Archive for September, 2010
The Crosby Files: In Pursuit of Sidney
Posted by: | CommentsIn 2005 the NHL was coming out of a lockout and I can remember racing home from work to watch the NHL Draft Lottery on one of the ESPN stations in order to see which lucky team would win the right to select Sidney Crosby of the Rimouski Oceanic. I had been listening to a great deal of chatter about Crosby as he had been anointed as “The Next One” by many media outlets and scouts, and I was hopeful my hometown Rangers would somehow walk off with the first selection.
The Next One: Sidney Crosby was destined to be a special player.
A couple of months later I was felled by a major health crisis and was hospitalized for close to six weeks. During a long convalescence at home, I received a New York Mets team card set as a gift from a friend and I instantly became fascinated with collecting again after many years of being away from the hobby. As the months passed and I recovered slowly but surely, I re-entered the trading card arena. I read magazines and visited countless websites. Then in 2007, I purchased one box each of 2004-05 and 2005-06 hockey cards (made by one of UD’s competitors). Going through each pack I pulled several Sidney Crosby Oceanic and Team Canada cards. I remember thinking to myself how cool it was to pull cards of Crosby and quickly placed them into an Ultra 9 pocket sheet. I had no inkling of what kind of an insane journey I was about to embark upon.
The Sidney Collection: Do you think you could collect every one of The Kid's cards?
Once I returned to my job, I dabbled in collecting and enjoyed talking “puck” with co-workers. One afternoon, I bought a box of 2005-06 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey cards and ran back to the office to open that bad boy up. After going through the first few packs, I saw a certain card and could not believe it. There in my hand was a Sidney Crosby Victory rookie card (#285). It was my first Upper Deck Crosby so I made sure I stored it safely until I got home. Once there, I added this beauty to my burgeoning collection. Over the next few weeks, I spent most of my free time researching Crosby and his cards. One morning during this all encompassing research project, I happened upon a website where a collector was showing off his entire Crosby collection. There were probably only 20 cards displayed but I went nuts. I was hooked and the fuse had been lit. I made the decision to forgo all other cards and start building my own Sidney Crosby personal collection.
Lord Stanley's Cup: Crosby has made a big splash in a very short amount of time.
Well, that was more than three years ago and looking back I had no idea how hard it would be to together a personal collection of just Crosby cards. I had not considered the cost or availability and had no clue as to the level of commitment putting a serious collection together would take. Today I am one of Sid’s biggest fans and have painfully learned that there are a lot of Crosby cards available and many of them remain totally out of my price range.
I originally began assembling the collection through buying boxes and was able to pick up singles from Beckett and through hockey card site trades with other collectors. By doing this I learned a great deal and made many terrific friendships with fantastic people. Inevitably, my passion has led me to eBay and I have been active there for quite a while. So, 1,100-plus cards (plus duplicates) into the personal collection, my passion to collect Crosby burns deeper than ever. I have resigned myself to the fact that I’ll probably never own all of Sid’s cards but the fun I’ve had and the people I’ve met, keep me trying to get as close as I can.
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Brag Video: Mystery Cut Redemptions
Posted by: | CommentsUsually we do a Brag Photo of the Week highlighting some of the unique items that come into Upper Deck headquarters, but this week we also have a Brag Video. We recently received in the 2009 SP Legendary Cuts Mystery Cut redemption cards. An authentic cut signature of a deceased sports legend, entertainer, politician, or personality is embedded in each of these rare collectibles.
Since this marked the last Mystery Cut program for Upper Deck, we sourced for some of the best and most unique cuts available to include. A lot of time was needed to find cut signatures that were not only authentic, but that would fit in the cards. This week the cards finished production and many have been received by Upper Deck already. Here is a look at some of the more unique cards in the set we have received thus far:
Now the cards are going through the process of being inspected by senior staff to make sure there are no defects while also being checked to make sure all the cards are accounted for.
Upper Deck senior staff inspect each card to confirm there are no defects and then each card is recorded as being received in.
Next up, the cards will be sequentially numbered, placed in protective holders, packaged and randomly sent out to the collectors who have been waiting for these special items. No doubt many of these collectors will be anxiously waiting for that special mail day from Upper Deck where the “mystery” will be revealed and they’ll know which cut signature card belongs to them.
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George Blanda: Thanks for the Memories
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There are certain things that remind me of my father. And plenty of them involve sports. Yesterday’s passing of NFL Hall-of-Famer George Blanda was another one that made me think of my dear, departed dad. He and Blanda were contemporaries; Blanda was born in 1927, my father a year later. We were never Oakland Raider fans – stubborn New England fans instead – but I can remember watching plenty of games on Sunday afternoons with my dad where Blanda would come in and kick the game-winning field goal for the silver-and-black. His performances were like clockwork. But the most impressive thing was that he was 46 years old and still doing it. My dad got a kick out of that, no pun intended.
This was a familiar sight: Blanda drilling yet another field goal for the silver-and-black.
Come to think of it, the number 46 holds a special kind of significance in our lives. It was in April of ’86 when a 46-year-old “Golden Bear” named Jack Nicklaus claimed his sixth and final Masters championship. That was another crystallized moment where I can recall my father doing his own version of Tiger’s now-famous fist pump as he cheered Nicklaus on to victory. It was one more triumph for the over-40 crowd and my father, 57 at the time, loved it. He liked cheering for the underdog (like his Patriots), or the elder statesmen like Blanda and Nicklaus. As for 46, it was also the number I wore during my first season of Pop Warner football in 1971, and was the jersey number my brother Tim wore during his senior season at Harborfields High School in the fall of ‘75. And to this day, it remains one of the numbers I fill in whenever I play Lotto.
My father, Tom Melia, died of a heart attack in 1989 at the age of 61. He was the biggest sports fan I knew. A native Bostonian, he brainwashed each of his five children to cheer for all teams from Beantown despite that fact that we lived the majority of our formative years on Long Island. Dad could persuade people like that. He was a jolly sort who could get you to come over to his team despite the push-back we might get at school. I was growing up in the middle of Yankee country cheering for the Red Sox and guys like Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice. My allegiance to the Celtics – despite the overabundance of Knicks fans surrounding me – was an easier pill to swallow since they were winning titles around that time (1974 and ’76). Truth be told, the Knicks won it all in 1970 and ’73, but they haven’t won a damn thing since. The Red Sox, meanwhile, were just breaking our hearts year after year, even though the 1975 World Series remains the greatest Fall Classic ever. It was really sad watching Yaz pop up for the last out of Game 7 against the Reds, but it was one helluva ride that I shared with my father.
Blanda continually defied Father Time by outsmarting (and outlasting) the majority of Oakland's opponents.
As for Blanda, he was a throwback player during the NFL’s coming of age in the 1970s under Commissioner Pete Rozelle. He started his NFL career with the Chicago Bears in 1949 and played for three more teams (Baltimore Colts, Houston Oilers and Oakland), over three more decades, before hanging up his cleats in 1976 at the age of 48. He played quarterback as well as kicked field goals and he did both with equal aplomb. He remains the oldest player in NFL history to start at quarterback in a championship game; in 1971, at age 43, he started for the Raiders against the Baltimore Colts in the AFC title game and threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders lost the game, 27-17, but Blanda had defied the odds once again. For his career, he threw for more than 26,000 yards and 236 touchdowns. Oh yeah, and he kicked 335 field goals and 943 extra points. In fact, he was the first player in NFL history to score more than 2,000 career points.
Blanda died on Monday, 10 days past his 83rd birthday. My dad would have been 82 in November. I thank them both for the memories.
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San Diego Padres: Please Stop Teasing Me
Posted by: | CommentsI will feel no pain if/when the San Diego Padres do not make the playoffs this year despite spending what seemed like the entire season in first place in the NL West. As usual, I bought into the hype this year, as I do every year. It was too exciting not to. Of course I was skeptical pretty much the whole first half of the season, and with good reason.
Will the Padres win the NL West? One more week of play and we'll all know the answer.
How could a team in full rebuilding mode really be this good when they couldn’t do anything the years they were actually supposed to be good? How did guys like John Garland and Kevin Correia go from back of the rotation innings eaters to carrying the rotation? As much as I like Mat Latos, how was he already producing Cy Young numbers at his age? When did Mike Adams become a premier setup man? And of course, the million dollar question: How do you win when you can’t score any runs? These were the things I wondered, but with a smile on my face as the wins continued to roll in despite these glaring questions.
Righthander Mat Latos has been steady all season long with 14 wins heading into the final week.
And yet, any good fan saw this collapse coming. When the team built a nice lead with a little more than a month to go, I thought we could survive a minor setback or two. I knew it was coming with such a reliance on pitching. The arms were destined to start breaking down, and that’s exactly what we are seeing. Latos is tiring, and I would hate to see him ruined long term from being overworked. The bullpen is also feeling the effects of overwork. The once unstoppable back end of Luke Gregerson, Adams and Heath Bell is not a sure thing anymore, and that’s big when you have no offense and are built to win games 1-0, 2-1, etc.
Speaking of no offense, I loved the deadline moves of Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick. Both were upgrades at spots where the team needed it most, and they are providing some much needed lineup protection for Adrian Gonzalez. However, they aren’t over-the-top acquisitions, and the offense has not seen much improvement with them. Despite some good moments, the fact remains that Tejada is old and Ludwick is not elite enough of a hitter. They are good and can help a team, but such a limited payroll means you can’t go after the big name or two that the team needs to really make it to the next level.
Miguel Tejada's veteran leadership and all-out hustle has helped keep the Friars in contention.
Now it’s not all gloom and doom. Having four games against the hopeless Cubs this week should prove helpful, and the team controls its own fate as I fully expect the final series against the Giants this weekend to decide the division. Not only that, the NL West has finally reclaimed the Wild Card. This means both the Padres and Giants may make the playoffs, which is fine by me. No, the problem comes after the regular season. You see, it’s hard to root for a team that has no chance of winning it all. I’m not saying we have to be the favorites for me to get excited, but I’ve seen enough borderline playoff teams come out of San Diego to know that this team is on par with that level. They are built to be a very good team, but still will fall well short of being elite. Can we get past the Reds? Maybe. Can we get past the Phillies or Braves? I doubt it. Could we get past the Yankees or Rangers or another AL squad if by some miracle we make the World Series? No chance; that’s a sweep waiting to happen.
Making the playoffs is always nice and anything can happen once you get there, but let’s be realistic. The Padres could have wrapped this up a month ago, but would you be willing to peg them as World Series champions or even the NL Pennant winners if they had done that and won 95+ games?
Some of you might be looking at me as a bad Padres fan now, considering this post has been pretty negative, especially considering it’s written by an actual Padres fan. It’s not like I want all this to happen, I just have a pretty good idea of what to expect after all these years. If we make the playoffs, I know from experience we will be lucky to get out of the first round, especially considering that these last couple months have proven that the Padres aren’t an elite team. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Giants sweep us and knock us out of the playoffs completely. Do I hope it won’t happen? Absolutely, but I’m more excited about our young talent and how we can continue to build for the future. It will help to ease the sting when the season ends much earlier than anyone would have predicted a few months ago. That being said, any MLB fan should be watching the Padres this weekend for a wild final series with San Francisco. That’s my World Series right there, and it’s always nice to disappoint an NL West rival!
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Brag Photo: C.J. Spiller Signed Mini-Helmets
Posted by: | CommentsC.J. Spiller, the rookie running back of the Buffalo Bills, is still finding his way through NFL defenses this season. But already Upper Deck has a pretty nifty collectible with C.J.’s signature right on it. At the Upper Deck online store, collectors can find their very own C.J. Spiller autographed Buffalo Bills mini-helmets for the taking.
He may only have nine yards rushing (and 31 receiving yards) through two games, but the best is yet to come. Here’s hoping C.J. has a big game next week (against the Jets on Oct. 3) since he’s playing my beloved Patriots this Sunday in Foxboro. In fact, I hope he holds back big time this weekend!
C.J. Spiller's the new sheriff in town in Buffalo; get his signed mini-helmet now!
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