Beckett

College coaches share spotlight in new Upper Deck set

By Chris Olds | Editor

In the college ranks, there’s typically one man who stands above the rest.

The head coach.

While countless coaching legends have appeared on cards through the years, it’s in Collegiate Licensing Company-approved and draft pick products where the legends are often found. The likes of Bobby Knight, John Wooden, Bobby Bowden, Tom Osborne and many more have made their way into packs.

But there are still more to be found — and that’s where the latest effort from Upper Deck comes in.

Arriving today after some delays is World of Sports, a multi-sport 375-card set that features some prominent basketball coaches along with athletes from baseball, basketball, swimming, hockey, skiing and much more. Among the highlights are 30 top coaches, including: Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Bill Self (Kansas), Jim Calhoun (Connecticut), Bob Huggins (West Virginia) and Tubby Smith (Minnesota).

“This is an exciting venture to have college basketball coaches featured on Upper Deck trading cards,” Self said. ” It was always a thrill opening up packs of cards as a youngster to see who you had.”

Some of the other notable athletes in the set include Bo Jackson, Jose Canseco, Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, Tiger Woods, Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux and LeBron James.

Filed under: Beckett Media, college basketball, Upper Deck Tagged: 2011 Upper Deck World of Sports, Bob Hugguns, David Beckham, Joe Canseco, Tiger Woods, Upper Deck, World of Sports
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Blake Griffin 1/1 could be yours … for $32,000

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor

We’ve looked at Blake Griffin’s cards before on the blog. We asked which of his rookie cards would you like to own.

But if you could own any of his cards – rookie card logo rules withheld – would this card be it?

Griffin’s 2009-2010 National Treasures Logoman auto 1/1 is on eBay with a staggering buy it now price. Anyone who is interested in the card would only need to fork over ,032.32

The seller is not accepting any low-ball offers either. He states directly in his auction that anything submitted under ,000 will automatically declined. Twenty offers have already been submitted, but he hasn’t taken any yet.

In the last year, we’ve seen some cards go far tremendous prices – mostly in the baseball world such as Stephen Strasburg’s 2010 Bowman Chrome Superfractor.

But if this card were to go to auction, what do you think would be the final price?

Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.

Filed under: Beckett Media, NBA, Panini Tagged: 2009-2010 national treasures basketball, Blake Griffin, Panini
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Photo Gallery: Inside the NFL Experience

By Andrew Tolentino | Assistant Editor

Braving the second evening of a three-day North Texas ice apocalypse, I put on my warmest clothes and ventured to the Dallas Convention Center for the Super Bowl XLV NFL Experience.

Despite the freezing temperatures, I  arrived without incident and with childlike glee when I saw the epic Super Bowl XLV letters standing in the iced-over convention center lawn. As visitors – some locals, some tourists, some brandishing terrible towels, some sporting cheese heads – poured inside the building, I couldn’t help but momentarily absorb the spectacle from afar.

However, I have seen the movie “Alive,” and I know what prolonged exposure can do to a man.

After making my way inside the traveling NFL theme park and eating a protein bar (just to make sure),  I confirmed the glorious magnitude foreshadowed by that dramatic entrance. I was greeted with the hustle and bustle of show-goers, a light show and an enormous Drew Brees cut-out hanging from the ceiling. At the epicenter of the experience, the Topps and Panini-sponsored Memorabilia Show lured me in immediately. Bringing their best host-city wares and cream-of-the-crop football collectibles, dealers set up shop, hoping to make hobbyists out of every attendee. Offering reasonably-priced merchandise and promotions to a crowd of awestruck football fanatics, most of these merchants didn’t have to do much convincing. 

Beyond gridiron collectibles, the event was packed with engaging exhibits and photo ops. I watched as attendees posed with their heads atop life-sized mannequins from various teams, placed their hands in player-casted molds and stood in line for autographs from Will Witherspoon and Chinedum Ndukwe. Surrounded by locker room display cases, visitors could even use computers to search for and watch specific plays from the season.

Marked by interactive displays, free autograph sessions and other activities throughout, the event is more than just a sight to behold. Appropriately labeled, the spectacle is all about the experience.

With that being said, below are some of the visual highlights from my frigid, but rewarding night. Stay tuned for an upcoming NFL Experience video.

Filed under: Beckett Media, NFL, Panini, Topps Tagged: Dallas Super Bowl, NFL Experience Memorabilia Show, Panini, Super Bowl XLV NFL Experience, Topps
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