Why I said he was black.

[Archive]

Posted By: Julie Vognar

Sorry, my housemate's computer has not been available to me all day.

I am so racist, I risked getting kicked off of e-bay so a black guy could get the card he wanted cheaper.
Are you guys nuts or something?

As soon as i saw that high bidder had bid $300 (or so) on the 1949 Bowman Doby--a very sweet card, but not, i felt, worth bidding higher than $255 on--I looked up his bidding record to see 1) how he bid 2) with how much money and 3) what he bid on. The first thing i noticed was he hardly ever won anything. Out of 14 auctions he had bid in, he had won maybe three. Then i looked at how he bid. He would see something he liked, and immediately bid the most he possibly could (or would) on it. In other words, he didn't snipe. People would bid up around him, and usually top him.

He had bid EXCLUSIVELY on black people: athletes, "Blaxploitation" films(labled as such) and films that have all-black casts, an interview with Martin Luther King, Jr. in "Coronet" (he was the only bidder on that, so he won it). he bid in 5=6 Jabbar-Alcindor auctions, but couldn't take any of them. He bid on a Taliafero (early, or maybe 1st black quarterback)--no luck--AND he won a rookie Jim Brown for $300 (1959? I think so.) I didn't look at the condition, so I can't say whether he got a deal or not.
That was the only time--except for our mutual '49 Doby, that he showed enough cash to win--that is, if you're going to bid with six days left, instead of six seconds. I remember his NOT bidding on any J. Robinson cards, but on something Robinson-related, but much cheaper. Magazine article? MAYBE comic book, but they can get pretty pricey.

SO. NO< I don't KNOW he was black, IS black, I just know that he's black!

I couldn't verry well answer irate seller's querries with "he's poor, bids bad, and he's black, so i thought I'd do him a real favor, and I'd been bidding up under him SO I BLEW IT ALL TO HELL, and ILLEGALLY RETRACTED MY BID" I just told him to check out bidder's bidding record, which had spoken so eloquently to me, but, since seller continued to harrass me (understandably--I'd said his card "might be trimmed"),I guess he didn't bother to do, or didn't care, or something.

It's possible that high bidder is Chinese, and very wealthy, and just has strange bidding styles.

Sure.

This has only happened to me once before in my life. I mean, being so misunderstood, by a lot of people. I was 15...sorry, it has nothing to do with sports cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: Julie Vognar

"so blatently racist"...CAN'T YOU READ?

Every time someone says someone is black, must it be racist?

Oh yeah, for those of you who have forgotten, Doby was the first black guy in the American League.
Since he couldn't afford (OH EXcuse me, maybe he didn't like the guy!) a Robinson rookie, I wanted to make sure he got a Doby rookie (I know, only half the publications count the '49 Doby as a rookie).

I'd better shut up, befotre I blow up.

[Archive]

Posted By: vorthian

<< I am so racist, I risked getting kicked off of e-bay so a black guy could get the card he wanted cheaper. >>

Let's suppose this were true, you wouldn't get kicked off of eBay - unless the retractions became excessive.

<< The first thing i noticed was he hardly ever won anything. Out of 14 auctions he had bid in, he had won maybe three. >>

Wow, his/her winning ratio is better than "vorthian". Maybe I am .... a bad bidder.

<< He had bid EXCLUSIVELY on black people: >>

Seriously, who cares what he/she bid on? Using induction to guarantee a conclusion about a person based on their bidding habits is fallacious.

I once bought "The Art of War" and now wonder if anyone thought I was Chinese.

<< "he's poor, bids bad, and he's black, so i thought I'd do him a real favor, and I'd been bidding up under him SO I BLEW IT ALL TO HELL, and ILLEGALLY RETRACTED MY BID" >>

You very well could have replied with that - if that was your choice. Just curious... how do you know he's poor? What differentiates a bad bidder from a good one?

Lastly, a pandora's box has been opened - not because of the comment per se, but because of the assumptions uttered about this bidder.

[Archive]

Posted By: HalleyGator

The only point Julie was trying to make (although admittedly it didn't come out very well) is that she let the person buy the Larry Doby card because she thought the person was black and probably really wanted a card of the first black to play in the American League.

This was a nice gesture on her part, and I am sorry that she is catching flack for it ... but I agree 100% that the way she phrased her comment sounded out-of-line and that it should not just be ignored.

[Archive]

Posted By: Julie Vognar

In spite of it's falaciousness (sp?), i still think he's black--I would not be astonsihed to find out he was not, but would be very surprised.

As for being poor, he kept bidding in auctions with not enough dough to cover them, and since he DID manage to get about $300 dollars together for this card, I figured he really wanted it, and, yes, just as the last poster said, i wanted to make sure he got his Doby, and suddenly found it within my power to practically assure this.

What I can't figure out, all you socially conscious people, is why you're not all jumping down my throat for cheating a dealer! Most of you deal. I limited my discussion of his being black to "...and black--take my word for it" because I didn't think any of you would care about that part! Of course it was important to me, but then I've never suffered a "bid retraction."

Incidentally, I've written to him twice since the "heads up" I gave him the morning the auction closed. The first time was when Bonds hit 73, and the second was after the Oscars. Message No1: "Hey! Hey! Hey!" Message No 2: "Hey!

Hey!

Hey!"

[Archive]

Posted By: nolemmings (Todd)

EOM

[Archive]

Posted By: Julie Vognar