1990-91 Hoops Drazen Petrovic

Who is this? Hall of Fame basketball player, Drazen Petrovic.

What is this? A signed card from the 1990-91 Hoops set, card number 248.

Where'd I get it? I got it through the mail in either 1991 or '92.

How much did it cost? Got it out of a 50 cent pack, plus two 29 cent stamps.

Why is this so special? It's the late, great, Drazen Petrovic. Just like the team he is representing on this card, Petrovic blazed a trail for every European basketball player that has made it to the NBA. I'm not a big enough NBA fan to know if he was the first Euorpean in the league or not, but I do know that he was the first good one. He's the one that made people realize that there might be some talent on the other side of the pond after all.

This card shows Petrovic as a Trailblazer, but he was better known as a Net. That's who he was playing for when I got this card signed. This signature is hard to see because it's signed with a ball point pen. He put #3 under his name, but unless the light hits it right, all you can see is the # on his shin.

For his '92-93 season, Petrovic was named to the All-NBA third team. He averaged 22.3 PPG and shot 45% from beyond the arc. He was in the top thirteen in scoring, but failed to make the All-Star team. That summer he was in a fatal car accident in Germany. He died at the age of 28. In 2003, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

I remeber Petrovic mostly for his 92-93 season. That season, he was the most consistent player on my fantasy team. The league owners consisted of the players on my middle school basketball team and Drazen, Shawn Kemp, and Clyde Drexler led me to the championship that year. That was the first and last time I played fantasy basketball.

2005-2006 Topps Carmelo Anthony

Who is this? Nuggets Forward Carmelo Anthony.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005-2006 Topps, card ME-SM.

Where'd I get it? A pack I picked up at QuikTrip because they had no baseball cards.

How much did it cost? $1.99 for the pack.

Why is this so special? I blew it yesterday, so you get a special two-fer today. I used to pick up a pack of cards or two when filling up at the gas station. The past few years they have been kind of erratic with their cards though and they've finally stopped selling them altogether. A lot of times they didn't have baseball cards at all and I'd have to grab some other pack to get my ripping fix. One time I grabbed a pack of Topps Basketball for the heck of it. I opened it up and pulled this card. Not only that, I also pulled this card. That's right, a Carmelo Anthony and Shawn Marion autograph both in the same pack. What are the odds? I almost fell out of my chair when I pulled a Carmelo autograph, especially when there was another autograph in the same pack. A couple of years before I watch some guy drop literally thousands of dollars ripping tins of some high end product trying to pull a LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony autograph, and I just got one for two bucks when I filled up my tank and got a soda. Melo is holding some trophy in his photo, but I'm not exactly sure what it's for. I don't have a hell of a lot of basketball autos in the first place, and I find it amusing that I pulled two All-Stars out of a base product pack from a gas station. Carmelo's signature is simple and concise, and looks good on the hologram sticker.

2005-2006 Topps Shawn Marion

Who is this? Suns forward Shawn Marion.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005-2006 Topps, card ME-SM.

Where'd I get it? A pack I picked up at QuikTrip because they had no baseball cards.

How much did it cost? $1.99 for the pack.

Why is this so special? I blew it yesterday, so you get a special two-fer today. I used to pick up a pack of cards or two when filling up at the gas station. The past few years they have been kind of erratic with their cards though and they've finally stopped selling them altogether. A lot of times they didn't have baseball cards at all and I'd have to grab some other pack to get my ripping fix. One time I grabbed a pack of Topps Basketball for the heck of it. I opened it up and pulled this card. Not only that, I also pulled this card. That's right, a Shawn Marion and Carmelo Anthony autograph both in the same pack. What are the odds? I was most excited about Melo when I first opened it, but The Matrix is a pretty damn good player in his own right. Shawn was recently traded to the Heat in the Shaquille O'Neal deal. Shawn's signature it atrocious, there isn't even a hint of a S or M in that squiggle. The sticker it is on is different from the other Topps stickers I've see as well. It is gold and blue instead of the holographic silver they normally use. I'm not sure if this is a parallel or what, other than the sticker color it is no different from the Carmelo card.