For the price of a phone call ...

Phone booths ? Pay phones ? Pretty much things of the past. A pack of cards for a quarter ? Last century prices ... but wait "mon ami" ! I actually did get that and more. My weekly garage sale run yielded a stack of sports cards.

About half of these were a series of SPORTS ILLUSTRADED For KIDS. The great mix of pro and amateur athletes in these issues always makes them interesting. The lot contained several lady jocks, some Olympians (always looking for them), some basketball, baseball and some hockey. Here is what I got:

Amanda Blumentherst - golfer / Duke University

Lorena Ochoa - golfer / Mexico

Usain Bolt - 100 Meter Gold medal world record holder

Kyle busch - NASCAR

Rafael Nadal - Champion tennis player

Lauren Jackson - Seattle Storm / WNBA

Luke Harangody - Notre Dame basketball

Chris Bosh - Toronto Raptors

David West - New Orleans Hornets

Allen Iversen - Denver Nuggets

Scott Kazmir - Tampa Bay Rays

Edinson Volquez - Cincinnati Reds

Josh Hamilton - Texas Rangers

Ryan Braun - Milwaukee Brewers

Mariano Rivera - NY Yankees

Grady Sizemore - Cleveland Indians

Scott Dixon - Indy driver

Natalie Coughlin - Olympic swmmer / USA

Angela Tincher - Virginia Tech / softball

Wu Minxia - Olympic swmmmer / China

Hannah Nielsen - lacrosse / Northwestern

Daniel Alfredson - Ottawa Senators

Martin Brodeur - New Jersey Devils

Ilya Kovalchuk - Atlanta Thrashers

Not bad - the NHL all-time goalie, the fastest man alive and some college chicks ! I was only disappointed not to find any soccer cards.

Plus I got 8 cards from the Upper Deck Vintage set: Batista (Orioles), Rodriguez (Rangers), Beltran (Royals), Alomar (Mets), Perez (Dodgers), Nen (Giants), McCovey (Giants) and Banks (Cubs).

Two cards from Fleer Tradition: Sandberg (Rays), Phelps (Blue Jays) and one card from Upper Deck Pitch-Hit-Run - Torii Hunter (Twins).

Seven more cards from 2003 Donruss - Burks (Indians), Dunn (Reds), Chiavacci (Expos), Lee (Phillies), Durham (A's), Hidalgo (Astros), Vaughn (Mets). Plus two 2003 Topps - Narron (Rangers) and Wilson (Blue Jays).

In addition, there was one Press Pass racing card, one Mountain Dew skate boarder and a sheet of 1996 Pro Stamp NFL players stickers that included Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. The sheet had a full checklist on the back and a chance to practice with Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys.

Of the 46 cards, all are up for grabs except the Usain Bolt and the hockey cards.

I'll be putting together some team stuff for my new fellow bloggers.

LET THE GIVING BEGIN ...

With the holidays comes the inevitable holiday shows ... The Grinch Who Stole Christmans, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nose Rain Deer etc.

Those are the good ones ... and a few movie classics.

All the different versions of the Christmas Carol and their copies will be televised. This includes the old black and white classic - Its a Wonderful Life. Which brings me to the card of the day:

1938 Players Cigarettes - Jimmy Stewart. For those of you younger than 30 or don't watch TNT / TBS / AMC it is a story about a man who lives his life as if he was never born.

The holidays are a great time for giving, getting and sharing cards. I often wonder what my life would be like without collecting cards. Well, it would probably be black and white just like the old films.

I came of age with cards in the 1970's when my breakfast table was adorned with the cereal boxes which actually contained something of value. In those days, it was very cool to get a 3-D or three-dementional card.

Kellogg's began putting these in their morning offering and I was hooked. But as great stories go, we moved from thr city to the suburbs and as luck would have it, our new neighbor worked for Xenographic Company.

As a "welcome wagon" gift he gave me a set of 1971 Kellogg's baseball cards. I was awed by the moving background of sunny stadiums and blue skies behind the players picture.

There were certain players, before I knew who they were, that seemed majestic in their pose. They looked like superstars. Al Kaline, Willie Mays and Ernie Banks fit the part.

Then there was Roberto Clemente. I was not a Pirates fan then, nor am I one now. But I became and always will remain, a Clemente admirer. We lost Roberto around the holidays - on his mercy mission. He reminds me that is is better to give than recieve. So I will be giving cards as gifts to many people.

Pass the drumstick ! Happy Thanksgiving.