The man is…well, the MAN!

Posted July 15, 2008 by E. Jahnke
Categories: Beckett Blog, Other Blogs

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If you ever feel negative toward Jose Canseco, you shouldn’t, for any reason.   In case you ever even START to let a sour thought about him enter your mind, you should watch this video.

Remember what a kind and generous human being he is.  It takes a very good person to freely devote his time and materials to helping complete losers the less fortunate like he does in this clip.

“Checkmate!”

Thanks to Chris Olds for finding this heart-warming gem and sharing it with the world!

Contest Announcement!

Posted July 15, 2008 by E. Jahnke
Categories: Beckett Blog, Contest

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OK, here it is, finally…

We were inspired by this, and a post on another blog, Sports Locker, that suggested things Beckett could do to generate interest in the blog world and elsewhere. By the way, there are tons of interesting and well-written hobby-related blogs out there, almost too many to keep up with (I try though), check out our blogroll when you can.

Yes, this has been in the works for a while (here comes the whining) but I have been so busy (*sniff*) that I have not gotten to it.   Sad, I know.

So the contest is exactly what was asked for…we want to see how much abuse our BGS slabs can take, without the card inside being damaged.  It’s not necessary to damage or destroy the slab to win!

Entries will be judged on creativity, so it’s not necessary to include a bulldozer or anything from NASA.  To make this fair, only the BGS/BVG slabs are allowed, BCCG are not.

Please, for me, don’t try testing your ideas on your Pristine 10s…

The prize, 10 free gradings, at the 10 day service level, with Beckett covering the return shipping and insurance up to $1,000.

There are some rules, of course - no gunfire or explosives!

I will be honest and admit that I would love to see what happens to a slab if it’s hit by a .22 at 100 yards or so, but we can’t condone dangerous acts.  We held off announcing this until after July 4 for the same reason, it may be cool to tape a slab to 10 bottle rockets and see what happens, but it’s just not safe.  Use good judgment, if it’s likely, or even if it’s “fairly possible,” to result in injury, then we will be forced to disqualify the entry.

Questions about what is OK and what is not OK are more than welcome, hit the “Contact Us” button (see below) on the front page sidebar if you don’t want to ask in the comments and possibly give your idea away.

Video entries are probably the best bet, but if you can clearly show what you did just using photos, by all means send them in!

There will be a panel of 7 judges–myself, Associate Publisher Tracy Hackler, Director of Grading Services Mark Anderson, Director of Data Publishing Bill “Sudsy” Sutherland, Editors David Lee and Al Muir, and Beckett grader Aaron Gibson.

Paying off the judges is strictly confidential.   Wait, I meant strictly prohibited!

The contest ends at midnight August 18, 2008, and judging will begin on August 19. The time it will take to complete the judging will be determined by the number of entries.

In the near future, we will post this button somewhere in the sidebar, so you can click it, come back to this post, and see these rules.

Send entries to, beckettblog@gmail.com, or hit this button in the sidebar–>.

Good Luck!

Beckett has a new intern!

Posted July 15, 2008 by E. Jahnke
Categories: Beckett HQ

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Well first off I would like to introduce myself and say hello to all of our loyal readers. I am Barrett Johnson and I am the summer intern for Beckett. I am a native Texan, born and raised in Dallas and I am a junior at the University of Southern California. Needless to say, I have some great football teams to love so do not be surprised to hear some praise given to the Cowboys or college’s premier football factory when I chime in on this site.

This is the end of my first week working here and I have had a great time and feel very comfortable. Coming in to the first day I was not really sure what to expect, I have had jobs before and been in situations where I was new to something, but this has been my first true office experience and I was uneasy about how it would go the first day. Regardless of how I felt entering the situation, I am very glad that my first office experience is with Beckett. I mean I think that all of us dreamed of working for the company that fascinated us as youths, so I feel very fortunate to be interning with the company that captured so many of my hours of attention as a child.

My first day I was curious as to what my internship experience would be like, especially concerning what type of work I would be doing and how the people would be. The people at Beckett are wonderful. The fact that they all love what they do creates a fun and comfortable environment, which is especially nice for someone new coming into their world. Most of the people I met either told me, or I sensed that none of them had ever had an intern under them while here at Beckett. My question of what type of work I would be doing was still gray to me initially because in all reality it was gray to my superiors due to the fact that they did not know exactly where to put me to work.

It turned out that my first assignment I would have a lot of personal interest invested in. My first assignment was to organize my cubicle which had turned into the office mail drop spot. Walking into it, it seemed as if no one threw any mail away in this office and just stored it in this cubicle for the heck of it.

As I started to sort it and organize I realized that it was kept for a reason, it was all mail sent by loyal Beckett readers. So the next two days consisted of me sorting through countless mail crates, but in the process I got to see much of the perspective and insight of the Beckett reader either through contests they had entered or surveys they had filled out, or just a letter that they had written Beckett. Most of my jobs this past week have been dealing with organization but it has been worthwhile because it has given me a greater picture of the past few years and the work they has been done here at Beckett.

I look forward to the next few weeks and I am excited about the things that I know I will learn in that time. Until I write again, Fight On and Go Cowboys, I can’t wait for football season.

An open letter to Hollywood…

Posted July 14, 2008 by E. Jahnke
Categories: Beckett Blog, Opinions

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Hi Hollywood,

You don’t know me anymore, but I used to pay attention to you years ago.  I say “used to” because back about 10 years ago (roughly) in San Marcos, TX, I went to see a movie called “Face Off” on a date.

With rare exception, I haven’t been back to see you Hollywood, and as the weeks grew into months, and the months grew into years, I have not looked back.  I don’t regret it, Hollywood, there is no hole in my life and I do not feel anything is missing.  Frankly, Hollywood, your days of thrilling me are long over, and from what you have puked up since that dark and horrible date, I imagine there is little to no chance of them returning.

Still, Hollywood, this is America, and there is always a chance!  I firmly believe that, even with all of your garbage, your idiots, your smut, your anti-American propaganda, your plot-less hyper-gore flicks and your complete disdain of anything positive in this world.

You know why I think that, Hollywood?  You know why I think you can come back?

Two words:  Josh Hamilton.

Why would you want to write anything else BUT scripts that are similar to this man’s life?  Do you understand, Hollywood, that the folks in Yankee Stadium were chanting his name?  He was not in Arlington…this is Yankee Stadium.  That is nothing your best writers could come up with…ever.

Hollywood, I understand that you people know nothing about sports, after all, you have spewed forth such classics as Rocky V and Any Given Sunday. Still, even the worst hitters can get one every now and then.

This man has taken the literal roller coaster ride from the top at just 18-years-old to the very, very bottom just a few years later.  This is where you usually stop, Hollywood.  Once the good guy screws up and bottoms out.

Well, guess what Hollywood?   Josh Hamilton’s story did not stop there, he ignored your “The End” and climbed up out of his hole.

Novel concept, eh?

Even stranger to you, Hollywood, he actually took responsibility for his actions!  Nothing like your famous folk who swore to leave the country a few years back.  Can you even fathom someone standing up and saying, “Wow, I sure blew it, please forgive me.”

Blows your mind, doesn’t it, Hollywood?  Who would do such a thing?

Even better, this man, Josh Hamilton, is not afraid of his faith.  I am not saying everyone should be just like him, I am saying everyone should stop bashing those like him, no matter their religion.  Not to point fingers, but that would be me saying you are guilty, Hollywood.

Anyway, I know that you can do it!  Focus on the good things in life, like Josh Hamilton, and I bet you will be shocked at the folks that would come back to see you!

Josh looks like he will end up in second place, he has two outs left…so I guess that’s more your style Hollywood!  Wouldn’t want to be TOO positive, I would not want you to bite off more than you can chew, or blow your tiny, one-track minds!

Still, pay attention, you could learn something!

Sincerely,

BerkMAN

Posted July 14, 2008 by E. Jahnke
Categories: Beckett Baseball, MLB, Opinions

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OK, it took a while for him to heat up…but those upper deck shots sure were sweet.

Am I a homer?  You bet, go Berkman! (and go Hamilton - a close second for you, sir.)

Justin Morneau is next…like him, too, but I gotta go with my two favorites…

Any quick predictions?

Love it? Hate it? Bored with it?

Posted July 14, 2008 by E. Jahnke
Categories: Beckett Blog, Non-sport, Upper Deck

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It is becoming more and more frequent for card companies to include pop culture, hollywood, music, history, ect. in sports sets.  Everyone knows the popularity that the Donruss Americana line has had, but that was never a sports set.  The Allen and Ginter non-sport cards have proven to be a great success…but where do sets stop being sports and start being non-sports with a few sports celebrities included?

This one I pulled out of a pack of 2008 NFL UD Heroes that I grabbed on a whim from a Wal-Mart near my house.  While I loved Rage Against the Machine, and tolerated Audioslave, I am honestly not sure how I feel about 12 Guitar Heroes being included in this set (3 each of Tom Morello, Justin Hayward [Moody Blues], Steve Vai, and Tommy Iommi [Black Sabbath]–plus the various parallells of each card).

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it by any means…but I just wonder where it’s all heading?  I wonder if people love this or hate this, if they are sick of it or tolerate it?

Curious more than anything–

Oh, I forgot I brought another example, one near and dear to my heart… it’s out of a pack of 2008 UD Piece of History Baseball I grabbed at the same time.  (PS- I also got the WORST designed memorabilia card ever out of that pack, that one I will post at a later date).

I just don’t know what to say about this…

Posted July 14, 2008 by E. Jahnke
Categories: Beckett Blog, Donruss, Fleer, MLB, Topps, Upper Deck

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