Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I was reminded last week at church of what I should be most thankful this holiday season and that is God's love.  Lord knows I don't deserve everything I've been blessed with or deserve the awesome people in my life.  It's easy to get fixated on being grateful for family, friends and physical possessions.  There is nothing wrong for being thankful for those things either, but this year I wanted to make sure that I send my thanksgiving upward to the One that has blessed me more than I deserve.

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 2:6-7

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Psalm 95:1-2

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

Psalm 100:4-5

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

1 Corinthians 1:4-5

I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—

The band Petra summed up all of this with their song "Thankful Heart" from their 1986 album, Back to the Street.

One more Huddy auto

One nice thing about not having to worry about building sets is it allows me to focus more on my player collections, such as Tim Hudson.  This beautiful auto relic comes from the 2013 Topps Tripe Threads set and is serially numbered 01/18!  I'm still trying to wrap my brain around seeing Huddy in a Giants uni come next season.

Pack Break: 2013 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Brand New Series 3 (rack pack)

A few nights ago I took my oldest daughter to Target to buy her a treat as
instructed by my wife.  Before we headed back to the toy department, I stopped by the card section to see if anything new caught my eye.  Sure there were lots of new Panini baseball sets I know nothing about.  Football card season has started so there were several new things, but I'm still having a hard time bringing myself to buy a pack of cards these days.  I thought about buying another rack pack of GPK Chrome, but I didn't want to drop $10 on a few cards.  Thankfully the new series 3 GPK cards were finally in stock...at $2.49 a pack now?  I saw they had rack packs too and did the quick math to see what was the better deal.  10 cards for $2.49 or 21 cards + a bonus sticker for $4.99.  Grabbed the rack pack and headed on back to find a Barbie or something girly for my daughter.

I grabbed several packs of series 1 and a few of series 2, but never actively tried to

complete the set (a or b) because I was building so many sport card sets.  Now that I'm not really chasing any one set, I just may have to put more focus on GPK again.

I ended up buying a second rack pack last night and I was very disappointed that 19 of the 21 cards in my 2nd pack were dupes!  The collation was horrible.  I'll try a 3rd rack pack, but if I get similar results I may just have to resort to trading to fill my holes.  That said I'll list my dupes for anyone wanting to make a trade.  Just look for my trade links in the left hand side bar.

No odds listed on the pack for parallels?

Bonus sticker

Adam Bombing insert 1:4 (packs)

Thanks for all the years of service Tim Hudson

Last night while getting pumped for the big Monday Night NFL game between my Carolina Panthers and the New England Patriots, I got word that Tim Hudson was no longer a Atlanta Brave.  I heard there was a chance that Huddy may not return to the club in 2014, but I chose to be ignorant and just enjoy the rest of the Braves' run for the playoffs.  After the team clinched I was glad to see Tim in the clubhouse w/ his teammates celebrating.  I believe he was interviewed at that time about his future and he was vague.

Tim spent 9 seasons w/ the Braves and won 113 of his starts while losing 72.  He pitched 9 complete games, 5 being shut outs.  He finished with a 3.56 ERA w/ the Braves.

Being a NL guy, I never knew much about Tim Hudson prior to him joining the Braves in 2005.  However it didn't take long for me to gravitate to being a huge fan of his for several different reasons.  1) The guy was a beast on the mound...at least before injuries kept creeping in.  When he was pitching I just felt better about the Braves' chances at winning that particular game.  2) The guy off the field was just as impressive with what he and his wife do w/ their organization, Hudson Family Foundation, working w/ children in need.  3) His faith.  If you've followed my blog for very long then you know where I stand in my beliefs.  Though I've dropped the ball w/ my Sunday Verse posts over the last 6 months, a lot of players I collect cards of are players of whom I can relate too from a faith perspective.  Tim is one of these guys.  For that reason he'll remain a staple in my card collection despite changing his Braves jersey for a Giants jersey.


When Tim was drafted by the Athletics he joined Barry Zito and Mark Mulder and became a key part of their rotation.  After all these years later, Tim will rejoin his former teammate, Zito, in the same state he started his professional baseball career.

I admit it'll be weird watching Tim pitch against the Braves next season, but I can't help but still root for him...just as long as he is not too harsh on my team!

These last few weeks/months have been rough on us Braves fans.  Of course to lose to the Dodgers in the playoffs hurt.  Seeing all that payroll "wasted" on Uggla and B.J. Upton hurts.  Then we hear that the team is leaving Atlanta for Cobb County and Turner Field will be demolished.  Granted I've only been to a handful of games @ Turner Field, I loved that stadium and I thought it was perfectly fine.  I'm not a resident of Atlanta or Georgia for that matter, so I really can't comment on the ease of accessing the stadium (I always use the MARTA system when I visited), but from a fan experience I always had a blast.  I can see why Braves fans are so frustrated right now, but let's put aside some of that frustration and wish Tim and his family the best of luck out west.

Thank you Tim for your years of service in Atlanta.  You'll be missed by everyone in the clubhouse and by everyone in the stands and especially by those of us behind TV screens in South Carolina.

Do you know why NC State football is so horrible this year?

Because this guy isn't playing for them anymore!  The Wolfpack just isn't the same without you.

Looking to help a new baseball card collector (age 7)

Over the weekend I saw a post by an old friend of mine who's son has recently taken an interest in collecting baseball cards.  He posted a picture of his 7 year old son holding a 2013 Gypsy Queen Jackie Robinson card and the smile on his face was priceless!

They live in Charlotte, NC no too terribly far from me, but they are originally from Philly.  I'm not sure if he has any other favorite players outside Phillies and Jackie Robinson, but I'd like to get a little "welcome to the hobby" package together to present to him.

To accomplish this I'm reaching out to me fellow blogger friends.  I know I haven't been as active over the
last 6 months or so, but I've met a lot of generous guys and gals through my blog.  If you would like to participate and send something related along those lines, drop me a line (flywheels at yahoo.com) or leave a comment.  I really think it'd would be cool to have a Phillies relic card to give him as well.

I'm planning on going through my mess of a collection this weekend to see what I can find, but if any of you Phillies fans are reading this and have some dups laying around please let me know.

Some of you have business cards for your blog.  If you have something like that include it w/ your gift and perhaps I can get his dad to share some of these great blogs w/ him as well.

Thanks for considering helping out!

** UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2, 2013 **

I found out from his dad that his favorite players right now are Derek Jeter and David Ortiz!  Of course he likes the Phillies too, but was pulling for the Sox in the World Series.

PC Additions: NC State Football - Mike Glennon

Nope, I haven't traded in my Carolina Panthers allegiance to become a Buccs fan, though earlier in the season when the team kicked QB Josh Freeman to the curb it gave Mike Glennon a chance to show what he is capable of.

I don't have the funds to go all out and buy up everything of his that I can find, but occasionally I'll run across a good deal.  Staying away from buying too many packs means the only way I can get the cards of the team/players I want is to trade or buy them individually.  I got "lucky" and found 3 of Glennon's RCs on one lot for the low price of a buck.