2023 COMC BINGE - PART 18: SWEET LOU

 THE HAWKS HAVE A CHANCE TO FURTHER TRAINWRECK THE FRANCHISE FOR ANOTHER GENERATION NEXT WEEK SO GOING A BIT OUT OF ORDER ON THE POSTS. HERE'S A HAWKS DRAFT PICK THEY GOT RIGHT. IT WAS 1966 AND THEY WERE STILL IN ST. LOUIS BUT THEY'VE DONE GOOD THINGS BEFORE, MAYBE IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN

1973-74 TOPPS #150 LOU HUDSON

I COULDA SWORN I HAD THIS CARD ALREADY BUT A CHECK OF THE BINDER CONFIRMED THAT I DID NOT. AT FIFTY CENTS THIS WAS A NO-BRAINER ADDITION TO THE VINTAGE HAWKS TEAM SETS. LOU IS ONE OF FIVE HAWKS TO HAVE HIS NUMBER RETIRED AND WAS FINALLY ELECTED TO THE HALL OF FAME IN 2022, A DECADE LATE BUT IN IS IN. I DON'T HAVE A HECK OF A LOT OF 1973-74 TOPPS BASKETBALL CARDS AND IT THINK IT'S DUE TO A COMBINATION OF A FAIRLY UNDERSTATED DESIGN AND SOME DREADFUL PHOTOGRAPHY. MOST CARDS IN THE SET HAVE A POSED MUGSHOT WITH HARSH LIGHTING LIKE THE PHOTO ON THIS CARD OR AN EXTREMELY CHAOTIC ACTION SHOT. IT'S NOT ALL TERRIBLE, THE ALL-STAR CARDS LOOK REALLY NICE AND THERE'S A FEW NICE PHOTOS IN THE SET BUT CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF. I CAN SEE WHY YOUNGER ME WAS MORE DRAWN TO PRETTY MUCH ANY OTHER EARLY 70S BASKETBALL SET

THE BACKS ARE NICE THROUGH WITH A PLEASANT CHRISTMASSY FEEL AND A LOVELY HUGE COMIC RIGHT AT THE TOP. LOU WAS SUPER IN '72-73 AS HE HAD THE HIGHEST SCOREING AVERAGE OF HIS CAREER AND WAS AN ALL-STAR FOR THE FIFTH TIME. IT WAS ALSO THE LAST TIME THE HAWKS WOULD GO TO THE PLAYOFFS WITH LOU, LOSING TO THE CELTICS IN THE FIRST ROUND TWO GAMES TO FOUR. DANG, THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR.  LOU IS A VERY HAWKS SUPERSTAR. GREAT STATS WITH NOT MUCH PLAYOFF SUCCESS FOR A GARBAGE FRANCHISE

HERE'S A PIC OF THE TEAM BINDER PAGE, I TOLD YOU I'VE BEEN NEGLECTING THIS SET. YOU SEE WAY MORE 74-75 CARDS (INCLUDING ONE OF MY FEW HAWKS CARDS WITH PETE MARAVICH ON IT) THAN THE 73-74S. I THINK THAT'S A 75-76 TEAM CARD AS WELL UP IN THE CORNER. IT'S NICE TO FINALLY HAVE LOU NOW THOUGH, YOU CAN SEE A BONUS LOU OVER IN THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER!

BLACK FRIDAY COMC PICKUPS - PART 18: OLD HOX

I LOVE OLD 1970S TOPPS BASKETBALL CARDS AND I LOVE THE ATLANTA HAWKS SO BLACK FRIDAY SALES ARE A GOOD TIME TO WORK ON DEM TEAM SETS

1973-74 TOPPS BOB CHRISTIAN

WHEN I WAS A TINY CHILD AND DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER I MADE THE FOOLISH CHOICE TO BECOME A FAN OF ALL MY LOCAL SPROTS TEAMS. ADMITTEDLY, THIS WORKED OUT PRETTY WELL FOR THE BRAVES. ON THE FLIP SIDE THIS CHOICE HAS COMPLETELY RUINED HOCKEY FOR ME FOREVER. THANK GOODNESS I AM AND ALWAYS HAVE BEEN A LIFELONG PITTSBURGH STEELERS FAN AND NEVER GOT MY GUTS RIPPED OUT BY NONSTOP RIDICULOUSNESS FROM THE LOCAL NFL TEAM. THE HAWKS THOUGH... IT'S FUNNY, BEING A HAWKS FAN HASN'T BEEN ALL THAT PAINFUL BECAUSE THE HAWKS ARE SUCH A GODDAMN FUCKING TRAINWRECK THAT THERE HAVE RARELY BEEN ANY EXPECTATIONS. AT THE SAME TIME THEY'VE USUALLY BEEN PRETTY ENTERTAINING AND HAVE HAD QUITE A FEW SUPERSTARS ON THE ROSTER. DOMINIQUE WILKINS, DIKEMBE MUTOMBO, JOE JOHNSON, TRAE YOUNG. THOSE ARE ALL GREAT, SUPER FUN PLAYERS! WHO HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME NUMBER OF NBA CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS THAT I DO

I LOVE THE HELL OUT OF THE HAWKS BUT RIGHT NOW I'M HAVING SEVERE ANXIETY ABOUT THE POOR CHOICES OF MY YOUTH. BARELY SIX MONTHS AFTER TRADING FOR THE FINAL PIECE TO A CHAMPIONSHIP-QUALITY TEAM THE HAWKS HAVE: WRECKED THEIR BENCH TO GET UNDER THE LUXURY TAX, LET THE OWNER'S KID MEDDLE IN BASKETBALL OPERATIONS, RAN OFF THE GUY WHO BUILT THE TEAM IN THE FIRST PLACE, COMPLETELY ALIENATED THE COACH THAT GOT THEM TO THE FINALS, AND PROBABLY OVERPAID FOR THAT LAST PIECE SEEING THAT THEY ARE STILL AT BEST A PLAY-IN TEAM AT THE MOMENT. WORST OF ALL, THEY HAVE CAUGHT ATLANTA FALCONS DISEASE AND CONSISTENTLY BLOW 15 POINT LEADS EVERY SINGLE NIGHT SO GAMES AREN'T EVEN FUN TO WATCH ANYMORE. ARTIS GILMORE WAS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PLAYER THAT WASN'T A HAWK WHEN I WAS A KID AND I COULD HAVE BECOME A SPURS OR BULLS FAN AND CELEBRATED A PILE OF CHAMPIONSHIPS. AT LEAST THIS TEAM ISN'T A COMPLETE DISASTER LIKE THE 70S HAWKS

THOSE TEAMS WERE PRETTY BAD. THEY RAN OFF LENNY WILKENS IN THE MOVE FROM ST. LOUIS. THEY PICKED DAVID THOMPSON NUMBER ONE OVERALL AND THEN MANAGEMENT FOULED UP THE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS SO BAD HE SIGNED WITH THE ABA. THEY COMPLETELY WASTED THE TALENT OF LOU HUDSON, PETE MARAVICH AND JOHN DREW. HEY, THEY SOUND A LOT LIKE THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE ATLANTA HAWKS NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT. TED FLIRTING WITH MOVING THE TEAM TO NEW ORLEANS IN THE 80S. TRADING NIQUE AND WRECKING TEAM CHEMISTRY THE SEASON THEY WERE MOST PRIMED TO MAKE THE FINALS. WHATEVER THE HELL WAS GOING ON DURING THE SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM ERA. CHOOSING DWIGHT HOWARD OVER AL HORFORD. THIS POVERTY FRANCHISE IS A NIGHTMARE. I LOVE EM THO

1970S BASKETBALL CARDS ARE ALL WONDERFUL. THE DESIGNS ARE GREAT, THERE ARE LOTS OF ABA CARDS AND TOPPS DID A LOT OF WEIRD INTERESTING STUFF TRYING TO SELL CARDS BEFORE ANYONE CARED ABOUT THE NBA. THE 73-74 SET HAS A WONDERFUL ELEGANT DESIGN AND REALLY GREAT TERRIBLE PICTURES. NINETY PERCENT OF THE PHOTOS IN THE SET ARE MUGSHOTS LIKE ON BOB'S CARD HERE OR AWKWARD POSED PHOTOS AGAINST A BLANK WALL. ONLY A SMALL HANDFUL OF CARDS ALONG WITH THE ALL STAR AND PLAYOFF SUBSETS GET AN ACTUAL GAME PHOTO. GO CHECK OUT THE GALLERY, IT'S GLORIOUS CHEESE. THE BACKS ARE AS GOOD AS THE FRONT, CHRISTMASY COLORS WITH A CARTOON, A NICE WRITEUP AND FULL CAREER STATS. IT'S A NICE BIG SET OF 264 CARDS FEATURING 29 DIFFERENT NBA AND ABA TEAMS

COLLECTING TEAM SETS FOR 70S BASKETBALL IS A BIT ODD. THE EARLER SETS WERE LARGER AND HAVE A GOOD REPRESENTATION FROM EACH TEAM, BUT THE LATE 70S SETS WERE ONLY 132 CARDS SO THE NUMBER OF CARDS PER TEAM DROPS A LOT. THE 77-78 HAWKS TEAM SET ONLY HAS FOUR CARDS, NOT EVEN ENOUGH FOR A STARTING LINEUP! THE LARGEST HAWKS TEAM SET IS FROM THE 80-81 TRIPLE PANEL SET WITH ELEVEN DIFFERENT PLAYERS, WHICH IS GOOD. BUT THEY ARE SPREAD ACROSS THIRTY DIFFERENT PANELS, WHICH IS BAD. 73-74 HAS A MANAGABLE NINE PLAYERS PLUS A PLAYOFF FAILURE CARD. THAT'S BIG ENOUGH TO INCLUDE SOME BENCH PLAYERS LIKE BOB HERE

THIS IS BOB'S LAST CARD, ALTHOUGH HE PLAYED ONE MORE SEASON WITH PHOENIX IN 1974. HE PLAYED COLLEGE BALL AT GRAMBLING STATE BEFORE BEING DRAFTED BY THE HAWKS IN THE EIGHTH (!!!) ROUND. NBA DRAFT USED TO BE CRAZY, CHRISTIAN'S DRAFT HAD 20 ROUNDS AND THE HAWKS MADE A SELECTION IN ALL OF THEM. BOB PLAYED ONE GAME EACH FOR THE DALLAS CHAPARALLS AND NEW YORK NETS IN THE ABA BUT MADE HIS WAY BACK TO THE HAWKS AND WAS THEIR BACKUP CENTER FOR THREE YEARS, PULLING DOWN OVER A THOUSAND REBOUNDS IN HIS CAREER. AND THAT'S ABOUT ALL I CAN FIND ON BOB CHRISTIAN, HE'S KIND OF HARD TO GOOGLE AS THERE IS ALSO A BASEBALL PLAYER, FOOTBALL PLAYER AND FAILED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE SHARING HIS NAME. WHICH IS A BIG REASON WHY THIS POST WENT OFF THE RAILS WITH AIRING MY BASKETBALL FANDOM GRIEVANCES. THAT AND ALL THE COFFEE I DRANK BEFORE WRITING THIS