For weeks we’d been hearing about the developing “Coronavirus” and how it’s been impacting persons around the world. We’ve been urging folks to wash their hands more frequently and for people to stay home if they are sick.
It was real, we knew that was the case. But the time at which things become real for each of us is different. That time for me came on March 11, 2020, when the sports world came to a screeching halt.
Before I get to much further I will say that this piece is my personal perspective and my view of things through my experiences. You can dismiss it as me being naive; me being petty; me being selfish, etc. But this isn’t meant to be an all encompassing piece. This is the account of the my experience in this time.
Just over a week ago the world looked much different. We had sports to distract us from the trials and tribulation of life; they brought strangers together every day. And on that Wednesday, a day after the NHL had postponed its operation, we still had an evening of NBA basketball to distract us.
I had my kids that day and we spend part of the afternoon running errands and watching my nephew play some Little League baseball. As we headed home from the field, I received a text from my brother in law telling me that the NBA season had been postponed due to the threat of the Coronavirus/COVID-19.
I relayed this information to my 9-year-old son, who has become a big fan of the sport in recent years. And who can blame him, he’s growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area which has seen a great amount success with the Golden State Warriors’ five straight Finals appearances.
He asked a lot of questions during the drive, but took solace in the fact that there was still one game being played — the Mavericks game — and there was still one more on the schedule, which featured Zion Williamson playing in Sacramento.
We sat down that night in front of the television watching Luka Doncic dominate during the final quarter of the game, but that Breaking News banner kept flashing on the bottom of the screen — a reminder that this would be one of the final games for the foreseeable future.
As the network switched to the Kings-Pelicans game, they kept talking about the seriousness of the virus; about Rudy Gobert testing positive, and how asinine if felt that the next game would tip off. And as we know now, that game featuring the NBA’s biggest rookie never would begin.
The players started warming up and then they left the court. We learned that one of the referees scheduled to work the game had worked a game recently that involved Gobert and ultimately the game was postponed.
The networks showed fans perplexed; fans booing; fans leaving. And then there was the “money shot” showing a young girl crying, seemingly upset the game was being canceled. I looked at my son and he was quiet; no emotion on his face.
I asked if he was OK and he just stared at me, looking at me with his brown eyes, silently seeking answers, none of which I had. I opened my arms and told him to come to me and then he let out all of his emotion. It was at that moment that all of this became real to me because … it had become real to him. The side effects of this pandemic were impacting my kids.
That was a Wednesday night. He was a wreck for a while and wound up sleeping in my bed because he was scared. And when morning came, he woke afraid because he had a nightmare related to all of this. He hugged me almost tighter that morning that he ever had before.
He stayed home from school that day, but my 11-year-old daughter went to school also having questions: Her main inquiry was whether her fifth grade science camp — for which recently purchased supplies — would be canceled.
As it turns out, that may in fact be their last school day for the year. School was formally postponed on Friday; the science camp was obviously nixed out of precaution — a bummer for my daughter who has been talking about this trip since the third grade. There’s also a real chance that my daughter may not get to experience her promotional ceremony as she starts middle school next year. Its unfortunate, but we get it.
This Coronavirus has been around for months, mostly being spoke of as impacting those in other countries. But it is now here impacting us on a personal level, and this is a moment that will define their generation.
As I think about what it must feel like to be a child during these times — full of uncertainly and having lots of questions — I am reminded that there are some parallels to my own life.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and my world was changed when the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck on Oct. 17, 1989. I had some family drama (parents separated) I had dealt with before that, but the earthquake brought everything to a halt, including the World Series that year which featured our two local teams, the San Francsico Giants and Oakland Athletics.
I remember being home with my younger sister and a friend when the quake hit; I remember us ducking under a table immediately as we had been taught in school, and once we realized we were physically OK, there was concern for others, including our mother who was on the way home from work,
The streets were dark that evening as power had been out due to structural damage; and the only news we had immediately was that buildings had collapsed and persons had been injured and killed as a result of the temblor. School was postponed for about a week if memory serves me right, but that natural disaster was a moment that defined my childhood — there was a clear loss of innocence for myself at that time and while I had many questions my mother could not answer, I remember her being there for all of it, being strong and making sure we were safe and fed.
Its too early to say how the Coronavirus will impact the kids of this generation. At present my family is doing its best to keep the spirits up for the kids — we’re trying a semi-structured home schooling effort coupled with walks around the block and some free time. But it if you ask me, this certainly will be a time they will never forget, and it is our duty as parents and adults to make sure that the kids who turn to us feel as taken care of just as our parents did for us during our times of crisis.
cardboardicons.com 
This feels like a bad time to be investing in unknowns …
Posted in Commentary, Misc. with tags baseball, baseball cards, COVID-19, investment, investments, sports, uncertainty on July 27, 2020 by Cardboard IconsThis surely is an interesting time in our hobby. Money is flowing like water for some folks and many are willing to take more chances than ever.
You do you. But if you ask me … this sure seems like a horrible time to be investing in unknowns.
Major League Baseball returned to action this week after having the season delayed due to COVID-19. And after three games we have our first major outbreak with more than a dozen Miami Marlins players and personnel returning a positive test.
The result has been at least one canceled game, which immediately reignites the talking point that some have had for months: How the are they going to play a completed “season” during a health crisis like this?
You can believe what you want about COVID. Fact of the matter is that it’s real, people have died — and yes many have not — and we don’t know how each individual is going to react if they contract the disease so safety protocols are enacted all over the world t slow the spread until a vaccine is produced. In the sports we’ve been introduced to a term like “in the bubble,” and we frequently hear about mandatory testing and quarantine.
So how does all of this relate to card investments? Well, here: If games can’t be played, then players can’t prove or disprove their relative worth to their sports or teams, and thereby collectors/investors have nothing to really gauge their value.
Don’t you find it odd that during a 100-day period where none of the major sports were being played that values of young players — and a fair amount of stars — skyrocketed?
It’s because much of the investing side of this hobby/business is built on “promise.” It’s built on the idea that today’s big prospect is tomorrow’s next Mike Trout, who of course is still in the midst of being the next Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays. This is the baseball analogy, but there are similar arguments in other sorts.
And if this 60-game baseball season can’t have a proper conclusion — all games being played and a playoff — how are those guys going to show their worth?
Luis Robert had a really good weekend, Kyle Lewis did as well. But if the season got called off today, or in a week or month, is that going to be enough to keep your interest longterm?
And how on earth is Jasson Dominguez ever going to show us how he performs in a game with professionals if the Minor League season has been canceled? I mean batting practice homeruns can only keep the pilot light on for so long.
Investing, or maybe flipping is better term, is an art. I realize that. None of the aforementioned players have to become a Hall of Famer for YOU to have done well on your particular investment, after all the key is being able to capture the money between buying low and any higher price. But for the ones who keep buying at the high end, doesn’t the uncertainty of games even being played scare you away?
Again, you’re going to do what you do with your money. I’m no financial guru. But for me, I just don’t see how this is an optimal time to be buying on the high end for any player whom I can’t sit and at least think about their good years simply because they’ve not been able to have them.
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