My Reward For Passing The Exam - Ted Williams Signed Baseball

As you all hopefully know, I passed the second half of the ASBOG exam, thereby making me a licensed geologist.  The ASBOG exam is akin to the Bar exam, but for geology.  I can now become licensed in most states as long as I meet their criteria.  At this point, I am pursuing licenses in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.  My fees for NC have been paid and I should get my stamp in a couple weeks.

What this means is that I can now stamp and seal reports, giving my own professional opinion, when in the past, I was only doing the technical writing and project management.  This is a professional certification that makes my resume so much better.

So, seeing as how important it was to me that I pass the exam, I told my supervisor last year when I passed the first half of the exam that if I passed the whole thing, I would reward myself with a Ted Williams signed baseball.  If you recall, I rewarded myself pretty well when I passed the first half.  I got myself a signed Brooks Robinson bat, a Pete Rose ball and a Phil Rizzuto ball.

I have been wanting a Ted Williams ball for a long time now.  Since I am knocking off as many Hal of Famers as I can, he is definitely one of the big names I needed and is my biggest name that I have so far.

One of the greatest hitters of all time, Williams (b.1918 - d.2002) played for the Red Sox from 1939-1942, 1946-1960.  He was a 2-time MVP.  He was the last hitter to bat over .400, when he hit .406 in 1941.  He won the batting title six times and the home run crown 4 times.  He had 2,654 career hits, 521 home runs, 1,839 RBIs and a career average of .344.

Williams was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1966 (his first year on the ballot) when he was named on 93.4% of the ballot.

Williams is my 52nd Hall of Famer.

Thoughts on Upper Deck Champs Hockey

I, as you all know, don't really care for hockey. I went to the 2008 All Star Game when it was in Atlanta and had a blast. My wife loves hockey and the Detroit Red Wings, so I have some exposure to it, and I follow how her team is doing.

When someone bought the 2010 Upper Deck Champs Hockey from the shop the other day, I was curious as to what it was all about, since there is a big dinosaur on the packaging.

It seems that the set has historical figures, artifacts, dinosaurs, and oh yeah, some hockey players. I picked up 2 packs. Here is an example of one of the dinosaur cards. Pretty cool. Fits right in with my major, haha.

I also got this Steve Yzerman (one of my wife's favorite players). She was happy when I brought this home... Too bad it will end up with my cards anyway.

I am seriously considering building this set... or at least busting a box to see what I get. I love the design. I wish they would do something baseball like this. We'll see, I guess.