Connecticut Cards 002 - Singing the Blues

The St. Louis Blues can win their first-ever Stanley Cup tonight, with a win over the Boston Bruins. I'm not happy about that.

Yes, the Blues are the underdog and a lot of neutral fans are sick of seeing Boston teams win. But I'm a New England guy - and anyway this might be the Town's last title for a while. 

If you weren't watching the series you'd have to assume that it's the Bruins who are trying to win by brute force, resulting in two players being suspended in the final. But no, it's Craig Berube's Blues bullying the Bruins. I've been watching Stanley Cup finals since about 1992. I've never seen the NHL suspend two players on the same team in the same SCF. 

Anyway..former Blues and Panthers center Eric Boguniecki is from my hometown. "Bogie" scored 34 NHL goals over seven seasons, 22 of them for St. Louis in 2002-03.  He also played for the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers near the end of his pro career. 

Boguniecki has 67 total cards. I only have five of them, so I added a few to my wantlist.





I had another dream about a natural disaster. This doesn't happen all that often, every few months or so, but it's the most common subject of my most vivid dreams. Often, like in this one, it's a tornado.

I'm walking on a well-worn dirt path along an old wooden fence outside a street fair. Two or three patrons are up ahead of us, and I'm in a group of four or five. I'm trying to chat with Taryn, but her biggest, craziest superfan keeps interrupting us. She barely acknowledges him, which boosts my ego a bit. But then..he emerges as a balloon and drifts over the fence to our right like the Trump Baby. He squeals a couple times, like he's still trying to talk, but we keep on walking as he floats away.

In the next scene, I'm sitting in a booth at a food court. Taryn is in the booth ahead of me, and I get her to turn around by asking about her engagement ring. She turns to face me, crosses her arms over the seat that separates us, and proudly displays her ring. "How long were you waiting for that?" I ask. "Three weeks!" She replies, exasperated.  

*In my dream self's mind, three weeks is the length of time she was expecting a proposal.

Undeterred (or completely platonic?) I mention to Taryn that "We should hang out some time. Maybe get a drink* or something. We're always meeting like this."

* I don't drink IRL, but I always feel like I've missed out on a social life as a result.

Here's where the tornado comes in. I'm inside this building that feels like a labyrinth. Long corridors and small rooms, all made of plywood. These are the most non-descript rooms you can think of, as if my brain gave up on adding details. Yet every room was filled to capacity. I'm in one such room when the tornado bursts inside. Somehow, it doesn't blow a hole in the roof, but it sucks out a few older people behind me. I look up and survey the situation with only one thought on my mind - Taryn!
 
*this is where I should point out that Taryn is from Kansas - something that didn't occur to me in the dream

Fighting through the plywood maze, I try to outrun a twister and catch up to her. But she's too far ahead. The twister comes closer. I'm stuck. We're all stuck. It's going to get us. I hit the ground. I look over my right shoulder and see an older man sucked away. It feels like I know him, like he's a distant relative named Joe. I'm next, I say to myself. I look ahead, into the face of God - which is actually a marble statue of a dog. I'm ready.

The eyes of the dog statue seem to blink red. The tornado retreats. We're saved. I rise to my feet, with only one thought on my mind - Taryn!

I burst out of the square room and into the hallway. At the far end I see Taryn enter a room and close the door. I run through the hallway and enter her room. "You made it!" I exclaim.

One of the people in the room looks an awful lot like my former co-worker Suzanne. She interjects and I acknowledge the others in the room so as not to sound too obvious. "Is everyone okay?" I ask.
Taryn smiles. I want to hug her. I wake up instead.


What does this have to do with the Stanley Cup Final? Nothing, really. But..she was wearing a blue shirt.


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Connecticut Cards 001 - Cup Connection

I've briefly mentioned on this blog (and on TCDB) that I am a Peter Worrell super collector. Of the 215 Worrell cards producted (according to the database) I've got 137 of them. Not counting 1/1s, promo stuff, or cards that likely don't exist I'm only missing a handful.

I never really explained why I super collect his cards, and so I thought I'd kick off my new Connecticut Cards series with Worrell - who played parts of two seasons with the AHL's Beast of New Haven.

Worrell was first and foremost an enforcer, but he could score a few goals in the AHL. He did not appear in the '98-99 Beast team set (which you'll see on this blog eventually) because he was called up to the Florida Panthers. When I pulled this Pacific rookie card - which is a dime a dozen common - I jumped for joy like it was a 1/1 auto. Pete was on an NHL hockey card! This was very exciting to me.

I got to see about a dozen Beast games in their two years of existence, and Worrell suited up for most of them. He was a fan favorite for sure, and a nice guy off the ice - as far as we knew. (In the NHL, he got into a little bit of trouble here and there.*)

*I can't find the link, but there was one post-game interview in which he disagreed with a penalty by saying "I hit my girlfriend harder than that." You hit your girlfriend? :No!:

Worrell settled into a regular role as the Panthers' tough guy from 1998-2003, earning over 1,300 penalty minutes and 150 trading cards. He even scored a goal in the playoffs - against Martin Brodeur and the Devils!

By the time he was traded to Colorado I had decided that if I was ever going to try and acquire every card of a player, Peter would be the guy. And so my PC officially began..right before the lockout. In the "new" NHL, the rules changes virtually eliminated the need for an enforcer of his ilk.

Yesterday I was scrolling through my collection on TCDB to see which Zdeno Chara cards I have in my collection - completely forgetting that Chara had been matched up against Peter Worrell in In The Game's Enforcers set:

For a moment I was amazed that Worrell squared off against a guy who's still an active NHL player. This was shortly after I saw Chara play for the Lowell Lock Monsters against New Haven:

Then, as I pulled out my four variations of this card ("one of one" my ass) I found this:

 

Pete also fought former Flames enforcer - and current head coach of the Stanley Cup-leading St. Louis Blues - Craig Berube. 

Berube and Worrell showed some mutual respect in this fight. Looks like Berube learned his lesson after calling Pete a "monkey" four years earlier. 

I'll show off more cards from my Peter Worrell PC - and other Beast of New Haven alums - in future editions of Connecticut Cards. Thanks for reading!


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A Second Look

I've got a lot of catching up to do here on the blogs, and I wanted to wait until my entire card collection was cataloged on TCDB (done) and neatly organized (not done yet) ..but then Doug sent me a surprise mailer of Devils cards and UConn alums he picked up at the Expo..
and then I got my very last PSA order..
and a smaller batch of vintage from eBay..
and then Bart Starr died and Bill Buckner died..
and Dustin Pedroia all but announced his retirement..
and the Stanley Cup Finals started..
and I really can't put off posting another day because sooo much is happening. 

I'll sprinkle some stats about my card collection into future posts, but as expected I have more Devils cards than any other sports team. Thanks in part to Doug I'm at 3,443 different Devils - good for 4th place on TCDB.

The same three collectors ahead of me on the list are also in the top four when it comes to collecting Martin Brodeur. I'm in second place on that list, with 483 unique singles.

I definitely want to reach 500 this year, and eventually I'd like to have one card for every one of his 691 regular-season career wins.

Former Devils such as Marcus Johansson, John Moore, and assistant coach Jay Pandolfo are a secondary reason why I'm cheering for the Bruins to win the Stanley Cup - even though the Blues have never even won a game in the final. It's not easy to go against the underdog, not when a tween girl with a rare disease is inspiring the squad, or the anthem singer is battling MS, or the bookies taking bets could lose millions if the Blues win. Boston has won enough titles, we should let St. Louis have this one..right?

Naah. Sorry, can't do it. There's no one to root for on this Blues team. They don't have any hateable players like the Bruins do with Brad Marchand, but they don't have anyone like Joe Thornton that neutral fans can get behind. There's no Brett Hull or Al MacInnis or Chris Pronger on this Blues squad. Vladimir Tarasenko is really good, but he's not an all-time great. And their OGWAC is...Jay Bouwmeester?!? Meh.

So yeah, I hope the Bruins win, I hope the name McAVOY is engraved on the Stanley Cup and I hope that Titletown gets another parade. It's been a looong drought after all.

Even with the Game 1 win, it was a sad weekend in Boston sports. 

It's impossible to mention Bill Buckner's name without bringing up Game 6, which is almost as unfair as the way he was treated by Red Sox fans. At least the Nation came to appreciate him while he was still alive and well - but we all know he deserved better.

Bill Buckner was 36 in the fall of 1986. Dustin Pedroia will be 36 this fall - and he may have played his last game. Pedey's left knee was shattered by Manny Machado's bush-league slide two years ago, and hasn't healed since. He's been my favorite player for over a decade and last year's World Series title was significantly less enjoyable with him sitting on the sidelines.

I'm holding out hope that Pedey can play again, but if he does it probably won't be much more than a David Wright-style send-off. The Sox had a rule that only Hall of Famers could have their number retired - but Johnny Pesky and David Ortiz have received the honor. I think #15 should hang from the Fenway facade one day - whether he makes it to Cooperstown or not.

If Pedroia has played his last game, most baseball fans would agree that his career falls short of the HOF standard. After 2016 or so I figured Pedey was about three good years and one or two mediocre ones away from serious Cooperstown consideration. But it doesn't look like he'll get there, and there are better second basemen ahead of him:

	BA/OBP/SLG	HR	RBI	SB	WAR	awards
Lou Whitaker	.276/.363/.426	244	1084	143	75.1	ROY, 4x SS, 3x GG
Dustin Pedroia	.299/.365/.439	140	725	138	51.7	ROY, MVP, 1x SS, 4x GG

Lou Whitaker should have been a Hall of Famer years ago. Instead he fell off the ballot after receiving 2.9% of the vote in 2001. That year, two players were elected - including one whose career was cut short at age 35:

	BA/OBP/SLG	HR	RBI	SB	WAR	awards
Kirby Puckett	.318/.360/.477	207	1085	134	51.1	LCS MVP, 6x SS, 6x GG
Dustin Pedroia	.299/.365/.439	140	725	138	51.7	ROY, MVP, 1x SS, 4x GG

Pedroia's numbers are..kinda close to Kirby's. And Puck was a first-ballot HOFer. That doesn't mean he should be enshrined - but I sure hope he gets a better look than Sweet Lou did.

This is not the first time one of my favorite athletes has had a potential Hall of fame career abruptly ended by injuries.

Sterling Sharpe played just seven NFL seasons before a neck injury forced him to retire after the 1994 season. If he could have played two more years he'd have earned a Super Bowl ring and a bust in Canton.

I didn't think Sterling played enough to be considered a "Hall of Fame Contender" as Panini did, but if Calvin Johnson and Rob Gronkowski are certain HOFers then perhaps it's not inconceivable.

Were any of your favorite athletes forced to retire due to injury (or illness)? 


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The Great Eight - my Top 8 Alex Ovechkin cards

I've been falling behind a bit on blogging and commenting due to (among other things) watching the conclusion of the NBA and NHL playoffs. This was a strange year for me. At the start of spring I was more interested in the NBA playoffs: could Indiana upset LeBron and the Cavs? How would the Celtics do without their top two players? What about "small market" teams like the Jazz, Pelicans, and Bucks?

While the basketball playoffs ended with the same two teams for the fourth straight year something amazing happened in hockey. 

Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals won the Stanley Cup. Finally!

I've been an Ovechkin fan since his rookie year, and whenever the Devils were eliminated from (or not participating in) the postseason I'd adopt the Caps as my "girlfriend team" or whatever the term is. When the Caps beat Vegas Thursday night I stayed up 'til 1am watching post-game interviews, analysis, celebrations.. as if I had been invested in #AllCaps all along.

I guess that's what happens when your favorite player isn't on your favorite team - you end up cheering for other guys to get their names on the cup, too.

 

Yes I was pumped to see Ovechkin finally win one but I was happy for Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie, and Braden Holtbty. Former Devil Devante Smith-Pelly had a monster postseason. Lars Eller was clutch. Tom Wilson was a pain in the ass. Evgeny Kuznetsov probably deserved the Conn Smythe as much as Ovi - if not more.

Ultimately the story of this postseason was about the Great Eight rewriting the narrative and cementing his place in hockey history. And so I thought I'd list the top 8 Alex Ovechkin cards in my collection. Here we go...

#8 - 2005-06 Upper Deck Power Play RC

One of my "pack war" prizes was a small stack of UD Power Play rookie cards. It wasn't a complete set - Sidney Crosby and other stars were missing - but Ovechkin was in there. At one point I had this crazy idea of getting all of his RCs graded and so I sent this in to BGS.

 #7 - 2007-08 Upper Deck Black Diamond Run for the Cup insert

These are a near-exact copy of the Run for the Cup inserts from the first Black Diamond set in 1996-97. The gold-on-gold print is hard to read, but it's a lot cheaper than the 2008-09 version. I paid $6.25 for this card on COMC three years ago.

 #6 - 2005-06 Upper Deck Rookie Showcase insert

Upper Deck celebrated the double rookie class/end of the NHL lockout with a few promotions, including a free Rookie Showcase card awarded at random. These were one per customer, but not one per household. My family had six or seven entries total - I got Ryan Getzlaf, my wife got Alex Ovechkin. I'm not sure if these are worth much anymore but at one point the Ovi was listed in Beckett for $80-$100.

#5 - 2016-17 Upper Deck A Piece of History 500 Goal Club jersey

One of three Ovechkin relics in my collection. All three were purchased at a low price on COMC thanks to the ePack promotion flooding the site with flagship singles. This was the most expensive of the three - and it only cost $6.00.

 #4 - 2013-14 Panini Select Cornerstone Prizm insert #d/25

I rarely bought any packs or boxes of Panini products. Most of my experience with Panini hockey cards has come through COMC- which is where I saw this Cornerstone card. I added this to my cart for $6.25 - at the same price (and same time) as the Run for the Cup card.

 #3 - 2005-06 Upper Deck Black Diamond Quad (SP) RC

The 2005-06 Black Diamond set is one of my favorites - more for the personal memories and the challenge of completing it than the grey foil design. I've had at least a couple copies of this card - graded and ungraded - and probably overpaid for this one. This is my second best Ovechkin RC; I sold the Upper Deck Young Guns card with the rest of the set last year.

 #2 - 2006-07 Upper Deck All-World (SP) insert

I bought this at a card store in Connecticut the year it was released. There was a box of random inserts and parallels - some had price stickers, some didn't. This one didn't, and either it hadn't been listed in Beckett or the store owner didn't look it up because he charged me no more than a dollar. Turns out it's a short print and the first Beckett pricing listed the value at $50.

 #1 - 2005-06 SP Authentic Future Watch Auto RC #d/999

About four years ago I was laser-focused on purchasing high end rookie cards in high grade - such as the LeBron James Topps Chrome RC, Derek Jeter SP RC, and this Future Watch Ovechkin. It was tough to fit this one in my budget, but I made an eBay best offer of $375 and it was accepted. I soon realized why - the case has some serious scratches/smudges on it. Someday I'll send it into Beckett for a reholder. 

Out of curiosity I checked eBay for this card immediately after the Capitals won the Stanley Cup. I haven't seen any sales yet, but one seller was asking $1,500 for this card!


Now that the playoffs have ended I should be able to get back on track with Sports Card Tour. I'm determined to finish that project by the end of July so that I can move on to other topics.

Hope you're having a great weekend! Thanks for reading!


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How I Spent My Spring Vacation

My ten-day vacation is halfway over, and today is the last day I'll have the house to myself; my wife and daughters have tomorrow off.

For the past three days I've been digging through my closets, pulling out summer clothes and sports memorabilia. Eventually I'll show off a few of the items I uncovered. Some of them will be made available in the Sports Card Tour giveaway draft. The tour is halfway over, too.

It's so refreshing to be away from my debt collection job for a few days and do something fun. I've been able to play my music loud while cleaning the house. There are bands I listen to on sunny days and bands I listen to on rainy days..and then there's Pvris which has become sort of an "all-weather" band for me.

My wife and I saw them open for Muse/30 Seconds To Mars last year. I was very impressed. I'm never impressed by an opening act. Pvris is really good. If you haven't heard them yet I highly recommend you give them a listen.

I've also been staying up late every night - because I can. Before my girls were born I was a bit of a night owl. When work grinds me down I'm ready to sleep by 11pm (10pm if I don't get my nap in) All this week I've been staying up past 2am binge-watching The West Wing.

I've been an Aaron Sorkin fan since Sports Night but I never got into The West Wing - mostly because I was still a teenager when it debuted and I had no interest in political affairs... but also because my ex-girlfriend loved the show so much she ran a fansite (or blog?) called Political Affairs. I think it was mostly dedicated to Josh and Donna; I seem to remember her shipping them (and now I know why...18 years later)

Equally as dramatic and entertaining are this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.

I've been in a semi-abusive relationship with hockey for years, and part of the reason why I've pared down my hockey card collection is because the sport seemed to be getting so very predictable. Certain teams and certain players never get beyond a certain point.

That seemed to be the case for my favorite NHL player, Alex Ovechkin.

Like a lot of you, I get very excited about baseball at the start of Spring Training, right around when the NHL has its all-star game and I can ditch hockey for a week or so. If my team is in a playoff race (which the Devils were this year) I'll follow it closely every night in March - and then pause to get excited for baseball's Opening Day. After the first Red Sox series and/or the Sox' home opener I turn my attention back to the NHL when their season ends and the playoffs begin. 

Usually I'm back on baseball by the first week of May; in the past 15 years I've supported NHL teams who either miss the playoffs entirely or are eliminated in the first round every year except 2006 and 2012. (Every six years..hmmm) Then I cheer for Ovechkin and the Capitals until they are inevitably eliminated in the second round.

I haven't been following my Sox since that 17-2 start to the season. I know a lot less than I should. Sorry baseball, but I just can't take my eyes off this insane NHL postseason.

• The Devils made the playoffs, but lost to Tampa in five games. Predictable..but at least Taylor Hall got there for once.
• A first-year expansion team made the playoffs. And won their division. And swept the Kings in the first round. Surely the Golden Knights wouldn't win their second round series...
• The Capitals dropped the first two games to Columbus. Predictable. Then they won the next four just as everyone started to snicker "same old Caps."
• Washington's second round opponent was of course the Penguins. Predictable. This time they beat the 'burgh - which was beginning to feel like the Red Sox-Yankees "rivalry" before 2004.
  
  
  
  
  
• The Golden Knights won their second round series. Then again, they beat the Sharks - and the Sharks are Washington west (sorry, Fuji.) In 25+ years of watching hockey I've learned that some teams just don't get to sip from Lord Stanley's Cup. 
• The Caps won the first two against Tampa in Tampa. Then they dropped three straight. Losing the series in six, in front of their tortured fans, would be the most Capitals thing they could have done. And yet..it just felt like this time - this team - was different, even to my pessimistic self.
• Vegas somehow went up to Winnipeg, silenced those frenzied fans, and beat the Jets in five. I'm not surprised the Jets lost; Canada always gets eliminated eventually. But I'm surprised that they lost to a first year expansion team. In the conference effing final.

And then, last night. Washington won Game 7. I didn't want to say it, but it just felt like once they won Game 6 this was inevitable. You might even say predictable. And so Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Braden Holtby, and the once-cursed Caps finally get to play for the Stanley Cup.

The Vegas Golden Knights have home ice advantage. In the Stanley Cup Final. In their first season. Predictable, right?

You know...finally getting to the final and losing to a team that didn't exist sixteen months ago would be the most Capitals thing imaginable. But maybe this is Ovie's year. Maybe hockey isn't so predictable after all.

Anyway, the series doesn't start until Memorial Day. The end of my vacation. By then I should have time to read a book, watch another season of The West Wing and write two more blog posts. I'll have a Sports Card Tour standings update as well. 

And I should probably see what's going on in baseball. Are the Yankees still struggling to stay above .500? No? They upstaged the Sox, went 17-1, and are breathing down Boston's neck in the AL East?


Predictable.


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