History of Fox Sports Super Bowl Coverage

Fox began its NFL SUNDAY show in 1994. It differed from its competitors by offering pregame, live commentary, and player interviews conducted by former Pro Football Hall of Fame players. The trend continued when it began broadcasting the Super Bowl in 2013. To celebrate the show’s work, the National Association of Broadcasters inducted the cast into its Hall of Fame in 2019, and as of 2024, it is the only sports show with this distinction.

During NFL SUNDAY’s Super Bowl LVII broadcast, the 10th for the event, on February 12, 2023, when the Philadelphia Eagles played against the Kansas City Chiefs, Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen commentated the game. Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi interviewed players on location, and former NFL Vice President of Officiating Mike Pereira explained emerging rules technicalities.

To cater to Spanish-speaking audiences, Fox Sports pairs its English broadcast with FOX DEPORTES. Super Bowl LVII was the fourth simulcast in the show’s history, with Adrian Garcia-Marquez and Alejandro Villanueva acting as commentators.

1964 Topps Card Number 153 – The Oakland Raiders Football Team

A sports and historical collectables shop in the northern Detroit suburb of Shelby Charter Township, Michigan, Triple SSS Sports Cards does a brisk business in online sales. Triple SSS Sports Cards has a history of carrying significant items, such as the Oakland Raiders’ 1964 Topps Card #153.

An item of considerable value, the Oakland Raiders’ 1964 Topps #153 portrays the entire 1963 Raiders professional football team as coached by Pro Football Hall of Fame member Al Davis. The card depicts head coach Davis at the far left end of the back of three rows of players, coaches, and trainers. Sharing this back row with Davis is another Pro Football Hall of Fame member, legendary Raiders center Jim Otto. The only starting center for the Raiders for 15 consecutive seasons, he never missed a game and played in three AFC-NFC Pro Bowls and nine AFL All-Star Games. Thanks to major contributions by Davis and Otto, the Raiders ended the 1963 season with a winning record and a third-place finish in AFL West Division.

The Pioneering 1997-98 Skybox Z-Force Rave Review

Triple SSS Sports Cards is a Detroit, Michigan, company that sells PSA-graded sports issues online and at hobby shows nationwide. One of the Triple SSS Sports Card team’s areas of extensive knowledge is rare inserts.

As the NBA playoffs geared up in May 2023, Sports Collectors Daily featured an article on the classic 1997-98 Skybox Z-Force Rave Review basketball insert.

As the 1990s drew to a close, Fleer’s premium Skybox brand garnered a reputation for creating some of the most innovative, eye-catching inserts in the industry. A 12-card set of All-Stars (distributed one in every 288 packs of the Skybox Series One), Rave Review featured a complex geometric design reflected in an explosion of metallic shades, much like today’s Panini cracked ice design.

Among the standout players in the set are Kevin Garnett, Alan Iverson, Grant Hill, Shaquille O’Neal, and Michael Jordan. The condition-sensitive black borders on either side make an already difficult to gem card extremely valuable when found in higher grades. In February 2023, a BGS 8.5 graded Jordan sold for $1,300 at an eBay auction, while an ungraded Jordan brought in nearly $500 in April.

A Treasure Trove of High-Grade 1941 Play Ball Cards

SSS Sports Cards is a Detroit, Michigan, company that maintains an active presence both online and at card shows across the nation. The SSS Sports Cards’ team has an extensive knowledge of classic baseball sets of the 20th century, as well as lucrative finds that keep collectors in search of rare issues.

As reported in Sports Collectors Daily in April 2023, one noteworthy collection listed at Heritage Auctions is a high-grade group of 1941 Play Ball cards. Issued several months before the US entered World War II, the set represented a upgrade to the 1939 and 1940 sets (which were in black and white) and was the last major set for three years.

The pastel color images, many of which were repeated from the previous year, feature a classic, simple design, with the 72-card checklist including legends such as Ted Williams and Hank Greenberg. Highlights include Pee Wee Reese’s only rookie card. The set is also the only one to feature cards of all three DiMaggio brothers (Joe, Dom, and Vince) during their respective playing careers.

The 150 cards listed with Heritage Auctions were acquired by a longtime collector in the 1970s. Recently graded, many of them attained a mint PSA 9, such as Hall of Famers Bobby Doerr and Chuck Klein (the highest ever graded copy of each). Remarkably, there are three PSA 10s in the collection: Eldon Auker, Cecil Travis, Walt Judnich. The gem mint grade of these cards doubled the number of total 1941 Play Ball examples attaining this grade from three to six.

Widely Sought-After Topps and Topps Chrome Steph Curry Rookies

A Michigan company with a nationwide presence at hobby events, SSS Sports Cards carries PSA-graded sports cards from baseball, football, hockey, and basketball. One of the key NBA legends that SSS Sports Cards stocks and sells is Steph Curry, who propelled the Golden State Warriors to prominence.

A seventh overall pick in the 2009 draft, Curry did not break out among card collectors until 2014, when he made his first All-Star appearance. While leading the Warriors to a championship, he was the first ever player to be selected unanimously as NBA MVP. Curry’s flagship base Topps rookie #321, while not numbered or patricianly rare, commands a premium price in mint condition, with a PSA 9 copy selling for $1,285 at auction on eBay in April 2023. In PSA 10 gem mint condition, the same card brought a substantial premium, fetching $6,500.

The 2009-10 Topps Chrome set features the same head-cropped image of Steph Curry but is rarer and more sought after by collectors. In April 2023, a Topps Chrome parallel gold /2009 sold in ungraded condition for $2,650. Meanwhile, a BGS 9.5 refractor version of the card, serial numbered to 500, sold for $16,100.00. There are even more sought-after Curry rookie cards, including a 2009 Playoff National Treasures Logoman 1/1 patch card that went for $5.9 million in a 2021 private sale.

The Rare and Overlooked 1909 T204 Ramly Tobacco Baseball Set

Based in Michigan, Triple SSS Sports Cards has a nationwide presence at card shows and online and inventories of rookies and all-time legends. The Triple SSS Sports Cards’ team knows historic baseball issues like the 1909 T204 Ramly.

Featured in a Sports Collectors Daily article, the American Card Catalog-designated T204 Ramly is not as well known as the T205 and T206 sets. However, it is similar to having been distributed in tobacco packs then. Its design is unique for the era, featuring black and white photographic player images within an ornately decorated gold frame.

One reason why Ramly cards are not well known to collectors has to do with their relative rarity. In addition, the set is missing several of the era’s top stars, including Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, and Cy Young. Honus Wagner, who was against smoking and rarely allowed his likeness to be used, is a predictable absence.

There is one major headliner in Walter Johnson, and it’s his rookie card. That issue typically sells in the $25,000-plus range in average condition, and even common T204 Ramly players can bring a sizable price. A Germany Schaefer in PSA 4 sold for $600 on eBay in March 2023, and a Bill Carrigan PSA 3 brought $331 in the auction the same month.

The Iconic Topps and O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky Rookies

SSS Sports Card is a Detroit company that sells professionally graded issues of rookies and stars from sports such as basketball, football, and hockey. When it comes to NHL players, one of the key athletes that SSS Sports Card inventories is Wayne Gretzky.

Known as the “the Great One,” the perennial All-Star and leader of the Edmonton Oilers has the 1979-80 Topps #18 as his flagship rookie. This is accompanied by a Canadian O-Pee-Chee version that is identical in design, except that the back is printed in both French and English.

While both Gretzky cards are avidly collected, it is the O-Pee-Chee issue that brings the most money in auction, as it is nearly impossible to find in the highest grades. This has to do with the fact that the Canadian printer had lower quality paper stock and printing standards, which makes imperfections, particularly along the sides and corners, extremely common.

There have been a few select O-Pee-Chee examples graded PSA 10, with an auction in 2022 of such a specimen having a winning bid of $1.29 million. A PSA 3 O-Pee-Chee copy sold for $1,200 on eBay in March 2023, while a PSA 6 went for $2,726. By contrast, a Topps version of the Gretzky rookie graded a higher PSA 7 sold for $2,336.

The Sports Card Boom of 2020

Triple SSS Sports Cards buys and sells a broad spectrum of rare and valuable collectables from its headquarters in Shelby Charter Township, Michigan. True to its name, Triple SSS carries a large number of collectible sports cards.

Although the sports card market has been remarkably healthy since around 2015, it rose to unprecedented heights from mid-2020 to the beginning of 2021. Precipitated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, this boom occurred when sales and resale rates increased dramatically. Many extremely wealthy investors also put significant assets into the collectables industry at this time.

Certain cards fared better than others during the 2020 boom. Outstanding performers included the Tom Brady Bowman rookie card, which increased in value from $1,099 in 2019 to $15,600 by late 2020, and the Kawhi Leonard Prizm rookie card, which increased in value from $3,600 in 2019 to $15,100 by late 2020. Although the market had corrected slightly by November of 2021, the prices of most cards remain considerably higher than they were in 2019.

42nd NSCC Draws Largest Crowds in Decades

Triple SSS Sports Cards is a family owned and operated business located in Shelby Township, Michigan. In addition to selling investment-quality sports cards to customers, Triple SSS Sports Cards regularly attends the National Sports Collectors Convention, the largest sports card show in the United States.

The 43rd National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC) has been scheduled for July 26-30, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. The event will follow the 2022 edition, which drew the largest crowds since 1991. Nearly 90,000 collectors, dealers, and fans filled the Atlantic City Convention Center, thanks in part to one of the largest rosters of guests the TriStar Autograph Pavilion has ever seen.

Notable guests at the 2022 convention included Robert Parish, Allen Iverson, Kevin McHale, Gary Sheffield, Mookie Wilson, and Dominique Wilkins. In addition to accomplished athletes, the TriStar Autograph Pavilion welcomed several actors from beloved sports films like The Blindside and The Sandlot.

To learn more about the event or to register for the 2023 convention, please visit nsccshow.com.

Highly Sought After Cards from Walter Payton’s Playing Years

Triple SSS Sports Cards maintains an extensive inventory of rare, graded cards from across the major sports. Among the highlights of Triple SSS Sports Cards’ offerings are key issues of Hall of Fame football players from the 1970s, including Terry Bradshaw and Walter Payton.

Running back Walter Payton dominated from the start as a member of the Chicago Bears and has a 1976 Topps rookie card with the team. In mint PSA 9 grade, this condition-sensitive issue regularly attains prices in the $6,000 to $7,000 range, while a gem mint PSA 10 would go for much higher. Honoring his All-Pro 1,000-yard, 1976 season, Payton’s second year card has what many collectors consider a superior aesthetic, yet can be found at a significantly lower price: around $2,000 for a PSA 9.

Another sought-after Walter Payton issue is the 1985 Topps card released toward the end of his career. Featuring a striking black border that makes getting a high grade challenging, this card is also distinguished as Payton’s primary issue from the year in which the Bears won a Super Bowl ring. A PSA 9 of this card can reach prices of $600 or more.