"The Night Owl" sent these cards. The one in the upper right had that purple sticky note attached. A while back I sent Mr. Owl some Dodger cards and included that die-cut Wallach because at some point I remember reading that he wanted one. However, I am ridiculously slow in getting cards sent out to people and by the time I sent it, I guess he already had one from somewhere else. I included a note with the cards asking he not disclose that sent a Wallach card because it was bad for my look, given I am "literally trying to collect them all." Night Owl obliged and didn't disclose my "secret," and then was nice enough to send the card back. As an aside, I am not completely unwilling to part with Wallach cards and have shared some with other Wallach collectors from time to time. I'm not trying to a be a jerk about this. There's plenty of junk wax to go around, I'm just trying to take far more than my fair share.
The cards sent were wrapped in that piece of paper which describes the 1995 Gator Bowl (actually played Jan.1 1996). I remember that game well. A freshman quarterback named Donovan McNabb tore up the Clemson Tigers to the tune of 41-0. Syracuse also had a pretty good senior wide receiver named Marvin Harrison. I think a lot of our sports perceptions are based on when we were born and the first impressions you make when you start to follow sports. Being born in 1979 means I'll always think of Georgetown and UNLV as legitimate A-list college basketball powers, no matter how much they are currently struggling. I'm sure teenagers today don't share that opinion. It also means I think of Syracuse Football as a legitimate college football power. In 1995 I fully expected Syracuse to thump lowly Clemson 41-0. It wasn't a surprise, because Clemson was (is) a mediocre to slightly above average program that a perennial top 20 school like Syracuse should thump. I'm sure that perception isn't shared by kids today (or Vegas). But I'm equally sure that at some point in the next five to ten years, the college football universe will be restored to it's natural order, and Syracuse will go back to thumping the likes of Clemson, and all will be right in the world.
Thanks for the cards Greg.
Updated Totals:
1987 Topps: 721
1994 SP Die-Cut: 15
1995 Collector's Choice SE: 31
1995 Topps D3: 12
I enjoyed covering the team them (Coach P's worst interviews in the world aside). Lot more enjoyable than what the poor SU beat writers have to do now.
ReplyDeleteI've already got a new stack ready and it will probably be out the door in a couple weeks.