Ep.270 w/ Joe Kohls "Covering the Football Side of the Hobby"

SPEAKER 1: This is Sports Card Nation.

SPEAKER 2: What is up everybody? Welcome to episode 270 of Sports Card Nation. Got a great show on tap for you. One, housekeeping note before we get into today's episode, Google podcasts are going away here in a couple of months and I've already started to, as part of that Google will be moving, podcast from Google onto YouTube pod podcast. So I've already started that transition.

SPEAKER 2: You can still find us on all major platforms and whatever you're listening to us already on. That is fine with the exception of Google eventually will be phased out to YouTube podcast. I'm getting them on there ahead of time and ready. If you're listening to us on Google podcast, you still, I think have a couple of months to, to keep doing that. But then you'll have to find another podcast podcast platform.

SPEAKER 2: And if you're a heavy YouTube user, you'll soon find Sports Card Nation, Card, mens and hobby. Quick hits on the YouTube side of the house. So, just wanted to get that out of the way. Today's guest, Joe Coles from Iowa 49Er fan, a fan of this show and I got to know Joe a little bit.

SPEAKER 2: He's launched his own show called the football card curator to fill an itch. He felt like no one was covering football cards old and new exclusively. And that's what he's doing. Now, we're gonna talk about the launch of the show. We're gonna talk about some hobby, current events, talk some football and make our Super Bowl predictions.

SPEAKER 2: Now, when we did this interview was a few weeks back, so We'Ll see how right or wrong our predictions are. As we know, the Super Bowl is this weekend. So with that being said, let's get the show started quick 32nd commercial break and then We'Ll be on the air with Joe Coles.

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SPEAKER 2: All right. Real happy to be joined on the sports card shop guest line by my next guest who just recently started his own podcast and I, I know I've had some conversations with him online.

SPEAKER 2: He's a big football fan, as, as am I and at the time of this recording, his team is still alive in the postseason and mine just went down for the account, but I don't want to make a wait Mr Joe Coles, from the football curator podcast. Welcome to Sports Car Nation. Yes.

SPEAKER 4: Thank you, John. Huge honor just to be able to be a guest on your show. So I appreciate everything you do.

SPEAKER 2: Well, I, I appreciate that and glad to have you.

SPEAKER 2: Let's, you know, it's kind of the basic standby sort of question, Joe, kinda like, when did it all, when did the hobby start for you? How did it all kind of start for you?

SPEAKER 4: I remember it like it was yesterday. So 1987 I was seven years old and I joined the Cub Scouts and they had, you know, you go around, you have fundraisers every, every dollar amount you sold, you got a ticket. Well, at the end, everybody comes together and it's kind of like you turn in your, your raffle prizes, whatever tickets you have, you can pick what you want on the tables, right?

SPEAKER 4: Prizes. And so I, I was seven, it was 1987 and I see all this stuff and I'm just starting to get into football. Well, I see this box of, football cards, 87 tops. So I took all my whatever raffle tickets I had, I took them all and I gave them all. I said, just give me as much as I can have.

SPEAKER 4: Here's my tickets and, got home and I opened them up and, you know, my, my first name is Joe and I didn't really know teams or players. I didn't even really know what I was looking at and I opened, I don't know if it was the first pack, but in my head, it was the first pack. Joe Montana was right there and he, you know, same first name, got me hooked. So 3037 years now I've been collecting, been a Montana guy 49.

SPEAKER 4: And, that's how it all started was, turning in some raffle tickets for some free cards and.

SPEAKER 2: The rest is history. What is, I don't know what it is about the age of seven because that's, that's when it was for me. I've had other people mention they were seven when they got started. I'm older than you. So I got started in 79 at seven years old.

SPEAKER 2: Born in 72. So I was seven when I opened my first pack of 79 Tops. Baseball being a New York City kid.

SPEAKER 2: I wasn't a Reggie Ja, I was a Yankee fan as a young kid at the time I later changed, that's a long story. That's what I've said on the show, so I, I won't repeat it, but at the time, Reggie Jackson was the Toast New York, Mr October. And while I wasn't, he wasn't my favorite player.

SPEAKER 2: I knew he was really good. And so he was like the third or fourth card I saw in that first pack I opened and I like you, I was hooked, hooked, and still here. Both of us, all these years later, you're in Iowa. If you and I, I know you've talked about that on your show and, and Iowa doesn't have obviously a pro team in NFL.

SPEAKER 2: And so if you, if you, I, I read a book where it goes over the rules of like NFL and fandom, I forgot what the name of the book is called. But in the book, the, one of the rules is if you live in a state where you don't have a NFL team in your state, you can pick any team you want.

SPEAKER 2: And for you, it's between the first name of Joe and, and you like in the 49Ers logo and, and, and you gravitated to Joe Montana, not a bad choice at the end of, at the end of the day. But you're seven years old. So it wasn't like you were 15, like, hey, this guy's got 44 rings and I'm a bandwagon jumper and, and no one can accuse you of that.

SPEAKER 2: I mean, you know, living in Iowa where do, like a lot of fandoms fall. Is it kind of just eclectic? Everyone that, you know, I'm, I, I would guess maybe the Vikings are kind of a, a fan favorite. I'll ask you, you, you lived there.

SPEAKER 4: So, here in the Des Moines Metro, we're right in the smack center of Iowa. Pretty much interstate 80 interstate 35 cross right through. We're only three hours from Kansas City. We're only four hours from Minnesota or Minneapolis and we're only five hours from Chicago.

SPEAKER 4: So kind of depending on what side of the state you live on. Mo most Des Moines is the Chiefs fans. Southern Iowa's Chiefs, you get the Northern Iowa, it's Vikings and then Eastern Iowa is the Bears. So we're, we're smack dab in the middle of three teams.

SPEAKER 2: All right, this might be goofy to you. But you know, you got the Iowa Hawkeyes college, obviously, college football team, their uniforms look almost identical to the Steelers. Are there Steeler fans simply for that reason, like, hey, I'm used to rooting for the Hawkeyes. They look like the Steelers. So I guess I'll be a steer too.

SPEAKER 4: There are, there are quite a few Steelers fans around, you know, Hayden Fry went to Iowa in what? 79 or 80 our legendary head coach and he was a fan of the Steelers. So that's, that's how they kind of incorporated. The Hawkeye Jerseys were from the Steelers.

SPEAKER 4: So, but, yeah, there's there, you know, in our, our personalized license plates have the yellow and black license plate for the Hawkeyes and it, it might say Steelers on it. They're, they're both Hawkeyes and Steelers.

SPEAKER 2: Yeah. So, yeah, I always get a kick out of that and, we have a, obviously a college team here in Syracuse. Didn't fare too well this year, but, I had a new coach and, you know, a really great recruiting class coming in. Just a shockingly, great one coming in with that new coach who's, one heck of a recruiter. I don't want to make this a football show but it'll come up, it'll come up again.

SPEAKER 2: We'Ll, We'Ll make some, some Super Bowl picks, later on, in the show. So you, you talked to about how you got your start, with 87 tops football. Here you are, you know, 36 years later. Still going. What is your, what do you PC, what is your collect? Where does your collecting interest fall? Obviously, Joe Montana.

SPEAKER 2: I know you have a lot of autos, but, outside of, Joe Montana too, what other stuff do you like to kind of collect?

SPEAKER 4: So, besides Montana stuff, I love, I love vintage and, you know, even if I'm not a fan of the team, you know, you can always respect talent, you know. So any, any vintage, basketball, football, baseball, I love old, old stuff and then if there was a third thing, probably just rookie cards.

SPEAKER 4: So Montana first, any vintage Hall Of Famers from any sport and then kind of, just any rookie cards.

SPEAKER 2: So, yeah, you almost sound like me. So that, you know, I've said on this show, the things I PC are, are graded, hall of Fame rookies from all sports. All the four major sports, even, even some boxing and, and, and, and not sports. I'm a big Billy Joel guy. So I have Billy Joel's Panini smash hits from, from 1980. So, vintage.

SPEAKER 2: I've always been vintage.

SPEAKER 2: But I've really gone heavier on that side in the last, probably 4 to 5 years. Joe as, as, you know, you learn stuff and, and, you know, that stuff is getting harder and harder to get and, and after a while to me, you know, I like the new stuff too, some of it, but it gets to be a blur.

SPEAKER 2: You know, I'm old school. I think you'll agree too. You know, I like the, the era where, you know, guys had one, maybe 23 rookie cards max.

SPEAKER 2: Now, if you're a rookie in today's hobby, you can have 100 and 40 different brands and that. And that's, and, and, you know, 100 and 40 different versions of your rookie card. And that's, that's sometimes without parallels and colors and, and things like that.

SPEAKER 2: So it can be confusing to someone new in a hobby. I, I do try to help folks, I know you're doing that as well with your pod podcast. But I kind of like those simpler times when you knew, you know, Joe, like, you know, Joe Montana's Rookie is 1981. It's a CS card.

SPEAKER 2: It's an iconic card in itself and there's no guessing game and you don't have to say, hey, there's 100 Joe Montana Rookies, which one do I like the best and want to get first type of deal?

SPEAKER 2: And I get it. It's a different era. I mean, you know, I wanna sound like the, a little bit of the old man on the porch, but there's something about that vintage, right? Well, especially when you grew, when, you know, when we get our age and I'm older than you when we grew up in what's considered a vintage era, right?

SPEAKER 2: It's one thing to, to not grow up. And, you know, I see a lot of kids come to my table, which is, which I love Joe and they're buying vintage cards. It's obviously stuff before they were even born.

SPEAKER 2: But there was, you know, I, I like to see that, that they're respecting, the past and, and stuff like that, but we kind of grew up, in it maybe more so than you being older.

SPEAKER 2: So it, it, it, that nostalgia factor. Right. Rings a little bit more true, I think for us than someone obviously younger than us. Yeah. Go ahead.

SPEAKER 4: I tell you how I kind of got into vintage even as, so, you know, I think, you know, back before there was internet and cell phones and all this stuff being a kid and just learning about the different sports and different players. You remember the Beckett's like when you go to the mall for the day with your friends and not the Beckett Monthly, but like the yearly, the.

SPEAKER 2: Real thick three or four, the almanac, the almanac.

SPEAKER 4: So, you know, as a 10 year old kid, I would just sit down in the bookstore and I'd look at all the, you know, I love money. I love making money. So I would just take my finger and I'd scroll down the pages and you'd see whichever card had the most zeros behind it. And like, that's how I learned, like who the big stars were even back then was just, you know, you associate, you see those, all those zeros.

SPEAKER 4: Well, that must be a big card. You associate that name with it. So, I mean, ever since I was a kid, I just loved all the old stuff and that's how I, that's how I learned different players names was by looking at those old annual Beckett books. And, you know, that's how I found out who was, who was the big stars and who wasn't, you know, and it kind of just you.

SPEAKER 2: Got carry and you got in your defense, you know, not that you need a defense here, but this was a time before the social media like we have today, cellphones, internet being as prevalent in today. So information wasn't as readily accessible. And, you know, I remember growing up and sure there were some games on TV.

SPEAKER 2: But, you know, a lot of times you would have to read the newspaper the next day. You know, there was no sportscenter yet, right? So running five times in a row or, you know, 10 times a day. So you had to read the box score the following day in the sports page to see what happened, the day before.

SPEAKER 2: And so it's a different period. It was harder to obtain that information, when we compare it to today's hobby and to today's game. And I, you know, I, I don't think I would change growing up, in that era, Joe, because I think we appreciate it. We appreciate both sides now, right?

SPEAKER 2: We appreciate the convenience that we have now how easier it is to do. But we also, you know, appreciate that, you know, we had to do some homework too. We kind of paid our, our dues, as, as, as well. So, iii, I completely, I completely understand that and, you know, makes sense.

SPEAKER 2: You know, you know, I, I know you're a football guy. I know you grew up too when, when you, you know, you mentioned on your show when we had a lot of companies, different companies making, football cards.

SPEAKER 2: And then that changed and then it became you know, tops, then it went to the Panini and now Tops slash fanatics or fanatic slash tops, whatever order you want to put it in here in a couple of years going to get the football licensing back.

SPEAKER 2: And so, you know, for fans of Tops Chrome, football, finest football from, from years ago, those brands are probably coming back, I guess my question to you as, and, and I know you collect other sports but you, you're a big football guy as am I, you know, what are your thoughts with those brands kind of making their return?

SPEAKER 2: And I guess, you know, and the second part of that question, are you concerned with how fanatics is going to handle that?

SPEAKER 2: You know, now that they're sort of the, the engine behind it.

SPEAKER 4: Yeah, I think Top Scrum is like one of my favorite brands ever. I, you know, the Super Factors, the X Factors, you know. Yeah, I, I love Tops Chrome so I hope, I hope it does make a comeback and I'll be the first one in line to buy it and I hope they do it right. Fanatics.

SPEAKER 4: I mean, kind of keeping, you know, they had a good thing going and I hope they can get some of that back and also everybody that's been in the market since, tops was out of football. Maybe, maybe they'll see, you know, what we used to have back then and I, I hope it's a big hit. I hope, I hope it's a good thing that keeps going because I can't wait to see top chrome football back on the shelf.

SPEAKER 2: So, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm interested to see how they do it. I hope they honor the tradition, from pre pre, I don't expect the carbon copy necessarily Joe, but I hope they honor that tradition. You know, my, I don't want to say big fear. My, my trepidation is maybe they, you know, make too much of it. The price point is gonna obviously be important, right?

SPEAKER 2: I hope, you know, I don't expect it to be super cheap, but I also want it to be at a price level where a lot of people can enjoy, it can rip it open, not just rely on buying into a break as a way to acquire some of the cards. And so I hope they, they keep that in mind, honor of the past and, and and, and, and do it right, like you said, you know, do right by it and, and you know, keep the collectors at the forefront.

SPEAKER 2: I know breakers and breaking has been a big part of the industry and, and, and in some cases, save the wax industry when it, it had moments of, of where it struggled a little bit and I get it but, you know, for the directors that want to buy a box themselves, take it home, whether they video it or not video and get to open it.

SPEAKER 2: And, and bring back those memories, right? From the nineties, you know, in, in early two thousands. Again, you know, just, these 20 something years later. So I, I'm excited for it but, you know, I'm, I'm cautiously optimistic and I wanna see help in there is going to roll it out when, when the time comes and hopefully it's something that everybody, can afford.

SPEAKER 2: You know, we've seen some of these baseball, you know, Bowman draft because they put a Tom Brady card in it. $800 box. You know, I'm, I don't expect $36 boxes like when we were kids. I, I'm, I'm not saying that but I know times are different.

SPEAKER 2: I know the value of a dollar is different but it's still try to make it still affordable where people can go to their L CS or A card show, pick up a box, bring it home, and open it up and, and bring back those nos nos, nostalgic memories into a, a time in, in our, in our hobby memory. I hope they, they, they're able to do that.

SPEAKER 2: And obviously they're, you know, they're in business too so I hope, everyone can win, both sides of that coin. We're gonna find out here, you know, in a few years and, We'Ll see how it goes. But, yeah, I'm like you, I, I'm looking forward, to it, you know, Iowa, the Iowa landscape with, with, is there a lot of card shows in Iowa? Card stores? How you, oh, in Iowa, go ahead.

SPEAKER 4: Being, here in Des Moines we have quite a, we have maybe half a dozen stores and then, being the capital of the state, you know, we have the biggest city.

SPEAKER 4: So we have a bi, bi, bi annual show downtown at a big convention center and then we have a few other, you know, decent size towns in Iowa and, you know, maybe might, might have wanted a VFW hall or, you know, like a Ramada, like a hotel show. So there, there are shows, every time somewhere in the state.

SPEAKER 4: And here in Des Moines we have 22 big shows a year.

SPEAKER 4: Just, f fun to go to when I can.

SPEAKER 2: So, yeah, we've seen and we've seen the rise of, you know, even smaller cities and smaller shows, kind of, even here in the central New York area. Jo, we, you know, I'm started to do a show in, in Watertown New York, which is north of Syracuse.

SPEAKER 2: It's a small show but it's, it's really gaining momentum and I think, you know, people are clamoring, you know, now that, COVID is sort of in the rear view mirror, I mean, it's still around but not in the same percentages as it once was.

SPEAKER 2: And so I think people are, you know, you can buy stuff online. I've said this, you know, many a times, but they're not like holding the card in person and, and making a purchase or acquiring it.

SPEAKER 2: And then bring in a home than to look at a scan online and there's nothing wrong with that either, but I think nothing beats an in-person transaction where you can talk to the buyer or seller, you know, on both sides of the table and that camaraderie and, and that, that, you know, anticipation leading up to acquiring a card you really want and, you can't replicate that online.

SPEAKER 2: Well, it's still fun online. I think it's a little bit more fun or if that's a word, in, in person.

SPEAKER 2: Yeah. Go ahead.

SPEAKER 4: Oh, I'm sorry, I, I'm at the point now where, I mean, I'm all about the relationships, you know, all the, all the friends you acquire over the years and, you know, you might not see each other except for those shows.

SPEAKER 4: So, it's a, it's a neat thing to you walk in somewhere and you recognize, you know, a lot of the guys and you might talk back and forth on Facebook. But, you know, it's, it's neat to be in person and actually hand over cash for a card you want and just, you know, build, build that relationship over the years. So, it's, yeah, I like buying in person.

SPEAKER 2: Yeah, I'm, I'm the same way and, and, you know, I, one of the things I try to do, when I go to the National is, is, you know, I have, I have a, you know, a pretty big want list but I try to pick off one or two, you know, three on a really good year, cards at the top of that list.

SPEAKER 2: And, you know, that's a great place to do it because there's plenty of boots and plenty of, of cards and if it's not there it's, it might not exist because it's, it's, it's just an incredible experience. I know you went, to this year's, Chicago.

SPEAKER 2: Was that your first one or, or no?

SPEAKER 4: Yeah, that was my very first one and I, I apologize. I missed you. It would have been nice to bump into you.

SPEAKER 2: Yeah. Yeah. Well, are, are you planning to go to Cleveland.

SPEAKER 4: Not Cleveland, but I'll be back in Chicago in 25.

SPEAKER 2: All right. Well, We'Ll, We'Ll make a point to meet up for sure. I got to ask you going back to this past year's one in, in Chicago as a first timer. My first one. Believe it or not for as long as I've been in Abby was in, in 2017, I believe, or, or 2018, whatever year was in Chicago. And, you know, people are telling you what it's like, here's what to expect, you know, giving you tips.

SPEAKER 2: But until you walk in that room for the first day, the first time you're there, you know, you can, people can tell you what it's like and then you really see it for yourself firsthand and you know, so your thoughts, it would, would it be your first time, you know, this past year?

SPEAKER 2: You know what you kind of expected and, and, and what you got?

SPEAKER 4: Well, just from, just from everything you were saying and a couple other guys I watch just from everything I'm hearing, it was gonna be big. But I, when I man going down that escalator and just seeing everything, it was huge.

SPEAKER 4: So the, the plan of action I took, I didn't buy anything my first day and I kind of got my bearings and I wanted to see like originally I it was big and I thought it was just one big room while you get through that, the day is almost over and you realize there's still another room, you know, so I didn't buy anything.

SPEAKER 4: The first day I wanted to get my bearings and see, I wanted to make sure I left day one where I would pick it up on day two. And then finally, day two is when I started buying stuff. But at first I wanted to take everything in the experience and you're not kidding. If it's not in that building it doesn't exist.

SPEAKER 4: It was, it was amazing. And I'm already, I already know where my hotel is gonna be for 25. And I'm already saving for my couple of big cards that I'm hoping to find. So, if you're a collector, you have to go and I don't know why I waited 36 years to go.

SPEAKER 2: Yeah, I didn't copy, write this. But, you know, and I'm not even sure I'm the first one to coin at this. But, you probably heard me call it the Super Bowl of the hobby. I know you'll appreciate that as a football fan. It's that one week every year.

SPEAKER 2: Right. We try to circle and it's really the same week. It's pretty close to the same, days off by a day or two. Either way it's the end of the July front part of August and, and, you know, it's a week. I kind of circle every, every year.

SPEAKER 2: And it's, you know, it's, it's, it's like Super Bowl Week. Right. Everyone that can, can try, can, can get their tries to, if it's, if it's in the budget and, you know, it's a big event, it's, you know, besides buying cards, you have auction houses, you have the manufacturers there, all the corporate booths and, and, and like the tagline of the show.

SPEAKER 2: Right. Hobbies. The people you catch up with people maybe for the first time or again. And it's sort of like a hobby. I've heard it call the hobby, family reunion. So, I have, you know, for me, even after the show is over, just getting together with somebody and whether it's going to a ball game in that town or going to dinner, with a group of people, you know, it's just a fun week.

SPEAKER 2: We, we try to look forward to, each, each year and, and the minute it's over you start counting down the days of the, to, to the next one for me. I'm looking forward to Cleveland because I can drive there. It's a five hour and 10 minutes. Drive. Chica.

SPEAKER 2: Chicago is a flight which III, I don't mind flying to and I did, but it's always nicer when you can drive because you can bring more stuff. You have your car with you in the city you're in. So you don't have to rely on either.

SPEAKER 2: Public transportation or other people necessarily, you know, I'm sure I, as someone who will have his car there, I'll be giving other people rides and, and gladly, I'm not complaining about that. Glad to help out. And it's nice to have, you know, your own vehicle, when you're out of town. And so, you know, I'm looking forward to that.

SPEAKER 2: I know people didn't like the city of Atlantic City, but again, that was five hours and 10 minutes for me going the opposite direction. So it's nice to, you know, again to be able to drive drive there. But in 2025 I'll, you know, God willing, I'll be at the, the Chicago. I just have to take a plane. I know you can drive. I think it's like 10 or 11 hours, maybe a little bit more.

SPEAKER 2: But I'm getting older, the older I get, the less I like to drive Joe and or, or my stamina, I will say this, my stamina is not as good as the, the younger version of, you know, just put it, put it that way. So, but you can always do it.

SPEAKER 2: I can kind of cut the trip in half night, go, go 56 hours stay in a hotel, get a, get a night's sleep and then do the second the second leg. But We'Ll see, we got, we got Cleveland first and then back to Chicago. Chicago is, is a lot of people's favorite venue when it comes to the National.

SPEAKER 2: So there's gonna be, I've heard people say it for, as far as they're concerned, they could have it in Chicago every year and they'd be, ok with that. So, I think we're gonna see it in Chicago. Quite a bit. It's, it's, it's, I know the dealers favorite and I know a lot of the collectors, like it there. A as well.

SPEAKER 5: You are listening to the Sports Car Nation podcast.

SPEAKER 5: We'Ll be right back after this break.

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SPEAKER 2: We, batch, speaking of driving, I know you've talked about this on your show. So I, I'm sure you don't mind me, man. You know, you drive truck, for a living, a very, important profession.

SPEAKER 2: You know, I, I used to, I used to be a truck driver and, when I was younger, as well and, and, you know, people don't realize all the stuff we purchase and enjoy that. You know, it's not Bewitch where someone wiggles their nose and it just appears on the shelves. It takes the trucking industry and the drivers to get it there.

SPEAKER 2: And so, you know, kudos to you for, for getting that job done. I sometimes think, you know, truck drivers don't get enough credit. But my question with being, you know, you travel, do you incorporate? I know you mentioned listening to Pat traveling but going to different cities and, and different locals. Do you have time maybe to check out an L CS or a show or not? Not necessarily.

SPEAKER 4: No. See, I'm pretty lucky. I, I've been driving for 24 years now. I'm a team and, but I, I work for a local dairy here in Iowa. So I really, unless I drive to Kansas City, I'm really in Iowa delivering to grocery stores. I deliver milk, I'm a milkman.

SPEAKER 4: So I'm home every day.

SPEAKER 4: 20 well, 20 years now as a teamster, I'm, I'm home every day.

SPEAKER 4: But yeah, when I found you, when I, I first found podcast, when I found you about four years ago. And, it's like, man, why, why haven't I found this sooner?

SPEAKER 4: And then after I found you, I went back and I listened to every single one of your episodes when I'm, when I'm going between grocery stores, you know, I mean, you take your lunch sitting in your truck and, you know, I got, if I work 12 hours a day, you know, half of that might be driving, let's say. So you, you can get some, some good amount of listening time.

SPEAKER 4: But now I just, you know, just here in Iowa so every, I don't have any real new places I could go and see and check out. But, I definitely, listen to everything you put out.

SPEAKER 2: But I appreciate it. I figured I'd ask you, I didn't know, kind of, you know, how far, you did or didn't go. So, and it's nice to be, it's nice to be home, every night. I, when I first started, that wasn't the case. It was some days and then other times, it wasn't. And then towards the backside of my driving career, I was home every day and it's, that's a huge difference, mentally, physically.

SPEAKER 2: And, and it's a good place to be, for most drivers. I, there's other drivers that, for whatever their personal reasons are. Like, I'm glad I'm out of the house. I'm good.

SPEAKER 2: You know. So, but they each their own. Right. So I figured I'd ask you because I wasn't sure what your, your radius was or, or, and that sort of thing.

SPEAKER 4: Thank you saying that too.

SPEAKER 4: It's, I think I have to eat that gallon of milk on the shelf. I mean, there's a lot of hard work behind it.

SPEAKER 2: I don't think, you know, I don't think people always think about all the logistics and, and stuff that goes into that it's, you know, when they're, when they're grabbing it off the shelf and bringing it to the register.

SPEAKER 2: But I do and, and a lot of people do, I don't want to say, but there's some people who don't, and, and as someone who, as a driver, and knows how this goes and how important, you know, the trucking industry is, it really is the lifeblood to, you know, surviving.

SPEAKER 2: I mean, everything they, every day, things we need to survive as without truck, without truck drivers, the economy would shut down and things would stop and it would be not very good. And so, you know, I, I'm appreciative of that fact.

SPEAKER 2: You imagine podcasting, you're doing, you've, you've launched your own podcast called the football card curator. And, you know, you know, i it's, it's nice, like, even though you don't, you do other sports besides football, that's really where your passion is.

SPEAKER 2: And you mentioned like, hey, man, there's not really a show that's really focusing on the football side. And so it's nice that you like filling that void. There's no shortage of podcast now. I mean, when I started Joe five years ago, there was a lot less shows than there are now.

SPEAKER 2: And you almost felt like you had to cover everything.

SPEAKER 2: But now, now because there's so many, you know, and while there's so many, like you said, there's not many that are just tackling really one aspect, heavily and, and you're doing that, I, I, you know, I've heard, some of your episodes, and, and, you know, they'll get, like, like me, I was, you know, they get better as you do it or you hope to.

SPEAKER 2: I know.

SPEAKER 2: Yeah. Yeah. No. No, you listen, you pro, your early ones are better than, than my early ones, which, you know, if they weren't part of the archive, I probably would delete them because, you know, it's sometimes I go back and listen to one of those early ones every once in a while. I just kind of cringe like, oh, my God.

SPEAKER 2: You know. So, but, you know, one thing I appreciate about you is you, you know, you're, you're educating, right? You're, you were educating and learning. It's something I've said on this show. Like, I, I, I don't care how long you're in the hobby the way the hobby is now.

SPEAKER 2: If you're not learning something every day or pretty close to every day, you're not paying attention. And, and I've heard you say that yourself and, you know, I've heard you say, hey, I'm, I'm here to help anybody, that needs it. And, as someone who tries to do, the same thing, you know, I use the two a words, the good two A words, right.

SPEAKER 2: Ambassador and advocate and, you know, try to help other people be welcoming. And I've heard you even talk about, like, you know, having more people in the hobby is a, is a good thing. It's a positive thing. There's other people that will disagree, with us who, who, you know, believe that.

SPEAKER 2: But, you know, maybe the, the, you know, get off my lawn type of folks, but here's the, for the hobby to be successful and thrive, we need people active, in it. And so I, I feel the same way I appreciate, you know, your take and your stance of being similar to mine, and being in a, a great ambassador and advocate.

SPEAKER 2: I mean, you, you, you know, at the time of this recording, you're nine or 10 episodes in, you know, what's it been like? Has it been, tougher than you thought about what you thought, like, you know, just kind of your thoughts, you know, nine or 10 episodes into your own show.

SPEAKER 4: Well, luckily, actually my sister, she's a musician, here in the, and she's got some C DS out. She's very good musician. She actually, I, I came to her with the idea and, you know, she's, she's the techie, she knows how to work all the equipment. And I don't think if it was for her, I wouldn't be doing this yet.

SPEAKER 4: She, she got me a really nice microphone and all the equipment I need to record. And, you know, I, at the beginning I was doing specifically one set and I was talking about like all the history, like who the designers were or like where they came from.

SPEAKER 4: And then some, some friends reached out and it's like, well stick to football, but maybe instead of the 1955 all American set, maybe you can you know, talk about a more broader range, broader topic.

SPEAKER 4: So I think now that I'm, you know, the analytics is what it's called on that Spotify, I'm still learning, but it looks like I'm having more people listen, if I cover maybe something that more people would want to know about instead of just one specific set.

SPEAKER 4: So I kind of switched my format from each episode is its own set. So now I'm just talking more broad, still football, but more broad topics and maybe, maybe this is just my passion and I'm just doing it for fun and if I can help somebody, that's awesome.

SPEAKER 4: Even if only one person listened, it's still something fun to do. So now that I've switched up the format here in the past three or four episodes, I'm hoping to see if maybe those numbers start rising.

SPEAKER 4: More people tuning in and yeah, so.

SPEAKER 2: Well, here's the thing, you know, you, you said something that's very important, right? You're enjoying it. You're having fun. That's where it starts. You know, I get asked sometimes, you know, five years in now like, hey, John, when would you like, when would you not do your podcast anymore? What, what would cause that to happen?

SPEAKER 2: And you know, or I had one gentleman say, hey, if like your numbers fell off or they went down drastically, would that be the end? You know? And III I always answer that. No, I'm enjoying it. I sure you like want more people to listen to you, right? You don't want numbers to, to drop off, especially at this point when I feel it up, but I enjoy doing it.

SPEAKER 2: That's while I look at those numbers and they're important to me, they're not also the end all be all right. It's, it's when I turn that mic on that, even like to talk to you tonight, looking forward to that conversation. So the answer to that question to make a long story shorter when, when someone, when they ask me that, I just say when I don't enjoy it, if that, I don't even see that happening, Joe.

SPEAKER 2: But if I got to a point where like tonight, oh man, I gotta talk to, to Joe like I'm not feeling that, you know, that, which what isn't the case. But if those days ever like come, that's when I have to take an introspective look and say, am I going through the motions here.

SPEAKER 2: Am I doing it? Because I feel like I'm obligated to, to do it rather than enjoying the process. And so again, I don't see that happening, but if that day was ever to come, that's when I, before any kind of the demographics report or, or numbers. If that ha and if that happened, even if the show was still pulling the numbers, it does.

SPEAKER 2: Now, I would probably be the end because I would be, go at that point, I'd be going through the motions. I wouldn't be enjoying it and it wouldn't be me being real or genuine and I'd just be playing a role and, and that's not how I, you know, no point in that. That's not how I roll.

SPEAKER 2: So by being an actor, I just be myself and I, I noticed that even listening to your show, it's you being yourself enjoying the process saying, hey, I, I'm learning here, I've heard you say that I, I'm not sure what we're gonna do with the show. I got, we got this idea. We're going like this and that's, that's genuine. Right? And here's the beauty about your own show.

SPEAKER 2: You can go in whatever direction you want and you can change it anytime, you want and you can combine things, you know, I've, I've had, you know, now with Harvey Quick Hits, that's a show where it's shorter.

SPEAKER 2: It's just me 2025 minutes and, and one topic and and we're done and then I incorporated do a legend of the hobby series in there where I pick someone from a hobby pass that's no longer with them with us and kind of give them their, their, their accolades and, and let people aware of who they were that might not know who that person is. And so you can do whatever you decide, to do.

SPEAKER 2: You know, maybe you pick AAA player who's means a lot to you and do a, you know, 30 minutes segment of, of why they're, they're so great or important to a sport. And that's the beauty with, with your shows, right? Is you get to kind of write the script and go in whatever direction you want. And if you listen, even this show, right, if you listen to early episodes, it doesn't sound anywhere like it does.

SPEAKER 2: Now and, and so that all will be, that will all develop and you kinda, you're the CEO and director so you can change that any way you want. And that's the fun part, right? And yes, it's nice to, you know, to get feedback from someone, hey, I didn't like that or I'd love that and, and then sort of take that and, and use that, that feedback.

SPEAKER 2: It's important I asked for it. I know you have as well. But at the end of the day, right, it's, you, you, that makes the final say and and that's, that's, that's some of the fun of that is deciding, hey, what, what do I enjoy? But I also think others like me will enjoy, as well. So it can be a win, win.

SPEAKER 2: And, and, and that's the fun and you, you're in the early, you're in the first quarter to use a football analogy, you know, and, so, you know, you, you decide whatever direction, you wanna go. And I, I think, you know, one of the things I get asked when someone and I've been asked quite a few times from people about to start a podcast.

SPEAKER 2: Hey, hey, John, what, what advice do you've done this, you know, 34 or five years. And then when I got asked any advice, I'm just gonna start launching my show and I don't give them a long list of, of stuff. Number one, I don't feel like I'm, I'm sort of honored and flattered or even asking me, but it's really simple.

SPEAKER 2: I, I give them just a couple of things and I've said this before. It's just, hey, be yourself. So you don't have to pretend to be anyone else, which, you know, that's not really fun and, and be honest and be genuine and, and people, people notice that people will, people know when you're, you're, you're speaking from your heart and genuine and people will know when you're not doing that.

SPEAKER 2: And I think people appreciate even you know, I've had people say chad, I didn't agree when you said that we are, we're on different sides of the aisle here. But I still love you because I know that's your opinion and you're being honest and you're not saying it to get a rise out of me or somebody else that doesn't agree.

SPEAKER 2: And I, while We'Ll agree to disagree, I still appreciate it that you're genuine and, and, and so that's where that comes from is, you know, well, maybe, maybe not everyone agrees. They will appreciate the fact that you're just being yourself and being honest. And, it goes a long way.

SPEAKER 2: You know, I don't, I don't listen to a ton of, of, podcasts like I used to, but I do listen to some yours included and I just tend to flock. I just tend to flock to those that I feel like the host is really being themselves. There's no stick. There's no, I wanna say something just to, to get a rise just to get a reaction, you know. So, and, you know, I think that goes a long way.

SPEAKER 4: I, I'm having a, you know, 37 years in, I'm having a ton of fun. This is my passion. This is what I love to do. And just like you said, I mean, I guess I could have done a podcast where it was just about sports cards, but maybe not that I wouldn't be genuine but maybe, you know, the expertise might not show through if I'm talking about basketball or baseball, you know. So, you know, you guys are awesome.

SPEAKER 4: You know, there's a ton of awesome shows. I'll let you know everybody else do that, the stuff that I really, you know, sparks it and, you know, smile about is the football side. And I think, and also, like you said, you know, it's good to have people that like you but disagree with you because if you don't, if everybody disagrees with you, like, how are you gonna, you never thought of it that way. There's really no fun.

SPEAKER 2: Like it might be fun for a little bit. But after a while you, you know what I mean? Like you can't, I'm human. I make mistakes. So I, I want someone to call me out on, on a mistake if that's the case, that's how, that's how the show gets better.

SPEAKER 2: That's how as a human, we get better. I get better as well. So that, that, that comes with the territory. We're coming down the home stretch here, Joe. We're both big football guys. My team is now out at the time of this recording. Your team is a, a heavy favorite.

SPEAKER 2: At this point, I want to jinx it for you.

SPEAKER 2: This is gonna air probably just before the Super Bowl. So we're making this prediction, you know, earlier than it's gonna air. Who's your, I'll let you go first as the guest. Who's your Super Bowl and then pick, who's your two Super Bowl teams and then who wins it?

SPEAKER 4: My two Super Bowl teams, it's got to be the 49Er. I mean, they're having an awesome year mccaffrey. I mean, Auk Purdy, everybody. Trent Williams. I think we're gonna play the Bills.

SPEAKER 4: I, I think when we get down to the NFC, championship, it'll be us against the Lions. I think we're gonna beat the Lions and I'm predicting we're gonna beat the Bills in the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER 4: That, that's my pick. What, what about you?

SPEAKER 2: Are you in my head? That is, that is nuts. Is that what you're picking? Those are my two teams. Oh, those are my two teams. I, I, you know, I was thinking about Kansas City and the AFC side, but they're really not playing great football for whatever reason. I don't know if it's the Taylor swift effect. But, you know, they're, they're not, they're not that world beaters that they have been the last three or four years.

SPEAKER 2: Mahomes is still a great quarterback, but he's not having a Mahomes type year. Believe me, I'd love to have him as a Steeler quarterback, not picking at them. It just hasn't been a Mahomes MVP type season. They have happened, they're struggling putting points up on the board, and the Bills, you know, they're close to me, they knocked out my Steelers.

SPEAKER 2: But I, I think they've got stuff sort of rolling. They got that number two seed and I think, you know, the Ravens look tough. But the, the, you know, the Ravens, every time they get sort in the postseason, they always lose. It seems like they lose to someone their favorite, to beat.

SPEAKER 2: And I just, there's something with this Bills team. I'm not a Bills fan but I live close to there and I, I see a lot of their games, I think they just have kicked it into gear now.

SPEAKER 2: They were struggling earlier in the year when, you know, where at one point they were on the outside looking into the playoffs and they just went on a win streak that's still at the, again at the time when we're do doing this recording, there's continuing. So I think the Bills are gonna get there and I, like you said, I think, the Lions are a great story. I think they're headed in the right direction.

SPEAKER 2: I think the magic will run out for them. It might be, the 49Er who, who end that magic? The Eagles are sputtering, you know, they, what have you on them.

SPEAKER 2: Yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER 2: So I have the four, I'm not just saying this because you, you're talking to me, I wrote it down, I wrote 49Ers Bills. I really don't know. This is where, that was the easy part. It's picking the winner. That's, that's stuff my, my gut, you know, again, not just because I'm talking to you, my gut says the 49Ers, just because they just loaded up on both sides of the ball.

SPEAKER 2: I think, I think they're both great offenses. I just think the 49 years defense is a little bit better than, than the Bills defense and, you know, I, you know, with the Bills going to force Super Bowls straight and losing all four, you know, part of me, wouldn't mind seeing them winning whether it's playing the 49Er or someone else just to get that monkey off the back and for that, for that fan base.

SPEAKER 2: But if it is the 49Er and Bills, it's gonna be number one, I think a, a very good game. I just think the four, I think the difference will be on the defensive side of the ball with the 49Er. Again, injuries can happen leading up until this point. But as it stands today, I think the 49 Ers D will is better. I think the offenses are comparable, although, you know mccaffrey is better than any back.

SPEAKER 2: The Bills have and the Bills are not a, the Bills are not a running team. They're, you know, the, the Bill's best runner is Josh Allen, who's also their best passer. So, and you know, my, my, my, my, my head says the 49Er, my heart and I don't take this personally just because of, of getting to four Super Bowls and losing every single one of them.

SPEAKER 2: It wouldn't hurt my feelings to see the Bills win one. And then as a Steelers fan, I could say, well, at least we lost to the team that wound up winning the Super Bowl. So maybe, maybe there's a little self-centered, stuff going on there as well. Yeah, we have the same two teams.

SPEAKER 4: I know we're about to the end if I can say something quick. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER 4: My son just graduated, Iowa State University.

SPEAKER 4: He was there for just over four years plus a semester, you know, and he, he graduated a year after Brock Purdy. So, going up to, going up to the campus, watching him, you know, watching Brock Purdy play all those, you know, years seeing what he can do in Jack Tri Stadium and already being a Niner fan and then seeing him get drafted, you know, the 262nd pick.

SPEAKER 4: It's just neat to see what we saw in person on a college campus, translate into what he's doing now for the 49Er and it just so happened, you know, he got drafted by our, our team that we love. So it's neat that, yeah, you got that.

SPEAKER 2: Little connection there.

SPEAKER 2: That's, that is crazy. Who would have thunk it right. Mr irrelevant. It's almost, it, it's got like a Tom Bradys, feel to it. I can tell you the opposite story.

SPEAKER 2: We drafted a quarterback named Kenny Pickett and over 20th, in, in 2022 that's not working out as good. So, you know, sometimes where you get picked, it really isn't what it matters. It's, it's the heart and talent, with it and, and I would take a Brock Purdy at 262 or wherever that last pick was over. You know, Kenny Pickett at 20 who's not looking, like he's gonna be a very good at, two years in.

SPEAKER 2: So you never know. It's a great story. And then that hometown connection basically you saw before he was the Brock Purdy that most people know today and no one really saw that coming just the same way. No one saw a late round Tom Brady who wasn't even a full-fledged bona fide starter at Michigan, but developed into arguably the one of the greatest quarterbacks ever play in the NFL.

SPEAKER 2: So it's, it's, that's, that's, that, that's one of the reasons II I don't want to speak for you. It's one of the reasons I love football in the NFL is its just stories, like that, it doesn't matter where you get picked, it's, it's the talent and, you know, and, you know, you never know. Right. You never know.

SPEAKER 4: So under underdog story is always a good one.

SPEAKER 2: I love the underdogs though. I'm a sucker for those stories. So we're just.

SPEAKER 4: 22 hours from University Of Northern Iowa. You know, Kurt Warner played here in Iowa.

SPEAKER 2: So something in the water, it's something in the water in the water. Yeah. All right, Joe. Hey, listen, as I always do, thank again. Thank you for, for giving the show sometime. Give out where people can find your podcast, any social media that you want to share, take your time, give out all that information.

SPEAKER 4: Well, thanks John for having me huge honor just to be on your show.

SPEAKER 4: I love everything you do. So this was awesome to be on your show.

SPEAKER 4: So my podcast football card curator, I'm on Spotify and I just found out how to get on to iheartradio and Amazon Music. I'm on there also. So, or just Facebook, if you ever want to look me up, my last name is spelled just like the department store Cole. So anyway, this was awesome and I really, really appreciate it and I appreciate listening to you every week.

SPEAKER 2: Well, I appreciate, I appreciate you saying that. Listen, you know, I appreciate you coming on as well. Continued success, man.

SPEAKER 2: You know, my team is out. So, you know, I have no problem with your, you know, rooting for the Niners. I don't have a second favorite team per se. So now I just enjoy watching, watching football. And, you know, it's funny we both picked the same Super Bowl matchup. Let's let's see how close close we come. So it would be interesting. Well, thanks Joe. We'Ll, We'Ll do this again.

SPEAKER 2: We'Ll see you soon. All right, I wanna thank my guest, Joe Coles today, a great guy doing a, a football podcast, football card curator, just focusing on football. So, if you're a big time football collector, even if you're not a big time football collector and just wanna learn more about that, you know, section of the hobby.

SPEAKER 2: Joe's covering it up and down. Go check out, what he's doing as he builds that show time to hear from our hobby is the people announcer of the week, some closing thoughts and We'Ll wrap up the episode.

SPEAKER 1: Time for our hobby is the people announcer of the week.

SPEAKER 7: Hey, this is Jeremy with BS T sport cards. The platform that has, no seller fees. Just wanna remind everyone the hobby is the people.

SPEAKER 1: If you'd like to be the hobby is the people announcer of the week, do a WAV or MP3 file and send it to Sports Card Nation PC at gmail.com.

SPEAKER 8: That's a wrap for this week. Huge thanks to you, the listeners out there because without you, there is no ice.

SPEAKER 8: If you like the show, we truly appreciate positive reviews. Big ups to our great guests who drive the show and our awesome sponsors who make it all possible. Sports Card Nation will be back next week. But don't forget to catch either hobby quick hits or cod mentions coming up on Monday.

SPEAKER 8: I'll leave you with this.

SPEAKER 8: How do we change the world?

SPEAKER 8: One? Random act of kindness at a time.

SPEAKER 8: Remember the hobby is the People.

SPEAKER 9: Hobby News Daily is your home page of the hobby providing original writing, exclusive gem rate data. A daily morning minute podcast and some of the best content creators in the hobby. Remember? Hobby news, daily.com and at hobby news on social happy collecting.

SPEAKER 10: Iron sports cards is your number one source for all your PS A and other grading submissions. Their elite status improves turnaround times. Heck, they even provide the card savers. Their chat rooms provide updates on all your submissions.

SPEAKER 10: They also offer wax options and single cards to cover all the bases. Check them out on Facebook at Iron Sports Cards Group or on the web at Irons Sports cards.com. Or even give them a call at 1877 Ironps A Rob's got you covered.