are you ready for some football?

i'm not.  the end of july is supposed to be all about baseball and the trading deadline.  not football wheeling and dealing.  it's just not right, kind of like brian jordan's 1998 topps card (which he signed and returned to me sometime last year).

jordan hadn't played football since 1991, but topps still made him strike a pose 7 years later.  did they do this with deion sanders?  who cares.  the next year they did that awful hamburglar card for brian hunter.  but i digress. 

july 31 should be a national holiday, just like opening day.  this sunday, i shall camp out on the couch about an hour before the deadline, and not move until the commissioner's office has approved all of the day's wheeling and dealing.  not that i expect my dodgers to do anything this year.

as for jordan, he was only traded once in his baseball career.  that was in 2002, and it happened in january - not at the non-waiver trading deadline.  the braves sent jordan, andrew brown, and odalis perez to the dodgers for gary sheffield.  here's his 2002 topps traded card (also signed and returned)

which features a photo from the same at bat as his 2003 topps card (just like topps did for mike piazza's 1993 topps traded and 1994 topps cards)

maybe that dumb football shoot wasn't so bad after all.  at least it offered some variety.

jordan had a fantastic season for the dodgers.  he hit .289, scored over 90 runs, had 201 hits, 28 homers and 108 rbi.  too bad it took him 194 games over two years as a dodger to get those numbers. 

thanks for signing my cards, brian.  but i'm still paying football no mind until october.  or later.