If You Build It, They Will Come

 When I was a young kid, I along with everyone I knew depended on two sources for how much a card was worth.  How much a dealer was selling a card for was one way, but the main way was to look up that card in Beckett.  Beckett listed out the notable cards in every set and set a value for them.  You'd grab every issue and see if the cards you owned had that coveted up arrow indicating that the card had gone up from the previous issue.  How much?  You'd have to do that research on your own. I have been reliant to those numbers for years.  Almost more now, even though I know that the economics behind it is bunk.  The value of a card is not what a magazine says it is, but what you can get for it.  However, it does help out a guy who can't possible keep up with everything in the hobby just to have a baseline. Back in 1996, I came across a stack of Steve McNair rookie cards.  Fifty, I think, and the dealer offered them to me for a quarter each...

 In one of the biggest games in the Iowa / Iowa State rivalry over the weekend, the Hawkeyes beat the Cyclones on Saturday to take the unofficial crown of Best in Iowa.  The game was a battle of two teams ranked in the top 10 and was featured on College Football Countdown as Reece and the gang came to Ames and welcomed Ashton Kutcher who rode in on a John Deere to declare his support of the Hawkeyes. The week prior Iowa State beat UNI in a close game.  UNI doesn't often get to claim Best in Iowa, but it has happened in the past.  Three times I have counted, which is pretty good considering every game is on the road for them and they are FCS.  The three times were: 1992: UNI beats ISU 27-10 (+17) at Ames, and Iowa only beats ISU 14-7 (+7) in Iowa City. 2007: UNI beats ISU 24-13 at Ames, and Iowa State beats Iowa 15-13, so the Transitive property is in effect. 2013: UNI beats ISU 28-20 (+8) at Ames, and Iowa only ISU 27-21 (+6) in Ames. In 2009 UNI lost to Iowa 17...

 Yesterday I posted the start of the season NFL Iowa Connections for players and coaches.  Today I have the practice squads and front office personnel.  Lighter amounts for both here, but there is less to start with.  At the end, I total each team's Iowa Connection score (2 points for roster/coaches and 1 point for practice and front office).  Currently (teams are welcome to add players throughout the season) our rooting interest lies with....the Buffalo Bills!   Note: Front office in  italics Update 1: Mike Daniels signed with Cincinnati and Jaleel Johnson signed with New Orleans practice squads.  All NFC teams now have an Iowa Connection. Update 2: Jaleel Johnson plucked from the Saints practice squad by the Houston Texans Update 3: Cole Banwart signed to the practice squad by the New York Giants 2 - Philadelphia : Ross Pierschbacher (Cedar Falls), Matt Leo (ISU) 2 - Denver :  Shaun Beyer / Barrington Wade (Iowa) 1 - New England :...

Here's the initial list of players with Iowa Connections in the NFL in 2021. Seven teams are starting the year at zero, which I assume they are having discussions about in the background.  Tomorrow I'll list Iowa Connections on the practice squad and we'll declare the Iowa Connection "Who to Root For".  Buffalo, Green Bay and Jacksonville are trying hard to be that team this year. Note: Coaches in  italics Iowa Hawkeyes : 37 Iowa State Cyclones : 14 Northern Iowa Panthers : 9 Drake Bulldogs : 3 Ellsworth Community College : 1 North Iowa Area Community College: 1 Des Moines : 2 Iowa City : 1 Ames : 1 Cedar Rapids: 1 6 - Buffalo : Ike Boettger /  AJ Epenesa  / Micah Hyde (Iowa), AJ Klein (ISU), Spencer Brown (UNI), Matt Haack (W. Des Moines) 5 - Green Bay : Jerry Montgomery, Jack Heflin (Iowa), Allen Lazard (ISU), Ryan Mahaffey (UNI), Dominique Dafney (W. Des Moines ) 5 - Jacksonville :  C.J. Beathard  (Iowa),  Darrell Bevell,  Brian Sc...