Friday, 4 October 2002: Now bear in mind that this news can change, but it appears that My Big Fat Greek Wedding finally has a video/DVD release date... February 11, 2003. Yes, that is quite a while away still. But, it is just in time for Valentine's Day and Katie's birthday. What's weird, and cool, about this release date is that it puts it almost a whole year after the movie was originally released in theatres on April 19. Says a lot for the longevity of the flick, eh? I can't wait for this one.

Wednesday, 2 October 2002: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I used to collect baseball, hockey, football, and basketball cards. At the time, it was a helluva lot of fun because I knew several people that were also into it and we could get together and trade or bike to the local cardshop and buy what we wanted and needed to complete sets, etc. Well, card collecting is now firmly rooted at the bottom of a very deep, dark, downward spiral. Card prices shot through the roof, the number of companies making cards seemed to outnumber the amount of athletes they could make cards of, and all the good cardshops fell victim to the economic busts of the very early 90s. It's sad, really. Card collecting was a fun and fairly innocent hobby and easy as hell to become addicted to. I enjoyed it a lot. I've still got a lot of my good cards and sets, too.

Well, I've got to hand it to Topps - one of the original makers of baseball cards. They have seemingly found a way to breathe new life into a dying, if not dead, hobby. I happened across eTopps today. What is eTopps, you ask? Well, allow me to enlighten you... at least, insofar as I understand it.

eTopps is a site you visit and start a portfolio of players in the four most common sports in which sports cards existed - football, baseball, hockey, and basketball. They also have a category of "classic" retired athletes from all four sports. Every week or so, eTopps offers anywhere from 6-9 new players on cards. These are known as IPOs (Initial Player Offerings). They set a price on the cards and a fixed quantity that are made available. You determine which players in this particular IPO round you want, click on them, and submit your selections. Then you are given the opportunity to modify the quantity you want of each card. Then you place your order (yes, this does involve real money in the form of a credit card). When the IPO period is expired, eTopps allocates the cards based on your orders. You may or may not get all the cards you ordered, but I assume you are not charged for any portion of your order that is not fulfilled. Then, these cards (real cardboard cards) are placed in an eTopps vault and the record of your ownership is maintained in your portfolio and in their database. As time passes, the value of the card is either positively or negatively impacted by their performance. You can track this in your portfolio, as well. Plus, you can sell your cards on the eTopps Trading Floor which is an auction site run by eBay. People place bids on your cards just like any other auction and, if they win the auction, the "possession" of the card is transferred to their account. Cool concept, eh?

It seems to have been going on for a couple of years now as they have players listed from 2000. There are 90 cards available each year in each sport and you can collect whomever you choose. You never have to worry about duplicate cards unless you want them. And you never have to worry about garbage "filler" cards. The condition of the actual, physical card is guaranteed by eTopps until such time that you take possession of the card. Yes, if you so desire, you can pay a small shipping fee and have the cards sent to you. However, once you have them in hand, eTopps is no longer responsible for the condition of the cards and you are no longer eligible to sell them on the Trading Floor.

My only concern is that the price of the cards initially tends to be a bit high. Not too terrible if you were still into collecting cards near its death knell. For example, Donte Stallworth, the New Orleans Saints' rookie runningback, is starting out at $6.50. Not bad and I know the value of his card would go up, but I can't justify spending that kind of money on what effectively amounts to a virtual card. I'd like to, but I'm just not into collecting anymore. I think something like this could be fun, though, and would also be a great way to learn about economics, stocks, portfolios, and the like. All you high school business teachers might want to take this to heart... *cough* Scott *cough*

Tuesday, 1 October 2002: Well, I've got some new photos up for you all to peruse. We've got some cool ones from Steve's homecoming game. Of course, since he was on the field, he's not in any of the shots. Mostly the shots are of what we have dubbed "The Kicker Krew" which is Steve's bleacher fan club. You'll also get to see the Kick-o-Meter which is fashioned after the Sosa-meter found at Cubs games and used to document Sammy Sosa's annual home run count. The second set of photos I added are just three shots of what happened to Katie's car when someone stole her hubcap and lugnuts off one wheel back in August. They're pretty good shots done by Katie in the rain no less. Kinda intriguing for non-gearheads (like myself) to see some of the hidden workings of a car.