This will most likely be my last blog before we get a brief reprieve from work for the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope all of you get a little break as well.

When I return, I hope the mess that is my desk magically is cleaned. Now there's something I would be thankful for.

I'd also be thankful if Michael Turner would score four touchdowns every game, but I realize that's selfish, if not a little greedy.

I'd be thankful if the card hobby would get past the refractors, 1-of-1s and hair cut cards and get back to appreciating the basic card for what it is - a link to the players that entertain us each day.

I'd be thankful if I never saw Pacman Jones or Michael Vick on the football field again (alas, they'll be there soon).

I'd be thankful if the economy would turn around (while keeping gas prices low) so the hobby would be humming again and I don't have to hear, read or report on more companies going out of business.

I'd be thankful if Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Sandy Koufax would do a public signing - together. Imagine the crowds for that (unless it would be $500 per signature, which is probably even less than it would take).

I'd be thankful if I had the opportunity to see a game at Fenway Park. (I have toured it, but alas have never smelled the hot dogs during a game.)

I'd be thankful to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame not on induction weekend, but at a time when I can take it all in at a snail's pace without elbowing other patrons to see all of the exhibits.

Ah heck, really I'll be thankful to live a long healthy life, enjoy my work, see the world become a little better place and enjoy a Brewers World Series Championship. Some of that might be a dream, but dreaming is something we always have.

I just read something about the Baseball Hall of Fame offering a Character & Courage statue at the Hall depicting Lou Gehrig, Roberto Clemente and Jackie Robinson. I don't think you'll find anyone who will argue with the selections for such a statue with that title.

In a time when it would be very easy for the general public to sour on professional athletes, it's amazing the reverence athletes of the past have. And that's a good thing. Many of today's athletes can thank their lucky stars the people before them paved the way to the money, fame and fortune they accumulate.

Gehrig had to retire because of an incurable disease. Robinson had unimaginable battles in breaking the color barrier, and Clemente died in a plane crash on his way to help earthquake victims.

The racism question is behind us (mostly), athletes can still contract inoperable diseases (though this gets far less attention these days) and athletes raise plenty of money for relief efforts. Yet in a day and age of here today, gone tomorrow, none of these instances stand out as much today - hence the reverence for players of the past.

Just an observation on this lovely snowy morning in Wisconsin.  

I was just reading a review of the Chantilly show, in the Dec. 12 issue of SCD, which featured tons of athlete signings as usual, including Whitey Ford, Cal Ripken Jr. and dozens more.

Part of the write-up was about an item being signed by the athletes for a non-profit organization. It was a surfboard! I guess they pick a unique item each year and then spend a year getting autographs from sports stars and college athletes. It's then sold to raise money for the organization.

Pretty cool idea all around, but can imagine lugging around a surfboard. And has anyone seen anything remotely similar at an autograph signing, no matter who was signing?

I've seen some 3-foot-tall bobbing head dolls signed at an event, but that's about it. So here are some ideas of items to bring in for specific athletes:

For Pete Rose, how about bringing in some stubs from a sports book in Vegas?

For Roger Clemens - a medicine bottle full of pills.

For Michael Vick - a stuff animal with a dog tag where he could sign.

For Ron Artest - some boxing gloves.

For Pacman Jones – a mirror so he can see how stupid he is.

I could go on, but now it's your turn.

I love museums – always have, always will. There's something about seeing items from the past, whether it's dinosaur bones or how they made houses in Germany in the 1700s. I like to get lost in those past times and I can spend hours in a museum.

So I'm intrigued with the news that the Sports Museum of L.A. is opening next week. You can read about the museum HERE.

This Sports Museum of LA. was created by a businessman named Gary Cypres. He been amassing a collection that can probably rival anyone's in the world, and it tops 10,000 items. Now you say, what kind of items? Well, many Ruth materials, artifacts from sports that date back to the 1800s, etc. He's got a lot and most of it is the auction-house variety.

Now my question is, will people pay to see sports collectibles on display and learn about the histories of sports at the same time? Museums are notorious for not making much money and needing public funds to stay afloat. Personally, I think of this museum like the Baseball Hall of Fame, but it covers a lot of other sports. I would certainly pay to get in and see it.

My hope is that being in Los Angles, with a hefty population in reach, and some good marketing moves by hosting fund-raising events, auctions, etc., this museum will succeed. With the material it boasts, it should

Check out the museum's website and see for yourself.

Looking into the crystal ball at the beginning of the baseball season, I never would have placed Dustin Pedroia in the AL MVP race. Lo and behold, look who won this year – the 5-foot, 9-inch second basemen.

Pedroia batted .326 with 17 home runs and 83 RBIs, while stealing 20 bases. He led the league in hits and runs, and his defense was top-notch. But when was the last time someone was an MVP with 17 home runs?

Now, I'm not one of those that's going to rant about about how so-and-so should have won. What I'm curious about is how the power numbers in baseball in general have dried up with the recent crackdown in performance-enhancing drugs. At no time prior to this year would Pedroia have gotten the nod (this is off the top of my head, but 17 HRs and 83 RBIs are run-of-the-mill numbers in years past). You could argue Ichiro's MVP season in 2001 is on the same level, but Pedroia didn't hit as well as him this year.

Gone are the days of 50 home runs and 150 RBIs? Probably not, but they will be a lot less instances of them. The Brady Andersons of the world will no longer pop up in baseball.

And just because I can't resist: Did Pedroia single-handily carry the Red Sox into the postseason? For a stretch, it seemed like it, but with a team that full of stars, I find it hard to reward just one of them

So what do you do when it's cold, windy and some flakes are flying around on a Saturday afternoon in Wisconsin? Sure, I did plant myself on the coach and watched some college football and basketball.

But aside from that, I started to sort through some of my sports collectibles and came across mounds and mounds of tickets, everything from Milwaukee Brewers tickets to tickets for the Marquette Golden Eagles, Milwaukee Bucks, Green Bay Packers and even some minor league games.

Why do I keep these? I have no clue. I'm even pretty sure I threw out a chunk a couple of years ago. It's not like I keep notes on them as to the score or some sort of significance to the game (and let's face it, with those teams, aside from the Packers in the mid-1990s which I don't have tix for, there's wasn't much significant going on). The only one of late that I made a notation about was the game last year when Prince Fielder hit his 50th home run.  

I guess I keep them to remind of just how games I've seen over the year, and some of them do rekindle some great memories. I have one ticket from a Marquette game against Wake Forest when Dwayne Wade was running the show. Both teams were highly ranked, with Wake Forest ahead of MU. I've never been in a louder arena in my life, as MU won. (I'm told the Louisville game a week later was even louder, though I find that hard to believe).

I also kept many of these tickets inside ballcaps, so some are a little stained with sweat, to the point some of the lettering is worn off. I've since learned to turn them the other way around or just keep them in my wallet.

I also kept some tickets for playoffs game that never took place, just because I had unrealistic hopes for my favorite team's success.

I'll keep hanging on to these tickets, even as another box filled up. If you have nothing to do some bad-weather day afternoon, open up some of your boxes of collectibles. It's fun to rekindle some good memories.   

Looking at the 2008 NFL draft class, there wasn't all thatexcitement. You had an offensive lineman taken with the first pick. Two defensemen lineman were among the top five picks. Not exactly the stuff card collectors get real excited about.

Aside from Matt Ryan, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, there were some huge question marks about some of the offensive skill position players (the ones that attract the attention on the colletibles market). I remember strolling around the rookie premier and rying to guess who would make an impact this year.

Well, it turns out that a lot of the rookies are making impacts this year. Who would have thunk it?  McFadden has been sowed by injuries, as has Felix Jones. Matt Ryan has been leading the resurgent Falcons. But it's the "other" guys who have been making the most noise.

Steve Slaton, Joe Flacco, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, DeSean Jackson, Donnie Avery, Eddie Royal, Dustin Keller, John Carlson, Ray Rice and Kevin Smith have all gotten some quality minutes and put up impressive numbers at times. If you saw that many rookies having that much of an impact at the beginning of the year, then you belong in a GM position.

All of these players should help the football card market. While new card sales aren't anything near healthy thanks to a current economic slowdown (to put it mildly), these players will get "hot" at some point. So now is a perfect time to get on board with these players.

What was thought to be a lower than average draft class might turn out to be one of the best. Now why didn't I see that coming in my Fantasy drafts?

In a blog this week, I'll ask Tuff Stuff's Sports Collectors Monthly's football pricing analysts to get me some rookie card numbers on the players mentioned above. Hey, they need something to do after a deadline:)

For this holiday season, do I spend millions on what could be considered an overweight pitcher or a head case outfielder? That's what owners and general managers are considering these days as the free agent market is now wide open.

In case you hadn't figured it out, the two players I'm referring to above are C.C. Sabathia and Manny Ramirez. Yes, they are the most talented players at their positions on the free agent market (and you could argue overall in baseball). However, both have huge question marks in my opinion.

Sabathia was a serious workhorse in 2008. He single-handily carried the Crew into the playoffs and was the best pitcher in baseball in the second half. but look at him. Think four years down the road and what he could look like. Would you want $50 million tied up in him when he's 300-plus? It's a risk you take, but the risk is there.

With Ramirez, well, I think I've written on this before. Great player, but he seems to get bored after a while. He'll play hard this next year (probably) and then start to lose interest the year after (most likely). He played for hsi contract, he'll get it and then soon he'll revert. If you can live with that, spend away.

It's fun to play general managers in our Fantasy Leagues, but doing it for real, with actual millions of dollars must be a nerve-wrecking job. Add in the judgment of millions of fans, and it can't get any easier.

For me, I'll just be thankful I just have to figure out what to spend money on for my wife. She's not a risk at all.

An update on the NFLPA vs. retired players lawsuit (parts compliments of the Associated Press):

Executives for the NFL Players Association will ask a judge to overturn a $28.1 million verdict a federal jury ordered the union to pay to more than 2,000 of its retired players.

The jury said the union owed the retirees $7.1 million in actual damages for failing to include them in marketing deals with EA Sports, trading card companies and other licensees. Punitive damages pushed the verdict to $28.1 million. Hall of Fame cornerback Herb Adderley filed the lawsuit last year on behalf of 2,056 retired players who alleged the union failed to actively pursue marketing deals on their behalf with video games, trading cards and others products.

Should the $28.1 million award stand, each retired player in the lawsuit would receive about $10,000 after lawyer fees. 

“It’s an unjust verdict and we are confident it will be overturned,’’ NFLPA lawyer Jeffrey Kessler said.

Lawyers representing Adderley and the retired players told the jury during the three-week trial that the union actively sought to cut them out of licensing deals so active players could receive bigger royalty payments. The retirees pointed to a 2001 letter from an NFLPA executive telling executives at EA Sports to scramble the images of retired players in the company’s popular Madden video game, otherwise the company would have to pay them. Only active players received a cut of the EA deal, the union’s largest, which surpassed $35 million for 2008.

Kessler unsuccessfully urged the jury to award far less, arguing the union could suffer economic harm if it had to pay a large amount. “It was the only sports union that tried to do retired players licensing deals,’’ Kessler said.

I'm glad to this this made it to court for one, and now I'm even happier that something was awarded, even though it will go through some more appeals, I'm sure. too many times it's all about today and today's players, while those who paved the way for those players are ignored. If companies are making money off of them, they should get a piece of the pie.

When I retire from whatever job I'm working at at the time, I will never do what some athletes feel the need to do years after they actually mattered in the eyes of sports fans – rip on my former employer, releasing an angst-filled tirade that really helps no one.

When I read remarks like those from LaVar Arrington concerning the Redskins, Joe Gibbs and Daniel Synder, I just shake my head. What's the point? Are athletes trying to make themselves feel better by ripping apart others? Do they want to make themselves appear more noble in the public eye by stating something to the effect that whatever happened when they were on the team wasn't because of them but because of the S.O.B. in the owner's box or on the sidelines?

For me, I won't look any less on Joe Gibbs. Daniel Synder? I have no clue. But what Arrington said about him won't make me think he's a jerk. Arrington has a long history of spouting his mouth to the point that whatever he says I take with a grain of salt, to put it mildly.

Does Arrington need more publicity for his sports bar? Did a sports writer need a column that would attract attention because he couldn't come up with anything else? I don't get it. If you're out of the game, let the issues of the past be just that - in the past.