Hey, Those Blazers Are Mine!

Like a common street beggar, I tend to be opportunistic when it comes to searching for a potential free handout of cards from my favorite teams. I had read somewhere that BigD (who I am just going to imagine really is the guy pictured in the banner) had a bunch of Fleer '08-'09 basketball doubles to part with. Having never even seen a pack of the stuff, I decided to close my eyes and hold out my tin cup in hopes that there would be some Blazers in it when I opened them.

As you can see, this is not exactly the best Fleer basketball design. One of the things that I generally really like about basketball cards, at least when it comes to base sets, is that the photography is usually top notch. This design leaves almost no room for anything interesting, and you end up seeing large NBA bodies crammed into tiny frames. It's a shame, because I'm usually a Fleer guy when it comes to basketball.

I wonder what will happen to Martell Webster this offseason. It's obvious that he still has yet to reach his potential, but it's also very uncertain if he ever will. If he does move on, it may be a sound basketball decision but it will a shame because he's always come across as one of the nicest and most level-headed guys in the franchise.

There were more surprises in my little tin cup besides Fleer Blazers cards. Back before Topps put together the 2008 Stadium Club baseball product, they released a Stadium Club basketball set for the 2007-08 season. I don't know if it's just me, but I've seen a few cards from this set and they just don't do it for me. The weird lighting in these shots make it look like the actual basketball game was staged or that they are actually playing in a community center gym.

There were Cardinals, too, including my very first 2010 Topps Attax cards. Colby Rasmus appears to finally be over his strikeout binge and has resumed producing some quality offense with his stick. Now, if only he can figure out how to throw a baseball...

This one is a shinier, refractor-ish Adam Wainwright. I don't know if these "Hot Streak" cards are parallels or subsets or just par for the course for awesome players like Wainwright, but this is kind of nice for what's essential a trading card game card.

Thanks again to BigD, who is my go-to person for shedding excess Dallas Mavericks cards.