The 1970s Running Boom

Frank Shorter's win in the 1972 Olympic Marathon has been credited with being a big inspiration for the running boom of the 1970s.  It also got him into the first series of Sportscaster cards. 

Not surprisingly, Shorter is mentioned as being "skinny".  How many Olympic Marathon winners weren't?

He was attending law school while training for the marathon.  He finished second in the 1976 Olympic Marathon.  

Not on the card - the 1976 winner has been implicated in East Germany's state-sponsored doping that went on for almost 20 years. 

I remember what I did after watching the 1972 race.  As a nine-year-old kid, I went out to try to run around the block 26 times.  I think I went for about an hour before my mother stopped me.  It was probably about 0.5 miles so I'd guess that I racked up 5 - 7 miles.   I remember not walking at all.  Unfortunately, in every marathon that I've attempted I ended up walking for a while.  Oh, to be nine years old again. 

That day marked my first ever run.  Sure I'd probably run home from school, to a friend's house or away from a dog, but this was the first time I actually went running as sport/exercise.  Too bad I didn't own running shoes until 1978.  I wish I knew what kind of shoes I wore that day.

Kellogg's Track and Field Cards From England

Here is a link to what I wrote about some Kellogg's cards that I found recently.  They seem to originate from England.  Do you know much about them?


Kellogg's Track and Field Cards From England


Here is a site that gives details on this set and includes a TV commercial.  It only shows cereal box offers from the UK.

http://cerealoffers.com/Kelloggs/Cornflakes/1990/Olympic_Champions_Cards/olympic_champions_cards.html

Track and Field and The Masters

Normally my weekend would be taken up by an out-of-town track meet.  Since the weather in the Midwest is so awful, our meets have been canceled.  That means more time for watching golf.

Here is the Sportscaster card that discussed The Masters.  Let's see how they describe the event and how that compares to today.  Of course Jack Nicklaus is shown on the card since he already had won the most green jackets as this point.  He won his last one in 1986.

Who is interviewing Nicklaus?  Maybe I will try to figure that out.

The card describes the history of the tournament well.  It also mentions that the winner value the green "blazer" more than the prize money that they receive for winning.   The 1980 winner earned $55,00 and the 2018 winner will take home 1.98 million dollars.

The text is definitely written so that those who are not golf fans get the idea that this is an important tournament.

Bird and Gretzky Sportscaster Cards on ebay

I just watched auctions end for the Bird and Gretzky cards that are going to be in my way on the path to completing this set.  The Bird was graded better and it sold for $210.  Gretzky went "only" for $130.  If I hadn't spent too much on Kellogg's cards recently maybe I would have been in the market for the Gretzky.

These cards don't seem to show up on ebay much. 

Sportscaster Checklist Can Be Found!

Tradingcarddb.com - Sportscaster

This site seems to have all 91 series listed.  Check it out.  It probably won't have all of the variations that have been found but at least it is a nice checklist.

Maybe I Will Get a Few More Cards That I Need

I picked up a few Sportscaster cards today.  They are just so slow to sort.  I need to get through them to see if I need any of the variations.  As usual, there were hardly any baseball cards in this group.  No Dave Kingman, just a few Johnny Bench cards.

Lots of track cards.  I always like that.  No higher numbers, but that's what I expect.

When I buy these cheap lots there is rarely a Secretariat card so that was a nice surprise.

Most Surprising Card in Sportscaster Card Series #001

I was sorting some of the Sporstcaster cards today and I was surprised to see this card in series 001.  I'm sure that in the 1970s I was wondering why this card was included, especially in series 001 of a subscription set.  Series 001 was going to be their big marketing push so the set included Bobby Orr, Muhammad Ali, Jessse Owens, Mark Spitz, Frank Shorter, Johnny Unitas, Pele, Jimmy Connors, Jets vs. Colts (Super Bowl), Tom Seaver, Pete Maravich and track stars Alberto Juantorena and Lasse Viren.  That's a great first set. 

Even the sub-title of the card makes me wonder about the card's inclusion.  It reads "The Unanswered Question".

The text even begins with the question "should fishing even be included in a collection of sports cards?".

The card concludes that fishing is probably not a sport  That has changed a lot since the 1970s.  There are professional tournaments, high school championships and everything in between.  I haven't been to a competition, but I'm guessing that the card is no longer correct when it mentions that "there are no referees and there are no anti-doping control points along the river".

The last line is my favorite, since I'm too impatient to fish - "Luckily, though, the fish almost always win".

My real question from this card is the fisherman depicted.  Is he a professional, the neighbor of the photographer, an actor, just some guy who is hungry, is it you or what?  What is his story?  If there is no story, how great is it for this guy to be included with the famous athletes in Series 001.