No, I'm not dead...

I'm just without internet.  Fortunately it's only two more days.  The techs are coming Saturday morning to install it just before my first 'graphing session of the year.

Overall, I'm really enjoying Arlington and the new job.  Everyone is talking about how I'm stuck on the boring part, ID'ing basketball photos.  But honestly, I don't care.  I'm getting paid to stare at sports images and figure out who's in them.  I honestly can't believe I get PAID to do that.  It's pretty awesome.

Some card-related awesomeness news, Flyers goaltending prospect Cal Heeter could be the second former Wichita Falls Wildcat to get his own card (Dan Sexton of course being the first).  Due to his call-up last night to sit in as the Flyers' backup netminder, he's now card-eligible.  Pretty awesome.  Here's to hoping he'll get one. Or ten.

I'm getting a lot of overtime as well-- already two and a half hours in the books, and I'm planning on doing another two or two and a half tomorrow.  It depends on whether I feel like hounding the Angels at their hotel or not.  As of right now, I'm thinking not.  They'll come in several times this season.

Speaking of which, I'm massively behind on finishing sorting and organizing for this weekend's hounding festivities.  I haven't pulled anything yet, and for the Rangers I don't have ANY cards of Darvish, Ortiz, Ross, Garcia, Borbon, Martin, or Steve Busby.  Maybe I'll get lucky (?) and they won't sign.  Or, maybe they'll sign all season so I won't miss out.

It's going to be a bit of an adventure as well trying to pull Elvis Andrus, Jeff Baker, Adrian Beltre, Lance Berkman, Nelson Cruz, and Dave Anderson from my unsorted mess while trying to find if I packed any blue Sharpies.  I also need to get some baby powder to prep my cards still.  Oh well.  Walmart is just down the street and I have tonight and tomorrow to figure it out.

Anyways, if any Texas 'graphers are reading this, I look forward to meeting some of you this weekend.  I'm anxious to get back into it again!

Nerves? Not really.

You'll never do

The things you want

If you don't move

And get a job

It all begins tomorrow.  First day on a new job since October 1, 2008.  First day in a new apartment since May 4, 2004.

I was able to move all my cards down with me-- the full 125,000.  Really the only things I don't have here are my coffee supplies (coffee pot, espresso machine, coffee grinder, and coffee beans; I plan to go full-blown Finn), bike, and golf clubs.  And only about a week's worth of clothes.  The complex's laundry facilities will be my best friend.

I got sorted through almost all my cards for potential eBay selling of some inserts and doubles.  I just have those 14,000 Aardsma through Eyre cards I've mentioned numerous times before.  I figure I'll start that Tuesday night.  Tomorrow is probably going to be the busiest day of my life: starting at Panini, getting the lease done and moving in, hitting Walmart for a few remaining supplies and such. But then again, sorting through some cards might be a nice way to wind down at the end of all that.

I'm a little nervous, but not massively so.  Four and a half years (to the day) since I've started a new job.  And it's only my fourth job ever, so it's something I'm familiar with, but not extremely familiar.  My last job was something I had been doing to a smaller degree on an unpaid basis for a while before.

Maybe more anxious than nervous.  I'm just ready for this chapter to start.  Several friends are already making arrangements to come visit whenever they can.  Hit up some Rangers games, go graphing, some FC Dallas games... I just realized the other night that I haven't been to a soccer match at anything above the high school level.  That needs to change.  Next step, getting to see Chelsea play sometime, somewhere.

Next week: the quest for new autographs and a new guitar will finally get underway.

An awesome celebration

I was notified about 2 hours before last night's game that I'd be dropping the ceremonial first puck.  First time in seven and a half years I've had the ability to do so as we got local sports broadcaster Dan Hawkins to cover the pregame and opening five minutes of the broadcast, along with Arron handling our Twitter feed.

They also gave me a game-used jersey (it was Chad Hudson's in 2009-10) with my name put on the back, signed by the whole team on the front, and the staff and a bunch of fans on the back.  Plus I got a plaque thanking me for 393 games broadcast in the NAHL, the puck, and I had a "Player of the Game" photo put in our game programs.  Despite losing 2-1 and getting eliminated from the playoffs, it was a pretty awesome night.  Despite the Rivers Cuomo-like pissing off of some of our fans that I've done this year, Wichita Falls definitely has the best ones in the NAHL.

I'm glad I'll be able to be just on the 100% fan side of the team now and have a degree of anonymity, albeit a small degree and watching from afar, instead of having to occupy a position that's part fan, part PR, and part journalist all rolled into one where everyone knows who I am.  It's fun, it was my career choice, but it was also a stressful spot to have to be in, trying to balance those three.  Plus all the office duties that constantly were expanding just got to be enough.  When the position with Panini came open, I had to jump at the opportunity.

I'm sure I'll miss broadcasting eventually.  It can be fun, and you get to know some great people.  But I'm glad to be taking a break.  At worst, if I ever get the itch to get back into it, the Metroplex has NHL, CHL, NAHL, and WSHL hockey, plus the NAHL headquarters.  Though I'd never work for any other NAHL South team.  I'm sure I've made enough enemies in Frisco, Topeka, Odessa, Corpus Christi, and especially Amarillo that I would be persona non grata if any of them were to be hiring.

But for now, I'm excited to look ahead to next week, moving to Arlington, and starting with Panini.

Almost there...

Three days until I pack up and move, four days until I'm in my new apartment.  Exciting times ahead.

I'm also almost done pulling cards for Corey for our recent trade.  You may recall a week ago, I got about 120 autographs from him, and he wanted any goalies, Islanders, Mets, Jets, Vladimir Guerrero, Ray Bourque, Steve Yzerman, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux cards I could part with.  I just have the Jets and my unsorted baseball stuff (Aardsma through Eyre) yet to go.  Got about 1000 or so to send and should have little problem finding another 2-400, so that's a pretty good return-- about 10 unsigned for each signed.

I also need to go through my basketball stuff and pull any inserts I have for future eBay selling.  It won't be many-- mostly some 1993-94 Topps Gold cards and random inserts from 1994-95 Fleer.  I might put up some random ones too, like any Jordans, Kobes, any of the big names.  Let's be honest: I'll never be able to get them signed.  And if I have a shot at getting any of them, you can be sure I won't bother with just a card.  I might sell some of my graded stuff too.  It's not much (87T Bonds, 98 UD Encore Moss rookie, and the entire 10-card promo set of 2001 Upper Deck Heroes of Golf, including a BGS 9.5 Tiger Woods), I'm not overly attached to it, and it should at least net a few bucks to put into the guitar fund.  Honestly, the only untouchable items when it comes to selling right now are any autographs and my Indians and Browns.  After May 2004, I made it a strict personal policy not to sell any of mine and I have stuck to it since then.

I hosted my final Wildcats' Coaches' Radio Show last night.  Instead of interviewing a player, one (captain and three-year veteran Patrick Yudez) interviewed me.  Fun stuff.  He's been entertaining as hell for the last three seasons-- he doesn't rack up the points or the PIM's, but you won't find a player who works harder and better in the corners and against the boards than him.  I have two games to call this weekend as well.  I know there's something going on to honor me Friday, but I can't figure out what it is aside from a few possible snippets.  Oh well, I'm sure it will be fun; I just hate surprises, no matter whether they're positive or negative ones.

I just can't believe it's finally almost here.  Sunday could be my last blog update for a bit, unfortunately.  Most of the morning will be spent packing, then 2 hours driving, then staying at my brother-in-law's place.  I probably won't be able to get internet hooked up in my apartment right away, so unless I can get in at the library or a random hotspot,the updates will be a tad sparse.  Plus I'll be busy with the new job, getting settled into the apartment, and preparing for hounding next weekend.  Though really, free hotspots aren't exactly hard to find.  This is 2013, not 2003.

Last, some laughs from NAHL broadcasters.  This clip is not-- I repeat NOT-- doctored.

T-Minus One Week

It feels weird to be moving on to a different job and different home.  For the past four and a half years, I've been coming in every day to the same office, the same desk, and going home to the same house.  In a week, it'll be a new job, a new building, a new city, a new apartment.  Believe me, I am definitely ready to go, but at the same time, wow, hello different!

The final week is bound to be chaotic.  Today I need to find out about renter's insurance and pack boxes.  Tomorrow, it's electric and internet and more packing.  Wednesday, my final radio show.  Thursday, pack up the office. Friday is my second to last game with some sort of pre-game festivities.  Saturday is the final game, going out with friends, and whatever else comes up.  Sunday is the final pack and load with a drive to my brother-in-law's place in Allen.

And Monday, it all begins in earnest.  Fill out the lease, pay the down payment, and move everything in.

I'm looking forward to it.  It's a lot closer to the things I enjoy doing.  The job will be better-paying, and the hours more suitable to what I like doing in my free time.  The apartment will be pretty awesome.  And even though my wife has to stay in Wichita Falls for the time being, it's only a two-hour drive back to see her.

I've already looked into joining the Dallas-Area Browns Backers and will almost certainly be attending their draft party. Been contacted by a few people wanting to start a band.  And of course, there's hounding.  Lots of hounding starting either Friday or Saturday, April 5 or 6.  This is what I'm looking forward to perhaps not most, but at least highly on the list.

I'm going to sell some cards as well-- not signed ones, just plain ones.  For example, I really have no need for 120 cards of Matt Williams.  He's a good signer TTM and a former Indian, but 120 cards?  Let's be reasonable.  I have a ton on guys like Tony Gwynn, Nolan Ryan, Griffey, Puckett, Aikman, Joe Thornton, Lemieux, Gretzky, and about a thousand others that I'll never be able to get signed.  And when it comes to inserts, I may as well make some money on whatever I won't get signed and have no interest in keeping.  Time to get them moved out and maybe make some money for a new guitar (Thinline Telecaster, '69 style-- single coils instead of the '72 style with humbuckers-- hopefully in a three-color sunburst though I'm not overly picky on color; maybe with a Bigsby tremolo on it as well).

The countdown is on.  Here we go...

New beginnings

Hi everyone.  If you're reading this, you probably know me.  If you don't, then apparently word travels fast.

In a few weeks I'm moving to the Dallas area-- Irving/Arlington to be exact.  Tomorrow my wife and I are checking out apartments and on 4/1/13 I start a new job as a photo editor for Panini.  Yes, that's right, I'm one of the lucky ones to get a job in the card industry.

Anyways, I've been collecting autographs for a good ten years now.  Back in Boston when I was getting my journalism degree at Emerson College, I started hitting up hotels and the then-Fleet Center for hockey autographs.  It was fun and I got to meet a lot of players and collectors, many of the latter of whom I'm still in contact with today.  Eventually I expanded out to baseball and the occasional bit of basketball.

After graduating, I moved to Wichita Falls, TX to try my hand at hockey broadcasting from 2006 through 2013.  After seven years though, I decided it was time for a change.  I love hockey, I love broadcasting, but when you're doing it for a junior level team, you end up wearing a lot of different hats.  In addition to broadcasting and media relations, I was the office receptionist, webmaster, writer, occasionally was asked for my scouting opinions, and assisted with sales, marketing, public relations, and community relations.  As related as journalism, PR, and commentary can be, the three are in all honesty nearly total opposites.  The journalist in me wants to provide the facts, period.  The analyst/commentator in me is loaded with opinions and brutal honesty.  The PR side though required that I sometimes put a positive spin on things-- trying to do so in a game you lost 9-0 is hard, and nearly impossible when all you saw were forwards who weren't shooting, defensemen who weren't stopping the opposition, and a goalie who may as well have had a hole in his chest.  Fortunately, those games were relatively few and far between.

And so, here I am, moving two hours to the Dallas area for a new job.  It's still media-related, it's still sports-related, and yet it hopefully will be a completely different beast than my previous job. And I am quite okay with that.

Along with the move to DFW, I finally will have a little more time for autograph hounding, sending requests for autographs through the mail (or TTM in the hobby lingo), and getting out and just having fun.  I can visit different restaurants instead of just the same old chains.  Maybe I'll join a band.  Maybe I can find a recreational indoor soccer league.  Or hockey.  Or wiffleball.  I can bike more, walk more, eat better, and hopefully drop about 50 pounds.

Most of this blog will detail my hounding and TTM'ing.  Of course I'm sure I'll end up off on some random tangents about the card and autograph hobbies, sports in general, and my life in general.  But such is the nature of my blog, and the nature of my writing style.  You'll get used to it, I'm sure.

Frankly, more than anything I'm excited.  I've moved twice before in my adult life (Cleveland to Boston for college, then Boston to Wichita Falls) and it's always exciting, if not somewhat anxiety-inducing.  But I'm ready for it.

I probably won't be saying much here in the next few weeks.  I have four more games to call for the NAHL's Wichita Falls Wildcats, then basically a single day-- Easter, at that-- to start a move to the Metroplex.  But if all goes as I hope it will, I'll have my first hounding session on April 6 as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of the State of California of the United States of America of the Continent of North America of the Planet Earth take on the Rangers.  But once that happens, prepare for the floodgates to open.  I'll detail the successes, the failures, the stories, and random lists of who I send to via mail and who I receive back.  I might even dig a bit into my collection as it stands now and the stories behind my favorite items.

Anyways, welcome.  I hope you get something from all this, and that at the very least, I entertain you for a while.