Retro Review – Finding My Happy Place

How do we know if we are living our best life? I’m not talking about just being generally happy; I wonder sometimes if I’m really doing what I was meant to do in life. No matter how happy we are, we always think there is something out there that might make us a little happier. I often wrestle with whether that is human nature or if that is the soul’s way of telling us that there is a better path available to us. Trust me, you really start to think about these sorts of things when you hit your 40’s! By then, we have made a bunch of mistakes, learned from them, typically found our niche in life and we are just living day by day.

I think the mind has evolved quite a bit by then as well; because we have so many experiences under our belt. Some of us are raising kids, some have been at a job for 15+ years, and almost all of us have spread our wings at some point and learned what our limitations are. So by now, for those of us in that age range or older, there is a more pronounced sense of urgency in finding our little corner of the world to thrive in. We can sometimes start to press at this stage. What have I done with my life? Have I become the person I thought I would be by now? How much time have I wasted? Those type questions really have you measuring the happiness and fullness of your life.

I don’t know yet if I’m where I’m supposed to be in life. I’m trying everyday to reach the pinnacle of something. But everything brings varying degrees of happiness. There are only a few things I’ve discovered in life that truly, without fail, bring me happiness. There are “givens” like my wife and kids, and family and friends. But there are a few other things that can cure whatever is ailing me. Some of them I should be able to do for the rest of my life but some of them are fading with age and I’m holding on as long as I can.

Horror Movies

I discovered early on that Horror was my genre. I got a glimpse at “The Shining” way before I should have and I was fascinated. I saw the end of Friday the 13th while flipping channels too late at night when I was about 10 years old. One of the best movies I’ve ever seen was a movie I just stumbled on during another late night as I was drifting off to sleep. I’ve written about “Night of the Living Dead” before and the feeling I got when I saw it for the first time is a feeling I constantly chase when watching new movies. That feeling is elusive but I enjoy chasing it. Even today, I will drift off to sleep watching “Ash vs Evil Dead” on Netflix on my phone in bed. Horror movies keep me connected to my youth, as weird as that may sound.

Fishing

My dad taught me to fish at a very early age. I’ve spent most of my life in or around some sort of waterway. While I’ve spent my fair share of summer days skiing or kayaking, my first love when it comes to the water has always been fishing. As the old saying goes, “a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work”. It’s actually better than most days I can think of. I spent so much of my youth fishing in tournaments with my dad, catching bream with my granddaddy or just sitting on the dock fishing next to my favorite stump. I’d rather fish a back country creek than a big body of water any day but I have never been overly picky about a fishing destination. One of my favorite anniversary’s was the one from two years ago when my buddy Barry took Mrs. Dub and I to the Ichawaynochaway Creek in Baker County to wade the water and load up on bluegill.

Basketball

I enjoy almost all sports. I’ve played baseball/softball on an annual basis since I was 5. I played football until I stopped growing and the other guys didn’t. I still love watching it and playing it when the opportunity arises. I hammered Tecmo Bowl, Double Dribble, RBI Baseball, NBA Jam, Madden and Bases Loaded as a kid (and an adult). And I’ve even dipped my toes into the world of hockey (roller) and golf but those are more fun than competitive for me.

But the one sport that I played more than any other growing up was basketball. It didn’t matter if it was winter or summer, me and my friends would find a basketball goal somewhere and strike up a game. I had a sweet setup in my backyard, Todd had a dunk goal at his house, Munt had a lighted court at his house and Christopher’s dad was a high school coach at the local private school so we had an all access pass to the gym there.

I remember playing on Thursday Nights at the middle school gym with the toughest competition in the city and I remember playing one on one at Coop’s House. It didn’t matter if it was a dusty court with a wooden backboard or a nice wood gym floor with breakaway rims. I would play basketball with anybody, anywhere and at anytime. I even skipped lunch in school to play basketball with classmates. I used to practice my jump shot over and over and over in my backyard. I would try to shoot from all over the court but would force myself to make 5 consecutive shots before moving to a new spot.

Basketball is one of the things that I’m holding on to for dear life. I’m 41, 5’11, 225 lbs and am still trying to make moves I made as a 16 year old in the city league I’m playing in. It’s frustrating to know what you want your body to do but not be able to make it do it. I can still see the court like I did as a kid; I’m just not able to shoot lanes and thread passes like I did back then. It doesn’t stop me from trying. I’m really a different person on the court than I am in the rest of my life. Even in softball, I’m usually the quiet guy that just gets down to business when the game starts, trying to avoid the competitive machismo that has taken over the sport.

But when I step on the basketball court, I have a different attitude. My goal is to find your weak spot and exploit it. Many times that involves trash talk and the general pushing of buttons. I like to get under your skin on the basketball court. It has always been a cerebral game for me but now more so than ever, with my first step not being what it used to be. I will still go right at you and attack. Now I just use my size more than speed. But I still absolutely love the game and feel completely at home in a gym. When I step on the court, it almost feels like an out of body experience. It’s zen like in many ways.

It helps that I love the team I play on. It’s the same general squad as my softball team but we also have a player or two from outside of that sport. This year, we have Nate, a player who I coached many years ago as a 2nd Grader, and CJ, Mi Hermano De Otro Madre. Nate provides us with much needed youth and CJ is a never ending ball of energy. Eric and Plug give us the inside presence that every team needs and they both can hit the jumper when we need it. Chase is a beast on the boards and at the rim. Jeff and Bret are the quick guards that keep the defense on their toes. Ryan makes players think twice about taking the ball to the hoop. Darrell can give us minutes at guard and forward while Gary does his weekly Uncle Drew impersonation.

Then there is me. The guy that keeps the pot stirring with the “and 1’s” and the “give me the damn ball” bravado of my youth. I try to be a point guard and a power forward at the same time. I don’t do anything perfectly but I think I’m ok in most areas. The speed isn’t the same, my range has gotten closer to the basket and I’m better in a zone than man to man but I still have the game set up in my head as good as I ever have.

Most of all, we function well as a team. We learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses and try to put each other in the best position to succeed. We generally love and respect each other like brothers and we always have each other’s back. It’s the classic case of, “I can pick on my brother but you better not say something bad about him.”

The Sorting Table

This is my refuge. This is where I can go at any time and just let the problems of the world melt away. I don’t have to have anybody with me, I don’t have to have good weather, I don’t have to find something on Netflix and I don’t have to even leave the house. This is where my peace of mind is found on even my toughest days. I can sit down with something costly like Topps Heritage or I can sit down with a $4.99 repack box from Walgreens and I’ll have just as much fun. In some cases, I have more fun with the repacks. I can sort alphabetically, numerically, by team, by player, by year or by product. It doesn’t matter when I sit down at the sorting table because there are no rules. There are no expectations. The sorting table is for relaxation and peace of mind.

The sorting table can take me back to my youth or it can give me a glimpse into the future with some new wave product. I can collect baseball, football or basketball; whatever I’m in the mood for. I can work on my Braves, UGA, Falcons or Hawks PC. I can work on my Dated Rookies project, my 1990 Topps quest or my goal of completing the 1977 Topps Baseball Set from my birth year. There is no agenda and anything goes. Every day is different but the goal is the same. This is where I enjoy the best hobby in the world and I can go to any time period from 1977 til now. I can remember trades with my friends, games I played with the cards, the first set I owned, the first product I opened, the first Rated Rookie I pulled. I can find it all at the sorting table.

And tonight, we find something that connects two of my happy activities; the sorting table and basketball. My love for basketball was white hot in 1991 when this Hoops set hit the scene. The NBA will never be as good as it was then and nobody will ever convince me otherwise. This set was not the first I had in my collection but was very early in my basketball days. Hoops was abundant in my hometown, along with Skybox, and was the set I went looking for on my trips to Wal-Mart. Despite how much I loved it then, this box didn’t age well through 2018. Notice the hats and shirts say “NBA” instead of a team name. What a cheesy photo. Luckily, the contents inside the box got much better!

Hoops was known for its “baggy” style pack, much like Score of the junk wax era.

It doesn’t take long to realize why the NBA was at its best during this time. Starting with the guards, you have legends like Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Clyde Drexler and Reggie Miller. Richmond and Hardaway were the 91 version of Harden and Paul today. I also believe that today’s collector or NBA fan will never truly understand how good of a player Drazen Petrovic was! What a start to the box review with these guards!

There isn’t a drop off to the forwards either! Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Dominique Wilkins and Shawn Kemp keep the nostalgia train rolling. I was a huge fan of Sean Elliott too and coveted his rookie cards from the year before. I was at a summer camp when Reggie Lewis died and I still remember sitting on the bed seeing that news on ESPN.

Of course there aren’t as many centers to be found because there was only one starter per team. But there are still some headliners like David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing. Manute Bol was always a fan favorite and I remember the game when he drilled six 3 pointers in a single half in 1993! Draymond Green fans would’ve loved Bill Laimbeer.

How about some coaches? Look how young this quartet looks!

I came up pretty empty overall on the East All-Star team. I like Wilkins, Ewing and Barkley of course but I don’t remember clamoring for Ricky Pierce and Alvin Robertson cards.

The West was a little stronger with Drexler, Hardaway, Magic, Mullin, Admiral and Stockton.

Here are the award winners from the previous season. Anybody think MVP wasn’t going to be MJ? Rodman as defensive POY seems like a lock too. The Skiles award surprised me a little.

This subset commemorated rookie seasons of the past. Gotta love the Chief Warriors jersey.

I was happy to add another Bird and Jordan to the stack. These were “milestones” and Jordan was points and Larry was points, rebounds and assists.

Remember the weekly NBA show “Inside Stuff” with Amhad Rashad? Here’s the inserts dedicated to the show.

I remember the big push from the NBA for kids to stay in school. Each set had some cards dedicated to that cause. This is a neat Will Smith card.

The league leaders were cool dual cards with nice designs. I obviously remember Jordan and the Mailman lighting up the scoreboard but I would’ve never guessed that Trent Tucker and Jim Les led the league in 3 Pt Percentage.

The team cards were mostly standard on court photos but there were a couple nice photos like the Lakers and Pacers. The best one was the Hornets card!

Lastly, I truly don’t remember ever pulling this card as a kid. This Centennial Card has a nice silver foil that seems a little ahead of its time.

The NBA was unbelievable in the early 90’s and fans today that didn’t get to experience it will never understand. This set was a prime example of the greatness of 91 basketball. The design is clean, there are a ton of superstars and there are plenty of insert type cards to provide a nice variety. The box was only $6.95 at my LCS so price is almost non-existent. I love early 90’s Hoops and this year is my personal favorite. I also enjoyed Skybox from this year and I’ll probably review it soon as well. I can’t think of any negatives to this set other than the fact that it’s smack dab in the middle of the junk wax era and you can still find them everywhere. Still, this set is a “5” on the Dub-O-Meter and I thoroughly enjoyed this nostalgic rip!

J-Dub

Scoring Scale

1.Let me be the sacrificial lamb so you don’t have to buy these cards.  Just read the post and thank me later.

2.There is worse but there is much better – not worth the effort though.

3.Middle of the road – I wouldn’t talk you into buying these but I certainly wouldn’t talk you out of them.

4.You should probably go out and buy a box and enjoy the rip – I did!  It has some downside but worth the ride.

5.Stop reading and find a box to buy and get to Breaking!  What are you waiting on?