A Follow Up On Daniel Fells

Touching back on a story I posted about two weeks ago. Daniel Fells, the New York Giants Tight End, has been released from the hospital after fighting a MRSA virus infection in his ankle that required seven surgeries and a portion of his foot to amputated. The virus has been stopped and Fells has been able to return home for healing. He will still need additional surgeries but he will not need to have his entire foot amputated. This battle has almost certainly ended his career and the Giants placed him on the season-ending reserve list.

He posted on his Intragam about being home with his wife and children for some much needed rest.

How Much Fail Can One Person Pack In To A Career?

 Every so often I like to look back on a story I wrote and do a follow up. The tragic tale of Jeremy Tyler is one of these posts that I am revisiting.

 

In 2009 Tyler had “Potential Star” written all over him, he had talent and was averaging 28.7 points per game in his junior year in high school. He was so certain of his future pay-day that he quit high school and headed to Israel to begin his pro career. He ended up playing only 10 games in Israel and averaged 2.1 points again before quitting the team and heading home. In 2010 he signed with a Japanese team and played 33 games with the Tokyo Apache where he averaged 9.9 points a game.

 

Somehow he ended up getting drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats during the 2011 NBA Draft but was traded to Golden State the same night for cash. His NBA career lasted 3 season for 3 different teams (Golden State, Atlanta & NY Knicks), he played 104 games and averaged 3.6 points. He was on the Lakers pre-season team this year but was cut before the season began and he is currently playing in China.

 

His NBA career was a flash and sadly he did not prove his worth when he had the chance. He was given the opportunity but wasted it, an opportunity that many kids would love to have. At 23 years old he is a wash out and a good chance it has to do with his attitude, channeling his best JaMarcus Russell impression.

 

Panini did think enough of him that they included him in some of their 2012-13 NBA releases, this shows how low they are willing to scrape the bottom of the barrel to include players in sets. For anyone willing to still consider this kid a prospect his cards are dirt cheap, a rookie can be picked up for under $1 and an autograph will cost you another dollar.

A Week Later With 2014 UD Goodwin Champions

Last week 2014 UD Goodwin Champions was released and we are seeing some cool cards hitting the secondary market now. One thing can be said about the checklist, Upper Deck does their best to include a variety down the line from checklists to autographs and relics.

 

My favorites are the 3D Monster Cards, WWI Museum Collection relics and the Art for the Ages painted cards. They have all come out of the gates running with the Art cards demanding prices in the hundreds.

 

The 3D Monster Cards are made up of 60 cards which are broken up over four monster types; Classic Creatures like Vampire, Minotaur and the Grim Reaper. Giants like Cthulhu and Frost. Bizarre Beasts like Cycloptopus and Renegade Robot. Alien Menaces like Maritan and Doppelganger

 

My favorite though, which I will be hunting down, are the Ghosts of WWI and the Headless Horseman. I would love to build this entire set eventually but these two are the first ones I plan on getting. The 60 card set was created by three different artists and they autographed 25 special versions of each of the 60 cards. With them being limited to #/25 I do not have a plan to hunt these down but if I do find some of the cards relatively priced I would be happy to add them to my collection. Many of the 3D Monster cards can be had for under $10 with the autographs running $15-20 with most cards. I am hoping that prices will drop as more product is broken.

 

I am a WWI fanatic and with this being the 100^th Anniversary of the beginning of the Great War we have seen some nice additions to various checklists but the Goodwin Champions Museum Collection set is by far the most comprehensive WWI addition in many years even topping the 2011 Topps Heritage WWI relics. This set includes 41 different cards made up of various uniforms, helmet and hats relics but there are also dog tags, rank insignias, buckles, brooches and medals. I have had no luck procuring any of the Museum Collection relics from the past two releases (Civil War and Wild West) but I am intent on adding some of these beauties to my personal collection. Most of these are selling for $50 and up. Most of the uniform relics are probably going to settle in price to the $35-75 range as product is broken with the more unique items like the medal and broochs going for a signigicant amount more and possibly even closer to $750-1000 each.

 

Easily my favorite insert in the Goodwin sets, topping even the WWI Museum Collection this year, is the Art of the Ages painted cards. Each year talented artists reproduce some of the world’s most famous and beloved paintings on cards and they are amazing. This year’s 300 cards include famous artists such as Monet, Picasso, Cezanne, Da Vinci and Rembrandt. This year also includes my three favorite painters; Edvard Munch, Vincent Van Gogh and Umberto Boccioni. It was Boccioni’s work that drew me in to the Futurism movement and I would love to add any of his paintings to my collection, not that I can afford any of these Art cards.

World Stars Toreka Edition Is Live

2013 World Stars Toreka Edition has now been live for two weeks and we are now seeing how the cards are looking on the secondary market. Surprisingly there are not many showing up though I am guessing that with this being a Japanese release we probably will not see as much opened here. You can purchase boxes, which run $150 plus $10 for shipping, from their English web site. Each box contains 3 packs with one card in each pack.

Some of the top cards that have shown up include RG3 Autorait, a gold Carlton Fisk Autorait and a Mike Tyson Autorait. There have also been a number of Alex Morgan Deco cards that have sold pretty well (usually in the $50-75 range) but the biggest boy to show up so far is a Sylvester Stallone Autorait with a whopping $700 BIN.

 I have watched a number of case breaks and it seems like half the boxes are good and the other half are duds so you have roughly a 50-50 chance. The problem with the duds is that they are usually the boxes with buy-backs, most of these cards are pretty common like Bowman Chrome and Topps Triple Threads and the cards are no where near the value you would expect from a $150 box.

I was fortunate enough to win Koji Uehara Kogei autograph shadowbox card from Beckett last November. These cards are extremely cool, I am not sure if I would want to take a chance on a box or just pick up the singles that interest me.

The Circus Formerly Known As The New York Jets

Last year I wrote a post after the NY Jets traded for Tim Tebow entitled “Now What Could Go Wrong with This Situation?”

I began thread with this question:

Is there any way that this scenario does not end in someone losing their job at the end of next season due directly to this trade?

The short answer was “No” Two coaches and the GM were fired over a 9 day period, one coach retired and one coach left to work with the Buffalo Bills.

FIRED:

GM Mike Tannenbaum
Offensive Coordinator Tony Sparano
QB Coach Matt Cavanaugh

RETIRED:

Special Teams Coordinator Mike Westhoff

HIRED BY ANOTHER TEAM

Defensive Coordinator Mike Pettine


Oddly enough if you look at this list you will notice the one name that should have been the first person fired is missing, Rex Ryan (and owner Woody Johnson, but that dipshit can’t be fired).

Ryan stuck with Sanchez even though he continued to slump through the season (butt fumble anyone?) and when Sanchez was replaced it was with the #3 QB McElroy. Near the end of the season there was the rumor that Tebow told Ryan not to play him, even in a Wildcat situation. Then there was the Daily News story last November where a number of Jets players who all stated to some degree that they felt Tebow was not a good QB and that he was not making positive strides. This shows that the team and officials had no confidence in him.

To be fair, Tebow was never given a fair shake in New York. Woody Johnson (no matter what he claims) brought Tebow in for the media circus he would provide. He played roughly 40-50 offensive snaps all season, went 6-8 for 39 yards passing and added 102 rushing yards.

Now it is expected that the Jets will either cut or trade Tebow and possibly Sanchez. Currently neither Tebow nor Sanchez carry much in trade value, especially considering Sanchez’s salary, so I would expect to see one or both cut. Tebow could possibly end up some where as a back up, Seattle and New England have been mentioned, while Sanchez will probably end up back in California trying to bag USC groupies with Matt Leinart. The Jets have already begun the 2013 Jets Media Circus Extravaganza when they brought in 35-year old David Garrard, who hasn’t played since 2010 but is still expected to be slotted as the starting QB next season. I have also seen some draft experts projecting the Jets as drafting a QB, Geno Smith if he is still available at the #9 position or Matt Barkley (I shit you not… another crappy USC project QB) in the Second Round.

So, as Woody Johnson sits in his tower overlooking Metropolis his decision to cause a media sensation by bringing in Tebow has destroyed the livelihood of four coaches, one GM and Tim Tebow all while claiming clean hands with his dumbass lackey Rex Ryan sitting at his side standing clear of the madness.

Who knows, maybe I should make this a recurring storyline where I ask which NY Jets personnel will get fired following each season after Woody Johnson’s annual media circus blitz.

Follow Up: In The Game Superlative Hockey Volume III

The Toronto Fall Expo is scheduled to begin November 9^th at the Toronto International Centre and one thing that is certain is that there will be plenty of hockey cards. Even with the possibility of the NHL season being cancelled (or best case scenario, half a season) hockey cards are still making their way on to the shelves. In The Game is set to release Superlative Hockey Volume III in time for the Fall Expo.

 

In The Game has updated some of the information regarding the product since I last reviewed it in early September. It appears that they have increased production from the original 1,500 Books (the boxes are in the shape of a book) to 2,500 Books and the SRP is now $350/book instead of the initial $500/book.

 

On top of the updated information they have also released a number of new pictures from the Skate Lace and Superlative Patch inserts. The Skate Laces insert looks like it would be a pretty cool card to pull. I do not know if he is included but I wouldn't mind seeing a Mike Bossy Skate Lace card on the checklist.