I don't like the playoffs.

I've been a sports fan since 1986. In all my years involved in actively supporting various sports, I am literally the only person I've ever run across who simply does not like the playoffs.

To me, they are boring. I think a large part of that is that it's the same teams playing each other over and over again. In the regular season, it's a different opponent every night. It is always something exciting and new, all 82 games.

And the worst part is, when your team loses, they are done. You don't get to see them anymore for months at a time. That's not fun. Even if your team wins the championship, you still don't get to see them for months. That's not really much of a reward.

And that's even if your team makes the playoffs. My two favorite NBA teams are the Nets and Knicks. The Nets did make the playoffs this year, but it's a rarity. Aside from the success in the early 2000s, the Nets are not really considered a contender for the title, ever. And the Knicks? Who doesn't know of the self-imposed haplessness the team has gone through since 2013? At least the Warriors- my #1 Western Conference team- has done quite well over the last few years, after many years of struggles. (The Warriors became my Western Conference team when they traded for Muggsy Bogues)

On the hockey side, my #1 team is the Rangers, and they are in the same spot as the Knicks. (owned by the same guy, too). It seems like half of the 62-win Tampa Bay Lightning is made up of former Rangers. The Golden Knights are my #1 Western Conference team and their run to the finals last year was magical. But I don't see that happening this year. I am rooting for the Islanders in the East this year- they are still a local team, even if my 2nd place local team. I would be both happy and upset if the Knights and Isles met in the finals- happy because it's two of my top 3 teams- but upset because one of my teams is going to lose.

To me...the season is already over. I will watch as many games as I possibly can- I'm still a fan of the sports, after all- but my interest level is half of what it was during the regular season.

Since this is mostly just a rambling post with very little of interest, I'll end with some random scans that I have on my hard drive as I process them into my files.

 There are a few guys who bring on a lot of 90s nostalgia for me- Shawn Kemp is one of them. I saw the NBA store had his 1995-96 jersey in the Mitchell and Ness Throwback section. If I wasn't so fat and it wasn't $300, I would have bought one and worn in proudly.

 Sometimes the holograms scan funny...look at his ears.

 I had to relabel a bunch of these because they include 1995 stats on the back. It's a 1995 release, so that threw me. I had originally labeled them as 1996 Finest. My entire collection of this set, and the 1994 Finest baseball set and 1995 Finest football set, came to me when I bought a mixed box of all Finest cards at a card show in the Danbury Mall in 1996. They sat in a different box until 2012 when I joined the Trading Card Database and wanted to list everything in my collection. When I got scanner #5 last month I pulled out and scanned all my mirror foil and Finest style cards that still needed scans and am now slowly editing the scans.

 The 1995-96 Donruss Elite set is not a favorite- and so hard to read the names in scans. Easy in person.

 This is the earliest image on a card to show the Knicks alternate, I believe. The jersey would become the standard road jersey in 1997-98.

 Iverson RC. Die cut and hologram. Cool cards in hand, pain in the butt to scan.

 One of the few inserts I've completed.

 I edited a bunch of 1999-00 Finest scans- 9 pages worth.

 Finest, Stadium Club and Topps all had USA subsets in 1999-00, in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

 Second year Dirk.

 Stack just became head coach at some college. He probably could have gotten an NBA job if he wanted one.

 This is a cool set in hand. The left, foil side, is made to represent a jersey.

 Anfernee Hardaway is the other player who gives a big 90s nostalgia rush- but only with the Magic. Him on the Suns, even the Knicks, just seems wrong. He also played with the Heat but I don't think I have any cards of him with the Heat in my collection.

 The Atomic sets- this one is 2002-03- were pretty darn cool. If they weren't mirror foil they would have scanned well.

 The 2003-04 Finest design is one of my favorites in the brand's history.

 I really am beginning to hate mirror foil- oh wait, beginning is not the right term.

 Not a big Hamlin fan but at least this card shows most of the car- a real rarity for Press Pass, who never could figure out that cars were an integral part of NASCAR.

 This card is actually bent but luckily it does not show in the scans.

 All of my baseball Topps Chrome cards came to me from other collectors dumping their unwanted cards on me. This one came from Gavin.

 The Football chromes from 2015 actually scan really well- I scanned three this week, all Patriots, and all came from somebody- but I don't remember who, and I didn't keep track of where I got my cards when I got these, so I can't even look it up. I started keeping track of where I got cards only in mid-2017.

 This cool die cut card came to me from Shoebox Legends.

 This card scanned particularly well, giving it's Chromeness. Byron has the talent to be Cup champion someday- right now the Hendrick cars are not very competitive, but I hope that will change at some point. At least for Byron, currently my favorite of the 4 on the team.

One of the Database members gave me this card. I hated the movie and would not spend money on the cards. I actually still have some packs from the non-Chrome version that I bought before the movie that I never bothered to open.