Should the National Cancel?

My first National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC) was in 1986 in Dallas. I had returned to the hobby the year before. One of my first moves was to subscribe to Baseball Hobby News, which was put out by Frank and Vivian Barning (great people). That’s where I first read about this annual extravaganza, which back then had no corporate sponsors and numerous educational hobby seminars. Those were the days.

I’ve missed only a few Nationals since then and am very fortunate to live in Chicago, where many of them have been held.

I have no plans to attend the upcoming National, which will happen July 29-August 2 in Atlantic City, N.J. First, I’m no longer very active collecting cards nowadays. The last two sets I’m working on are 1952 and 1955 Topps baseball and I’ve almost completed both of them (yes, I still need a ’52 Mantle!).

   Second, the last time I attended the National in Atlantic City (in 2003) it involved a plane and two train journeys (airport to downtown Philadelphia and then another train to Atlantic City). No thank you.

As I write this, the country is immersed in a pandemic, COVID-19. Although the National is still a few months away, I believe it should be cancelled. Why? The safety of tens of thousands of attendees should take precedence over buying cards for your collection or getting an autograph from a star athlete you admire.

In late March I emailed the National organizers asking what their plans were. They responded they were monitoring the situation.

“We have been in contact with the appropriate groups,” their emailed response says. “There are no plans to cancel the event at this time. We will continue to listen to the federal and state guidelines before making a decision.”

In the past couple of weeks a number of major events have been cancelled or postponed, including the Olympics in Tokyo, Wimbledon in London, and the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. And these three are scheduled in July.

Yes, I understand a lot of money has already been spent on booth space, hotels, airfare, and much more. But human life is much more important than a baseball card or autograph collection. Let’s hope that in the next month the powers that be at the NSCC do the right and sensible thing sooner rather than later and cancel this year’s convention.