Johnny's Soccer Cards

Johnny loves collecting soccer trading-cards and enhances his relationship with his girlfriend thanks to his dreamy outlook on dogma, especially during Christmas!

I just had to include a little vignette about soccer-cards, since it's Christmas and I felt a need to express my love of 'consumerism diarism' this year, so I'd love any kind of feedback regarding the democratic design of this little 'sports-diorama' tale!

Thanks so much for reading (signing off),

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Johnny loved collecting world soccer athlete trading-cards and developed such an interest in it that it superseded his interests in baseball-card collecting! Johnny started collecting soccer cards of various iconic world soccer athletes/stars from earlier eras (e.g., 1970s) and more modern times as well. Johnny collected over 1,000 soccer cards within the span of just 3 years and his soccer-card collection was now even more special than his baseball-card collection and arguably a true collector's treasure box.

One of Johnny's favorite cards was of the Argentinian soccer star and player for the Spanish La Liga club team Barcelona, Lionel ("Leo") Messi! Johnny considered his special Donruss Leo Messi trading-card one of the crowning 'bulb's of his terrific sports-card collection. He wondered how much his soccer-card collection would be worth when estimated over the course of about 30 years and if he'd ever sell it to someone or simply keep it for himself...for spiritual value.

Johnny invited some of his college buddies one week in the summer to his new loft in Boston so he could showcase his special soccer-card collection to them. They were quite impressed, especially after Johnny showed his buddies, who were bigger baseball fans than soccer fans, his awesome Chicago Cubs baseball-card collection and then revealed why his world soccer-card collection was ironically and actually even more fantastic! Johnny's friends drank with him and marveled at what over 3 years of soccer-card collecting had yielded for their soccer-fan friend in Boston (USA).

Johnny's girlfriend Elisa purchased for her boyfriend a nifty Dream Team Soccer card-game for his birthday, so he'd be willing to play the game with Elisa's son (from her previous marriage). Johnny did one better and not only played the card-game with Elisa's son on weekends, but he also showcased his soccer-card collection to her son who found it quite interesting and intriguing, despite the fact that he was only 10 years-old! Johnny and Elisa's girlfriend now developed a closer bond, all thanks to Johnny's newfound passion for soccer-card collecting in America.

Another priority-card in Johnny's collection was the special Luis Figo (Portugal) soccer-card. Figo was considered one of the 3 all-time greatest Portuguese soccer players (before retiring), alongside Eusebio and Ronaldo! Therefore, Johnny considered his wonderful Luis Figo soccer trading-card another crowning 'bulb' in his special sports-card collection in America. In fact, Johnny was somewhat superstitious and began to think that for some odd reason, his Figo soccer-card was somehow 'possessed' by the spiritual aura of some mysterious metaphysical energy. This was odd!

Johnny's girlfriend (Elisa) actually motivated/inspired him to also collect women's soccer trading-cards to accent his card collection in America. Johnny collected at least 1000 women's soccer trading-cards during his collecting activities (online and at sports-card trading events and shows). Johnny was ironically proud of some of the more handsome women's soccer trading-cards that accented his overall collection. Because of the successes of the US women's national soccer team, women's soccer had gained lots of media spotlights, despite the fact that men's soccer on the international level was confined to collegiate and high-school popularity in America. Johnny received kudos from Elisa for his nice women's soccer trading-cards!

In fact, Johnny's soccer-card of the US women's national team player Heather Mitts was so nice that he considered selling it for a huge price on the Internet! However, Elisa, his girlfriend, really liked this card and wanted him to keep it as part of his overall collection and only sell it if he was going to sell all his other cards! Johnny reluctantly agreed but continued to wonder how much he'd have profited had he decided to sell his iconic and handsome Mitts soccer-card on the Internet (or perhaps even at a sports-card trading event or show).

Johnny's soccer-card collection of male athletes were not overshadowed by his careful and sharp selection of female athletes in American/world soccer. However, his women's soccer cards seemed to highlight his collection as somehow other-worldly and uniquely symbolic arguably of modern-era fanfare towards world soccer! Of course, because Elisa (Johnny's girlfriend) was so impressed by his women's soccer cards, Johnny decided he'd always treasure them as collector's symbols of athletic dollars!

However, some of Johnny's cards of male soccer players still stood out as supremely symbolic of the domination of the sport by men on the international stage! For example, Johnny owned a vintage Diego Maradona Topps soccer-card which was perhaps worth at least $25K, and Johnny purchased it at a basement online auctioning site during his first year of collecting, when soccer cards had not yet become as directed as they had in the 21st Century! Johnny's Maradona soccer-card was a testament to his overall fan-boy diarism of men's soccer!

Johnny decided to take his entire soccer-card collection to a trading-show in North Carolina one year. He was complimented by numerous card collectors on the splendor and detail of his soccer cards, men's and women's! Johnny realized his sports-card collection, especially his soccer cards, were modern-day symbols of sports daydreams. Wasn't this capitalism at its finest sense of dogma?

Because Johnny's Topps soccer-card collection included some cards of male athletes from the Middle East, some of the collectors at the sports-card trading-show began questioning Johnny and asking him if he was somehow 'biased' towards collecting cards of players (women, Muslims, etc.) who were under-represented in global politics. In other words, they wanted to know if Johnny collected cards with specific and therefore limited political-correctness detail. Johnny told them, "All my soccer cards are simply American diamonds!"

Johnny purchased for his girlfriend Elisa a special miniature gold-and-glass bulb-set as a sign of his enduring love for her and their continuing relationship. Johnny had become very close to Elisa's son and was considering asking Elisa to marry him on Valentine's Day. Elisa was happy with her beau who seemed genuinely and maturely interested in enhancing his soccer trading-cards with examples of women's soccer detailing. This was a solid relationship!

JOHNNY: I'm so glad you like my soccer-cards, Elisa.

ELISA: Well, you've collected numerous women's soccer cards!
JOHNNY: You've celebrated my adoption of female athletes.
ELISA: Hey, Johnny, I'm not saying you're suddenly a virtuous feminist.
JOHNNY: However, you conceded I'm not a chauvinist with my soccer cards!

ELISA: True...
JOHNNY: Well, then I can claim I've won your admiration with my sports cards.

ELISA: Let's just keep it neutral and agree that your women's soccer cards are handsome.
JOHNNY: I was hoping to earn more 'democratic points' because of them.

ELISA: You'll gain more 'domestic points' when you spend more direct time with my son.
JOHNNY: He loves soccer.

ELISA: I don't want you to get him soccer video-games for Christmas.

JOHNNY: Alright; I'll make our time more descriptive.

ELISA: Now that's more dollhouse!

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