Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013: The Year in Review

I just got in from Texas last night, which is why you haven't heard from me since a few days ago, with the exception of preplanned posts. Austin, Texas is nice this time of year, but home is nicer.

2013, on the whole, was a lot less intimidating than I had previously expected, and it was a thousand times more fun than anyone could have expected. While I may have only attended one baseball game, or only broke boxes every so often, I still had an amazing year.

So, like always, I'll recount the many awesome things that happened to me this year, beginning with 'this was the year that...." Because, if anything, I'm consistent.

This was the year that Topps almost completely lost my respect. Sure, they put out good sets, but they're uninspired, and they're unoriginal.

This was the year that I started paying more attention to football than ever before, predicting every game, every matchup, every week. And it damn near killed me.

This was the year that I was in big cities such as Boston, Austin, and Long Island (?), and didn't go looking for a card shop. Matter of fact, in Austin I was more interested in locating a record store.

This was the year that, speaking of records, I found off Amazon a nice, generally inexpensive turntable. And it's amazing.

This was the year that two of my favorite players retired, those being Mariano Rivera and Roy Halladay. I have watched both pitch, and I am proud to say that I was in Yankee Stadium to see the greatest closer of all time work his magic. I'm not awesome enough to have attended either of Halladay's perfect games, but I watched from home. I will miss both, tremendously.

This was the year that the local mall that had served as the catalyst of getting me into card shows announced that their October show would be its last. I celebrated by scraping the greatness out of all the ten-cent bins.

This was the year that Alfonso Soriano rejoined my team. And he was excellent.

This was the year that I got my driver's license, because I stuck the landing on the k-turn I was complaining about last year.

This was the year that I ran into the man who had given me Adironpacks for a few straight years in Lake George, NY. He was running a mall sports shop, and he wasn't happy. And there were no cards. It's a shame what this hobby does to people.

This was the year that I started making football customs, and they were generally pretty nice.

This was the year that I asked a girl to the prom, and she said yes. And we're currently still together, and she makes me so happy.

This was the year that, on television, Survivor gave us two really nice seasons, the Big Bang Theory got even more acclaim than it already had, Arrested Development came back (don't spoil it, I'm still Netflixing season one), and Dexter landed with a thud.

This was the year that I pulled a game used card of Andrew McCutchen out of a pack, and then he went onto win the NL MVP, a year after pulling a Buster Posey card. So I guess I'll be looking for a three-peat.

This was the year that I broke more hobby boxes of stuff than ever before. First, I got a nice load of football boxes in August from an undisclosed source, which gave me a lot of awesome stuff. Then, I ordered two 90's Stadium Club boxes off Amazon, with pretty nice results.

This was the year that I finished my second screenplay, which was a bit more fun than the first.

This was the year that more people started reading the blog, and I averaged more views on posts, and got some of my highest numbers from my football posts. More people are watching. It's phenomenal.

This was the year that I thought Panini was putting more effort into their products than Topps was, and they don't even have a license. Hopefully this continues into 2014.

So, that was my year. There might have been a bit of dismay in there, but I enjoyed myself. And I hope 2014 is even better, and has even more amazing moments.

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