A Winner, a Loser, and a Pack Break

Contest results revealed! And much, much more!

First off, a slow clap and a wave of the foam finger to Jeff of One Man's Junk (Wax) for taking the top prize in the Bowl Pick 'em Contest. It was a very closely contested race, and the top two finishers actually didn't pick the correct winner (grr) in the title game. Let's just say it had a bit of a Jeopardy feel to it. Jeff joins hiflew (Belk champ) in the winner's circle and will receive a 2015 Topps Series 1 blaster for his troubles. The runner-up was reader Brandon who will receive a big old bag full of cards of the team/player of his choice. And finally, in the worst place was hiflew, proving that lightning can sometimes strike twice... but it's probably going to be fatal one of these days. (Please note that Unabashed Interest would have had the worst entry, but he did not make a selection for the championship game.)

The loser of the big game was Oregon, which was truly disappointing. I didn't have a huge reaction to it in the moment, but unfortunately I think this is going to be one of those slow burn things that I stew over for years. National championship contention can be a fickle thing in college sports, and the Ducks could easily never have another opportunity in my lifetime. They could also be in it next season, but who knows? All I know is that it flat out sucks, as a fan.

And now it's back to baseball, with the last of the 2005 Sweet Spot packs that I purchased a couple of months back.

29 - Manny Ramirez - It's Mr. Baseball, Manny himself! Hooray?

54 - Roger Clemens Platinum 32/99 - Well, Hall of Fame selections are still fresh in everyone's mind, and Clemens hasn't seen a sudden surge in popularity. It makes me wonder what would have happened if he had taken the Andy Pettitte/Jason Giambi route all along and been more forthcoming all along. I guess that's not in his nature, though. (Does anyone collect this guy?)

85 - Curt Schilling - Again, not the nicest guy in the world. People seem to be holding a variety of things against him, including his his lackluster years with the Phillies. And his "bloody" sock. And his craaaaaazy ideas. (And maybe that video game he financed that went down the toilet?)

30 - Paul Konerko - A baseball facial hair look that didn't end with the '90s.

22 - Derek Lowe - We saw him in a previous pack. I guess this is a small set.

More Sweet Spot

I'm trapped inside with sports on the TV as Noah's Ark is being assembled outside my door.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not off to a tremendous start in the whole bowl pick 'em thing. While I continue to wait for the group break box to arrive (now scheduled for Monday), here's another pack break.

58 - Tim Hudson - Hudson was an All-Star in his age 38 season and is under contract for another season with the Giants, which is pretty remarkable. I think he will deserve some Hall of Fame consideration when all is said and done. Are they ever going to take that 300 win barrier thing and set it on fire?

77 - Roy Oswalt - Oswalt was quite good for a time, but he peaked early.

ST-BC - Bartolo Colon Sweet Threads - Some pitchers, like Bartolo Colon, just can't be explained easily.

22 - Derek Lowe - And now we make it a tidy 4-for-4 on the pitchers front, with Lowe, a guy that existed.

No Jeters were harmed in the break of this pack.

This Hit the Spot

A buck a pack for something Sweet.

I picked up some 2005 Upper Deck Sweet Spot packs off the floor (literally) at a show I attended awhile back and was pleasantly surprised with the results. I posted the first pack over at APTBNL awhile back and I thought I'd share the rest here. This is pack two of some guys you probably haven't thought about in awhile.

40 - Jorge Posada - There wasn't a Jorge Posada Farewell Tour like they did for Rivera and Jeter after him, but I do find it a little suspicious that the key members of those big shot Yankees teams all retired in separate years.

66 - Jeff Kent - Fun fact that I learned after I returned collecting: for the first half of last decade, there was a Jeff Kent card seeded in every other pack.

MM-TI - Tadahito Iguchi Majestic Materials - This isn't numbered like the Andruw Jones card that I pulled, but it makes two of these old-fangled jersey cards in two packs.

56 - Mike Sweeney - Mike was the better of the generically named Sweeneys of this era.

I might post more at some point.