reports from the 2017 National

[Tennis13]

I went to the National with my dad. It feels like an annual tradition we started in 2014, yet somehow this is only the second time we did it. Last two years were some extenuating circumstances.

Back in the early 1990s, my dad bought some 33 Goudeys that sort of kicked off our hunt to complete the set. I had the great idea of getting them graded this year. So there we went to SGC with a handful of 33 Goudeys and some 1950s cards and 2 Michael Jordan rookies that he bought in like 1992.(sticker and regular issued card)

I always give my dad a ton of credit on the Jordan. He is a doctor, and as the Hollywood guys say, find doctors and dentists if you need to fund a movie, because they have lots of money and are the worst businessmen. But my dad, man, back in 1992 he bought that Jordan from Jack's Baseball Cards in Clearwater, Florida. Jack smoked like a chimney, and has to be dead by now, but I spent many an afternoon at that joint drooling over cards I could never buy on my own. My dad had the same problem, but he could afford the cards. He spent $125 on the card and didn't tell a soul. I swear I didnt know about it til we went to the safe deposit box when I was visiting from college in like 1999. He slyly pulled the card aside and I was so impressed he had the guts to buy it and not tell my mom. After all, it made up for the $125 he spent on my 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco for Christmas in 1992 or so. I still hear about that wasted money to this day.

Anyway, I stop by the SGC booth to pick up our cards, and we got some good grades on the Goudeys. Not like amazing, but slightly better than I thought on a few of them.

The Jordan: a fake! All the way back from 1992. Now my best crafty businessman dad story is yet another strike against him. I would bet I hear about that card everytime I see him for the rest of his life.

Ha, oh well. I don't like the card at all---seems they are everywhere and it never strikes my fancy. But I know it struck him through the heart like a dagger. I had prepared him based on the eye test for a 7 at best---it was nowhere near a 10--, so it wasnt the end of the world to me. I told him there's no way Jack knew, at least I don't think so. Back in the early 90s, no 65 year-old local card shop owner knew, because things were evolving so fast then before the crash.

So I bought him a 1953 Jackie Robinson because that was all he talked about in 2014 and this show he kept hunting them. We also bought a Carl Hubbell 1933 Goudey from the same guy.