Thursday, September 30, 2010

50!!!



September 30, 1960 - April 1, 1966

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Random Numbers

2500 - as in number of career wins for Bobby Cox after the Braves won the other day. When asked about it, Bobby replied, "wow. I never thought I'd live that long."

180 - as in the number of games in the storied rivalry of pro football's two oldest teams, The Chicago Bears and The Green Bay Packers. Coincidently, that's also the number of Yankees/Red Sox games that FOX/ESPN subject us to EVERY FREAKIN SEASON.

4 - as in the number of NHL players knocked out of action indefinitely because of concussions. And the preseason is only half over.

26 - as in the number of seasons George Blanda played pro football before retiring in 1975 at the age of 48. George passed away this week.

54,896 - as in the number of dollars Dallas rookie wide out Dez Bryant had to fork over to a Dallas steakhouse after taking his offensive line to dinner. That number does not, of course, include gratuity.

5 - as in the number of participants I have for the inaugural Just A Bit Offside's annual hockey fantasy league. I need more. Sign up HERE<---------

Monday, September 27, 2010

another sad day...

George Blanda Sept 17, 1927 - Sept 27, 2010
Rest in peace George, and thanks.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

My latest custom....

if you're interested in seeing my latest custom masterpiece, head over to 'Just A Bit Offside'

LINK

and please let me know what you think....

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Lassie Came Home.....

I went to the mailbox today, not really expecting anything in it but the usuall junk and bills. But was a little surprised to find a yellow bubble envelope inside. I glanced at the return address but didn't recognize it. Threw it on the truck seat beside me and carrried on my way. After I got home, I went upstairs and opened it. Out came a card. One card. In a top loader and team bag. (NO TAPE!!!!)
I was confused for two seconds before remembering why this card was sent to me. Why the confusion?
No hints here....
Until we look closer......

Yeah. Today is September 23rd. It was mailed April 30th. It only took 146 days to get here. Not bad. I guess I owe that ebay seller an apology.
Heck, maybe that package mojo and beardy sent me 6 months ago might show up any day now.... I'm on a roll!

I hate the post office.

an umpires tribute

I ripped this article from the online pages of the Atlanta Journal Constitution featuring an interview with umpire Dan Iassogna commenting on Bobby Cox....
this is not Dan Iassogna...
Major League umpire Dan Iassogna on retiring Braves manager Bobby Cox:

“He’s one of the best managers I’ve ever worked with because you know where he stands at all times on the field. You will never be surprised by one of his reactions, ever. The most difficult managers to work with are the guys that pat you on the back, and they’ve got the knife in the other hand. Bobby is not like that. He will protect his players at all times. What a lot of people don’t realize, he gets thrown out of a lot of games, but his players don’t. If you’re having a discussion, a situation with one of his players, he will come out and take the bullet for the guy 100 percent of the time. Bobby doesn’t even let you make the decision. If he feels like his guy is about to get thrown out, he’s going to get thrown out and pull that whole situation onto him and take it off his player.”

“But on the field if he asks you a question, you know exactly what he wants to know. He’s very specific about what he does; that’s why he’s one of the greatest managers of all time. I’ve thrown him out one time. It was a balk call in Montreal. I was going up and down, kind of like a Triple-A player going between Triple-A and the big leagues. John Burkett was pitching. He started and stopped and threw to first and picked off the guy and I called a balk. He yelled from the dugout ‘Go back to Double-A.’ Well, it was ‘Go back to (expletive) Double-A.’ So I ran him. And he came out; we had a little bit of an argument. And then he left. It was the only time I ever ran him, knock on wood. That was in 2001. I had about maybe 200 games in the big leagues. I didn’t get hired on staff (full-time) until 2004. He was very typical Bobby. The hat comes off, goes back on, hat comes off, goes back on. He screamed a little bit, and I yelled at him. But as a young umpire, there are certain managers you don’t feel like you’ve made it to the big leagues until you’ve actually had a situation with him. Throwing Bobby Cox out of a game you know you are absolutely in the big leagues.”

“The nice thing was, the next day was a brand new day with him. After the game, in the tunnel, he’s the friendliest guy you’ve ever met in your life. He’s like your grandfather. He really is. He can’t be any nicer. I think he respects the profession.”



Even the umpires are going to miss Bobby. At least he's not talking about coming back to coach the Mets next year......

and hey! Don't forget to check out my other blog... Just A Bit Offside Thanks!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Newness, in it's infancy...

Hey everyone. Because I don't have a lot of time on my hands, I've decided to start another blog. (you heard me, it makes sense... my friend Troll taught me that)

It's called ' Just A Bit Offside ' LINK

If you enjoy what you read here, and want just that little bit more, head over there too. Hit the follow button so I know you're there. I won't let you down.

Oh, and if that ain't enough, there's a different hottie of the week over there.... whatever greases your gears.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The new season begins for card show booty.

This past weekend brought the very first card show of the 2010/11 season in Calgary. It's a small show held in the lobby of a curling rink/hockey arena. If you were with me the last couple of years, you've heard me talk about it before. This is the show where I learned that most card dealers are paranoid xenophobes. Remember?

Anyways, a new season brings new hope. I walk in to see the same dealers near the entrance as last year. But it's an 'L' shaped hall, let's see what's around the corner....... meh. Not much. Oh well, let's dive in.
The first dealer on the right as you walk in the door. He actually has a little stack of 1971 OPC baseball in the middle of one of his tables. Around 40 cards.... all commons. Surprise! No price. Okay bud, how much? Here's where it gets good. And I'm not making this up. He looks over at me, looks around, looks back at me with this wide-eyed expression, and says to me, 'Hang on a minute.' and leaves. He crosses over the hall to a dealer around 30 feet away and preceeds to BUY A BASEBALL BECKETT FROM HER!!!! He jogs back over madly flipping through the pages until he finds the page listing for '71 OPC and begins to tell me what certain cards in the set book for.
Sweet mother.
He finally stammers out that he'd let some of the cards go for around $2 each. Others might be more.
He doesn't even know what the hell he's selling.
I chuckle and walk away, not even looking at whatever else he has. How many people around here are collecting the 1971 OPC baseball set? You lost out dumbass.

Not a lot else at the show caught my eye, except for one guy off in the corner. He had a few monster boxes of cards that were all labeled, sorted, and PRICED! Every card had a price. And it had nothing to do with Beckett either.
I looked through a few rows of cards, grabbing 5 I knew I didn't have.

A 1971/72 OPC Doug Favell
Three 72/73 OPC's.... first Rogie Vachon
Dunc Wilson
and Jim Rutherford
finally, a 70/71 OPC Al Wilson.
This guy prided himself on top condition cards, and these are. His sticker price on these came to $8, he gave them to me for $5. Without me asking.
We chatted about the old days, collecting these cards, laughing at some of the wonderful photoshopping. He'll see me again next month.
The other guy? Not so much.

a question...

An open request,

can someone please tell me how to post pictures side by side on this damn blog? I've seen it done, but I have no idea how.

Thanks in advance,

Lost in Blogger

Monday, September 20, 2010

Blog Bat Around, A Canuck's Take...

This version of the Blog Bat Around is brought to you by David at Indian's Baseball Cards. His question to the masses is "If YOU were the baseball commisioner, what changes would you make?"

My question is Where the hell should I start???

#1 There are waaaay too many teams in the MLB. Can you say contraction boys and girls? Teams like Florida and Tampa that can't even get 8000-10000 people a game? Gone.
The bottom 2 teams in average attendance go bye-bye after the first season, the bottom two teams again after the second season of my reign, I mean, term.

There are waaay too many relievers and bench players that should not be wearing major league uniforms out there right now. This will strengthen the player pool, and make for a better game overall. Not too mention more money in the revenue sharing pool.

#2 Speaking of Revenue Sharing, it will no longer be equal. It will be based upon team success. The more wins, the bigger your % of the pie.
Along these lines, there will be a salary cap, and a salary floor. These will be hard numbers. No more going over the cap and using your revenue sharing to pay the luxury tax fine. Also, no more fielding Double A players making the league minimum for a season and raking in the profits. The object of the game is to win people.

#3 No damn DH. No one wants to see some fat bastard waddle out of the dug out just to take an at bat. Look at every other sport in the world. If you're too old, too fat, and not good enough to play the sport, you don't make the team. Except baseball. Make that half of baseball. Either you can play baseball, or you can't. Plus, having half the league play a different set of rules than the rest is just stoopid.

#4 You know why there is still a DH? The players union won't let the league cut the position. (Lost jobs) so to appease them, I'll expand the rosters by two players. They have to be baseball players though. Not fat bastards.

#5 Speaking of serperate rules for different teams.... no more humidor in Colorado. Why are they special? Same rules apply to everyone in my league.

#6 No more god damned interleague play. The fans don't like it, the players don't like it, so why the hell are we doing it? The All Star game used to be cool because we got to see the leagues collide. We need to get back to that.

#7 The All Star game will be no more. It will now be the MLB All Star Fan Festival. The fans can vote whomever the hell they want. But the player will not be credited with an All Star appearence. To see guys like Yadier Molina get credit for being an All Star causes Babe Ruth to roll over in his grave.
There will be an All Star teamed named by the commisoners office (in conjunction with coaches) and that will be the true All Star Team for awards, bonuses and baseball cards.
So the people of Puerto Rico and Japan can stuff all the online ballot boxes they want. It's your Fan Fest.
Oh, NO MORE HOME RUN CONTEST.

#8 Baseball is slow enough. No stopping to review instant replay. Because as we all know, Instant replay ain't so instant.
To aid in this, since there will be fewer teams, meaning fewer games, I'll have a few extra umpires not doing anything. So each game will have six umpires, just like in the playoffs. An extra one down each foul line.

#9 The unbalanced schedule sucks. So it's gone. We have a National League, and an American League. No divisions. Six playoff teams, three from each league. The winner of the pennant gets a first round bye in the playoffs. The next two wild card teams play each other, the winner goes on to play the pennant winner to go to the World Series.
Finally some incentive to win.


And that, my disciples, is the way baseball should be changed for the better. Every point would improve the quality of play, and the enjoyment level for fans.

Now, let's make it happen.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Avast! Ya Scurvy Scum!

Ahoy ya land lubbing bilge rat lovers. It be the special day.
so have your favourite lass bring ya yer favourite grog,
while you kick back and enjoy some football.
a special prize of a dozen internet cookies for anyone who can identify this last Pirate logo....


hopefully you've figured out what day this is by now....


so c'mere me wee beauty, and do it smartly lass.... smartly......

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Success! kinda.....

last night was Trade Night at the LCS. I went, did a couple of trades (thanks Adam) and bought a few packs.
8 more packs of 2010/11 UD Victory Hockey to try and find a fu&#in% PK Subban. (no luck, of course)
and a couple fat packs of 2010 UD Football. I'll get to those later.... but inside were two code cards for their Gridiron Giveaway.
I ended up with a 1996 Marshall Faulk 1000 yard club leader card, which I was able to trade away for this.
a 1995 Daryl 'Moose' Johnston. I knew I wouldn't be able to get an Emmitt Smith, so I got the guy who put Emmitt in Canton.

The other card I haven't offered up for trade yet...
a 1971 Johnny Robinson of the Chiefs. Nice. I'll wait awhile on this one.
oh, by the way, that 1998 Mark McMillian is still available. No trade offers yet on that one.... Hello? Is this thing on?.....

Jerry Jones, just send me a cheque.

I think I just solved your right tackle issue. Until Kosier gets healthy, cut that idiot Barron and go with this guy. He won't cost much. you don't even have to get him pads.




Somewhere, Roger Goodell and Tom Brady are shaking in their Uggs. That hit would've blown Brady's skirt clean off.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Secret of Great Pitching?

When Braves pitching coach, Roger McDowell, was asked the secret to having the best pitching staff in the National League, Roger responded, I just try to use examples from when I pitched.
Maybe that ain't such a good idea......

Friday, September 10, 2010

How the hell did I miss this?!?!?!?

The quality of life has dropped a bit in the Province of Alberta as once again, the city of Edmonton screws the pooch.

Somehow, the Edmonton Oilers allowed free agent forward Mike Comrie to sign a one year, $500,000 deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins. For those uninformed, Mike Comrie is better know as Mr. Hilary Duff.
Edmonton allowed this to get away, for a lousy $500K.
I've been to Edmonton many times. They don't exactly have a lot of these on every corner or strolling though the mall. If you get my drift....
Seriously.... $500 grand. That's all it would have taken. I can probably pass the hat around the neighbourhood and get a good chunk of that....
Jesus.... give your head a shake people.....

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Who dat?!!!?

Ohhhhhhh yeaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!! It's football time! Woot! Break out the snacks and limber up the cheerleaders....
Tonight's opening matchup has Lord Favre....
... travelling to play the footballing Saints.
Whoops. Wrong Saints. Wrong Football. Well, doesn't matter.... you know who I'm talking about.
I'll say New Orleans 27 Minnesota 21 and take the over.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Epic Fail

As a lot of you are aware, I missed out on the whole Topps Million Card Giveaway thingie. I didn't buy any hobby boxes and our WalMarts do not carry baseball, so the code cards just weren't available.
But I didn't feel bad. I knew. Football was coming. Topps doesn't think anymore, and I knew that whatever they did for baseball, they would do for football. See? No thought required. Take the rest of the year off.
So finally, football came. And I ran out of money the week before. Damn medical bills. But anyway, I managed to get a code. My new friend bought my friendship by offering a free code to anyone who linked to his new blog.
Hello new friend.
And a code for the new GridIron Giveaway found it's way into my email inbox.

And the peasants rejoiced. For it was Glorious.

And I waited, nay, revelled and basked in the moment. I watched the website with breathless anticipation for two days, waiting for the opportune time to strike, and with that fatal blow, bring home a priceless vintage Cowboy.

I watched for the signs.... and finally, the moment came. The infernal machine was virtually spewing out vintage cards at an alarming rate. I proudly hit the enter key to receive, nay! Be gifted my prize!
a 1998 Mark McMillian of the Chiefs.

I hate Topps.

Friday, September 3, 2010

I can be bought...

this isn't news.... but normally I have standards.

Nowadays I sell myself for free cards. And that's just what Too Many Grandersons offered me for a plug on the old blog.

Consider yourself plugged sir. Go check it out. He seems nice. You may even get snacks.

So come here for the Braves news, soccer/football highlights, and some rant about hockey, then go there for snacks. Everyone wins.

$5.5 million? Really?

It's the greatest time of the year. The Braves are about to win the World Series, soccer has started, football is about to start, and hockey preseason is only 2 weeks away..... my wife, however, disagrees. But that's another story.

Getting back to hockey for a moment, my team, the Montreal Canadiens, have gone through a wee bit of turmoil over the off-season. If you'll remember from last spring's playoffs, they entered as the 8 seed and knocked off the #1 and #2 seeds before falling in the Conference Finals. All because of smart defensive play and their wonder goalie, Jaroslav Halak.

A week later, they had traded Halak to St. Louis for a new Zamboni and a bag of beans. The fans were shocked. Outraged! Halak had beaten Carey Price for the job, and almost taken them to the promised land, only to be dumped.

What's even better is that the genius braintrust did all of this BEFORE they had Carey Price under contract for next season. Oops. Can you say leverage boys and girls? Yeah. So Carey and his agent held out, waiting for Montreal to come to them.... and waited.... and finally Montreal caved. $5.5 million for the next two years. Antii Niinema only got $2 mill, and he won the freaking Stanley Cup!

Now do you understand why I hate the french?

Anyways, in honour of my team finally getting a goalie under contract 7 days before training camp begins... I created this.

A 1972/73 OPC Carey Price.
The shade of green is off a bit, but Paint.net doesn't have the right one. I thought about doing one of those Birth Year cards that WhiteSoxCards does.... but that would mean i'd have to work with a 1987 card........ and that depresses the hell out of me.


*can you tell I have no money for actual cards, so I just spend my time inventing them instead?

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The continuing story of the Cards That Never Were.

Jacques Plante, one of the greatest goalies to ever strap on the pads, played 18 years and 837 games in the NHL. The last 8 of those games with the Boston Bruins at the end of the '72/73 season.

Neither OPC nor Topps decided to make a card of Jacques in their '73/74 sets. So I did.
Three hours later, and my eyes are bleeding, but there it is. Jacques went 7-1 for Boston with a 2.00 GAA. After the season he jumped ship to the WHA to play one last season before retiring.