The original Tebow, Jocelyn Thibault

I had made a vow to myself at the beginning of the year to write more about hockey and hockey cards.  So far, I've failed miserably on that promise.  I might even be able to count the number of times I've even mentioned hockey on the blog on one hand.

For a guy who has collected hockey cards as long as he's collected baseball cards, that's blasphemy.

I'm going to shoot for at least one post a week, on Fridays, related to hockey cards.  This gives you all the opportunity to avoid those posts and turn to blogs that write more about what you care about...lol!

This first post came about while leafing through a couple of monster boxes of hockey cards earlier this week, looking for some cards that were interesting enough to post about.  I found a handful to start, and this is one of them:

Thibault..not Tebow

94-95 Pinnacle # 205, goaltender Jocelyn Thibault of the Quebec Nordiques.  Why do I say this is the original Tebow?  Well, because his last name is pronounced exactly the same.  It's funny because when I first pulled this card out of the box, the main reason was because of the photo. The fact that his name was pronounced the same didn't dawn on me until I started writing the post.  The mask features a fantastic wolf design, and although the scan doesn't quite reflect it, the blue on the mask and the uniform is quite sharp.  The back of the card, well let's just say it's very busy...

One of the best masks I can remember from the 90's

The close up shot of his mask, and his eyes focused on the play is fantastic.  Sadly, the stats kind of take away from the photo, and in spots can be difficult to read. 

There have been a lot of rumors over the past few months that Quebec may be getting their team back, similar to the Winnipeg Jets returning from the dead.  What helped fuel these rumors is the province of Quebec actually funding a new rink (finally) to replace the old Le Colisee, where the Nords played throughout their existence in the WHA & NHL.

So, the next time you hear a story about this guy:

Just remember that he wasn't the first guy in sports whose name was pronounced Tebow....

Thanks for reading, Robert

An open letter to Brian Burke, GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs

Robert Mitchell
New Castle, PA

Mr Burke:

     I am a Maple Leaf fan, and I am fed up.  This is now the 8th consecutive spring (the lockout year + 7 seasons) that I have had to endure the Stanley Cup Playoffs without my favorite team being in them.  For the past 8 days I have watched some of the best hockey in a long time, and sadly not one of the players I've watched is wearing the Maple Leaf crest on his sweater. 

     Yes, I am aware that you are not responsible for all of the 8 years, since you've only been the GM for the past 4.  I was very excited when you were hired, because of your track record with teams such as Vancouver and Anaheim, and was looking forward to what could be built in Toronto.  I also am aware that you inherited a mess, which had to be torn down and built back up again, which you did very quickly.

     I was one of the few who would defend your trade with Boston that saw the Leafs acquire Phil Kessel.  For me, your track record of trading since you became Leafs GM from where I sit is quite good.  Your track record for signing free agents on the other hand, is horrible.

     Mike Komisarek, 5 years at $4.5 million per year for a guy who has never scored more than 4 goals in a season?  Yes, I am aware that he adds some "truculence" to your blue line, but when your coach ends up making him a regular healthy scratch, or sticks him on the 3rd defensive pairing, then you have to say it is a poor signing.

     Colby Armstrong, 3 years at $3 million per year for one 20 goal season.  Oh yes, he's truculent.  This year, he played on the 4th line, and was a healthy scratch on a few occasions.  I shook my head last year when you signed him to that contract.  Over paid?  You better believe it.

     Tim Connolly, 2 years at an average of $4.75 million for a guy who has a history of injuries, has never scored 20 goals in a season, and was considered by many to be the runner-up "prize" for the teams that failed to sign Brad Richards.  Oh, and by the way if you didn't notice, Tim finished the season on the checking line. 

     Three straight seasons, 3 horrendous free agent signings.  I now point you to this season.  The team was in an absolute free fall in February, and it was obvious that they were looking for a boost to get them back into the thick of things.  You actually made a trade for a guy who was invisible for most of the month that he played with the team. 

     The biggest mistake that nobody really talked a lot about was leaving Ron Wilson as coach for the past 4 years.  It was obvious from the beginning that Ron's method of coaching definitely did not sync up with your style of building a team.  Ron preferred a fast, up tempo game, while you would have the team play more of a rugged, physical style.  That's all well and good if you want to build your team that way, but get yourself a coach that believes in the same thing.  You let your friendship and loyalty to Ron get in the way of the development of the team that you wanted to build, and we fans have now suffered for it.  You now have your coach, but is there going to have to be another tear down of the team to now get the players who play the rugged style that Randy Carlyle prefers?  If so, how long is that going to take?

     I know what you're thinking.  Who in the hell is this guy, a sports card blogger trying to give you some lip over the job you're doing.  Who am I?  I am a Maple Leafs fan, someone who has suffered over the past 35+ years with crazy ownership, horrible management choices over coaches and players, horrible refereeing in one season that cost my beloved team a trip to the finals, and now what is nearing a decade of futility.   I am a Maple Leafs fan who has grown tired of the crap I'm hearing.  I am a Maple Leafs fan who can't believe that you were more worried about what a 70+ year old man had to say about your coach than what you were doing about the mess to begin with.  Turns out the old guy was right, wasn't he? 

     Finally, I am a Maple Leafs fan who has grown tired of the excuses, tired of waiting for this team to become the contender it was starting to be this year, but instead watched as the contender status disappeared in a 20 game span. 

     I am giving you one more year Mr. Burke, to show me that there will be significant improvement in this club.  I will attend the draft, and watch very carefully what you do over the summer.  I will watch the play of my favorite team over the 2012-13 season, more intently than I probably ever have.  If I don't see any improvement, I will be even more vocal than this, and start the call to have your job given to someone else. 

     You cannot rest on your laurels anymore.  Your successful past doesn't give you a pass with Toronto fans. 

      I would like to be able to collect a card, in my lifetime, that has "Stanley Cup Award Winner, 20xx", with the Maple Leafs logo emblazoned on it.  

      Respectfully yours, Robert Mitchell

A Carpenter came to town with some Rockets

Who says the mail is slow?  I completed my 6th trade with Greg over at Plaschke, thy Sweater is Argyle on Friday night of last week, and the cards made it from California to Pennsylvania already.  Greg is running another card draft, check his blog out for more details. 

I had picked up a Ryan Getzlaf jersey card in a trade over on the Bench, and once I got it in hand, I knew that Greg would want it.  It was a very nice two color swatch, featuring the dark purple that Anaheim wore a few years back.

What did I receive in return you may ask?  It's in the title.  First, the Rockets.

I don't know how many of you out there remember the cards in a can idea that Pinnacle had back in the late 90's, but for me it was one of the most wasteful ideas I can remember as far as packaging goes.  Cards in a can?  They tried to make the cans collectible, but for those that were in the hobby back then for the quick buck, the tins were no longer mint once opened.  Nevertheless, these 4 cards were ones that I didn't have, so they find a place among the Blue Jays mass of cardboard at my house.

Naturally, Greg sent me a jersey card as well, the Carpenter.

Card # 21 in the quest to obtain all the Captured on Canvas jersey cards from the '08 UD Masterpieces set.  It had been a little while since I obtained one of these beauties, but rest assured that I will continue on the quest to collect all 89.

Looking forward to trade #7 Greg....thank you very much!

Thanks for reading, Robert

The number 30, and taking the new header for a test drive

OK, taking the new header out for a spin today.   I absolutely love it!!  It's like Ross over at Design on Deck could actually read my mind.  I gave him a couple of ideas for the header, and he turned out something so simple, yet so perfect for me.

Ross, as I said in the email, thank you very much!!  I'll find something to send your way for sure.

Of course the uniform bears the colors of my beloved Blue Jays, and the numbers are the retro style, which the Jays should have never given up over the years.  Seeing that got me to thinking...

Which Jays over the years have worn the #30 on their back?  I was surprised when I did a little research and found the list contained 12 players.  I thought there may have been more, but now that think more about it, 1 every 3 years that the franchise has existed isn't too bad.

There were 6 players that wore the number for only one season:

Juan Berenguer (1981)
Wayne Nordhagen (1982)
Mike Morgan (1983)
Frank Castillo (2000)
Doug Linton (2003)

and the following fellow who wore it first in Blue Jays history.

'77 Topps # 517

They tried so hard to airbrush those Jays hats didn't they?  Pete spent only the 1977 season in Toronto before being moved on to St. Louis in a deal that would see a couple of pitchers come back to the Jays.  Pete had a relatively successful season in Toronto, making 53 appearances including 8 starts with a 3.47 ERA and 8 saves.

There were four Jays who would wear the # 30 for two seasons:

Joe Cannon (1979-1980)
Ron Musselman (1984-1985)
Woody Williams (1997-1998)
Alberto Castillo (2000-2001)

There was only one player to wear # 30 for three years (2004-2006), and he was the last Jay to wear it:

'07 UD  #246

Justin Speier's 3 years in Toronto were the most successful of his career from a numbers standpoint.  Justin went 8-10 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.160 WHIP over those 3 years, with all of his appearances coming out of the pen.  Justin was only one of 2 players drafted in the 55th round (!) of the 1995 draft to make it to the majors, the only other was Mark Mulder who didn't sign with the Tigers, and was drafted 3 years later with the 2nd pick by the A's.

There was only one player to wear the #30 for more than 3 years in a Jays uniform, and he wore it with the most success as well.

Todd Stottlemyre wore the # 30 for 6 years in Toronto, starting in 1989 (Score Young Superstars # 20 on the right) and finishing in 1994 (Fleer # 344 on the left).  Todd was part of the 2 World Series winning clubs in 92 & 93, and won 69 games over his 7 years in Toronto (he wore #16 in 1988 before making the switch).  Todd would later wear the #30 in stints with Oakland, St. Louis and Arizona.

Sticker Shock

When you are bored and don't feel like posting anything intelligent for the masses to see, you come up with Sticker Shock.  Sticker Shock is when you find a bunch of random stickers from this years Topps sticker set, and try to find humor in them. 

I probably will be the only one who finds these funny...but hey, it's Sunday, no pressure right??


Can anyone tell me if these are short printed or variation stickers? (Don't answer that)

I tend to see these in my dreams after an evening of Crown Royal...

Maybe the Troll can tell me if everybody in Tampa loves Raymond...

These 2 stickers gave me pause to reflect...

Now, that my poor attempts at humor have come to an end, this last sticker is my way of saying that it's good to see that Dustin Diamond found a career after Saved by the Bell...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Your eyes play tricks on you when you get older

It's true.  I've been wearing glasses for about 10 years now, and my eyes still read what they want to read.  The fact that my mind is always in the gutter only makes that problem worse, especially at work, but that's another topic for another place and time.

I tend to read fast, which is probably part of the problem.  Case in point, a post about a 'trade' that Potch and I completed in the past week, which was titled Cool Cards from Mr. Habit (update).  Needless to say, my eyes did their tricks, and I thought the word 'Habit' said 'Hobbit'.

Now my curiosity is piqued!!  What in the world is Potch writing about that contains a hobbit?  Tolkien's book maybe?  As I read the post I of course recognize that it's a trade post about the cards that I had sent him.  Needless to say I went back and read the title again and of course I feel like an idiot when I see the word habit in the title. 

Wait a minute....Mr. Habit?  When did formality creep into the blogosphere?  Does that make my wife Mrs. Habit?  Does it mean that all my bad habits are related to me in some weird way?  OK....enough of the habit talk, let's get to more of what you're here for, the cards!

First, of course we have to show off the Jays...let's look at some Minis

The scan is actually larger than the card

These 87 Fleer minis are very cool, but the writing on the back is so small that I had to use a magnifier to read the stats. 

Next we have some more modern Jays cards:

The more I see this years Heritage, the more it grows on me, but I'm sticking to my vow that I will not complete the set.  With 75 SPs, it's just too damn difficult.  I still have about 50 to obtain from last years set, which is a large reason that I will not collect the '12 set as well.  Speaking of last year's Heritage, the Aaron Hill black parallel is the 2nd one that I have (Arencibia being the other), and I like the lack of chrome on the card.

Next, a couple of random Jays cards...

The Fleer Award Winner card of Tony Fernandez is part of a 44 card set from '87.  I hadn't seen these before as well, so that was interesting to me.  The Scott Rolen '08 UD Heroes card baffles me.  The card documents the world series title he won in 2006.  I think to myself, the Jays didn't win the title in '06, so I read the back and it documents the title he won with the Cardinals.  What??  If I'm a Jays fan, why do I want to read about that?  Give me Jays facts!  OK...rant over.

Finally, what would a trade post from Potch be for me without some '77 Topps??

3 more towards the set, 3 guys that I remember fondly from the 70's and 80's.  Sparkly Lyle, born in Dubois, PA which is about 90 minutes from where I live right now (that was cool to find out).  Larry Parrish was part of those great Expos teams of the late 70's and early 80's that had Dawson, Carter, Rogers and Raines.  Rollie Fingers' card features him after he signed a 6 year, 1.6 million dollar contract with the Padres as a free agent.  Do you think the 'stache is airbrushed too?

Potch, as always, thank you for the cards, they are much appreciated!!

Oh, and one last thing....bad habits??...I've got nun...(insert groan here)

thanks for reading, Robert

64 Topps is teaching me patience

Patience is something I sorely lack.  Stores love me because when I have extra money in my wallet, I am an undisciplined, impulse shopper.  Card stores are the worst thing for me when I have extra money, because it becomes "oh, I'll take 2 of these, and 3 of those...and those look good too!!"

I've been good lately with my spending on cards, since with an upcoming trip down south for my 5th wedding anniversary, I've been trying to save any extra money I can (there are card stores in Florida...).

My single eBay purchase this week was another 6 card lot of '64 Topps, which I was able to offer down to $4.99.  Again with this lot, these cards were in pretty good condition, which surprisingly I've had great success so far in finding.

Keeping the cards straight...overrated

The Ken (Hawk) Harrelson card featured is actually his Rookie Card, and it made me do a little research.  I was surprised to learn that he only played 900 games in his major league career, from all that I had heard of him over the years I presumed he had had a longer career.  The Athletics team card is my 2nd one that I have acquired, the Senators team card being the other one.  The one thing I've enjoyed about picking up the '64 cards so far is the older logos on the caps.  I especially enjoy the interlocked 'KC' on these cards, it's more simplistic than a lot of today's hats, but sometimes simple is better. 

6 more cards in this lot brings me up to 58 so far towards the set, just under 10% of the 587 total to collect.   Acquiring these cards a handful at a time has been quite interesting, and knowing that this set is going to take a while to complete makes it a task that is teaching me some patience.  With Rose, Mantle, Aaron, Clemente, Koufax and Mays all topping $100 plus in NM condition, this of course will not be a set that I'll be completing anytime soon, but the thrill of the hunt so far has been fun.

What's truly sad however is my monthly card show at the mall is now a thing of the past. I'm hoping this is the case for only the summer months.  Without that show, there is nothing else remotely close (the closest monthly show is Erie, 1h 15 min away). The show was going to be a good source of cards that would keep me from buying most of them online in auctions and paying a fortune in shipping. 

The hunt continues....

Thanks for reading, Robert