Merry Strasmas Jr. and stuff that's less-hyped

Thank God the Nats don't pick first next year...
Derek (of Tomahawk Chopping) and I recently completed our first non-break trade, one that was mainly centered around our 2011 Bowman wantlists.  Of primary interest to me was Derek's ability to cut a major swath into my Chrome needs.  In terms of what was changing hands involving 2011 Bowman stuff, I came out way ahead, so I made sure to send a bunch of Bravos Derek's way, including a few hits he had previously coveted (the best being a Mike Minor autograph).  Well Derek responded in kind, AND HOW:  today in the mail I received

the love child of Stephen Strasburg, the Virgin Mary and maybe the ghost of Mickey Mantle, as far as the baseball media are concerned.  Yes, it's the second coming of Strasmas, Bryce Harper's Bowman Chrome Prospects "RC".  The reason I'm so excited is not because I'm any kind of prospector--I'm just doing my best to complete this set like everyone else, along with the "base" Prospects and Bowman's Best, which is just a great looking set that's fun to collect.  This guy is probably the best of the bunch, and it puts me 1/3 of the way towards my set-building goal.  Seeing as how this is currently a very desirable card that's probably worth its weight in sticker autos, I really appreciate Derek being willing to send it my way (where I promise it will remain with the rest of my set, not in an eBay auction titled "Bryce Harper Bowman Chrome RC PSA 10? 1500 HR? L@@k" with a BIN of $1000) so thanks again to a great trader and blogger.

Thorzul rules, politicians drool
For those of you who didn't see Thorzul's post today, first, shame on you for not following his awesome blog, but secondly, go show some support for a guy that (among others) got handed a pretty raw deal thanks to some continued questionable decisions in his state.  Politics aside, (and that's often best among friends, naturally) dude deserved better, as does education in this country in general.  You don't want future generations unable to point out Canada on a map or think that $200 for a pack that includes a scrub sticker auto, quad-single color jersey and serial-numbered scrub RC is exactly what the consumer is begging for, do you?

More trade bait draft II stuff
Update courtesy of the man himself, Tim, including draft order and a hint about the card that'll earn you a free box of UD baseball.

Not enough no-hitters
Anybody catch that gem by Justin Verlander last night?  I'm making it official:  if he throws another no-no this season, I'm officially changing this here blog's name to Too Many Verlanders, and old Curtis will just have to deal with it.  I did it once before and I'll do it again--this time permanently.

Go 'Nucks!
I don't technically have a horse in this race, but it's been fun watching Vancouver's quest for the Cup, a co-worker pulls for them, and they have the advantage of having a former Wolverine star, Jeff Tambellini, possibly playing for them tonight in the clincher, so good luck to the Canucks!