I remember when I started writing this blog. I was back in Michigan for Christmas in 2008 and, after a year or so of returning to the world of baseball cards I told my future-wife "I think I'm going to start a blog."
And so I did. I started up a little blog with a simple post--Grand Cards: A History
For the next two years I diligently chronicled the ups and downs of my collecting, of the Tigers, of baseball cards as a whole and of Curtis Granderson. I was there when Curtis was traded to the Yankees, prompting a series of four posts called "Apocalypse Now." I was there when the Tigers had their hearts crushed in Game 163 and when they made the playoffs this year. I kept up with the times, producing a series of very long, but entertaining to write posts called "The Grand Scheme" in which I surveyed the card/sport landscape. These were the good times.
This blog was born of a few things. I was only a year removed from Michigan in 2008 and the Tigers were a strong, fun connection back to my friends and family. It also happened to be the start (then the middle) of the recession. I had a full time job, but we didn't have jobs that kept us busy full time. Similarly, I had all sorts of extra time outside of working hours to fill with blogging. Combine those with a newfound enthusiasm for collecting and a unshakable admiration for Curtis Granderson (which holds to this day, even in pinstripes), and this became a thing.
Today "Grand Cards" dies. It's death is the result of the recession (it ending), my return to graduate school, the continuation of a full time job that has gotten obscenely busy, the trade of Curtis Granderson to the Yankees and a general malaise that I have felt the card blogging community over the last two years. As I write less and read less I notice that others write less too. Some of my favorites are gone without a trace. Blogging, as a thing, seems on its way out. Twitter is in. My collecting continues, but I just don't feel like talking cards as much any more.
For those of you that have noticed, this is a slow death. There have been fits and starts over the last year, but the writing was on the wall. I simply don't have the time or energy to keep it going.
And you know what? That's fine. Blogging was something that I did because it was fun. It was a supplement to my collecting and a way to connect with other collectors on the internet. I enjoyed it and you all have been great. But the blog came to oppress me and that, in and of itself, defeated the purpose of having it in the first place.
So, Fin. And Thank You to everyone who read what I had to say over the years, or traded with me, or commented on my posts, or sent me pictures of cards for my galleries.
It's been fun.
