Cardboard History knows what I'm wishing for

I know, I know, it has been over half a year since I posted. A lot of things have happened in that time period, but one thing hasn't happened - a Browns win! Still waiting on that, and I guess I'll have to go to the same bar/restaurant that I went to in Phoenix last year to hope that Santa will bring me another Christmas win.

Last week, however, I popped down to my PO Box and found a small package from Billy at the Cardboard History blog. Having had him previously tell me that he was sending me the only two Browns cards that he managed to find, I was very curious as to what he sent me.

An awesome Christmas ornament!

"S'more wins"?!?!?!  Yeah, at the start of the season, I did. Now I just want ONE win!

And I really hope that the Browns win in Chicago next weekend because I'm sure the Steelers would be more than happy to put that final nail into a winless season in Week 17 if the Browns are 0-15 when they get there.

As for the two cards that Billy sent, here they are:

L: 1990 Pro Set #46; R: 2016 Donruss Optic #23

As much as some people might complain about Pro Set, wasn't it nice to see cards of Offensive Linemen? And I love the photo with the dirty uniform protecting Bernie Kosar behind him.

Mike Baab was drafted by Cleveland in the 5th Round of the 1982 NFL Draft. He played 11 seasons in the NFL and had two stints with the Browns, from 1982-87 and 1990-91.

Robert Griffin III had just one season with the Browns, starting five games for the Browns last year, and collecting their only win against the Chargers. There was a recent news article that said that he still hopes to play in the future, but that he had turned down opportunities with the Ravens and Cardinals this year. Hopefully he'll find somewhere to play next year that satisfies him.

Now for a bit of an update:

I want to apologize to anyone that sent me cards (or gave me cards in person - thanks Daniel, and Greg!) and I didn't post about them. I found that I was just piling up all the cards that I had acquired in the last year without actually putting them into my collection because I wanted to post about them. In late October I realized that I really needed to actually get my collection in order because I wasn't really sure if I had everything together. Part of that was due to the fact that my cards were split between work and home since my scanner at home wasn't working properly and I had started staying late and scanning what I needed at work. I have now organized everything and think that I found all the missing cards. (I just have to finish comparing my collection to what I have listed on the Trading Card Database.)

Scanning at work went well until my job suddenly came to an end. I had a couple of months notice, received a nice severance package and really enjoyed my summer, but wasn't fully sure where some of the cards I had packed up went.

To somewhat shorten a long story, I'm still not working even though I fully expected to be back to work by mid-October. I'm still waiting for some upcoming opportunities at my old job to present themselves but the timing isn't in my control. I hope it is soon.

Now, as to my summer, to make everybody not feel sorry for me, here is a list of most of the things that I did:

• Over the Easter weekend, went to Cooperstown and two AA Binghamton Rumble Ponies games. (This was pre-unemployment, but after my boss had informed me that our jobs were coming to an end and I needed to just give myself a getaway.) I re-watched the Ken Burns baseball series before going to Cooperstown.
• A three week trip to Arizona to visit my mother, where I met Daniel of It's like having my own Card Shop blog. I met him at a Diamondbacks game, and then he treated me to a second game a couple of days later. We also met up at a Phoenix store for National Baseball Card Day. It is great to meet other bloggers!
• During the Arizona visit I also went to a WWE RAW event on July 3rd.
• Drove to Canton, Ohio for a card show in July, and followed that up with a Straight No Chaser concert (with Postmodern Jukebox opening for them) in Cleveland that night. The next day I drove to Cincinnati to see a Reds matinee game.
• The next day I flew to San Diego for Comic-Con, staying an extra day to watch my Mets defeat the Padres.
• Sadly, shortly after getting home, I had to travel down to southern Ontario for a family funeral. The one positive about it was seeing my cousins and letting them know about the baseball games that I had attended. That had one of them ask me if I wanted to come down again during the Labor Day weekend and go see a Tigers game.
• A little after returning home from the funeral, my mother asked me to come out to Arizona again for a week where I saw another Diamondbacks game and another Straight No Chaser concert (same tour with Postmodern Jukebox opening for them).
• I came back from Arizona and then hit the road again for a game convention - GenCon - in Indianapolis.
• For Labor Day weekend, I drove to the Muskokas to have lunch with an old colleague, and then continued on my way to stay overnight in London, Ontario with an old roommate. I left his house to drive to my cousin's house in Windsor, Ontario and then we crossed into Detroit to see the Indians early in their big winning streak. After staying with my cousin overnight, I drove to Burlington, Ontario the next day to enjoy a nice ribs barbeque with an old university friend. A good, tasty trip.
• The following weekend, I drove to New York to see Aubrey Logan (a soloist with Postmodern Jukebox) sing on the Saturday night, and the depleted Mets lose badly on Sunday afternoon.
• In early October I drove down to meet Night Owl to go to a card show in Syracuse. Did I mention it is great to meet other bloggers?
• Later in October, a Titans fan friend of mine wanted to go see them play in Cleveland. How was I to resist having my arm twisted to go? We drove down to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the Saturday, saw the Browns game on Sunday, and then went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before driving home on Monday. A lot of fun. Would have been better if the Browns didn't lose in overtime.
• And finally, in November I went back to Detroit to see the Browns again, visiting again with my old roommate in London, Ontario.

Since then, my choir has performed nine concerts in just over two weeks, and finishes our concert season on Wednesday. I will be flying out to Arizona for Christmas on Thursday, staying there for a week. (Hey Corky, and Daniel, if you're reading, I'll be sending you emails...) I'm debating going to the Cactus Bowl while I'm out there - who knows, Josh Rosen may be the Browns QB pick next year.

I bought a new scanner during a Black Friday sale, and hope to post a few more times before I leave. Sorry for my blogging absence.

I'm going to leave you with a couple of Aubrey Logan videos from youtube. She has some amazing original music that you can look for, but I'm going to leave you with two familiar songs that she added her own style to.

U Can't Touch This:

California Dreamin' (feat. Casey Abrams):

Enjoy!