Another Jeff trade package and some weekend congratulations

It was a bit of an up and down weekend for Michigan (Notre Dame is #1 in the BCS?  Are the end times truly upon us?!) but overall I'd say things went very well.  Before I get to my trade package from Jeff, a few congratulations are in order:

-To Dustin of No Relics Pulled for becoming gainfully employed by the University.  This was actually a couple weeks ago, but I didn't want to jinx it and see him get fired for reading blogs all day long.  He now works in the building across the street from my office and may once again find himself flush with cash to spend on cards!

-To Michigan Hockey for its re dedication of the Old Barn, Yost Ice Arena.  On Friday I posted a couple shots of the "old" Yost just before I left for the game, and I snapped a few before and during that game and ceremony.  Unfortunately the hockey team was swept by Notre Dame, but the new look arena and the celebration were outstanding.  A couple quick pics:

Now with way more Windows!

Much brighter inside now, the luxury sections are spiffy, and did I mention they unblocked the windows?!

A hockey game broke out at this rave.  Everyone was given styrofoam tubes with lights in them (too cheap to call them glow sticks) to wave around when the lights went down, and the effect was awesome.  The guys on the ice are mostly some of Michigan's legendary hockey alumni, including winners Brendan Morrison and Marty Turco!

Despite the loss, I had a great time, and I look forward to seeing many more games in what's become a nicely-upgraded rink inside of a classic building.

-To Michigan Football for a very successful Senior Day that featured a surprising amount of a non-throwing Denard Robinson and a lethal dose of a dominant Devin Gardner scoring goalpoints left and right.  Brady Hoke's Wolverines remained perfect at home for the second straight year, which I have to imagine Bo would like.  Onwards now to Hate Week with a tilt against a perfect but on-probation Ohio team that surely wants revenge for last year.

Trade with Jeff:

So Jeff let me know he was heading up on Saturday for the Iowa game, and that meant we got to trade in-person once again.  I had a small amount of stuff I knew he'd like (a card or two of which you may see here if he feels like it) but he had a jackpot of a score for me thanks to the following 11 cards:

Braylon Edwards 2005 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Sweet Swatches jersey

Braylon Edwards 2006 Leaf Cerified Materials Fabric of the Game jersey (#092/100)

Braylon Edwards 2010 Panini Plates & Patches Autographs Gold auto (#1/5)

Three great Braylons I needed made for an excellent start.  My favorite is obviously the autograph.  As I was flipping through these, Jeff casually mentioned that it was #d /5.  I flipped it over and went "WHOA!" when I saw it was good old #1.  Sweet!  This was easily the best card in the package, but it's not like it didn't have some competition, which I'll point out below.  This trio puts Braylon at 46 hits, and as of this post he's now tied with Chad Henne for 2nd place, though things will change as I post more COMC stuff.

Brian Griese 2002 Flair Jersey Heights jersey

Fleer is very hit and miss when it comes to design.  Some of their best cards have been very simple--especially one of my favorite all-time baseball sets in 1997--and they've also come up with some good premium looks.  This one doesn't come in as one of their winners in my opinion, but only because of the bland background, which at least is jersey-like.  It doesn't matter that much to me, though, as I'm not really picky when it comes to Michigan hits.  Griese moves up to 9 hits and will hopefully hit double-digits soon!

Charles Woodson 2008 Upper Deck Green Bay Gamers manuhelmet

Here's another favorite of mine despite the fact that it's a manurelic.  I was actually about to pick one up pretty soon on COMC, but Jeff obviated the necessity to do so by including it this time.  These are just fun looking cards, even without signatures.  In some ways I prefer these to some of the manustuff that Topps has produced.  It's simple but looks great, and a helmet card makes much more sense than something like a random stitched signature on "leather."  If you're a Packers fan and weren't aware of this set, there's actually 23 others, and since they're not crazy expensive, it may be worth putting the set together.  This is Woodson #4 for me, by the way.

Chris Perry 2004 Bowman Signs of the Future auto

Chris Perry 2004 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Sweet Swatches jersey

Here we have a nice duo of Chris Perry hits from 2004.  I was actually after the autograph myself so that's great to have.  It just has a very appealing look--nice horizontal layout with pleasing colors and a cool autograph.  The jersey looks really nice too thanks to the shock of Cincinnati orange.  Perry hits a nice milestone of 25 hits with this pair, making him my 9th football player to hit that mark.

Jake Long 2010 Topps Magic auto

Here's another one I really, really wanted, but just hadn't pulled the trigger on after finding it on COMC.  For all that I complain about Topps, Magic is almost always a set I really like, even without college unis.  This is an outstanding Jake Long autograph where everything just looks right, and I have no doubt it'll remain a favorite of mine for a long time.  As usual, Long is the benchmark for my football PC, leading the pack with an eye-popping 56 hits.

Jason Avant 2006 Leaf Rookies & Stars jersey RC (#100/799)

Here's a spiffy jersey/RC of the Eagles' most sure-handed WR, who's doomed to try to catch passes from such legendary QBs as Michael "I'm not dead yet!" Vick and Nick "Which team to I play for?" Foles.  God I  hope he can get out of Philly soon!  Anyway, this is a really nice horizontal card with a solid jersey swatch, and it doesn't hurt that it's both a RC and #d to exactly 100.  Avant now sits at 27 hits after today's post.

Marquise Walker 2002 Fleer Hot Prospects jersey RC (#0986/1000)

Like Braylon, Marquise wore #1 for Michigan, but since this card wasn't #d as low as 5, I'll settle for whatever serial number I can get.  This is another card with a design that just looks pleasing to me, probably because the team colors work well with the photo and the beautiful Tampa red swatch.  I've definitely needed more stuff of Marquise, and fortunately, Jeff made that happen, putting the former WR up to nine cards, just like Brian Griese above.

Steve Breaston 2011 Topps Rising Rookies Draft Selections jersey

Finally, sticking with the red theme we've got going here, there's this so-red-it-must-be-Communist Steve Breaston jersey.  It definitely works thanks to Arizona's team colors, though, and I kind of like the football pattern it has doing on as well.  Once in a while it's fun to see a set like this that celebrates various players' draft selections, especially when it reminds you that some players manage to perform above their draft slots.  Steve did for a while until injuries and being ignored made him a non-factor, though the worst thing for his career so far has been to end up with the lowly Chiefs.  Get him a real team with a real QB, get him the ball in space and watch him go!  Just my second Breaston relic, he now sits at 12 hits overall.

New football PC total after today's additions:  587.

New all-sport PC total after today's additions:  773.

This is without a doubt one of the best trade packages I've received, so I most definitely need to go out of my way to thank Jeff for another outstanding trade!  Also, thanks for driving two and a half hours up here so I could save a couple bucks worth of postage.  If you haven't traded with Jeff yet, find some Michigan uni cards or work on any of his other wants over at his Chicago White Sucks-themed blog My Sports Obsession.  Thanks for reading and GO BLUE!