Twenty years after his rookie card helped introduce a promising newcomer to the world of baseball cards, Ken Griffey Jr. is returning to the place his career started. Fittingly, Upper Deck is celebrating Junior's return to Seattle with several special cards.

The 1989 Upper Deck Baseball set was the company's first, and it helped change the hobby forever by upping the ante on the quality of cards and packaging. Griffey's rookie card (No. 1 in the set) caught fire as the then-teenaged phenom hit the big leagues in a textbook case of perfect timing.

Now that Griffey is a Mariner again, Upper Deck is paying its respects with a pair of cards that will be available over the next few weeks. The card pictured here is a short-printed insert that can be found in packs of 2009 UD Piece of History Baseball, which is set to go live in early April. A second card will be part of a promotion at participating hobby stores that will take place just before Opening Day.

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Perish the thought. SA-GE plans on releasing its first series of draft pick cards in March, and Donruss, Topps and Upper Deck will all be cranking up the presses just a few weeks after that.

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Just because one person completed Upper Deck's mammoth Yankee Stadium Legacy set didn't mean others stopped trying.

Upper Deck announced yesterday that a second person, Chuck Sauter of Pensacola, Florida, has finished putting together the 6,661-card insert set that commemorates every game ever played in the old Yankee Stadium. He follows Tommy Baxter of Little Rock, Arkansas, who pulled off the feat last November.

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The U.S. got a National Baseball Card Day in 2008, so it's only fitting that Canada gets a National Hockey Card Day, right?

On February 21, Canadian collectors will be able to visit their local hobby shop, Walmart, Toys 'R' Us or London Drugs to pick up a free five-card pack of hockey cards from a 15-card National Hockey Card Day set produced by Upper Deck. You can see the Sidney Crosby card right here; other players on the checklist include Gordie Howe, Jarome Iginla and Steven Stamkos.

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I don't get into NASCAR much on here, because even though racing collectors are a passionate bunch, that segment of the hobby simply doesn't have as much going on as the "Big Four" sports. I do consider myself a racing fan, though, and it's especially appropriate to think of racing cards today as the Daytona 500 gets ready to roll.

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Two pieces of news broke over the last 24 hours that may be of interest to collectors. Earlier today, Brett Favre announced that he was retiring for the second straight year. Given the way the New York Jets came apart down the stretch, it will probably stick this time.

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While collectors and the current NBA basketball card manufacturers have been quick to react to the announcement that Panini would take over as the lone licensee later this year, there hadn't been much in the way of comment from Panini itself. That changed yesterday, as Beckett.com unveiled an interview with Peter Warsop, a senior executive from the Italian company.

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With money tight for so many people right now, you may be considering parting with some of the cards in your collection. It's never a bad idea to trim the fat a little, but remember that lots of other people are currently having the same thoughts.

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Well, I was close.

Larry Fitzgerald did everything within his power to help the Cardinals overcome a double-digit deficit, and Ben Roethlisberger kept numerous plays alive and threw the game-winning touchdown. But Santonio Holmes outshined both of them, making four catches on the decisive drive alone, none better than his ballet-like effort to keep both feet on the ground while hauling in the final score.

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The two weeks between the NFL's conference championship games and the Super Bowl seem to last forever, and that feeling has to be even more pronounced for fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. Thankfully, the hype is behind us now, and the teams will meet for all the marbles this evening in Tampa.

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