Professional Ultimate Comes to Philadelphia

On Saturday April 14th Professional Ultimate Frisbee will be come a reality!

And you, Yes YOU, Can get tickets to see the Inaugural game of Philadelphia's newest Professional Sports Franchise - The Philadelphia Spinners.

The Philadelphia Spinners are one of eight charter members of the AUDL (American Ultimate Disc League) which is hosting their innaugural season in 2012.

The Spinners debut game is scheduled for 8pm, Saturday April 14th at Historic Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.  Their opponent will be the division rival Buffalo Hunters.

This is your opportunity to see the very first game of the Philadelphia Spinners and the debut of a brand new sports league. 

It is also a chance to check out Franklin Field - Home of U-Penn Football for the last century, many an Army-Navy Game, site of the Historic Penn Relays

Tickets to games are a bargain at $14 and they are avaiable for all games.

http://philadelphiaspinners.com/

The AUDL has teams representing the following areas:  Conneticut, Rhode Island, Indianappolis, Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit, and Lexington Kentucky.

This Weekend games are being hosted by Rhode Island, Columbus, Bluegrass Revolution (Lexington KY)

AUDL Schedule: 

Philly Card Show in Valley Forge (3/2-4) POSTPONED

The Valley Forge Convention Center is undergoing major renovations as part of the Casino that is being added to the facility. 

Unfortunately this has caused Hunt Auctions to postpone the Philly Shows March edition until June of this year. 

For More Info from Hunt click here.

The Autographs for the Philly show are run by MAB - they had a healthy list of signers scheduled - no info on which of these guests will be part of the June Show.

This means the next Major show to come to the area will be the CSA show in Oaks which falls the weekend of 4/27.

f.y.e closing and collecting

If anyone still buys CDs they may be interested that f.y.e is closing and they are having a pretty decent sale on CDs. (picked up a set of 3 Ramones discs for $4)

The think that may be of interest to collectors is they have some Pannini Products (non-sports cards/stickers) on clearance.  I think the number was roughly 60% off at our local store.  They had the sticker albums for the last 2 years of NFL stickers on sale for 49 cents.  They also had a bunch of oddball items - There was a Joe Mauer action figure mixed in there for some reason. 

For you tech geeks they were also cables and various gadget connectors etc on sale at about 1/2 off.

2012 Topps Series 1 Checklist

Thanks to a posting over at Paul's Random Stuff, I Got a look at the Topps Checklist for the upcoming release of series 1:  

2012 Topps Gold shiny thingy Roy Halladay (#150???)

These are the dozen Phils that are in the checklist provided by Sports Collectors Daily: 

28 Placido Polanco

64 Michael Martinez

98 Domonic Brown

117 Carlos Ruiz

120 Hunter Pence

150 Roy Halladay

190 Cole Hamels

243 Justin De Fratus

259 Michael Stutes

280 Ryan Howard

287 Antonio Bastardo

307 Vance Worley

There are 30+ cards missing from this list so there could be some additions to the list.  There are at least four prominent players from the 2008 World Champs teams that are missing from the checker - Understandably there is late FA signing Jimmy Rollins.  The most noted player to get booted to Series 2 is Chase Utley.  We will also need to wait on both Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton.  Cliff Lee is the biggest deferment on the current staff.  I did not see FA defectee Ryan Madson on the list, nor are FAs Raul Ibanez and Brad Lidge. 

At least 2 pitchers that are expected to be in the Phils spring training camp are checked on their 2011 Teams #89 Dontrelle Willis(Reds) and #267 Joel Pieniro (Angels).  Jim Thome is not listed. 

Other interesting things I noticed is that Neither Albert Pujols nor AL MVP and Cy Young Winner Justin Verlander are Checklisted.  As I noted above 35 cards are unlisted, these are likely for 
special cards and perhaps award winners such as Verlander.

  

- Mickey Mantle returns to his familiar #7 spot in the order, The #44 spot which was once issued to Hank Aaron is occupied by Edwind Jackson (listed as a Cardinal, but I think he moved on)

- #27 John Buck will be the first Miami Marlins Topps Card ever issued - it will be interesting to see how those cards are handled. 

- #30 Derek Jeter is a pretty low level Hero Number for the Yankees star and is #40 a hero number - it was issued to Tom Milone of the Nationals - who the hell is that guy.  

- Dee Gordon and Craig Kimbrel are each listed for two spots.  Did either of them set records of some sort last season, maybe Kimbrel. 

- #66 is Nyjer Morgan - no Tony Plush listed.

- #72 is there really a player named Rex Brothers - sounds like a place where you buy a suit or get a lawyer.

- #107 Luke Scott listed as an Oriole - he has taken his guns to Tampa Bay

- #136 Casey McGehee last card as a Brewer. 

- #267 World Series Hero and Phillie Killer David Freese

- #299-#301 are all Rangers - 3 in a row (Moreland/Hamilton/Alexi Ogando) 

-#305 Potentially Chipper Jones final Topps Card while Active - although he will likely show up in Ser 2 or update.  

Hero Numbers 100 200 and 300 were handed out to Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, and Josh Hamilton respectively.  I appreciate Bautista getting some love here - easy to forget he has hit close to a hundred dingers over the past two season leading the AL in both 2010 and 2011.  Not as keen on troubled drunken Miguel Cabrera getting one. 

It is also interesting to note that the latest steroid rep Ryan Braun gets #1 while the man he beat out for the MVP award Matt Kemp got the last card #330. 

Philly Sports Author Event Tonight - Willow Grove PA

The Willow Grove Barnes and Noble is hosting a Huge Philadelphia Sports author signing tonight.

The authors include:

Glen Macnow, Ray Didinger, Jayson Stark, Sal Paolantonio, Adam Kimelman, Mike Missanelli, Randy Miller, Reuben Frank, Steve Bucci, Paul Kurtz, Matt Leon, Mark Eckel, Merrill Reese and James Andrew Miller

Link to B&N site for more info.

I don't think Team Phungo will make it out but I would recomend any Jayson Stark book and Ray Didinger is in the football HoF for his NFL coverage.  Sal Pal's "Football as America" book has always interested me although I have not gotten around to picking it up yet.  Randy Miller wrote what is considered the definitive Harry Kalas bio.  Merrill Reese is the Eagles play by play guy.

Added:  Bernie Parent - Flyers Ambassador and Hockey Hall of Fame Member will also be part of the festivities.

CSA Card Show in Philadelphia -Burbs this Weekend - Free Admission on Friday!

Collectors Showcase of America is bringing a card show to the Philadelphia Suburb of Oaks this weekend.  The Oaks Expo center is just a few exits down 422 from where the Philly Show is hosted in Valley Forge.

To my knowledge this is the first CSA show here since I have returned to collecting.  The admission is Free on Friday with Show hours from 2-8.  Saturday and Sunday there is a $5 cover w/ 3 free autograph guest each day. 

For more info here is the CSA link

http://www.csashows.com/

Time Permitting I will have more info up tomorrow.  Regardless Team Phungo is planning to check out the show Saturday - if you might be attending let me know and I will look for you.

Check out this 58 year old Game Used Baseball

The family of Robin Roberts has decided to sell much of the Hall of Famers Personal collection of Baseball Memorabilia.  For more on the story check here at Philly.com.

Hunt Auctions is handling the sale - some of the cooler items are game balls from several of the pitchers 285 Wins.

Apparently the Phils catcher Stan Lopata would caption or decorate each of the baseballs.  The Above ball is from 1952-07-02.  That day Roberts and the Phils beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3.  The Dodgers lineup that Roberts defeated featured Jackie Robinson (who homered), Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, and Gil Hodges.  The Phils ran out Richie Ashburn batting leadoff and playing center field.  

This Link will direct you to the above ball, from their you can navigate to see several of the other baseballs.

Unfortunately the on-line portion of the auction is closed - the live auction will occur tomorrow Tuesday April 12th at the Phillies Ball Park at 6pm.  At the close of the on-line auction the 1952-07-02 Ball above was going for $164  

Borders Books Demise may be your gain

As you likely know Borders Books is going out of business.  I don't know if this sale is going on Nationwide but My local Borders had stuff at 80% off, nothing over $3.  

Most of the stuff was pretty picked over on Sunday, and there were long lines at the checkout. 

One thing you may want to look into is a Trading card price guide.  regardless what you think about the prices in them, I believe they remain a useful tool for looking up cards and sets.  At $3 they are a much better deal then the typical $30ish.  The only one that the local Borders had was the SCD 2010 guide which had cards from 1981 forward.  

Beyond that they did have a fair amount of sports books - not a ton of baseball, but lots of football.  CDs and Movies are also on sale, but you would have to dig pretty deep to find something you like.  Magazines are almost a decent deal at 90% off - If you have never picked up a Baseball America and your a fan, this would be a cheap way to introduce yourself to the magazine.

They were also selling bookshelves and other similar items.  Those were priced according to size maybe $25 and up. 

Locally the Sale ends Tuesday,

MLB 2011 Schedule has been announced.

As rumored the season will start prior to the April 1 weekend. It appears the Cincinnati Reds have the years first game on Thursday March 31 at home versus the Brewers.

The Phillies Open at Home on Friday April 1st versus the Houston Astros (Phillies Central). The Phils face the AL West in inter-league play Hosting Texas in May and Oakland in June. They will also Host Boston - their AL rivalry team - The visit Seattle and Toronto. I did not see the Angels on the Phils schedule.

The Phils are only home for Labor Day among the 3 summer holidays, when they host the Atlanta Braves.

The season ends about 4 days earlier on September 28th. The Phils close on the road with division series at the Mets and at Atlanta.

Phils Story

You can find the 2011 schedule via the same schedules on MLB.com where the 2010 games are located. Just change the drop down to 2011.

Phungo Poll Question - George Steinbrenner

This is just a curiosity I have with how we get our sports information in 2010.

On the Right I have posted a poll to find out how different people found out about the death of George Steinbrenner.

I am not really interested in who is a Yankee fan or debating the influence good or bad that Steinbrenner has had. I just wanted to find out how information/news of this nature is passed on spread and discussed.

Good News for out of Town Phillies Fans

According to Philly.com the FCC has basically ruled that Comcast Philadelphia can no longer hold their monopoly on broadcasts of Phillies games (and other local teams such as the Flyers and Sixers)

The only out of town reader I can think of that this really affects is Cliff over at Capewood. I wonder if he will consider getting DirectTV to pick up Phils games down in Houston.

The article does mention that some other teams affected are the Padres and the NHLs New Jersey Devils.

Bleck - The Mets have Signed Chris Coste

Chris Coste is not going to make or break a team, heck Paul Bako was an upgrade - regardless he will always be a Fan Favorite in Philadelphia. And he will always be a member of the 2008 World Championship Philadelphia Phillies.

I will hold of my best wishes for Mr Coste until after his time in New York is over.

BC Sports Collectibles Returns?

BC Sports Collectibles has their Website back up and running and apparently is reopening a few retail outlets.

There is no mention of any changes at the store and things appear the same - although they may have changed their name to just BC Sports.

BC Collectibles was always a bit high-end for my tastes, but it may be a welcome return for folks with greater means then this humble blogger.

According to the BC Sports Site they will honor gift certificates, but it did not specify if points earned through prior purchases would also remain valid.

Harry Kalas has Died

The Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that Hall of Fame Broadcaster Harry Kalas has died.

Phillies.com report.

He had been taken to a Washington DC Hospital after passing out in the Press Box at Nationals Stadium.

Bomb Scare at Citizen's Bank Ballpark - Over

Comcast Sports Net (CSN Philadelphia) reported three suspicious packages had been found at Citizen's Bank Ballpark.

The bomb scare appears to be over. The Philadelphia bomb squad was called in and the packages were either removed or detonated. The stadium has been opened and tonight's game will be played as scheduled.

Hopefully no real bombs here.

It turned out that the mysterious packages were Hot Dogs wrapped in foil which had been left over from a photo shoot at the stadium.