasteboards are otherwise identical in design and dimension and highlight athletes who hold the all-time lead in significant statistical categories.  For instance, Rickey Henderson makes the checklist for his all-time stolen base title, while "Hammerin' Hank" was still history's home run king at the time of publication in 1997.

Sidenote - nice touch by SI to actually use an image from Aaron's record-breaking blast.

Also found in the stack was my favorite card of the bunch, which kicked off this post.  Here's another look at the then all-time saves king, Lee Smith.  Even though he's shown with the Cardinals here (and was an Expo when this went to press), he's shown at beautiful Wrigley Field and the emerald borders of the card mesh perfectly with the lush, ivy-covered walls of the Friendly Confines.  Plus, any new card I can add of the former Cubs closer and should-be Hall of Famer is a win in my book.

As you can see in the scans, much like the state of the Goodwill store space itself, these cards were a little bit worse for ware.  There's significant paper loss, probably from the initial separation of the panel(s) by an eager child of the 90's.  Furthermore, since they were found loose and unprotected on the chaotic store shelves, the edges and the corners are anything but crisp.  Even still, having never even seen these oddities before, there was no way that I would be leaving them behind.  So, despite the goal of the day being to rid ourselves of as much junk as possible, I couldn't help but bring a little bit more into our home.  I'm sure my wife was thrilled.

Does anyone have any further information about these "Legends" and "Leaders?"  Were they part of the same issue of SI for Kids or separate?  Why are they bigger than your standard issue SI4K card?  Was there a special reason that this issue or issues included cards of leaders and legends rather than their typical smattering of current athletes across sports?  If you know the answers to any of these questions, please feel free to enlighten me in the comment section below!

Also, is anyone else's local Goodwill anarchistic on the weekend, or is that just out here?  I feel lucky to have gotten out of there in one piece!

My Favorite Season

March is nearly upon us, the mercury is resting comfortably at sixty degrees, and the ground is finally thawing out enough that you won't risk shin splints just walking across your lawn.  You know what that means - track season is nearly upon us! 

Okay, maybe only I and a select few other crazy runner people associate the weather turning spring-like with the dawn of distance running season, rather than St. Patrick's Day, Easter egg hunts, and March Madness, but I'm a happy camper.  After eight years of cross country and track in high school and college, another six years of amateur road racing, and two years of coaching, I can't help but get a certain itch in my legs whenever the snow melts away and the running paths are clear once again.  Now that our track is no longer buried under ten inches of snow, I've officially set our school's track & field tryouts for the middle of next month.  I'm not thrilled that we have to limit our roster in that way, but that's a rant for another day.

At any rate, with running on the brain, it's quite appropriate then that I should make the following discovery in my computer lab, yesterday afternoon:

As I was making a sweep in between classes (to check the equipment), something caught my eye underneath one of the computer stations.  Lo and behold, the flash of white wasn't something boring like an index card or a discarded note between classmates; as you might be able to tell from the image above, it just happened to be an abandoned Sports Illustrated for Kids trading card. I guess I won't be finding these sheets of nine cards each when the magazine rack gets it's regular purge in the next few weeks.

This is the second time in the last month that I've stumbled across dis"carded" cards - of course, in this particular, the found treasure is in much better shape.  Last time it was football, what sport could it be this time?  When it comes to SI for Kids oddballs, it could literally be anything.

If the introduction to this post and the picture which kicks it off didn't already give it away, SURPRISE, it's running! 

While many kids and adults who pretend to be kids for the cards might immediately toss such niche sports to the side (as whoever tore into this panel did), I actually have a binder dedicated exclusively to runners on cardboard.  Shalane Flanagan will slot into this collection nicely, alongside Alan Webb, Meb Keflezighi, Jesse Owens, and crew.  As an added bonus, Flanagan is even a personal favorite of mine, as my collegiate teammates and I binged on the 2008 Olympic games, during our summer training camp, and followed closely when she took home the bronze in the 10K.  Since then, she's also made headlines for being the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977, among many other victories.

The front of the card features Flanagan as the harrier is just about to break the tape at that historic 2017 NYC triumph - her time was 2:26.53, nearly an hour fastest than my personal best!

As pumped as I was to find come across a card that fits into one of my collections in the most unexpected of places, I was a tad disappointed that this was the only card from that SI panel left behind.  Normally, I curse the name of students who leave their workplaces a mess; but, when that litter is trading cards, I can selfishly make an exception.  Out of curiosity, I had to take to Google in order to figure out what other eight athletes accompanied Shalane on that perforated sheet:

This national cross country champion (2002-03) hails from the January/February issue of the publication, which was built around a preview of the Winter Olympics and featured snowboarded, Chloe Kim, on the cover.  The cards which were inserted into the periodical are shown above - I find it odd that the powers that be did not do a panel of cards built around the upcoming winter games, considering the content of the magazine.  That seems like a missed opportunity to me, especially with the popularity of Topps' Olympics and Paralympics set.

Ultimately, there are no other cards on this sheet which would directly fit in with my collections, it all works out in the end.  I bet that whoever left Shalane behind was after the Jimmy Butler card, even though it features him on the Timberwolves; Butler is still a popular player in the Chicagoland market and basketball appears to be the overall favorite sport of this student body.

In the end, there's no more valuable resource for niche sport collections than SI for Kids - my runners binder has several such singles contained within it's pages, including 2016 NCAA XC Champion, Karissa Schweizer, above (another recent pick up).  Does anyone else on the blogosphere have personal collection built around sports not traditionally immortalized on cardboard?  I'm talking beyond the major games - i.e., baseball, football, hockey, soccer.  Am I the only oddball who collects cards that feature people who run really fast and/or far?  Does anyone else consider themselves a "crazy runner dude or dudette?"  Please feel free to let me know in the comments section below!

In the meantime, it's time for me to dig out my short shorts, moisture-wicking tank top, and Saucony Omnis - Ms. Flanagan has inspired me to hit the trail and start getting back into the regular swing of things.  After all, I can't let my sixth, seventh, and eighth grade pupils get the best of me this track season!

The Joy of Christmas Cards

Christmas has come and gone, so I'm a little late with this shout out - but, I hope Angus can find it in his heart to forgive me.

The proprietor of Dawg Day Cards has been somewhat MIA on the blogosphere lately, as real life has gotten in the way over the past few months.  However, everyone's favorite Browns fan has recently returned to our ranks and announced his presence with authority in a round of Christmas packages.  Watching the Browns every Sunday is enough to turn anyone into a bitter mess, but not Angus.  Despite the woes of his favorite sports team, this blogger remains as generous as ever.  One does not need to look any further than the bubble mailer that showed up in my mailbox in the days leading up to Jesus' birthday:

First of all, they came encapsulated in the fabulous Christmas card that you see above, which also contained a lovely note on the inside which I forgot to photograph for the purposes of the blog.  This would have been enough on it's own, as it's a gift that appeals to both myself and my wife, as well.

For me, I absolutely love the ivy-walled artwork chosen for the front flap of this masterpiece and it makes for a unique oddball to my Cubs-themed baseball card collection.  In my wife's case, one of her favorite parts of the holiday season is receiving Christmas cards from our friends and family, bringing Yuletide greetings, well-wishes, and spirited joy as they decorate our mantelpiece... well, book shelf, that is... we live in an apartment, after all.  At any rate, this was something both my wife and I "oohed and aahed" over!

In case you were curious, the print hails from an original piece of work by Darren Hill, titled "Where He Called His Shot" - an obvious nod to Babe Ruth's mythical (and fictional) called home run.  I haven't been able to track down any more of Mr. Hill's work, but I love his peaceful depiction of "The Friendly Confines," despite it being based on the "modern" Wrigley as opposed to the configuration from when the titular event took place.  I wonder if he's published any more work since his partnership with Off-Season's Greetings Card Co. in 1986?  I can't really find any more information on that company either... where did you find this gem, Angus?

It was easy for me to get lost in that Christmas card alone, but, as I mentioned, it came stuffed with further cardboard goodies.  So, let's take a look at what other gifts Angus Claus dropped down my figurative chimney flute.

Let's start with a quick warm-up, like any proper running event - these two track & field singles should do the trick.

By collection of running cards is a project that's been on the back-burner, seeing as it's not a sport that sees much trading card love and harriers do not show up in sets regularly.  Thus, I was thrilled when the University of Arizona's George Young and Team USA's Karl Warner fell out of Angus' mailer.  they're both new faces to be added to that burgeoning collection.  The former won a bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the  steeplechase and held several American records in events ranging from the two mile to the 5k.  The latter ran the third leg in the American 4x400 meter relay team in the 1932 Olympics, taking home the gold when they posted a then-world record of 3:08.2.

I'm sorry, my distance runner nerd side is showing... let's shift gears a little bit with another pair of cards from the 1990 Collegiate Collection set:

Holy moly!  The University of Arizona basketball star, Ken Lofton?  You better believe that's the same Ken Lofton who would go on to patrol the outfield for seemingly every team in Major League Baseball in the 90's and 00's.

Before signing his first pro baseball contract in between his junior and senior year of college, the multi-sport athlete starred on the basketball court for the Wildcats.  In baseball, he regularly lead the league in steals on the basepaths; in basketball, Lofton actually set the UA record for career steals (200) and steals in a season (67) on the hardwood.  Also, fun fact, Kenny is one of four Cubs to have played in the March Madness tournament.

These singles have long been on my want-list for my collection of multi-sport Cubs, a PC which includes Tim Stoddard basketball cards, Matt Szczur football cards, and Ernie Banks golf cards.  Angus is bringing the fire power!

How do you keep that momentum going? By throwing in an autograph, of course!

Billy Blitzer is a scout that worked for the Cubs from the early 80's through the early portion of this decade.  Among his most well-known signings are Shawon Dunston, Jamie Moyer, Derrick May, and Alex Arias.  In 2011, Topps decided to include autographs of scouts in their popular Bowman brand - it's a pairing that makes sense on paper, but I can't imagine prospectors were thrilled when one of their guaranteed hits turned out to be a non-athlete.  On the other hand, I love these sorts of quirks and I'm more happy to scoop them up, odd though they may be.

Speaking of oddballs, the rest of Angus' "Christmas in an envelope" mailing was nothing but:

These three cards might look like ordinary 2017 Flagship base and inserts, but there's more than meets the eye.  As the different photos on the front might have indicated, these are actually singles from the New Era promotional set released by Topps through Lids.  Seeing as my trusty, dusty Cubs cap isn't getting updated anytime soon and I'm not one to drop thirty smackers on headgear anyway, these bad boys simply weren't on my radar, whatsoever.

Now, with Maddux, Bryant, and Schwarber in hand, I have the complete Cubs base team set and half of the inserts from the checklist - not bad!  Also, Kris looks phenomenal in World Series Champion gold!

Speaking of Kris Bryant, one special Topps promotion that was on my radar was National Baseball Card Day.  In fact, I went to multiple different card shops to chase the free packs that were given away during that hallowed holiday.  Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I did not pull a single Cubs card from any of them.  It was quite the letdown.

Well, Angus wasn't going to let that stand.  I did a little happy dance when this NBCD '17 Bryant single fell out of his stocking stuffer!

Continuing the oddball trend, was this small stack of Panini stickers.  I'm still fighting the temptation to stick them all over the walls of our apartment; however, I think that might ruin the Christmas glow that my wife is still joyously basking in.  My landlord might have something to say about that too.

Moving on, before the urges become too strong to overpower:

Angus also tossed in a couple of complete sets of oddities - on the left is the 1985 7Up sponsored, SGA set and on the right is the 1987 Pro Cards Wytheville Cubs collation.

I've long had scattered singles from the former floating throughout my collection, so it's awesome to finally have a complete, team-bagged set to keep intact.  In contrast, I've never possessed a single one of these Wytheville cards, which was the Rookie level team in the Appalachian League for the Cubs of the late-80's.  I'm sure that Angus knows that I absolutely adore minor league cards and threw these into the package accordingly.

Here's a pair of my favorites from the latter.  First, we have Matt Franco, eventual Cubs bench player and nephew of the great Kurt Russell.  Next to him, is the rare shot of the pitching coach pretending to lay down a bunt - seriously, what's not to love about that?  Not to mention, Rick Kranitz went on to become the Big League Cubs' bullpen coach in 2002; so, this goofy single will slot nicely into my coaches binder.  Meanwhile, Franco and several other friends will be targeted for my "Nothing Major" collection of minor league cards of Major League Cubs.

On that note, so will these two concluding pasteboards:

These 1988 Iowa Cubs All Stars would go on to be key contributors for the surprise 1989 NL East Champion Cubs, aka "The Boys of Zimmer."  Dwight Smith would finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting while Mike Bielecki would revive his career as the number two starter on the staff.

Back to the cards, these blue-bordered and beautiful Pro Cards were available, on-site, to patrons of the 1988 AAA All-Star Game in Buffalo, New York and the player information on the back was only two weeks old that day - not bad, considering how long it takes to print and prepare thousands of card sets!  Now, they, like their Wytheville brethren, will be resting comfortably in my minor league Cubs binder.

With that, we've finally reached the conclusion of Angus' seemingly endless Christmas gift.  Seriously, it was like trying to find the bottom of Santa's bag!  Thank you, Angus, for your Christmas spirit and generosity - the package was a thrill to sort through and distribute among the various arms of my collection.  There was no lack of quality cardboard, that's for sure.  I'll be sure to return the favor ASAP.

Also, I made sure to put the Christmas card on prominent display on our mantelpiece.... errr, again, bookshelf.  Here it is, right on the very top, among the other bits of mailable Noel joy on that shelving unit:

A merry late Christmas to you Angus and to all of you out there who are reading this - and a happy new year!

Run Forrest, Run!

Baseball may be my favorite sport to watch (by far); however, it is certainly not my preferred athletic competition to partake in.

Going into high school. I was given an ultimatum by my mother - I had to get involved in at least one sport, so as to get me out of the house and out of her hair.  My father played golf when he walked the halls of our local high school, so I was naturally nudged down that path.  But, I kinda, sorta, accidentally on purpose missed the bus for tryouts and, thus, the fairway wasn't to be the way for me. Still, I wasn't out of the woods and had to make a selection.  That's when I remembered I always did pretty decently with the gym class mile in middle school, so cross country seemed like an okay fit.

13 years later, I still run on an almost daily basis and I'm a track coach for the school I work for.

In fact, I competed in a local 5k (5,000 meters/3.1 miles) race to benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters, just this morning.  Running is my emotional outlet, my hobby and satiates my competitive tendencies,  Of course, I never have been and never will be anywhere near as good as an Olympian, like Edward Cheserek or Kara Goucher here, but there will always be races to run and personal goals to attain.

However, competitive running is not exactly a mainstream sport and the only time it ever gets any significant, national attention is during the summer Olympics or the Boston Marathon.  As such, it's always saddened me that collecting my favorite competitive sport via trading cards is darn near impossible.  There just aren't many options, except for stray SI for Kids singles (like above) or...

...Olympic-centric sets, runners don't get immortalized on cardboard rectangles often enough.

Even still, last night I decided to finally go ahead and declare an official collection of runners and running-based cards.  Luckily, I already had a few strays strewn about my miscellaneous, odds and ends box in order to provide a quick jump-start.  My only rules are that the cards have to depict the athlete competing in a running event and it doesn't matter which one - marathons, sprints (like Wilma Rudolph above), steeplechases, etc.  That said, I am not seeking out cards that show track competitors high jumping, pole-vaulting or any other field event.  This collection is running only.

It doesn't matter what level the competitor is either.  Olympians and professionals are all well and good; but, amateurs and collegians, like Notre Dame's cross country star Molly Seidel are equally welcomed.

As an aside, I had the good fortune to compete against the Fightin' Irish CC squad on their home turf when I was in college.  Although, I used the term "compete" quite loosely, seeing as they ran circles around small-school me.  Still, getting to run an 8k around the Notre Dame campus was an exhilarating experience.

Touchdown Jesus!

I have always been a distance runner since the first day I threw on some short shorts and bandied about the town (much to the horror of the locals).  In other words, my focus has always been in distances longer than 400 meters, aka one lap around your standard track.  I've dabbled in sprints and was threatened with hurdles once, but I mostly stayed in that training regimen.  So, naturally, I'm drawn to cards which feature marathoners, cross country competitors and the like.

With that being noted, since running cards are so very limited, I'm not about to discriminate against sprinters though:

Especially when the cards are as awesome as this die-cut insert of three-time Olympic gold medalist Tyson Gay from the 2011 edition of UD's Goodwin Champions.  While SI for Kids sets dominate this post, multi-sport releases sometimes produce a few "hits" as well.  Anyway, sprinters are runners too - the only difference is that they run much faster (well... and shorter too).

Oh and hurdlers totally make the cut too:

Athletes like Arizona State's Lynda Tolbert have always amazed me.  I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time without ending up in a tangled heap and these people can run at a dead sprint while striding over waist-high barriers smoother than silk.  A good hurdle race is truly a sight to behold.

Of course, I'll always go back to distance running as my favorite sub-division of the sport.  I mean, I suppose it's no different than a Little League second baseman feeling compelled to hoard cards of Hall of Famers like Ryne Sandberg or Robby Alomar.

On that note, Roger Bannister is a comparable figure.  After all, the British runner was the first man to complete a timed mile quicker than four minutes, a mark often considered humanly impossible. Nevertheless, on May 6th, 1954, Bannister blazed through the distance and into the history books with a time of 3:59.4  at a track meet at Oxford University.

If running had a Hall of Fame, Roger would be a first-ballot honoree.

While Roger will always be the first, since that time, several upper echelon competitors have broken the hallowed four minute mark.  A small, select handful have upped the ante by doing so when they were still in high school.

American Alan Webb was only the fourth person ever to break the four minute mark while still having to navigate cliques and remember a locker combination.  I bet he was never late to class though!

As a senior in 2001, Webb shattered the 36-year-old national high school record by running a 3:53.43 mile and went on to set the current American record for the distance a few years later with an eye-popping 3:46.91 mark.  These days, Webb is still competing at a top level in triathlons.

Seeing as my swimming abilities are limited to doggy paddling and drowning, my respect for triathletes is through the roof.

So, there you have it - my blossoming new collection is off the line cleanly and running.  Obviously, I don't have too many right now, but it's a decent start.  Surprisingly, there are several big names out there to obtain who have appeared in stray sets here and there that I'll be chasing - Usain Bolt, Jim Ryun, Bernie Lagat, Jesse Owens, Lasse Viren and running demi-god Steve Prefontaine.

  

Some of my targets

Once acquired, this will be the only chance to say that I've chased down Bolt!

Meanwhile, I absolutely exhausted from running straight into what felt like hurricane force winds, so I'm going to call it a post here and go lay down.  If anyone out there reading this has a few runners clogging up their trade box, I'd be happy to take them off your hands; I can't imagine there's a lot of competition for those kind of cards.

Then again, I do love competition - I mean, after all, that's why I run.