I’m not much for the whole hyperbole thing, as I naturally like to keep my over-embellishment limited to Brittney Palmer being the greatest person ever in the history of history, but I do find myself using the “My favorite thing ever” tag on a pretty regular basis. Well, I’m here to put an end to that today, folks. Because on December 20, 2012 – one day before humanity is set to end, according to people who completely misinterpreted an ancient slab of rock – I have finally found my very absolute favorite thing ever, and it’s called Baseball Card Vandals.

As simple as it sounds, Baseball Card Vandals is simply a crude artistic endeavor by a few unknown souls, who I assume are baseball fans, but it doesn’t really matter. Because as long as I’ve been sitting on my collection of cards that are now worth as much as the cardboard box that I keep them in – thanks a lot, 18 Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards and that Bo Jackson Classic card – I should have just been doodling on them with a black Sharpie like these guys, because the result is awesome.

Seriously, guys like Rick Rhoden and Dan Quisenberry should be elated that someone is doing anything with their old baseball cards. Especially something as fantastic as this.

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As someone who follows quite a few web comic series and has started and forgotten a few of his own, I’ve always gotten a kick out of people who give the artists and authors crap for not posting frequently enough. It’s like, “Hey dick, you’re not producing your free Internet content at a pace that is conducive of my unappreciative viewing experience, and that makes me hate you!” I actually like those types of trolls – those that call themselves “fans” – better than the “This thing you made sucks” crowd, because they feel like they actually deserve the right to criticize someone’s work.

That said, someone introduced me to the web comics of artist J.O. Applegate during the 2012 NBA Playoffs, and I write with completely aware irony today – HE DOES NOT POST HIS COMICS ENOUGH.

Applegate’s web comics, known collectively as Bounce Bounce Bounce or BounceX3, are mostly standalone jokes about certain players or the NBA experience in general, but his takes on fan and player behaviors are so dead on and hilarious, especially his latest work after the jump, that I almost consider them therapeutic to look at when I think about how insane most NBA fans are.

Most of all, I’m jealous of the awesome way that Applegate ties GIF animation into his comics, because I’m still trying to figure out how to do that and I should just probably realize that I’m a big ol’ dummy already. Alas, I digress. After the jump, I’ve included Applegate’s most recent efforts, dating from the start of this season to last season’s playoffs, and if you’re an NBA fan, you should absolutely follow him and complain like an impatient child like I do when a day goes by without a new comic.

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For my money, there’s no greater MS Paint artist in this generation or any other, for that matter (suck it, Picasso), than our own Danger Guerrero. His efforts within this specific medium have been unparalleled over the decades that I’ve known him, and I believe that he has no less than 75 works currently hanging in the Smithsonian and the Louvre. Do not quote me on that number, as it may be off just a tad.

However, despite the important life lessons that we were given by The Highlander series, there doesn’t have to be only one, and I recently stumbled upon the works of another outstanding MS Paint artist (pronounced ar-teest) who sadly remains anonymous at this current time. But like most great reclusive artists of the last several centuries and great artistic periods, this unknown person got his or her start on Tumblr, with the site “Great NBA Moments”.

Sure enough, this collection of artwork re-captures some of the greatest moments in NBA history through the stunning use of basic colors and brushes that only MS Paint can provide. Included in these incredible works are Michael Jordan’s iconic game-winning jumpshot, Dirk Nowitzki’s three-pointer in Game 5 of the 2011 NBA Finals and even the cover of the video game masterpiece, Shaq Fu.

Short of Larry Bird sharing a milkshake with Skeletor or any of the sketches that we’ve previously viewed from the artists at Double Dribble, this is probably the best NBA art that you will see this year. While there are many more beautiful works available at Great NBA Moments, I have included some of my favorites in this week’s With Leather Wild Art Gallery.

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According to the great, in-depth research that I do before writing any post, the Rue Saint-Denis is a really old street in Paris, France and it’s full of hookers. With that said, I will now accept my professorship of European history at Harvard, thankyouverymuch. But while they put together that offer, I’ve been running my typical routine of ignoring the work that I’m supposed to do in favor of scouring the Internet for fun pictures, and last night I was delighted to find this picture of some street art in Rue Saint-Denis. Yes, that is Muhammad Ali standing over Street Fighter’s Ryu and it is spectacular.

Obviously, I have a problem with the fact that Ryu still has half of his energy, so he’s probably going to get up and keep fighting. I’m also curious to know how Ali can withstand Ryu’s Hadouken attacks. Unfortunately, I won’t know the answer to that query unless I can actually speak to the artist, known as Combo (The Culture Kidnapper), who also has a few other awesome sports-related works.

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When it comes to sports collectables, autographs and general memorabilia, you could say that I’m a big-time conservative. I fear the inevitability of change, in that I always expect my favorite players to be traded, so why would I invest my money and time into supporting them? Additionally, there’s the scandal factor, as in I wouldn’t want to spend a few hundred dollars for, say, a David Freese autographed glove if it turns out that he’s running an orphanage only as a front for an organ farm. (And if he is doing that, I want in, damn it.)

Yet here I am, this gigantic sucker for both sports and quirky artwork, admiring artist Dave Choate’s fun and to-the-point-titled work, “Sports Paintings”. The bulk of Choate’s work revolves around a certain Evil Empire team that he’s a fan of, but mostly his self-taught art stems from a love of sports and art. Much like my Kate Upton finger paintings, or as the judge called them, “Exhibit A”.

My work has been described as whimsical. At the risk of sounding like a moron, my goal is to come away with something cool. I’ve found that my best paintings are the ones where I have the most happy accidents, so I really try to tap into my subconscious or right brain and not analyze every stroke. It reminds me of the Yogi Berra quote, “How the hell are you gonna hit and think at the same time?” I stay loose, try not to think, go with the flow and have faith that I’ll eventually discover something that I couldn’t have created on my own, at least consciously.

I’m a Connecticut native and am a fan of the New York Yankees and Oakland Raiders teams of the 70′s and 80′s.

Choate’s art is a little pricey, but I think it’s pretty fantastic. In fact, if I were still selling meth, I’d probably buy all of his paintings. Wait, did I say selling meth? I meant making porn. I don’t want you guys to think poorly of me.

After the jump, check out the With Leather Art Gallery’s “Sports Paintings” exhibit, and feel free to purchase any of the Mike Tyson paintings for me.

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Forget Kelly Brook’s annual reminder to the world that she has large breasts and don’t bother picking up Sports Illustrated’s latest celebration of Kate Upton and Chrissy Teigen. This year’s awesome sexy date tracker is coming from London artist James Husbands, as his 2013 Sexy Managers calendar is selling like crazy. So who has Husbands decided to capture in famous movie and TV poses in this incredible animated calendar? A bunch of guys I’ve never heard of, because I do not watch soccer.

But you’ve probably heard of them, because you are a sophisticated soccer fan, and unlike my brutish gorilla ass, you understand and appreciate the world’s most popular sport. According to the Daily Mail, the months are adorned with the most famous soccer managers in the world:

January – Arsene Wenger
February – Harry Redknapp
March – Roberto Mancini
April – Pep Guardiola/Jose Mourinho
May – Fabio Capello
June – Sven Goran Eriksson
July – Andre Villas-Boas
August – Martin Jol
September – Rafa Benitez
October – Ian Holloway
November – Alex Ferguson/Kenny Daglish
December – Roy Hodgson

As I said, only a few of those names are familiar to me, but I have to be honest… I’m a little turned on right now. Seriously, call me, Martin Jol.

Anyway, after the jump you can view the calendars images for yourself. I’ve been known to post a lot of artsy stuff between here and the mother site, and it’s because I just appreciate cool paintings, drawings, photoshops, etc. So I just want to say, without hyperbole, that short of the Dikembe Mutombo video game, this is my favorite thing that I’ve posted this year. And if Husbands made a similar calendar for NFL coaches, I think my head would explode.

So please do that, James Husbands. Please. Jim Schwartz doing the interrogation scene from Basic Instinct. That’s all I ask.

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