Gint-A-Cuffs V Recap

So, yeah... I meant to post this approximately 10 months ago. My bad. I also meant to post, oh, I don't know, ANYTHING between last Gint-A-Cuffs and now. I even thought that I did. I'm clearly losing my mind. Not that there is much left TO lose... but hey.

SO! Since the news is *technically* out of the bag... or the cat is, but the cat is a metaphor for news... Or something like that? I don't know. ANYWAYS. It has been revealed. I have known about a 2015 Ginter Subject since about December that Topps themselves haven't even announced. Though they sort of did.

Megan Kalmoe. 'Who the heck is Megan Kalmoe?' Well, unless you're a fan of US Women's Rowing (or any rowing, really, since most of the races happen on the same day in the same spot for both Men and Women's teams) you probably have never heard of her. But then again, I'd never heard of Amelia Boone or approximately 80% of the non-baseball subjects in Ginter every year. And therein lies a bit of the charm of the brand, don't you think?

Anyways, to answer your question, Megan is a member of the US Women's National team and has represented the US in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, and was part of the Quad Sculls that nabbed the first ever medal in the event for the United States. No boat had managed to medal in that event for the United States since 1976 when they removed the coxswain from the boats. She also has (in my opinion) a fairly impressive list of accolades and some serious hardware to display in her tiny little house somewhere in Princeton, NJ.

How do I know who Megan is, you ask? Easy! I've known her for the last 29 years, 4 months and 18 days. Or, if you don't like years and months and prefer your time in 24-hour increments, thats 10,730 days. This length of time corresponds to the length of time that Megan has been a big sister to yours truly!

I've been trying to nominate her for Ginter for several years now, and finally succeeded! I know she's had fun with it, going to Topps to sign her cards recently and submitting what I believe is a hat she wore during one of the Olympic races. So take that for some sweet memorabilia action on a card. A hat. With cool logo potential and REAL sweat! Ewww, on second though, I hope she washed it.

So! When I realized Megan was going to be in Ginter, I knew instantly that she had to be my favorite player. So much, in fact, that I've already declared her as my favorite player for Gint-A-Cuffs VI. So take that, you slackers and your reliance on a checklist to pick a favorite player and team. The Ginter Godfather lives up to his name and is already got a substantial lead over everyone.

Now, I also realize that since I know Megan's print run on her auto's and that a hat is her relic item, that I'm at a pretty substantial disadvantage for bonus points as the odds of me pulling one are pretty slim. But, they're about as equal as any one of you, and I have the power of DNA on my side. Mwuahahaha!

In other news, 2015 Ginter will represent the first time I ever will have purchased a factory-sealed case of cards for any product or spot. To me, it's akin to buying your first full box. Except times twelve, in this case. It's a step towards the 'I'm kind of serious about this hobby' direction. Which is hilarious, because I'm about as far from being serious about this hobby as you can be. I haven't bought much in the way of cards this year since I quit my job and became a graduate student. And before you think I'm being financially irresponsible buying a whole, it turns out that when you don't buy any baseball cards at all, you have quite a bit of money saved over the course of almost a year. It's nuts.

I'd also like to film my Gint-A-Cuffs break this year. I think it adds a little bit of fun to it. But if I do, I'll post like I normally do with 3-4 packs at a time over the course of 6-8 posts to make it exciting for scoring purposes. Or I might be too lazy and not film it at all. Who knows. A lot remains to be seen.

'Til next post, keep it in the family. Like, super-literally now. Because I'm that good.

-GG