[Fballguy]

My first timer observations...Warning LCC*

*Little card content

1) Take away all the corporate space, auction house advertising, box breaks, social media, games, etc and I'm not sure this show is that much bigger than the one at NRG in Houston. Ok...probably a little bigger but not as big as I expected. I was there Wed night and all day Thursday and I felt like I saw everything 5 times over.

2) Not a lot of memorabilia. If you're a card collector, I imagine it's paradise. If you're a memorabilia collector, not as much. If you're a football memorabilia collector, you get three or four guys.

3) Couldn't help noticing that attendance each day was comprised of about 15,000 nerds and maybe 5 hot girlfriends. (PS...I am counting myself among the 15,000 so lets all just relax)

4) Seeing the 4 and 5 digit prices on some PSA 5s and 6s immediately reminded me of a score I had 8-10 years ago. It was only about 20 cards but mostly rookies and all razor sharp. Bill Russell, Jerry West and Bob Cousy rookies. Musial and Koufax rookies. Mantle Red Heart. Unitas rookie. Jim Brown rookie are the ones I remember. I just wasn't into grading and sold them raw shortly after acquiring. Was happy with what I got for them at the time too. But I'd still like a do over.

5) Is there anything worse than a pompous, inflexible dealer? Probably, but they still generally suck. Unfortunately, one of the "three or four" football guys fell into this category.

6) The best part for me, without a doubt, is the people you meet...both at the show and around town. I found myself engaged in conversation with strangers only to realize a couple minutes in that I know this person...I had just never met them live. So that was fun. And then there's Jack Youngblood, my hero since I first discovered football. What a relaxed, no pressure meeting. Nice guy. Listened to my preamble about being a fan since I was "this tall" and very gracious. Thanked me for my story instead of brushing me off. It was a great experience. His wife was nice too. And he gives great autograph. Beautiful signature and inscription. What a relief. It sucks when your heroes turn out to be dicks. And of course my patron saint of pennants, who went out of his way to make my first National experience a great one. Not sure if he wants the attention so I'll leave him nameless but he knows who he is. Thank you!

7) If a clusterf*ck impregnated a birds nest and the birds nest proceeded to drink throughout the entire gestation period, it would give birth to the road/highway system of Atlantic City and the surrounding area. What a mess. Even Siri was like WTF? At one point she told me to do a U turn between a 10 foot gap in Jersey barriers on the highway. Likely would've ended in tragedy. Another time, leaving the convention center, I was driving to the hotel for 5-6 minutes and somehow ended up back at the convention center. And what does Absecon have against left turns?

8). White Horse Pike...the main drag between the Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City...which takes you right through Absecon...gives off a bit of zombie apocalypse vibe. Upon exiting the highway, you're immediately greeted by abandoned business after abandoned business. I must've passed five straight boarded up gas stations. Hotels too. A little creepy. It was a meth head Disney World. What happened here? How did this go? A little further down the road, things livened up and my hotel, the Holiday Inn Express, thankfully was still in business.

9) I didn't get as much experience with the food as I would've liked but what I did have was good. Really wanted a White House sub but couldn't make it work. Had a nice dinner with friends at LB One Steakhouse. A nice 1970s style experience replete with salad bar. Enjoyed the place and especially the company. Then I ate at Villa Refici right on White Horse Pike...twice. The first time it was a consolation prize. My Uber driver recommended another place but they had a live band and I just wasn't feeling it so I walked out. I wanted a quiet bar to sit at to contemplate my expenditures...and eat. Villa Refici was right down the street so I went there and I'm glad I did. This may have been Top 5 Italian food for me. I've been to Little Italy in NYC more times than I can count...Arthur Ave too. Franklin Ave in Hartford was practically my back yard... and I love them...but this place is right up there. The sauce was amongst the best I've tasted and the bread was so good I asked for seconds. I can't get bread like this in Houston and Italian food? Forget about it. It was a locals place which I love. Everyone at the bar was talking to each other and the staff and laughing. They were regulars. If I lived in the area, I would be too.

10) So...Atlantic City. It seems like the kind of place if you didn't leave your hotel you'd probably love it. The newer ones look very nice. I'm sure the restaurants and bars within are amazing. But old Atlantic City is still there and it's kind of a bummer. I don't know if I'd go back. Maybe after a little more gentrification. In the mean time, I'd head down a little farther to Cape May and look at the pretty houses. We'll see. Never say never.