The Return Of Basketball

The season was over.....but not anymore...as basketball is back!

That's right, I will be back to coaching again this week.

On Thursday, all of us 3rd/4th grade girls coaches were contacted about an opportunity in the district. There is an AAU Tournament coming up in two weeks and a team had dropped out and they were wondering if a new team would like to join. 

Since I had so much fun coaching already and this opportunity just sitting there, why not join again for a short time? I will be joined by my assistant coach and a coach from one of the other girls teams that I didn't get to play this season.

Now normally, to join AAU in any capacity, you have to have lots of money and top tier talent. Players have to pay their way in and the team needs a sponsor to cover the cost of being in the tournaments. And depending on where you live and what tournament your AAU team wants to participate in, there can be hotel and other costs as well. 

It's the big league. It's about winning.

Fortunately, the good news is, our team entry will be free and the traveling will only be in an hour or so away.

The bad news, the tournament is on April 18th and 19th which gives me and two other coaches that signed up roughly two weeks to build and train a team all within four to five practices.

Since Friday, I have been messaging, sending out emails to find players along with the other coaches. We were given the chance to pick four of our players that played for us this past season.

My top three are already on the same AAU team so I went for four others. Three of the four said yes, while the fourth one would have if their family hadn't been heading on a trip for April break that weekend.

As of tonight, I have a roster of nine girls waiting to hear back on the tenth whose parents have not replied at all. So only 1/3rd of this roster knows my system and how I go about things.

It's going to take some serious dedication and work the next two weeks, but I know it will be worth it.

Something else that will be a lot of work.....

 

Is trying to catch up with the leader of the biggest Allan Houston collection on TCDB.

I don't think I rank in the Top 10 anymore like I once did. I haven't checked or added any Houstons in a long time.

But, with basketball back, I am sure I will probably add some more Houstons and hopefully bump myself up some. The one I showed off in this post is my latest add.

If you have any Allan Houstons that I don't, check out my TCDB to see, would love to PWE trade so hit me up!

I am not sure how much I will be on here for the next five weeks with college down to the final five weeks of Semester 2 that's loaded with projects combined with now basketball. 

I will try to be back on here again soon. All I know for now, I will need some extra cups to get me through all of this.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Still Not A Joke

This is not a joke.

Looking for a free Dunkin' small, medium or large coffee today? Type in code STILLNOTAJOKE into your offers on the app.

THIS IS LEGIT.

I doubted it, then claimed it this morning while running errands.

Now I have a coffee, I am putting up this quick post while doing homework and I plan on looking at some cards afterwards to make a full circle Cards Over Coffee event.

Let me know in comments if the code worked for you!! They are only giving away a little over a million free cups so hopefully I am not too late on posting this.

Have a great day, don't fall for any jokes and get a free cup of coffee.

*takes a sip*

*this is not sponsored by Dunkin, it should be, but it's not. if anyone from Dunkin is reading this please lets talk about a sponsorship*

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Trending This Week In My Hobby

Welcome to Week 3 of Trending This Week In My Hobby and to the end of March. Crazy how fast this month flew by!

If you missed a previous week or you are curious what this segment is about if this is your first time seeing it, I will be posting my Top 10 things I have been either adding or seeking the most. In other words what has been trending in my hobby, hence the name. Next week, the list could change and some things could disappear with new things added or move up and down my interests list.

You just never know because I never know where my head will be week to week.

So, the next post will feature the list of stuff for that week and then will compare it to this week for a breakdown of the trending ways and why. If I have an explanation for it.

Hopefully I will.

Without further ado or more rambling, here is the very first list of what's trending in my hobby this week,

1. NY Giants Cards
2. 2025 Wild Card Splat Eli Manning Cards
3. 90's Inserts Any Team, Any Sport, Any Player specifically 1995-99
4. Ken Griffey Jr Cards
5. Jaxson Dart Cards
6. Eli Manning Cards
7. Non Sport Autograph/Relic Cards
8. Rodney Hampton Cards
9. Mikaela Shiffrin
10. Allan Houston Cards

This week the momentum of owner's meetings, the end of a Panini era of NFL cards and combined with the upcoming NFL draft momentum, my Gmen take over the number one spot this week. It also helps with the news of a possible Odell Beckham Jr reunion! I am all for it if he is healthy. BIG IF.

We have some other movers as well.

Darkwing Duck falls off the list as I landed the ones I wanted, sharing those very soon. 90's inserts and Eli Manning Wild Card Splat cards are still very 2A and 2B. Rodney Hampton prices on new cards has him moving down the list as I am being priced out for my Super PC and back on the Top 10 board is Mikaela Shiffrin.

Not a lot of movers and shakers right now, but that can change very fast week to week depending on what I find interesting. 

If you were curious about last weeks list and how it changed, here it is again,

1. 90's Inserts Any Team, Any Sport, Any Player specifically 1995-99
2. 2025 Wild Card Splat Eli Manning Cards
3. Disney Lorcana Darkwing Duck Cards
4. Ken Griffey Jr Cards
5. Jaxson Dart Cards
6. NY Giants Cards
7. Eli Manning Cards
8. Rodney Hampton Cards
9. Non Sport Autograph/Relic Cards
10. Allan Houston Cards

Who knows what next week will bring or where the wind will take me next. I guess you will have to come back and see.

While you wait, let me know what you are collecting this week or what's been trending in your hobby!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

5 Things I Did In The Hobby Last Week

Welcome to the next edition of 5 Things I Did In The Hobby Last Week. I am glad a few of you have reached out and let me know this is one of your favorite segments on here. I like information such as that.

But, for those of you that are new to this segment, here is the background to it:

This series is once again related/played on by Elon Musk's email to government officials in February 2025 asking them about what five things they did.

Also, once again, this is not about politics. I just liked the idea.

*its best to never post politics, make friends, not enemies*

*takes sip of freshly brewed coffee*

Here we go onto my five things.

1.As always, I did a lot more social media posts across my planet of them. I started doing Rodney Hampton, Eli Manning updates along with small mail day posts on there since it's much faster to send out a social media message than putting up a big blog post.

If you want to catch up on stuff you missed out on, here is a list of all of my social media channels:Cards Over Coffee YouTube Channel is for cards:

Cards Over Coffee - YouTube

Matt's World Of Fun YouTube Channel is for everything else:
Matt's World Of Fun! - YouTube

On top of this, I have two Facebook accounts, Cards Over Coffee and Sport Card Collectors,

Twitter/X: Coffee Card Guy

Instagram account: Coffee Card Guy

Bluesky as Cards Over Coffee

There you have that. Now go check me out on those!

2. Eli Manning updated on TCDB!

 

It took me a good hour, but I finally took the time to update all of my Eli Mannings onto TCDB! That felt like quite the accomplish.

3. I did some blogging!

 

Besides a couple of posts on here, I have been putting a few posts up on Big Blue Cardboard, my NY Giants blog. You can subscribe and check it out HERE. My next job on there is to update that blog like the Giants have updated their team. Daboll era is over!

I have also put a few random posts up on Sport Card Collectors. Once again, this is my main blog now, but I am keeping that one alive the best I can with the time I have.

4. Did some trading! For some reason or another, I decided to do some bigger amount of cards trades. Shipping won't be cheap and I swear this will be the last time for a lonnnnggg time.

5. Commented on other blogs and replied to ones made on here and Big Blue Cardboard. I am always replying to readers.

And there you have it. Five things I did in the hobby last week.

I hope to keep this series going when I have time to post on it.

*takes this posts final sip*

Tell me five things you did in the hobby last week or make a comment on mine. I will make sure to read and comment back on all of them.

Have a great Saturday!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

It's GRIFFening Day!

Opening Day was yesterday, but today, it's Griffening Day.

This is the day I show off my latest additions to my Ken Griffey Jr PC in celebration of MLB's Opening Day.

*takes a sip from a freshly brewed afternoon cup*

Before I show them off, let me backtrack with a quick backstory to my Griffey collecting that you have probably read on here or one of my other blogs a million time so bear with me. Some of you may be reading it for the very first time.

Ken Griffey Jr was my very first hobby PC. I started collecting him in 1996 and chased every card I could. I spent hours at card shows searching, I spent countless dollars trying to pull him from packs and when I did, it was a celebration. I hoarded every card he was on. I collected every figure, beanie baby or statue I could. I even collected food containers that featured him. I was in deep.

So deep that I was featured in Beckett baseball once for my collection and some random Beckett reader mailed me a free Griffey card because of that article.

Then came 1999. I met a girl, took two years off from collecting because she didn't like it, and yada yada yada (I will occasionally use this Seinfeld quote because it fits everywhere) we broke up and I got back into collecting again.

I came back into the hobby deep buying all that I could, but not particularly chasing Griffey like I once did. That fell off, but I would add the occasional card when I could and did.

In about 2010 when Griffey retired, I decided I only wanted to collect cards and traded off all of my Griffey items including Starting Lineups, figures, food items, beanie babies, etc for NY Giants cards at that time. I wished I had gotten Griffeys.

Fast forward to a few years ago, I have found myself going back to a Griffey faze again. I don't have the means I once did to collect him, but I add the ones I can when I can and I never turn down a new Griffey. Base card or not. It's all new to me.

Though I do have some preferences, 90's inserts/parallels are always first wants because they are the most nostalgic to me. Then comes the newer stuff that I like the shiny cards of. After that, I will literally welcome any Griffey I don't have.

Recently, I was able to add a healthy balance of Griffeys to my Griffening Day diet.

*takes a sip*

 

1996 Score Dream Team. Probably my favorite add of the group. This one falls 1:72.

 

 

1995 Score Hall Of Gold falls 1:6. Can't turn down a cheap insert.

This card sounded cooler and looked cooler in the photo I got it from, not as cool in person.

 

Ultra Respect fell 1:18 packs. I fell for this one because of the shiny part on the Respect.

Old man Griff. For some reason I am feeling this. I have been ageing with him.

And finally, the 1998 Zenith Z-Team. These fell 1:35 packs. I now have the 1995 and the 1998. I really want the 1996 version which is my favorite design of them all, maybe some day.

There you have my latest additions. I will need to update my Ken Griffey Jr spreadsheet, you can find that HERE, before I can update my overall numbers. Last I checked I was sitting at 1400 different.

I hope to add more Griffeys as I go along this year as I am chasing 2k!

In comments today, let me know your favorite Griffey of the group or let me know how you are celebrating Opening Day!

*takes a final sip for this post*

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Trending This Week In My Hobby

Welcome to Week 2 of Trending This Week In My Hobby.

If you missed Week 1 or am curious what this segment is about if this is your first time seeing it, I will be posting my Top 10 things I have been either adding or seeking the most or in other words what has been trending in my hobby, hence the name. Next week, the list could change and some things could disappear with new things added or move up and down my interests list.

You just never know because I never know here my head will be week to week.

So, the next post will feature the list of stuff for that week and then will compare it to this week for a breakdown of the trending ways and why. If I have an explanation for it.

Hopefully I will.

Without further ado or more rambling, here is the very first list of what's trending in my hobby this week,

1. 90's Inserts Any Team, Any Sport, Any Player specifically 1995-99
2. 2025 Wild Card Splat Eli Manning Cards
3. Disney Lorcana Darkwing Duck Cards
4. Ken Griffey Jr Cards
5. Jaxson Dart Cards
6. NY Giants Cards
7. Eli Manning Cards
8. Rodney Hampton Cards
9. Non Sport Autograph/Relic Cards
10. Allan Houston Cards

And that's it for this weeks updated list. Not too much has changed other than 90's inserts overtaking the number one spot over the very close second place 2025 Wild Card Splat Eli Manning cards. Those are still strongly wanted and I will really have to do a big reveal at some point either on this blog or Big Blue Cardboard (so make sure you are following that blog too) to show you why.

Falling off my list is Mikaela Shiffrin, who is more like at 10B here. However, moving up really strong is Disney Lorcana Darkwing Duck cards. When I found out those existed and with my fandom/nostalgia of the show, those easily became a must want/have and I have added some that I will post about.

So, not much changing so far here overall.

If you were curious about last weeks list and how it changed, here it is again,

1. 2025 Wild Card Splat Eli Manning Cards
2. 90's Inserts Any Team, Any Sport, Any Player specifically 1995-99
3. Ken Griffey Jr Cards
4. Jaxson Dart Cards
5. NY Giants Cards
6. Eli Manning Cards
7. Rodney Hampton Cards
8. Non Sport Autograph/Relic Cards
9. Allan Houston Cards
10. Mikaela Shiffrin Cards

Who knows what next week will bring or where the wind will take me next. I guess you will have to come back and see.

While you wait, let me know what you are collecting this week or what's been trending in your hobby!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

5 Things I Did In The Hobby Last Week

Welcome to the next edition of 5 Things I Did In The Hobby Last Week. I am glad a few of you have reached out and let me know this is one of your favorite segments on here. I like information such as that.

But, for those of you that are new to this segment, here is the background to it:

This series is once again related/played on by Elon Musk's email to government officials in February 2025 asking them about what five things they did.

Also, once again, this is not about politics. I just liked the idea.

*its best to never post politics, make friends, not enemies*

Here we go onto my five things.

1.As always, I did a lot more social media posts across my planet of them. I started doing Rodney Hampton, Eli Manning updates along with small mail day posts on there since it's much faster to send out a social media message than putting up a big blog post.

If you want to catch up on stuff you missed out on, here is a list of all of my social media channels:Cards Over Coffee YouTube Channel is for cards:

Cards Over Coffee - YouTube

Matt's World Of Fun YouTube Channel is for everything else:
Matt's World Of Fun! - YouTube

On top of this, I have two Facebook accounts, Cards Over Coffee and Sport Card Collectors,

Twitter/X: Coffee Card Guy

Instagram account: Coffee Card Guy

Bluesky as Cards Over Coffee

There you have that. Now go check me out on those!

(sorry no pictures to post this week for this post)

2. Hey, I finally added a PWE Trade Page on here!! It tells you what I am looking for in return, the cards I have available with more on the way and rules on how to trade with me! Hopefully this works out like I envisioned! Check out what's been posted HERE for now!

3. I have posted almost every day this week!! Will tomorrow end the streak? We will see how much time I have after I get my school work accomplished.

4. I have been commenting on as many blogs I can. I love to read every post, but I don't always have time to leave a comment or at least something insightful. Hopefully that will change once this semester ends in May. I will get two weeks off.

5. I opened up some wax for the first time in what felt like an eternity! I will be showing off what's inside of some newer football products soon! Stay tuned for some new Coffee Breaks coming up!

And there you have it. Five things I did in the hobby last week.

I hope to keep this series going when I have time to post on it.

*takes this posts final sip*

Tell me five things you did in the hobby last week or make a comment on mine. I will make sure to read and comment back on all of them.

Have a great Friday!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*