[a selection of weekly Upper Deck-specific media notes ZSPR created for the 2005 AFL season]

TRADING -- NOT TAROT -- CARDS PREDICT ARENABOWL XIX CHAMP: While oddsmakers say the Georgia Force will beat the Colorado Crush by three-and-a-half points, others with an interest in this weekend's ArenaBowl are using another way to predict the game's final outcome: the total value of each team's trading cards.

Just this week, Beckett's -- the collectible industry's arbiter of card prices -- set a dollar amount to each of Upper Deck's AFL offerings, with Georgia edging Colorado in a very league-like score, $71-65. Helping the Force secure the win was quarterback Matt Nagy, whose $25 card was the highest-rated among all players in Sunday's championship.

Crush offensive specialist Damian Harrell is the featured player on Colorado's most expensive card, valued at $15.

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WHY GIVE DAD A TIE WHEN FOOTBALL OFFERS OVERTIME?: With Fathers' Day coming just a week after the Arena Bowl (June 12), fans can help dad continue his passion for the pigskin with Upper Deck's 2005 AFL trading cards ($2.99 a pack). With 90 cards per set, that's exactly one for every day until the first weekend of NFL action...enough to keep him busy and out of any lack-of-football funk.

While great in their own right, two of Upper Deck's AFL cards -- both found in its "League Luminaries" inserts -- feature sons of famous fathers: Nashville Kats co-owner Tim McGraw (son of the late Philadelphia Phillies hurler, Tug McGraw) and Orlando Predators coach Jay Gruden (father Jim Gruden was a national championship coach at Notre Dame).

Upper Deck's 2005 AFL trading cards can be found at hobby shops and Target stores nationwide.

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McPHERSON'S CARD IS 'MOST WANTED': In selecting Adrian McPherson in the fifth round of last month's NFL Draft, the Saints weren't the only group to take a chance on the former FSU and Indiana Firebirds QB. Featured prominently in its recently released AFL trading card set, Upper Deck made a marketing gamble by including McPherson as a "League Luminaries" insert, alongside two straight-and-narrow NFLers with AFL ties: the Cardinals' Kurt Warner and the Steelers' Tommy Maddox.

To date, the roll of the dice on the Bradenton, Fla. native -- and last year's AFL Rookie of the Year -- has paid off. Prior to even taking a single NFL snap, McPherson's card is the most wanted AFL card in Upper Deck's '05 offering, going for $100 on eBay earlier this week. That's more than any 2004 NFL rookie card, including that of the Steelers' Ben Rothlisberger, who already has 14 career wins.

Collectors believe the future value of McPherson's AFL card can be compared to former 49er Steve Young's extremely rare $300 rookie USFL card, when the future hall-of-famer was with the L.A. Express.

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BY THE NUMBERS: Los Angeles Avengers QB John Kaleo's card number, 48 in a set of 90, matches the number of rushing TDs he's had in his career. It's also the number of yards of his longest TD completion in 2005.

Georgia Force OS Troy Bergeron's card number, seven, coincidentally reflects the number of FG returns he's had in '05. Add another seven, and its the number of catches he had as a member of the afl2 Columbus Wardogs last year (77).

Force QB Jim Kubiak's card number, 33, matches his single-game career high in completions.

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