I'm a little wiped out today, after starting my first day at a school for students with emotional and behavioral issues. The place seems great, and though the students might be a little bit much for some, I'm right in my element. It's not easy coming in as a late year replacement, taking the spot of a teacher who abruptly walked off the job more or less. So today was the "get to know you" day for both me and the kids. I ended up playing board games with the group of middle school kids.
Kate will gladly attest that I despise games. Cards. Board. Take your pick. Can't stand them. There's something that just really irks me about them. Video games? Not a problem. Same goes for just about anything sports related.
The game caught my interest, but none of my friends were sports fans. And with all the money I was sinking into MTG cards, the last thing I needed was another hobby to chase. I had dialed back my card collecting for a couple years, hadn't yet joined ebay...my hobby life was pretty straightforward.
I've been intrigued by Showdown in recent months. It started when I realized there was a Jack Wilson Showdown League Promo card that was (I think) exclusive to Showdown "leagues" at game or hobby shops. I suddenly had a hankering to play a collectible card game. But if I was having trouble finding a playmate in high school, it sure as hell wasn't going to be any better with a wife, cat, full time job, and a game that hasn't been around in nearly a decade.
I've been on the fence about buying a starter deck and giving the game a shot, even if a decade late. I might have to find a way to bribe Kate into playing a few games with me. But better a decade late than not at all, right?
I loved playing MTG, but grew away from the game as people moved away. The cards held their value really well so I was able to make a good bit of money when I sold them. Allowed me to go on a big Pirate binge on eBay. The best sellers were some of the early dual land cards.
ReplyDeleteJust about all of my cards are from the early-mid 00's. I've considered selling them off so many times, but there's always a part of me that hopes to find an excuse to play again. I spent waaaay too much time in high school building and tweaking my decks into well oiled machines.
DeleteA college roommate of mine played MTG *professionally* for several years and ended up working for a while at Wizards of the West Coast (the company that put out both Showdown and MTG).
ReplyDelete14 year old me would be drooling right now. At one point my dream job was to work for Wizards. My buddies and I played in a few release tournaments and I think one of the pro tour type events. I think we did pretty well for a bunch of 16 year olds, but dropped it pretty quickly once I realized girls could be way more interesting than a deck of cards.
DeleteI looked for sets of 1996 Collector's Choice You Make the Play on eBay recently, but didn't find any. Too many fools selling each card individually...
ReplyDeleteHave fun with your new class. Before I was hired as a full time teacher, I took this long term sub position in a 2nd grade class. The teacher was on maternity leave and there had been a string of substitute teachers (I think 8 to 10 different). Anyways... by this time the class was a complete wreck. I spent at least a month building a rapport with them and fine tuning my classroom management issues. In the end, it was an awesome learning experience and helped me become a more patient person. I can only imagine dealing with middle school students with emotional and behavioral issues. Sometimes people don't truly understand and appreciate the hard work and patience it takes to be a teacher. Kudos to you for taking this assignment. I hope you have a great rest of the school year.
ReplyDeleteIt's been fun so far. It's probably just proof that I'm nuts, but I've always enjoyed working with the most challenging kids. It can be maddening some days, but it makes any progress that much more rewarding.
DeleteShould you decide to take on MLB Showdown, I would like to hear about it... and I wouldn't mind a quick overview of how to play the game in the first place. I've got about 30-40 cards from various years, but no instructions.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely be chronicling my adventures if I decide to give it a try. I tried finding instructions online, since I also have enough cards to probably play a game or two (no strategy cards, though), but couldn't find anything.
DeleteMLB Showdown was a great game! There is a Facebook page dedicated to it called Brink Back MLB Showdown Cards and recently the possibility of a new game was announced. It is called MLB Clutch, which is on Facebook also.
ReplyDeleteClutch looks interesting, if it ends up getting off the ground. I've come across a few people who make/made custom updates over the last few seasons, so it's cool to see the game created such a hardcore fan base.
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