Tag: Basketball

The Steph Curry Rookie Card Dilemma

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The Backstory: 

I’ve been a Warriors fan since Baron Davis and have followed Steph since day one. I consider Steph Curry to be the greatest “pound for pound” basketball player of all-time. As a HUGE fan I had been searching for one definitive rookie card for my personal collection. 

The Dilemma: 

Like most notable 21st century athletes, Steph has way too many rookie cards. PSA lists 81 different 2009 Stephen Curry rookie cards. He literally has over 100,000 rookie cards in circulation. For comparison sake, Hank Aaron only has 6,860 rookie cards graded by PSA. Demand is high for Steph, but one day some of his cards will likely be considered “junk wax.” His most popular Topps rookie card has him smiling in white warmup sweats. I personally dislike the card (where is the Warriors jersey?), not to mention there are almost 4,584 graded by PSA. The dilemma? How to acquire a truly unique Steph Curry rookie card?

The Criteria:

-The card has to have an “on card” autograph. So many of Steph’s cards have sticker autographs, and who wants one of those?

-The card has to have a large image of Steph wearing a Warriors uniform, not one of those patch cards with a little photo of him on the side.

-The card has to be PSA graded. I love SGC, but not for modern cards.

-The card has to be scarce.

My Card:

Checked all the boxes: (SCARCE) the only 1 in the world, on card autograph, Warriors uniform, iconic image with that baby-faced assassin charisma.

I have some family expenses, so I’ve decided to sell this amazing card! It is available for purchase here:https://www.ebay.com/itm/375348877055

Listening To My Shortwave Radio

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you might think it was all tina turner, the cars, or tears for fears, but vinyl could only take me so far, same songs, over & over, flip to side 2, try to save allowance money for the new billy idol album, or listen to casey kasem, see if anyone fresh was in the top 40, but then i got my GE shortwave radio & became an auditory magellan, forget karma chameleon & all that pop sound, i now spent nights slowly turning the dial, on a quest to travel the airwaves, listening as the basketball play by play guy said, louisville has the ball, i added a marker dot to my map of cities: new orleans, pittsburgh, morgantown, buffalo, each night i tuned in to: games, preachers, news, weather, anything & everything, in search of a new locale, another mark for my map, of course it was more than this, i was a 1980’s lewis & clark kid, connecting with my country, & this is still what i’m doing today, except i’m the one broadcasting & you might be in croatia instead of cincinnati.

1987 Basketball Hero

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I shoot baskets like no one is watching. No one is
watching, except me, dream of youth, of future stardom, of
current stardom. Driveway hero of every game, concrete cracks
little lines where I place my sneakers, then heave up shot after
shot toward the red rim, its gravity like a sun, my sun, basketball
that sphere of influence. Minutes become an hour, become time itself.
Stand here, move there, under the hoop, arms and legs
leaping toward the sky.

Remembering Mr. DeLong: 1946-2023

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I attended Taylor Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia during the late 1970’s into the mid-1980’s. I had some incredible teachers at Taylor. Very high on that list was Mr. DeLong (Mr. D). He was my physical education teacher and had played college basketball and baseball at George Washington University. His approach to PE was methodical; he was so dedicated to the Presidential Fitness Test, Field Day competitions, and all of the details that went into games like dodgeball and earth ball. I remember his deep love of basketball and can still picture his smooth jump shot. After I graduated from college, I came back to visit with Mr. D. We shot hoops for part of an afternoon and I enjoyed just being near his calm energy. A couple of years later I taught my very first class of students at Malcolm X Elementary School in San Francisco. With those 4th graders I went by Mr. D, in honor of Mr. DeLong.

You can read his obituary here: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/arlington-va/jeffery-delong-11255200?utm_source=obit_alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=obit_detail&utm_content=decedent_name

My Best Moment All Summer

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My son made 100 baskets,
really quite a feat, for
he’s not a natural athlete.
He stood in the sun
and watched the rim, again
and again and again. Mostly
he missed, but that was
no matter, because he never
quit. And after many minutes
over an hour, in fact,
he drained his last bucket,
arms triumphant in the air.
I hugged him very close
my best moment all summer