I'm not going to pretend to know much about swimming. Heck, I'm not even a big Olympics guy, but that might be even more of a reason that I am qualified to tell you how impressed I am with Michael Phelps. The very fact that people like me care about this guy or his sport now shows that he has something very special going on.

It's kind of like Tiger Woods. Before Tiger made his mark on the PGA tour, you'd be hard pressed to find many kids talking about golf, and it was very rare to see people wearing golf gear outside the links. I don't think people are going to start wearing those neat little caps and Speedos because of Phelps, but I wouldn't doubt if swimming teams around  the country are going to get quite the boost by this great athlete's recent performances in the summer games.

Right now you'll see an assortment of Phelps signed cards on eBay. I actually think that this may be a decent investment. Granted, now is probably the wrong time to purchase something like this, but if this card is recognized as Phelps' most important card, a highly graded example may soon hit the four-figure mark.

Steve Bartman, where are you? Did anyone really think the poor guy who will forever be tormented by Cubs fans would show up to a sports card convention in the Windy City? Evidentially, there were a few hundred people who thought there was at least an outside chance, considering the turnout for the circus-like gathering to see if Bartman would show up to claim his $25,000 cash at the 2008 National.

I was a little afraid that the Bartman nonsense would be the thing that would overshadow the biggest card show of the year, but I really think the big story of the show was the fan turnout for the autograph guests. I sat next to Jim Taylor and his wife for almost the entire time that he was there and I couldn't believe the turnout for the Packer Hall of Famer. Taylor must have been signing straight for at least four hours and his former teammates like Bart Starr and Jerry Kramer had similar turnouts.

As for the show itself, I am always amazed at how big the National is. Everybody in the hobby turns out for the event and I mean everybody. I was only at the show for Thursday and Friday, which was a mistake because I didn't have enough time to even walk around and talk to everyone I meant to.

I talked to some of the major dealers at the show and there weren't too many big memorabilia pieces that walked through the door. Not like in other years at least. I will be posting lots of videos from the show on our site in the next week or so, so make sure to check back frequently.

Click here to read about Mastro's sale of the T206 Wagner at its live sale


Also, I'm sure many of you probably heard about the FBI at the National and thought I would be going crazy blogging about it, but I'm waiting to gather more facts on this. The New York Daily News writer, Michael O'Keeffe seems to rarely/never write anything good about the hobby and after reading his story about this latest possible hobby black eye, I am not sure that he just isn't trying to stir up a story that he really knows little about. CLICK HERE TO READ HIS STORY

If anyone out there in Gavel Chat Nation has any solid details on this story, please call or email me.