Blazers from a Raptors Fan

And if you're patient, maybe even a baseball card...

Buckstore Cards is one of the few Basketball Card Club members that has responded in kind with some great Blazers cards, and this package was no exception. Portland is trying to right the ship after struggling lately following a hot start to the season. They will certainly be able to make good use of the All-Star Break, though Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge will be participating in the festivities.

This appears to be some sort of 5th anniversary NBA Hoops parallel if I'm not mistaken. I think I have a few cards from this set and I don't recall any of them having this gold stamp. It's nice. Harvey Grant was a bit disappointing in his stint with the Blazers, but it probably wasn't fair to him that he was one of the first significant pieces acquired after they began dismantling the core of the team that had multiple Finals appearances in the early '90s.

Ah, Prizm, the wannabe Chrome set. I must say that it does look a lot better when they actually have a license for this particular sport. J.J. Hickson was a stat machine in his time with the Blazers, but the team is clearly better off with a true center in the post in Robin Lopez, even though he won't wow anyone with his stat line most nights.

There were two really nice Blazers "hits" in this deal, which is nice because I'm sorely lacking in that department. Aldridge is having what is far and away his finest season, as he finally gets to play alongside a true legit center for the first time since the Greg Oden debacle.

Here's a guy that didn't work out. Elliot Williams had some Odenesque luck with his own health. He showed some flash in a couple dozen games in a Blazers uniform but has now moved on to the Sixers bench.

I said you'd get to see a baseball card if you were patient, and I did not disappoint! This is my first pink baseball card of any kind, unless you count the infamous Mike Laga 1987 Topps. Thanks again to Sportscards From the Dollar Store!

Pictures of Men (That I Need)

I need men, apparently. If you've ever tried to do a Google search for Pictures of Men, the Blue Jays-centric blog with the hilarious name, you've no doubt encountered an array of photos of well-groomed men. And I don't know what my point is, really, except that I find it amusing. In any case, I got my very own stack of manpics from up north (and back east) and I thought I'd share a few with you.

Dennis hit up a few of my Topps Heritage needs. 2011's Then and Now look might be favorite version of this annual insert set.

This Eric Hurley short print from the 2008 High Numbers set is reminding me how long ago it was when I started collecting this set. The 1959 is probably my favorite design, but it's amazing that I am still so far away from completing this set. I am still missing plain old base cards from this set, people!

My blog has its own Google search ambiguity issues, but it is a place where Cardinals are celebrated and Dennis provided some more great Cardinal stuff. This Stan the Man is a mini version of an already short printed card.

Mike Tyson is going to make an appearance on the next new episode Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which has outraged advocates for victims everywhere. (Seeing as how the show is ostensibly about a sex crimes police unit and Tyson has quite a sordid past that delves into that area, well....) Oh, wait, wrong Mike Tyson!

Finally, here's a couple of goldies, which I always enjoy. Jake Westbrook had a fantastic 2012 season, but many remain skeptical that he'll be able to repeat his success in 2013. There are plenty of talented young arms that seem to be ready for big time duty, but I think St. Louis will still need some steady veteran innings with Kyle Lohse gone and other members of the rotation dealing with various ailments.

Finally, it's our old bald friend, Matt Holliday. I'm not sure if he'd make the cut in a photo array, but he's a hell of a baseball player.