Category: my thoughts on

By David G. Firestone

I’m not the biggest NFL fan, and I don’t watch college sports at all. But the biggest story of the NFL Draft was Shedeur Sanders. Shedeur Sanders, is the son of legendary NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. Coming out of Colorado, many people thought his on-field talent would make him a first-round draft pick, but he got drafted in the fifth round. For some people, this was “racist,” for some, this was perplexing.

But for me, this was another case of a kid with too big of an ego for his own good. Many of the more level-headed people pointed out that the average Joe Schmo is not a talent scout. But I think Albert Breer’s take on Shedeur Sanders is very abt. This is from “NFL Draft Takeaways: An Honest Discussion About Shedeur Sanders,” on SI.com link at the . Here are some key points:

“This starts with teams’ evaluations of Sanders as a player. The story we had on Tuesday on the quarterback class as a whole covered it. If you read that, you know it wasn’t easy to find coaches or scouts who viewed the Colorado quarterback as a first-round talent coming into the draft. He’s not a great athlete. He didn’t show great arm talent. He had bad habits in taking unnecessary sacks and bailing out of the back of the pocket. He had trouble playing on time in general and did things off-schedule that weren’t going to translate to the NFL.

A lot of times in combine meetings, teams will have a player’s worst plays ready for him when he enters the room and, along those lines, one had a particularly rough interception teed up for Sanders in Indianapolis. When asked to explain it, Sanders didn’t take blame. And as they dove deeper into it, and how it might relate to the NFL level, Sanders simply concluded that maybe he and the staff he was talking to might not be a match.

Ahead of another visit, he got an install with mistakes intentionally planted in it—done to see if a quarterback would catch them. Sanders didn’t catch them. A coach called him on it, and the resulting exchange wasn’t pretty.

Instead, in this case, a lot of teams either had a tough experience with Sanders or didn’t have an experience with him at all. Which made it tough to spend a pick on him, because if you were looking for a developmental quarterback who’d be content to slide into the shadows and work at his craft, this didn’t seem like the guy.”

This is another example of a point I’ve been making over the years. It’s simply impossible to judge anything solely on how successful it is. Too many athletes, musicians, actors, politicians, and celebrities are finding out that if you give anybody the rope they need, they will hang you with it. Shedeur Sanders is no exception.

Professional sports is full of athletes with big egos, that’s to be expected. Sometimes though, an athlete’s ego is too big for his own good. That’s the problem with Shedeur Sanders. Based on everything I’ve seen so far, he clearly thinks he is 1000% more important than he really is. If he was as egotistical as he is, but was as talented as Tom Brady, he’d would have been a first-round pick. His talent didn’t equal his ego, and now he’s a developmental player for the Cleveland Browns.

But there’s another issue at play here. Specifically, the NFL Combine, and the various meetings. If Shedeur Sanders had any common sense, he’d understand that the NFL Combine is the football equivalent of the first part of a job interview. A huge lesson I learned in middle school about job interviews is that the best thing you can do is to convince the company hiring you that you don’t make bad decisions. Shedeur Sanders never got that lesson. Read the quotes I posted again. It’s clear that he didn’t really understand the significance of the meetings, and if he did, he didn’t care.

Say whatever you want about Deion Sanders’ ego, but you can’t argue he didn’t back it up. Hell, Deion Sanders was the first and only player to both play in both a Super Bowl and World Series, but who also WON both a Super Bowl, and World Series. While it’s also clear that Shedeur Sanders has the ego of Deion, but not the on-field talent of Deion.

Here’s the bottom line: It’s clear from everything that Shedeur Sanders wasn’t meant to be a first-round pick, and that he needs work on his game, and work on his ego. While he still has hope for making it in the NFL, it’s going to be a long road, and he’s going to need a lot of humility, which, I don’t think is going to happen, at least not very easily. He can prove everyone wrong, but does he really have the work ethic to do so? Time will tell.

Sources Cited:

By David G. Firestone

Just a brief update for this week. So, due to reasons that were beyond my control, I didn’t upload anything the week before Easter. This was due to a series of personal and family issues. While I’d like to say that everything is back to normal, sadly, this is the new normal for me and my family. As such, due to theses personal issues, it’s less than clear where The Driver Suit Blog will go from here.

What I can say is for the time being, I will try and regularly upload and post, but real life can and will get in the way. If I’m not able to post as much as I previously had, that’s why. I’m not giving up on The Driver Suit Blog, at least not yet. That’s really all I have for this week.

By David G. Firestone

So the Liam Lawson experiment at Red Bull Racing is officially over. Lawson started the first two races, but was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda starting at Japan. Why the sudden shift? Well, let’s look at an analysis by Lawrence Barretto on Formula1.com:

“The New Zealander had a low-key pre-season test in Bahrain – and then endured a miserable debut weekend in Australia, qualifying 18th and then crashing in the race. Sources say one senior member of the team raised the prospect of demoting him after that weekend.

Then in China, he became the first Red Bull driver in their 20-year history to qualify last, when he ended up 20th in Sprint Qualifying and he did so again for the Grand Prix. While he was classified 12th – helped in part by three disqualifications – Red Bull called an internal meeting for after the race weekend to discuss his future.

Sources say the shareholders, plus Team Principal Christian Horner and Red Bull Motorsport Adviser Helmut Marko, agreed unanimously that Lawson should go back to Racing Bulls with immediate effect, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, with Tsunoda stepping up to replace him.

This was after they had looked at Lawson’s data from testing and the opening two races and concluded that he wasn’t performing to a high enough level, even if they conceded that it was a very difficult car to drive.

It’s believed the team accepted that Lawson had also lost his confidence after conceding he couldn’t understand why he wasn’t able to get pace out of the car.”

To some, this seems to be unfair to Lawson. To those, I say…tough shit! This isn’t karting, this isn’t F3, or F2, THIS IS F1!!! There are a lot of hungry drivers, but only a few seats at the top table. If you get a spot, but can’t keep it, someone else will step up and claim it. It’s no different than NASCAR, IndyCar, the NFL, the NBA, and so on. Those who can’t keep up get replaced.

Liam Lawson is another motorsports hype job. He is a driver who impressed in the lower ranks, and impressed during testing. But the moment he got the chance in the major leagues, he choked. Red Bull Racing looked over their data, saw that he was all hype, and replaced him. The needs of the team matter more than the needs of the individual driver. If this were a lower level F1 team, maybe they would have kept him, but not Red Bull Racing.

I’m not like these other morons who think he should have gotten another shot, or more time. He was given a shot in the major leagues, and choked. If you get a shot at being a Formula 1 driver, whatever you did in the minor leagues isn’t relevant anymore. You could be the greatest F3 or F2 driver, but if you suck in F1, that’s all anyone is going to remember. Again, it’s no different than NASCAR, IndyCar, the NFL, the NBA, and so on. Those who can’t keep up get replaced. Liam Lawson is another one of those guys.

Speaking of releases, let’s talk AEW. Tony Khan rarely releases talent, but what he loves to do is ghost talent until their contract ends. We’ve seen this quite a bit. But the latest victim of the Tony Khan ghosting is Saraya. Saraya, AKA Paige, joined AEW in 2022. She had wrestled in WWE both NXT and the Main Roster from 2011-2018, when a neck injury should have ended her in-ring career. Never the less, she was an on-air talent for WWE until her contract ended in 2022.

With WWE solidly behind her, even making a movie about her life, during her time with WWE, she caused some controversies. One such controversy was the leaking of a sex tape between herself, Brad Maddox, and Xavier Woods. There were a number of other incidents as well. She was getting paid a lot, but she wasn’t that valuable to WWE during that time. So, in 2022, WWE and Saraya parted ways and she signed with AEW.

In a move than can only be described as ungrateful, upon arrival in AEW, one of her first moves was to talk shit about WWE and how much better AEW is. This is the same WWE that paid her more than she was ever going to be worth to the company, while at the same time, causing a lot of bad PR for WWE. Her in-ring work was mediocre, and she really wasn’t that much of a stand out, especially when compared to the other ex-WWE talent AEW signed.

After her release, she claimed that she wanted to return to WWE and reclaim the Paige character. To that, I say, HELL NO! After all the bullshit she put WWE through in her career, all the money they paid her, and even financing a biographical movie on her life, I wouldn’t blame WWE for not resigning her. You look at talent like Brock Lesnar, Matt Riddle, and even Vince McMahon, who were more valuable to the company than Saraya ever was, and are now persona non grata, why should she get another chance? Hell, WWE released Carmella, and she has been more valuable since 2022 than Saraya was.

Here’s the bottom line. I do not think WWE should resign Saraya given everything I’ve said up to this point. I do not think she is a good fit for the current women’s division. I do not think that she would be able to wrestle, or if she would be medically cleared. What I do think is that the indie scene is a better fit for her. She went out of her way to cause problems and burn bridges in WWE, and WWE does not need her anymore.

I’ve said this before, every career has an expiration date, and sometimes that date comes sooner than you want it to be. In many instances, this expiration date is sped up because you are your own worst enemy. Matt Riddle, Brock Lesnar, and Enzo Amore were popular merch movers, and made WWE millions of dollars, yet WWE had no reservation distancing themselves from them. Saraya is no different. She isn’t worth much to WWE in 2025, and they both know it. I wish her well in the indipendent scene.

Sources Cited:

By David G. Firestone

I’ve discussed the idea of rank on my former podcast and The Driver Suit Blog before. Sometimes you don’t get a higher rank because you don’t deserve it. Sometimes you are not the right person for the job. Life is unfair, and you aren’t special. Well it appears that wrestler Ryan Nemeth didn’t get the memo on that.

From 2023 to 2024, Ryan Nemeth was contracted to AEW on a per-date basis, meaning he would be paid when he was used. In wrestling, Ryan Nemeth is what is known as a “jobber,” which means he loses, or “does jobs” to more established wrestlers. Jobbers are typically on the bottom end of the hirearchy in wrestlers. In his AEW career, Nemeth has wrestled a total of 83 times between 2021 and 2024. He has only won 10 of these matches, all of them for AEW’s YouTube programs. In addition, his only championships in the US were tag team champions, and his only singles title is a few minutes with the DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Championship, which is impossible to take seriously.

Yet, according to Ryan Nemeth, AEW, and CM Punk were on a campaign to ruin Ryan’s career. After leaving AEW on bad terms, Nemeth has filed a lawsuit agains AEW and CM Punk. Apparently, even though he brought nothing to AEW, Tony Khan and CM Punk have been trying to ruin Nemeth’s career. The legal filings are hysterical.

One part of this really stands out. “In early 2023, Brooks assaulted and battered two fellow wrestlers known by the stage names Matt and Nick Jackson. Brooks is known to have an uncontrollable temper and often lashes out in violent tirades against others. Thus, Defendants were on notice regarding Brooks’ violent proclivities.”

Well, that is technically true. Punk did batter Nick and Matt Jackson…AFTER they burst into his locker room looking for a fight after his rant at the AEW All-Out press scrum. That’s something that is present quite a bit in this filing. Some of it is so laughable, I’m stunned it would be filed in a lawsuit.

But we now get to the meat of the matter, and why I had to discuss this. This is from the filing in question:

“On November 25, 2024 Brooks left AEW to wrestle for the organizations main competitor, WWE.

Khan was heartbroken by the departure of Brooks, his idol and that he adored in every way.

Khan was furious with Nemeth. Khan believes that Brooks left AEW because of Nemeth.

The Defendants have embarked upon a campaign to “blackball” Nemeth from

professional wrestling. Specifically, Tony Khan blames Nemeth for Brooks leaving AEW and has used his significant resources to make sure that Nemeth can never again make a living in wrestling.”

I’ve discussed both the incidents at All-In and All-Out. The fact of the matter is that no matter how you slice it, Ryan Nemeth had NOTHING to do with the fact that CM Punk left. The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, and Jack Perry were the ones who forced Punk’s hand. All Ryan Nemeth did was to post something on Twitter that got Punk’s attention, and Punk responded. I’m willing to wager a lot of money that Nemeth was just a drop in that cesspool. Yet this low-ranking jobber thinks that he is the reason Punk left.

If Ryan Nemeth really thinks that he is the reason Punk left, he’s delusional. It’s much more likely that he’s trying to get a quick buck from a billionaire, after his run in AEW didn’t pan out. Oh, and the blackball efforts were so successful that Ryan is currently wrestling for TNA and had a WWE NXT Tag-Team Championship match on national TV. So that argument isn’t exactly water-tight.

The facts are that Ryan Nemeth was at the bottom, CM Punk was at the top, Ryan shot his mouth off, and Punk had to put him in his place. Nemeth thinks he’s more important to wrestling that he ever really will be, and he wants money as a result. Tony may settle, Punk probably won’t, and I’ll be interested to see how this plays out.

Souces cited:

By David G. Firestone

We need to talk about AEW. I’ve talked about them before, but every time I think they’ve hit rock bottom, Tony Khan buys a much more powerful jackhammer. I seriously don’t get how and why they do the stuff they do. While I’m used to most of AEW’s baffling moves, I have to talk about two recent events.

Let’s start with AEW Grand Slam Australia. AEW fucked this event up so many different ways, that it was almost impossible for fans, both in the arena, and watching on television, to take it seriously. How have AEW failed thee, let me count the ways.

Let’s start with the venue:

-February 15, 2025-Grand Slam Australia is announced. Tickets were on sale, with Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, with a listed capacity of over 52,500, listed as the venue.

-November 25, 2025-Due to “low ticket sales,” Grand Slam Australia is moved to Brisbane Entertainment Centre, with a listed capacity of 13,500.

Making things even more confusing is the nature of the telecast. Was the event a pay-per-view, or was it a special episode of Collision? AEW never made this clear during the announcement. Then it was announced that this was an episode of Collision, aired on tape delay. Once it was clear that this was just another episode of Collision, fans weren’t happy. When asking Tony Khan about this, he said that since the live event would have aired at 3:30 AM ET in the US, most fans might not have bought the event, which, to be fair, isn’t unreasonable.

Then it was announced that the event would air after the NBA All-Stars Skill Competition on TNT. This was met with aggravation from fans, but there was a silver lining to this. WWE NXT held their annual NXT Vengeance Day event, which was much better than Grand Slam Australia. If Grand Slam Australia had aired at its normal time, it would have done a horrific TV rating. History has shown that when Collision goes up against WWE it loses a LOT of viewers. It still didn’t do great, but it was better.

The fan experience apparently left a lot to be desired. Apparently, there was only one merchandise stand and it sold out very quickly, as they didn’t bring near enough merchandise for all of the fans. How this mistake could happen is anybody’s guess, but it’s clear they wanted to keep transportation costs down. That’s clear because of the big controversy that came out of the event.

Where both fans and wrestlers were both upset was the ring they used. For a company that spends money like water, they couldn’t be bothered to bring their own ring, so they rented a ring for the event. AEW uses 20 foot by 20 foot square rings, and this one was either 16 feet by 16 feet, or 18 feet by 18 feet, depending on who you ask. This was not a good ring either. The ring aprons AEW brought didn’t fit, and the posts were bent. To top that off, this ring was really bouncy, and apparently didn’t have enough padding. Buddy Matthews rolled his ankle during his entrance.

Now, with all of these issues, fans would have been forgiving if the matches were good. This is AEW, so that didn’t happen. Here are the results for the event. Wrestlers who are either from Australia or New Zealand will be marked with a “+”

1-Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega defeated Don Callis Family (Kyle Fletcher+ and Konosuke Takeshita) (with Mark Davis) by pinfall.

2-Mercedes Moné (c) defeated Harley Cameron+ by pinfall-Singles match for the AEW TBS Championship

3-Death Riders (Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) (with Marina Shafir) defeated Cope and Jay White+ by technical submission-Brisbane Brawl

4-Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Buddy Matthews+ by pinfall-Singles match for the AEW Continental Championship

5-“Timeless” Toni Storm (with Luther) defeated Mariah May (c) by pinfall-Singles match for the AEW Women’s World Championship

Notice a pattern? Yup, every match had at one wrestler from either New Zealand or Australia, and four out of five lost their match. The worst was Mercedes Moné and Harley Cameron. The lead up to this was great as Harley Cameron is a talented singer and ventriloquist, and made a puppet out of Mercedes Moné, who was more entertaining than the real Mercedes Moné. However Harley never stood a chance, as Mercedes Moné is a spoiled, selfish, egotistical bitch who doesn’t care about anyone but herself. We heard stories about her when she was Sasha Banks in WWE.

All in all, Grand Slam Australia had a lot of potential, but was driven into the ground by bad matches, and bad logistics. Australian AEW fans felt cheated, and I don’t blame them. Now, you would think going back to normal operations would at least help, but, being AEW, they couldn’t help fucking things up even more.

At the upcoming AEW Revolution pay-per-view, there is a scheduled match for the AEW International Championship, AKA the AEW All-Atlantic Championship, AKA the AEW Who Gives A Shit Championship. On the February 19 episode of AEW Dynamite, there was a Number One Contenders match for the International Championship between Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong. This sets up the championship match between Cassidy and Konosuke Takeshita for the International Championship the February 26 episode of AEW Dynamite. Since Konosuke Takeshita won that match, he goes on to face Kenny Omega at Revolution.

If this series of events doesn’t make sense to you, don’t feel bad. Nobody else can figure it out either. Rather than have Kenny Omega face Orange Cassidy on February 26, with the winner facing Konosuke Takeshita at Revolution, there are two championship matches, one setting up the other. Why? What sense does this make? Please, explain this to me! Are matches that determine the top condenser for a pay-per-view match really so out of vogue? It just makes no sense, but it is AEW after all.

Next Week, I discuss an AEW lawsuit.

By David G. Firestone

Welp, this was a weekend for the ages. For those who don’t know, I live in Evanston, Illinois, and on Friday, we had a huge water main break literally 600 feet away from my house. No water at all for all of Friday, and a boil order was in effect from 5 AM Friday to about 7 PM on Sunday. Water pressure is still a little low at the time of writing, but everything is back to normal.

With that, let’s talk racing, specifically, The Daytona 500, The Fresh From Florida 250, and the United Rentals 300. I thought all three races were good races. Daytona is always a track that delivers good racing. After that late-race flip, I wouldn’t hold it against Ryan Preece for not racing at Daytona in August. Given the fact that he flipped both in 2023 and 2025, I would be hesitant to race there too. He’s fine medically, but I wouldn’t blame him for being shook up emotionally.

Obviously, the weather was the issue, given the lengthy rain delay. That’s just how it goes. Wet weather tires would be suicidal at Daytona and Talladega. This saw the race start later, after 5 PM Chicago time. While I did enjoy night races, I did have to DVR the NBA All-Star Game, more on that soon.

I do question the logic of allowing a race to stay green when there are multiple wrecks on the final lap. I get why NASCAR allowed the final lap to continue, but it really sends a mixed message on safety. Outside of that, it was a fun racing weekend, but running water that I didn’t have to boil would have been nice too.

Now let’s talk about the NBA All-Star Game. I remember when the NBA All-Star Game was the best of the best from both conferences, duking it out for supremacy and bragging rights. Anyone else remember how great that was? Well, that’s gone, and never coming back. Like the NHL All-Star Game and the Pro Bowl Games, the NBA All-Star Game has become a gimmick. According to ESPN, link below:

“The NBA eschewed the traditional East vs. West setup in favor of a four-team, single-elimination tournament, with a target score of 40 points for each round. Three of the teams were drafted by TNT “Inside the NBA” analysts Charles Barkley (Chuck’s Global Stars), Kenny Smith (Kenny’s Young Stars) and Shaquille O’Neal (Shaq’s OGs). The fourth team, named for Candace Parker (Candace’s Rising Stars), was comprised of the winning squad from Friday night’s Rising Stars event.”

While last year’s All-Star game was a total disaster, this was a slight improvement. Granted, it was still a slog compared to a normal all-star game. But I think that the traditional approach I discussed above would work. Just because a game is an exhibition, doesn’t mean you have to gimmick it up. I hate the Pro Bowl Games, though given the concussion and injury issues, it’s a necessary evil. The NBA All-Star game has no such qualms. Again, what’s wrong with the best of the best competing against each other for supremacy and bragging rights? Also, the blue and yellow court was hard on the eyes.

While we’re on the subject, why was the All-Star Game on TNT? Why not put it on ABC, and try to get a higher rating? Why, on a Sunday night, with no real scheduled sports competition, would you have the All-Star Game on cable? I don’t understand the logic. I said the same thing for the College Football Playoff Championship Game. Why was it on ESPN and not ABC? It’s only the biggest and most important college football game of the year, why not try and pop a rating? How many viewers and how much money are being left on the table. It boggles the mind!

Now I have one more thing to discuss. It’s an article on USA Today called “Elizabeth Holmes says federal prison stay has ‘been hell and torture'” To refresh who we’re talking about, Elizabeth Holmes is a convicted felon who ran a scam company called Theranos, which purported to be a revolutionary blood testing equipment manufacturer, but the whole thing was exposed as a scam. The equipment didn’t work as advertised, and she scammed billions of dollars from investors. She pled guilty, and was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison in January 2022. For the remainder of this column, she will be referred to as “24965-111,” her inmate number.

In this article, 24965-111 is complaining that her incarceration is hell and torture. I’m going to post some quotes from the article:

-“It’s surreal. People who have never met me believe so strongly about me. They don’t understand who I am. It forces you to spend a lot of time questioning belief and hoping the truth will prevail. I am walking by faith and, ultimately, the truth, but it’s been hell and torture to be here.”

-“I’m not the same person I was back then.”

-“There are things I would have done differently, so many of these women don’t have anyone, and once they’re in there, they’re forgotten.”

“Human beings are not made to be in cells. It goes so far beyond understanding. I’m trying really hard not to tear up right now. I’m trying to grow, as every moment matters. And if one person’s life can be touched trying to help them in a crisis, it matters.”

-” It shatters my world every single time. The people I love the most have to walk away as I stand here, a prisoner, and my reality sinks in.”

-“It kills me to put my family through pain the way I do. But when I look back on my life, and these angels that have come into it, I can get through anything. It makes me want to fight for all of it.”

24965-111 is clearly only focused on herself. She’s never admitted any guilt, and never shown remorse. Her quote “Human beings are not made to be in cells” shows her viewpoint. It’s also wrong. There are a lot of people in cells, and most of them deserve to be there. 24965-111 put herself in that cell. She committed a crime, got caught, got sentenced, and has nobody to blame but herself for her incarceration. I love the fact that she says that she is “hoping the truth will prevail.” The truth prevailed, and she is where she needs to be.

I have no sympathy for the person who commits a crime, gets sentenced, and then cries about how unfair the prison life is. You aren’t a victim. Being held accountable for your bad decisions is a fact of life. Actions have consequences, and sometimes those consequences are much harsher than you would like. If you are able to commit a crime, you are able to do the time. That’s the situation that 24965-111 finds herself in. While I feel bad for her kids, it’s also a fact of life that doing time takes you away from your kids. She has nobody to blame but herself for her current issues.

Above and beyond that, 24965-111 is housed in Federal Prison Camp, Bryan, a minimum security facility. She is with 500 non-violent inmates. She got off lucky. She is in a nicer facility than most federal inmates. Could you imagine how she would react to a medium security, or maximum security prison? Does anybody feel sympathy for her? No? Me either. Just do your time, and shut up. Accept responsibility for your crimes, nobody thinks you are innocent.

With that, this week’s column comes to an end, and I’ll be back next week.

Sources Cited:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/43883874/new-nba-all-star-game-format-draws-mixed-reviews-players-criticize-stoppages

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/02/12/elizabeth-holmes-federal-prison-interview-theranos/78455407007/

By David G. Firestone

First off, I’d like to apologize for my lackluster column on The Clash last week, I wasn’t feeling great, and my week at work didn’t help. I was going to do some news this week, but I’ve been working on a project, and it got me to thinking about the 2025 trading card market, as opposed to when I started collecting cards in 1990.

I grew up collecting baseball and racing cards. Every one of my friend was involved in some kind of trading cards, be it comic book, Magic The Gathering, sports, or other kinds. It was a much simpler time. Recently, I fulfilled a childhood dream of collecting the entire sets of 1990 Topps and 1990 Donruss baseball. Those were the two sets I was really into growing up. Sure, there were others, Score, Upper Deck, Pro Set, Sky Box, etc, but those were my favorite of all baseball card sets.

Looking at the trading card market today, and it’s like night and day. Instead of a series of different companies for each league, now it’s one card company per league. Many of the companies I grew up with are gone, or have been absorbed by other companies. But one thing that has both changed and remained the same is special inserts.

Back in 1990, a special insert was a card with a different design to a common, such as a commemorative event, all-star, or even an autographed card, which Upper Deck started in 1990. In this day in age, we have relic cards, autographed cuts, numbered sets, and a whole bunch of other different special inserts.

Sadly, these new inserts are frankly, worthless. First off, with many “limited edition” cards, number X/100, all they really are is a card with a different coloring and an X/100 numbering. For some reason, these seem to prove popular with collectors. Apparently, using red instead of blue with a number makes something more valuable? I guess so.

But when it comes to relic cards, things have gone the exact way I thought it would, which is the exact thing I thought they shouldn’t do. It started with “game-worn” cards, which have a piece of something worn or used by the subject on the card. Well, nowadays there are “player-worn” and “event-worn” cards that fill these new packs.

Here’s the problem: Marketing something as “game-worn” means that the item was worn or used during a game. “Event” and “player” can mean so many different things. Let’s take event-worn for example. What event? Where? Was it at a team event? Was it at a city event? Was it at cousin Jethro’s annual cookout? In a lot of instances, these “events” were either card conventions, or events hosted by the card companies.

Player worn is much more vague, as the item could have been worn at any time by the player in question. City event, or taking the dog for a walk, doesn’t matter, as long as the player wore it at some point. I mean it isn’t illegal, you are getting what you are advertised. But at what point are collectors going to stop? Real collectors have been questioning and calling out companies about this for years.

Above and beyond that, I’ve got another question: Why are these companies so hell bent on these cards? The only thing they seem to do is help the secondary market. Look at the sheer volume of these cards on eBay. Topps spent lots of money on these artifacts, yet they do not get a cut of any eBay sales.

Never mind the fact that, as the leagues found out that game used memorabilia sells, started making uniform and equipment decisions specifically to sell stuff “for charity” or otherwise. The merch stand is dictating on-field uniforms and equipment, and people are buying into this.

This type of attitude is diluting the market. It’s like printing more money in a financial crisis. Adding more game-used stuff doesn’t make it more valuable, it just makes what is on the market less valuable. The market is starting to over-saturate itself, and that’s before the fraud comes into play. We saw this with Steiner Sports and Eli Manning a few years ago. This isn’t sustainable, and the market will crash.

It pains me to say this, but I’m glad I’ve gotten out of sports memorabilia. I loved this hobby, I still do, but sometimes, you just have to cut your losses, and get out when you can. Any market can bottom out, look at Michael Vick. His market bottomed out, and never really recovered. This will happen to the game-used market eventually. Bad decisions can cost a lot, and there are a lot of bad decisions going around these days.

I really hate to see something I once loved tearing itself apart because of corporate greed, but here we are! The ship is clearly about to hit the iceberg, and it will sooner rather than later. I’ll still buy sports memorabilia every once in a while, but I’m pretty much out at this point.

Next week, my thoughts on the Daytona 500.