Hiding in plain sight

Numbers don't lie.  A very old saying, one that I constantly add the caveat "but they can and are manipulated to tell the truth that a person wants to tell."

This post is not a rant, a whine, or even a cry for help.  It's merely an observation based on numbers.

I posted my first card for the SNIH set yesterday, and readership dropped, by half.  Again, not a whine or a bitch, just the truth.  What does that tell me?  That folks don't care for hockey as much as they care for baseball. 

I noticed it in the past as well when I wrote posts about Joe Sakic, any Maple Leafs cards that I may have picked up, or any other hockey subject that may have piqued my interest. 

What to do, what to do.  I want people to see the hockey cards that I pick up for this latest project, as well as anything else that may come across my desk.  So, I've decided to hide the SNI hockey cards in plain sight.  Build them into posts.  Likely towards the end, so people can skip over them (because who reads right to the end anyways?) when they read a post.

Man, that still sounds bitter, doesn't it??  Believe me, it's not meant to be.  I know that the bloggers out there who enjoy hockey will still be interested and keep an eye out for these cards.  I've also got one supporter out there sending me a few to help with the cause (thank you Doug!). 

Meanwhile, here's the 12th page of the original SNI set, cards 100 through 108.

Card #100:  Todd Helton, 2010 Topps Finest #100/599.  Picked up at the 2012 NSCC.  Colorado card #3.
Card #101:  Sean Burnett, 2011 Topps Gold #101/2011.  Courtesy of the Stats on the Back blog.  Washington card #3.
Card #102.  Domonic Brown, 2012 Topps Opening Day #102/2012.  Courtesy of Brian from the Play at the Plate blog.  Philadelphia card #4.

Card #103:  Eric Chavez, 2006 Topps Chrome refractor #103/549.  Purchased at a PA card show.  Oakland card #5.
Card #104:  Carlos Tosca, 2004 Topps gold #104/2004.  Courtesy of Jim at the GCRL blog.  Toronto card #3
Card #105:  Johnny Mize, 2009 Topps Triple Threads #105/525.  Picked up at the 2014 NSCC in Cleveland.  St. Louis card #8

Card #106:  Josh Gibson, 2006 Topps Co-Signers #106/150.  Courtesy of Kevin from the Diamond King blog.  Pittsburgh card #1.
Card #107:  Nathan Adcock, 2010 Bowman Chrome #107/500.  Courtesy of Eric from the Manupatches and Chrome Scratches blog (retired).  Pittsburgh card #2.
Card #108:  Alex Rios, 2011 Bowman chrome blue #108/500.  I have no idea where this card came from.  Chicago White Sox card #3

I got a little creative adding Josh Gibson as a Pittsburgh player, seeing as he played for the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords in the pre-integrated baseball era.  Carlos Tosca's card is the first manager to be in the set, I think that there may be a couple of more manager cards in the set. 

Fitting in with the serial numbered theme of this post, here is the 2nd card for the SNIH set, going all the way back to the 1999-00 Be A Player release.  I was fortunate enough to pull this card from a pack back in the day, and my luck pulling cards that were serial #'d this low was minimal at best.

Maybe Oleg should have kept the helmet on.  Kvasha had an OK NHL career, playing in 493 games scoring 81 goals.  He would head back home after the 2005/06 season and play 7 more seasons in Russia before exiting at age 34.  Oleg was part of the big trade with the Islanders that brought Roberto Luongo to south Florida back in June of 2000.

We'll see how this goes...

thanks for reading, Robert