Recap Of Saints Packers Game And The Start Of Our Panini NFL Sticker Collection

What a way to start the season.  Football is most definitely back. 

Last night the New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl Winners two years ago, took on the Green Bay Packers, the returning Super Bowl Champs.  In a hard fought battle all the way through to the final play of the game, the Packers beat the Saints, 42 to 34.

The Packers came out of the gate, looking strong, quickly marching down the field, 76 yards in 9 plays for a TD on the first possession of the game.

Two plays into their first series of downs, the Saints lost the ball on a fumble caused by Nick Collins, the only turnover of the game.

After the recovery, playing in his first regular season game since his injury in game 5 of last year, Jermichael Finley caught his first pass, on his way to a 53-yard evening.

After a see-saw battle that saw only 6 total punts for the game, it all came down the final play of the game.  From the one yard line with no time on the clock, the Saints had the opportunity to bring the game to a tie with a touchdown and two-point conversion.  They handed the ball to their rookie running back.

Mark Ingram, who had the most touches and yards of the Saints running back committee with 40 yards on 13 carries, was about to leap into the endzone just as the Packer defense...

lead by Clay Matthews surged forward and clipped Ingram’s legs out from under him.

 It was a classic goal line stance and a great way to get the win.

So all of these stickers are going into our album.  Please link back to our post on Panini’s Cars 2 Stickers for a detailed description of placing stickers in your album.  Here is the short version.

Find the number on the back of your sticker.

Find the corresponding number in you album.

 Peel and stick.

Couldn’t be easier.  

Here is how our Packers page is shaping up now that we have a few stickers.

We will announce the winners of our Panini NFL Sticker Starter Kits soon.  More Sticker fun on Sunday.

The Topps Prime 9 Redemption Card For Week 8 is Ichiro!

This is week 8 of the Topps Prime 9 Redemption Program.  Using cards found in 2011 Topps Baseball Series 2 hobby and jumbo boxes, collectors have been able to obtain the following players. 

Week 1 was Johnny Bench. 

Week 2 was Albert Pujols. 

Week 3 was Jackie Robinson.

Week 4 was Derek Jeter. 

Week 5 was Mike Schmidt. 

Week 6 was Hank Aaron. 

Week 7 was Mickey Mantle. 

Now for Week 8 if you have one of these...

...its time to go visit your HTA Local Hobby Shop and redeem those cards.  Here is what you will get.

An Ichiro Prime 9 limited edition Chrome Refractor card.  Ichiro’s “Prime 9 Moments” include at age seven, practiced by hitting 500 balls per day, only player with 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons, and Gold Glove winner in every season of career.  So get to your participating LCS and redeem those cards.  And don’t forget to fill out the back of your redemption card to be entered into a sweepstakes.  You could win a trip to the 2012 World Series.

Check in next week to find out who is on the card for week 9, the last week in the promotion.

Sidney Crosby Press Conference Reveals There Is No Timetable For His Return

Sidney Crosby will not be rushed when it comes to his health.  With his doctor's by his side, Crosby held a press conference to answer questions about his recovery from a concussion that has put his future in the NHL on hold.

According to his doctors, Crosby is the model patient, compliant, heeding their advice and working tremendously hard to get to a full recovery.  They seem to feel he has made huge strides towards getting better, but with a quality player like Crosby, with so many potentially good years ahead of him, nothing less than a 100 percent recovery will do and Sidney agrees.  All of this means there is no timetable for Crosby's return.

Crosby suffered hits to the head during several games in early January and started to show signs of a concussion, foggy head, blurred vision.  He removed himself from the line up and did not return for the remainder of 2010-11 season.

Crosby was straight forward about his health in this press conference, admitting it was hard to watch video for too long and that currently skating at 80 to 90 percent exertion causes his headaches to return.  But he never considered this injury cause for retirement.  When asked if he thought he would have to sit out the 2011-12 season, Crosby said there was a slim chance, but he wouldn't bet on it.  He feels it is more likely he will be on the ice at some point before the season is over.

When It Comes To Fantasy Football and Picks, No Site Does It Better Than The NFL

In Fantasy Football it seems like everyone one who has an opinion considers themselves an expert.  Every site that hosts Fantasy Leagues services has a few "experts" who will let you know who you should start on any given week.  I've played in leagues on almost every hosting site out there and the only "experts" that I've found that seem to get things right on a consistent basis are on the NFL Fantasy Football site.  The best of them is is Michael Fabiano.

Without having to resort to cliched one-liners or loud, boisterous predictions, he provides solid advice that everyone can use, whether your style is high risk/high reward or conservative.  Rarely is his advice is off.  Fabiano is a master at picking 'em.

And speaking of great picks, this morning I went to the NFL Fantasy Site to adjust one of my teams and I was struck by this photo on the opening page.

Of course that is Sam Bradford getting some sideline advice.  But like the curious case of Adam Gandolfo and the Gypsy Queens, my attention is drawn over Bradford's shoulder to the teammate behind him, A. J. Feely.  Talk about picking a winner!

So if you are still looking for a place to play Fantasy Football this season, make sure you check out the NFL's site using this link.

Your Chance To Win Our 2011 Panini NFL Sticker Collection Contest

Back in June, when the fate of the 2011 NFL Season was undecided, when it looked like there would be no football because of the lockout, we made a promise.

“We have no idea if there will be an NFL season this year, but we will have Football here at the blog.   At a rate of about 4 pages a week we will do our best to fill an album and share our progress with you.   We might even give away a few homemade starter kits to get some of you on your way to filling an album.”

Things worked out for the best, the 2011 NFL season kicks off next Thursday with the Saints taking on the Packers in Green Bay.  Keeping true to our word, we will begin the journey to complete the 72 page 2011 Panini NFL Sticker Album with all 494 stickers.

The question is... who is joining us?

With that many sticker to collect, trades are inevitable, so speak up.  Leave a comment telling us if you’ve already started your own album and if you have any stickers to trade.  And for those of you that want to start, but haven’t, let us know too. 

Now for the contest. 

If you following All About Cards and decide to leave a comment, you will be in the running for one of our homemade starter kits which includes a 2011 Panini NFL Sticker album, the stickers that come with it and we will throw in some additional stickers on top of that.  And for those of you that have already begun your own albums, if you follow All About Cards and decide to leave a comment, you will be in the running for your choice of a homemade starter kit or a sticker prize package to help you with your needs based on availability.

Former New York Mets Star, Howard Johnson, To Play Minor League Baseball With His Son

It was one of the major themes of Field of Dreams, a father and son connecting through baseball, getting one last chance to simply toss a ball to each other.  Through the years, these father and son catches have been played out in backyards and public parks, but this weekend there will be one on display during a minor league baseball game.

At the age of 50, Howard Johnson, the former New York Mets third baseman, will come out of his 16-year retirement to play for the Rockland Boulders.  The Boulders have also signed HoJo’s 23 year old son, Glen Johnson.  Both Johnsons will be on the field for the last two games of the season, at home against the Newark Bears.

Howard Johnson, who will be playing on a bad knee in need of replacement surgery and Glen, who was selected in the 36th round of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft by the New York Mets but never signed, will probably only impact ticket sales.   But for most, watching a father and son living out the dream of playing together on the same team will definitely be worth the price of admission.

“This may be my last go ‘round so it’s a great opportunity to play in a professional game with my son,” said Howard Johnson. “How many fathers can do that?”

Topps Adds Nine More First Round Players Signing Autographs For Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects

Topps has added 9 more players who will be signing cards for their upcoming release of Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects.  That brings the current total to 30 confirmed signers. 29 of those players were selected in the 1st Round of the 2011 MLB Draft (including supplemental 1st Round).

Here are the nine newly announced players.

Tyler Anderson - Rockies                                  

Michael Fulmer - Mets

Kyle Crick - Giants

Larry Greene - Phillies

Travis Harrison - Twins

Taylor Jungmann - Brewers

Blake Snell - Rays

Robert Stephenson - Reds

Blake Swihart - Red Sox

They join the previously released list of autograph signers in Bowman Draft Picks:

                                    

Javier Baez - Cubs

Matt Barnes - Red Sox

Trevor Bauer - D’Backs

Jed Bradley - Bewers

CJ Cron - Angels

Jose Fernandez - Marlins

Tyler Goeddel - Rays

Sonny Gray - A’s

Jake Hager - Rays

James Harris -  Rays

Francisco Lindor - Indians

Brandon Martin - Rays

Kevin Matthews - Rangers

Brandon Nimmo - Mets

George Springer - Astros

Corey Spangenberg - Padres

Trevor Story - Rockies

Dan Vogelbach - Cubs

Keenyn Walker - White Sox

Kolten Wong - Cardinals

Joe Panik - Giants

Bowman Draft Picks, set to release November 23rd, guarantees a Chrome on-card autograph in every hobby box.  Bryce Harper will be featured on autograph cards.

Topps has 4 additional signers to announce next week.  Look here for an update post when the names are announced.