Sports Cards Uncensored Is Now Your Place For UD Info!

Guys, thanks to some wonderful marketing ideas and a few boxes of SPA and Exquisite, I am now going to be writing this blog for Upper Deck. SCU has become SCUD, and I couldnt be happier. I know that there has been rumblings around the CBN that this was on the verge of taking place, so here is the official announcement.

Over the last few months, many of you have commented on my endless pandering to Upper Deck's football division, and it was for the sole reason of making this happen. They wanted to be the first manufacturer with a blog run by collectors, and based on my stance on their products, I was the first choice for football. They are still in the works to obtain the rights to a certain Baseball blog.

From now on, you can expect frequent product "reviews," exclusive product "previews" and of course, lots and lots of promotional contests. To celebrate, I have decided to hold the first contest of many, and all you have to do is comment below that you want in. Up for grabs will be this hand packed extra pack from Exquisite that will contain an auto numbered to less than 50. It came directly from the manufacturer's stash, so Im guessing its pretty good.

You can imagine that this will mean sweeping changes around here, and I feel its for the better. If I have to put in hours upon hours of painstaking work, I think I should get something out of it. This way I get a few thousand in cards, and a great company to work with. Gregg sent his personal thanks earlier today, and I think this could be the start of something wonderful.

I appreciate your continued support, though I wont be able to give you your normal scheduled daily rants. I have made my peace with Beckett, and they even offered me a years subscription to the OPG, which I will have to learn how to use. If you have any experience with it, please let me know.

Thanks!

Parallels In a Different Sense Of The Word

When Obama started his campaign just short of two years ago, we were NOT expecting it to go this far. Personally, Im glad it did for a few reasons that dont involve the devil woman. First off, it shows that anyone can really accomplish whatever they want as long as they dont give up, something that before last night was a hyperbolic and cliche saying that helped parents try to inspire apathetic children. Secondly, it shows what a grassroots internet campaign combined with a normal campaign can accomplish. Its those two things I want to focus on.

Before I start, I want to let you know that in no way am I meaning to belittlie this historic win by drawing parallels to this blog. Trust me, im just using it to make a point.

I think that the internet has long since become the way that people get their news, and that print media is dying a long and painful death. It only goes to show that when blogs like the ones we read take over the blogosphere, things actually can happen towards a change for the better. When I started writing this blog, I was just a person that thought change was needed in a hobby I loved to be a part of. Those awful things I was fighting to change prevented a lot of good things from happening, and it disgusted me to no end. Frankly, they still do. But, unlike 5 years ago, the internet has given me a vehicle for change, and I am not the only one jumping on board - and that is a very good thing. The better thing is that Barack Obama showed on a national scale that the youth electorate was not going to stand idly by while the same ole same ole drove this country into the ground, and used the internet to rally his young supporters on a number of occasions. He did that with a lot of help from the emails, blogs, and iReporters, and I have a feeling that in 2012, it will be an even bigger part of things. In fact, punditry blogs and other sites that focused on the campaign gained national attention as well, showing that blogmedia is actually a reliable news source for the public.

Now, I know that this blog will never receive any national attention, and my crusades will never reach the level that forces drastic change. However, I think that as hobby blogs become more plentiful, we will have the ability to influence a part of the hobby that people like Beckett refuse to acknowledge as more than just a "few scattered people." As a person who uses the internet as a news source myself, I know that will be the downfall of their influence in the hobby.

Hell, even manufacturers have seen the grassroots people forming effective campaigns, and they have recognized the wonderful voices that have emerged from the fray. Whether its diamond vision, youtube, or even blog sponsorship, they realize that before long, people like Mario, Dayf and Dave will be more of a resource than douchebags like Hackler in the general hobby. To me, its funny that Beckett has tried to demolish their internet following rather than embrace it. Its no surprise that they are too stupid to fix the broken parts of their business that have been rusting with the corosion of outdated paradigms, because if they do, they might as well cease everything associated with the company. Let me put it this way, 20 years ago, they created the sources they still use today. 20 years is a long, long time in todays world.

Back to more important themes of this election, mainly all those children who are given a renewed source of "Yes We Can!" when it comes to reaching for those stars that seem out of reach, as last night a man born during a time when Blacks were separate but "equal" is now president. If he can do it, so can we, and I think I have never given up that naive hope that with a little elbow grease, anything can be accomplished.

I think that 6 months ago, many people in the hobby werent sure what to expect after a March month to remember. However, over the next half year, they were shown that a voice is nothing to discount. I do not, under any circumstances, believe that I had any effect on the hobby's change, but I will say that I helped to bring a PA system to some of those voices that were having trouble being heard.

The lesson is this: Dont let your voice be silenced, its worth more than anyone could ever imagine. Barack Obama took this to heart, and he is now a "President for Change," something I can identify with. With that, I ask you today to believe that with the voices we have assembled here in the 'sphere, we can change things too.