State of Affairs: People Have Feelings in 2012

 1. While I have avoided the PSU scandal (which it is) like the plague, I am not in any way surprised at the reports that have come out. Anyone involved should be more than ashamed (but I believe in Karma), and I apologize to PSU grads and players for all of the ignorant people that lump you together. That just sucks.

2. Kobe needs to shut the eff up. The idea that the 2012 "team" would beat the Dream Team is simply laughable. Lebron, Kobe, KD, and...dude, do you want me to run down the DT Roster again?! I don't care how good you are as an individual (which each of the above players is, without question), but that is just what you are, and what you care about. The individual. I am not saying that a few of the Dream Team didn't have egos and larger-than-life perceptions of themselves, but that was not what they were known for. They were all the very best at their positions. Unselfish, team players who weren't movie stars. They were ALL STARS.

3. Topps Update

I bought a hobby box and landed this sucker. (#661 a) Sold it for 180 the next day. this was a perfect situation for me, not being a base topps rc collector (with few exceptions after 1975, I could care less, for real)

but I knew that this was coming out in a factory set

 hmmm. Not my bag. No auto, topps flagship "SSP"s are stupid. I have an Ozzie Smith from 2011 that is the only SP I've kept and that is only because it is an exceptionally beautiful card.

#661 b and c below

Bowman Chrome AUTOS came out well, some of my favorites (bogaerts is currently prohibitively expensive, but I said that about Posey's bochro auto too...)

And finish with a great cubs fail.

Peterson