Monday TTM: Football Season!

It's that time of year again, that's right football is upon us yet again. An interesting aspect of doing the whole TTM autograph thing is trying to get active players via their teams. I'm currently in the process of hitting NHL teams as they enter training camp. The NFL is a little harder to deal with as far as TTM goes. I have several ones still outstanding but I think most of the ones that I sent out will return eventually. Here's some of the ones that have made their way back to me so far this season.

We'll get the big one out of the way right away. That's right, Peyton Manning signed one of my cards. This is actually a pretty rare success. Looking over the list people either send to the Broncos or his Foundation that's still in Indianapolis. A lot of people send to his Foundation and that seems to land them a preprint from Manning. I sent this to the Broncos and to my pleasant surprise he signed it! This was a long shot in my opinion and it paid off really well for me. A future Hall of Famer and one of the top 3 QBs of the modern era. He probably shoots right to the top of my list of quality gets. I sent this out on September 3rd and got it back September 14th for a total of 11 days.

Rookie quarterback of the Bills, EJ Manuel. He seems to be a mostly solid signer TTM. The verdict of course is still out on him but this could be a solid get years down the road. Speaking of this rookie card, that's part of the trick of doing TTM with active players. Get the guys while they're young and don't have a huge fanbase, they'll be more likely to respond. I sent this June 17th and got it back on September 14th for a total of 89 days.

Geno Atkins is a monster on the line for the Bengals. He surprisingly doesn't have a lot of people writing to him on the site I use. He signed two for me so I'm going to be mailing the extra copy to my friend Jonathan. I sent this out June 20th and got it back August 1st for a total of 42 days.

I live in the heart of Buckeye country so this one gets the biggest reaction from people around me. Mike Nugent is a beloved Ohio State alumni. That feels weird to say about a kicker but it's true. People absolutely loved Nugent when he played. He was a big part of the team that won the National Championship during the 2002 season. I sent this out June 20th and got it back July 29th for a total of 39 days.

Antonio Brown isn't what I would call a well known player. He's well known to Steeler fans and Fantasy Football nerds like me but I don't think many fans know him well. He certainly has very few TTM requests on the site I use. This one was an interesting story. I sent him a 2013 Score card and he signed and sent back a 2012 Score card. So he might have mixed up two cards or he might have wanted the card I sent for his own collection and sent this back. It's all good either way. I sent this out June 24th and got it back September 5th for a total of 73 days.

That's all for this week, join me next week as I open up the vaults of my autograph collection again for another edition of Monday TTM.

2013-2014 Columbus Blue Jackets Preview

What a difference a season can make. Last season, I took a rather pessimistic few of the team in the wake of Rick Nash getting traded. I thought they were on the right track but just lacked the talent to win a lot of games. Well, the Jackets went out there and proved me wrong. After a really slow start, the Jackets came alive behind Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky and finished the season 24-17-7 and missed the playoffs by a single point. Missing the playoffs was a disappointment but this was probably the most successful season the team has had W/L wise.

This is a big season for the Jackets as they move to the Eastern Conference with the Detroit Red Wings. This means a lighter travel schedule with fewer trips out west. I also tend to think of the Eastern Conference as the weaker conference. The East usually seems top heavy with 2-4 teams a season and then a huge drop off. The bottom half of the conference is usually really bad and the 7th and 8th seeds are usually highly mediocre teams that just happened to win more than the other mediocre teams. I think this is a good conference for the Jackets as there will be more chances to sneak in with subpar teams on a more consistent basis.

They let Vinny Prospal go due to what I think was mostly cap concerns and his age in the offseason. He was the team's leading scorer last season with 12 goals and 18 assists. They went out and filled that void by adding Nathan Horton from the Boston Bruins. Horton has a good track record as being a solid offensive player and he should settle into being a big threat on the second line. Columbus also added Curtis McElhinney to backup Bob in the net. Overall, a quiet offseason as far as entrances and exits go. Columbus did make a splash by signing a ton of players long term and showing a commitment to keeping the good pieces in town. So let's break this team down piece by piece.


CENTER:


Welcome to town Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky. You both came in and you decided you wanted to be here. You didn't pout like Jeff Carter and then dog it until the team traded you. You joined up and you immediately went about changing the loser culture that had infected this team. You never quit when the team got down in a game and you were the leaders of the gritty hardball style the Jackets played. Dubinsky rightfully had an A on his jersey by the end of the seasson.

Ryan Johansen and Derek MacKeinze fill out this position for the Blue Jackets. All four of the centers were pretty productive. Dubinsky and Anisimov struggled with some injuries but still managed to be towards the top of the team as far as points go. Johansen managed a respectable 12 points last season despite mostly being a 3rd or 4th line guy. He's only 21 years old and he could really become a good player as he continues to mature into adulthood. I think you'll continue to see respectable numbers out of this squad. Lots of good passes from this group will set up the wings for some open shots. I feel confident in this position this year.

RIGHT WING:

What do we have here? Why it's a legit star in Marian Gaborik and he seems happy to be in Columbus. Gaborik came to Columbus at the trade deadline to help out a struggling offense and chipped in 8 points in 12 games. Gaborik has some pretty great offensive seasons under his belt. He can be that guy that gets you 30+ goals in a season. If you look at the two trades with the New York Rangers, you essentially traded Rick Nash for Marian Gaborik and I think the Blue Jackets win the trade in that regard.

Your other RW guys are Nathan Horton, Mark Letestu, Blake Comeau and Jared Boll. I think Gaborik, Horton and Letestu are going to be a nasty combination here. You have a guy that get you 30+ goals in Gaborik and behind him you have two guys that have shown the ability to get you 20+ goals in Horton and Letestu. Seriously, we're talking about some crazy depth there if 70 goals are coming from a single position and as mentioned with the centers, there are really good centers paired with these guys that can pass really well. I'm thinking back over all the years of the Blue Jackets and I don't ever recall them having this kind of offensive depth... EVER. Jared Boll is the enforcer on the squad. He's gotten better in that role over time but I don't think he's great at it. I think you're looking at a good position for the team here. I think you could see a lot of offense from these guys.

LEFT WING:

RJ Umberger, Matt Calvert, Nick Foligno and Cam Atkinson will be taking up the left side of the ice this season. This group doesn't wow you like the C or RW position do at first glance. They all made solid contributions across the board though. I think you'll see these guys do similar this year. You won't see any of these guys put up numbers that will blow you away or anything. I think we're looking at good solid contribution over a course of a season that keeps the team chugging along.

I think the difference between this year and years past is that you used to have a team filled from top to bottom of these mid-range contributors. Now, you have these guys complimenting really good talent and they can settle into the role they were meant for. I think you'll see a lot of Umberger, Calvert and Foligno setting up some good shots and getting some goals when teams are trying to stop someone else. I think you'll see this crew excel at being a support group this season.

DEFENSE:

I credit Jack Johnson, alongside Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov, as being one of the guys that really changed the culture of the Jackets. He brings that hardworking, never say die attitude that the team developed last year. He also chipped in 19 points and was a really good defensive passer. James Wisnieski continued his struggles with the injury bug but was also really good when he was on the ice.

The defense is rounded out by Fedor Tyutin, Tim Erixon, Nikita Nikitin, Dalton Prout and Ryan Murray. This is where my doubts about the team start to set in just a little bit. I thought the defense played well for the most part last season. They weren't spectacular or anything like that though. I think they let too many shots get to Bob in the net and the team has a downright disaster in a lot of games where they had to use Steve Mason in the net. I think the real question here is, will the defense be just good enough to make a run at the playoffs? Once the Jackets started rolling last season, yes, they were just good enough to keep the team winning. But that was also a result of Bob being absolutely brilliant in the net.

What I do know for sure about this squad is there's some excellent passers in the group. Johnson, Wisnieski and Tyutin can absolutely change the scope of any game with a well timed pass that leads to a goal. Those three are also gritty and tough defenders. They aren't afraid to mix it up and to lay some guys out on the boards. I think this group is the key to a playoff push this year. They need to be better than average if the team wants to push for better than an 8 seed.

GOALIE:

All hail to the king Sergie Bobrovsky the Veniza Trophy winner. Bob as he's been nicknamed in  Columbus was a wall in the net last season. He had a mere 2.00 GAA and a SV% of .932 while chalking up 4 shutouts in 38 games. Needless to say, people weren't scoring often against the Jackets down the stretch. Now the question is, what will Bob do for an encore?

Even if he takes a likely step backwards, I think the team is built to anticipate that. The team has a much stronger punch on offense so they can compensate if Bob starts giving up a little closer to the league average on goals. If he stays a little more consistent to what he did last year, then this team is just going to start steamrolling some teams.My expectation is he'll take a step backwards but he's not going to fall apart like Mason did after his big season with the team.

Curtis McElhinney joins the Jackets as the primary backup to Bob. Curtis is a huge upgrade to what Mason was last season. He's logged a decent amount of minutes with teams like Calgary, Anaheim and Ottawa in the past and he performed well enough in those games. The Jackets just need a goalie that can keep the team afloat so they don't run Bob into the ground during the season. I think Curtis is a good fit for that equation.

THE VERDICT:

I've been a Blue Jackets fan since they came to town in 2000. Needless to say, I've taken quite a beating from the team over the years. The eternal pessimist in me wants to think that the team is going to disappoint this year. But the objective look at the numbers and the attitudes of the players thus far is telling me something else entirely. I'm going to put the pessimist aside this year and say that the Blue Jackets are going to continue what they started last season.

The Blue Jackets are going to enter the weaker Eastern Conference and make an immediate splash there. My prediction is that the team wins a franchise record 46 games, rack up 102 points and enter the playoffs as the 5th seed. So let's hope I didn't just horribly curse the team.

Man of Steel #1-6

Superman is one of those characters I've never been into. I read Action Comics and Superman for about a 4 year period in the mid 2000s. I watched some of the cartoons and Lois and Clark throughout the years as well. He's just never been someone I seek out randomly. I listed to some podcasts about him recently and it really made me curious to really try and get into the character.

I decided to go with the Post-Crisis version of Superman. If you don't know what that means. DC did an event in the mid 80s called Crisis on Infinite Earths. This compacted all of their heroes into a single universe and it rebooted the entire continuity. So when you hear the term Post-Crisis it means that it happened after this event.

Superman got a big reboot during this time frame. John Byrne came over from Marvel and spearheaded the project. Superman was depowered a lot in this era and he was more detached from Krypton in this era. The idea Byrne seems to push over and over is that Superman is human despite where he came from. The Man of Steel series was a 6 issue mini-series that came out in 1986 and goes about establishing a new status for Superman.

Issue 1: Retells the story of Krypton being destroyed and Superman coming to Earth. We see Clark as a teenager and being told about how he was found. We also see some of his early pre-Superman days and Ma Kent making the suit for him.

Issue 2: Serves to introduce us to Lois Lane. She follows Superman around trying to get the story on him but always being a little too late. She finally decides to try driving her car into the river so that Superman will save her. She interviews Superman only to arrive at the Daily Planet to find that Clark Kent beat her to the story.

Issue 3: Has the first meeting between Superman and Batman. It does away with the buddy buddy relationship they had previously and shows how their worldviews clash a little more.

Issue 4: Sets up Lex Luthor as Superman's main antagonist. We also see some of the rivalry and relationship between Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

Issue 5: Brings us Bizzaro. This is the first super villain that Superman takes on in this rebooted universe.

Issue 6: Kind of wraps things up from the last 5 issues and gives us an idea of what to expect from the three ongoing series that start up after this. Clark has a thing for Lois but wants her to love him as Clark and not Superman. Superman learns that he's from the planet Krypton but realizes that doesn't change how he was raised and who he is. It also shows Lana Lang and her dynamic with Superman.

All in all, I really enjoyed this mini-series. Superman was more interesting than I expected him to be. I really like the humility of the character. He showed a little more personality than I was expecting and I really like Lex Luthor as a big time antagonist to Superman. If I was grabbing this I would give it an A- or B+. It was a really enjoyable read and I just tore through the issues and wanted more.

It really made me want to dig beyond just this and get into the monthly issues that result from this. I plan to do that and I plan to post those in a similar fashion to this post. Starting from here there will be three monthly Superman titles (Superman, Adventures of Superman and Action Comics). I plan to read the books from a given month and post quickie reviews of each issue and more talk about how I'm feeling about Superman as a character with each passing month. So keep a look out.

Discount Bin Diving

The wife and I have been on vacation this week. It's the area of Ohio that I went to college in. So while it's new to my wife, it's an exercise in nostalgia for me. I wanted to stop by an old comic shop that I frequented during my college days and a big sign was on the door saying 25 cent comics.

We entered the store and there were just boxes lined up around the store with all sorts of issues from the 80s and 90s. We resisted the pull for a few minutes. We wandered the very large store and checked out what they had. My wife found trading card boxes for very 75 cents so I grabbed one of those. Then it was time to get to work. My wife and I started taking to the various boxes and pulling out the books that I wanted.

Before I get into what we purchased, I have a hobby within a hobby. I collect specific series exclusively through the discount bins at stores. It's a really cheap side hobby and there's a certain level of challenge to it. The main series that I've been working on for the last 10 months or so has been Justice League Europe. If we go to any shop, I check out their discount books and then grab a few here and there. With this trip I have almost the entire 50 issue run of JLE now.

When all was said and done, we had pulled 60 issues out of the discount pins. I double pulled 3 issues but I figured that was bound to happen with the pile I had. $15 and I was quite happy. My wife mentioned that she didn't think it was possible to get to $100 and I said, I could have easily gotten there if I started pulling all the Avengers and Avengers West Coast books that I saw sitting in there.

I love digging through discount bins. You never know what little gem might be sitting in there waiting to be discovered. I finally found a copy of Justice League Europe #1 which was the one I was having the most issues with. It's not worth anything but people still seem to go for those first issues, even when it is a discount bin. I stuck to just DC books this time. Got a lot of various Justice League books, Legion of Super-Heroes and a couple issues of the Legends crossover from the late 80s.

The thing you need to understand is that the comics in discount bins aren't bad, they just aren't worth any money. You can find some really good stories in the bins if you know what you are looking for. So if you ever want some cheap comics head to your local used book store and see what you dig up!

TTM Monday: Bulls Edition

Back for the third installment of Through The Mail Monday's. I had a bit of a slow week last week as only 3 returns found their way to my box. It makes me a little sad but that happens. Some weeks you get loads of returns and others you get barely anything. I'm on vacation this week so I'm probably not going to mail any out for a few days but write several. I'll probably dump 15+ letters into the box on Wednesday, all 1990 Fleer cards. So, we'll see what my mailbox looks like when I get back.

I wanted to use this installment to give you a general idea of what you're looking at if you decided to do TTM. As I post these, you will see some legit big name stars and HoF guys in there. Actually, you'll see a lot of those. But a lot of the guys you'll be targeting via TTM are mid level players. Role players, guys that were good for maybe a few seasons and sometimes, a guy that you only know and love because he played for your team and you remember him.

This time, I'm going to show you my collection of Bulls players from the Jordan years. Now, understand, this is by no means everyone on those teams that sign TTM. These are just the ones I've had cards of and have mailed to thus far. I think after you see the collection of guys posted here, you'll understand who you'll be going after when you mail out your cards:



There you have it. A beloved role player in Steve Kerr. The man who hit the shot to win the Bulls the 93 title in John Paxon. And past that you have some guys you might remember if you were big into basketball at the time. That's it for this Monday, see you next week!

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Revisited

Nintendo is running a great deal through Club Nintendo this month. If you register copies of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensai IV with them, you get a $30 credit for the e-shop. Both of these games were on my buy list so I gladly took advantage of the deal. I plan to use the majority of the credit to get a copy of the new Mario and Luigi game but I did make a small little purchase of Link's Awakening.

I would classify Link's Awakening as probably my favorite Zelda game. When it came out, it was mind blowing that a game like that would come out on a handheld. I spent a long time playing it and replaying it as a teenager. I beat it several times over the years but I probably haven't attempted to play this game in 15 years maybe. Needless to say I was excited to get back to it.

I still love the game but there are aspects that are dated. The item management really sucks. You're constantly bringing up the menu to change what you're using at any given moment. The game is also kind of bad about aiming you sometimes. I wandered into an area and didn't have the means to kill a mini-boss there. After a few deaths, I left and checked a walkthrough and it had nothing to do with my current quest. So, that was a little frustrating but overall not a huge deal.

The use of the items in this game are clever. You start out with a really small world and the items allow you to open it up as you progress. The Feather remains one of the most unique Zelda items ever as it allows you to jump. Being able to jump really gives the game a different feel from most of the others. The Marioesque side scrolling platformer parts are fun and different.

This is a strange game in hindsight. A lot of enemies and characters from other games appear. There's a character that looks a lot like Mario, Kirby makes an appearance later and there are a ton of Mario baddies present in the game. I've never seen that in a Zelda game since. I'm kind of curious why they did that with the game. Maybe they thought since it was a handheld that they could experiment with things a bit?

I completed the third dungeon this morning. I died a few times but the puzzles didn't pose a serious challenge to me. The second dungeon was tougher in that regard. After, dying several times in the dungeon, stupid bombs, I killed the boss in a matter of seconds. I had my brief misadventure after that but I'm back on track to get through the fourth dungeon today or tomorrow.

I'm still really enjoying the game a lot. It has some flaws that weren't considered flaws at the time it was released. I might consider Link to the Past to be a better game now but I'm not 100% sure of that fact right now. I would probably need to play Link to the Past again to make an honest determination of that and it's a much longer game.

I think my biggest surprise going back is how small the game world is and how short the game seems to be. I remember spending months on it as a teenager and I think I could probably finish the game off by the end of the week... and I really don't remember much about the dungeons and puzzles anymore. Like I said, still a great game and worth checking out for the $5.99 if you have a 3DS.

AFC South Preview

Back again and this time I'm looking at a less interesting division for 2013. The AFC South I think is largely set in stone as far as who's winning the whole thing. So let's take a look at how this division is looking this year.

The Houston Texans are winning this division with little question. Even with injuries, this team is still packed to the gills with talent. I think the offense explains itself. Two great running backs, a good QB and one of the 2 best receivers in the league. When healthy, this team can score enough points to anyone. Now, the defense is where this team really shines. J.J. Watt had an insane season last year. Think about this, Watt could regress a bit from last year and he would still be an elite defender. The biggest issue this team has is pass defense. I don't thinking adding Ed Reed to the mix is going to fix that. I think their secondary is where you have to beat this team. But as I've said with other divisions, this team might have some issues but I don't see anyone rising up and taking the crown from the Texas. I'll go 12-4 for the Texans.

The Indianapolis Colts had an improbable season in 2012. They finished 11-5 which took everyone by surprise. I expect to see reality to set in this season. Let's look at the numbers here. They had the 26th rated defense last year. They had one of the worst run defenses in the league. They tried to address this by signing a metric crap load of free agents in the offseason. The problem with this is most of the guys they signed aren't that good. Paying a lot of money to the likes of Eric Walden, Lawrence Sidbury and Ricky Jean Francois. They shelled out some big money for a couple of those guys and none of those guys are massive game changers in their own right. I think this whole team falls back a little bit and misses the playoffs. I think you're looking at a team that wins 7-9 games this season.

What can you say about the Tennessee Titans? Well, they have a QB that struggles with accuracy. No one that he can throw to other than Kenny Britt, an inconsistent running back, a so-so offensive line and a defense that's just not very good. This is a talent poor team and I don't know how they're going to win that many games. Reports are saying that Jake Locker isn't looking very good in training camp. That's not the end of the world of anything but it's not a good start. I think you're looking at a team that wins 3-4 games next year.

Last and probably least the Jacksonville Jaguars. I think there's a decent change that you could see Chad Henne as the starting QB this year. If he continues looking better in preseason I think that's a possibility. The team still has MJD and that's worth a few wins if he can remain healthy. Justin Blackmon has been a bust thus far and he's suspended for the first 4 games of the season. The defense isn't even worth talking about here, they just outright suck and I don't think they did anything to change that. A healthy MJD will get this team to 5-11 though.