The first step towards carrying The Cup...

Tonight marks the start of the San Jose Sharks 21st season, since their inauguration back in 1991. In those twenty years, they've made the NHL playoffs fourteen times... including seven years straight.

But none of that matters... because year in and year out... we just can't seem to get over that hump.

Will this be the year we finally get past the Conference Finals? I'm not here to make any daring predictions. Instead, I'll just point out some things that are dancing around in my head.

A. For the first time in four seasons, Devin Setoguchi won't be my favorite Shark. I'm still recovering from the trade that sent Seto to the Minnesota Wild for Brent Burns. I was so excited when I discovered that the Sharks drafted a half-Japanese player back in the 2005 NHL Draft. Then in October 2007, when he made his NHL debut against the Dallas Stars, he lit them up for two goals and he instantly became my favorite Shark. But I'm loyal to the team, not the player... so I accept the fact that the Sharks pulled off this trade. And there's no doubt in my mind that the team is stronger with Burns than with Setoguchi. Best of luck Devin! I'll be pulling for you... just not when you're against the Sharks.

B. Without Setoguchi... I needed to choose another favorite player. Yes... I'm one of those guys. So after much debate it came down to two players: Douglas Murray & Patrick Marleau. I started liking Murray because he's always there to back up his teammates. The guy is tough, hard working, and loyal. And I appreciate all of those traits. Then there's Patty. Marleau has been with the Sharks since they drafted him back in 1997. He holds nearly every significant record for the San Jose Sharks. And like Murray, the guy has been loyal to the organization. Even when some of the fans lost faith in him, he resigned with the Sharks and has proven that he's worth his salary. If it were up to me, he'd be a San Jose Shark for life.

C. I'm excited to see how much we've improved defensively. When completely healthy, the Sharks should have more than enough fire power to get the puck into the net.

Line 1: Marleau/Thornton/Pavelski

Line 2: Couture/Clowe/Havlat

Line 3: McGinn/Handzus/Mitchell

Line 4: McLaren/Murray/Wingels/Winchester/Desjardins

And this season, their defensive pairings are much improved:

Dan Boyle/Douglas Murray

Brent Burns/Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Colin White/Jason Demers (James Vandermeer)

D. The final thing that's on my mind is finding tickets to the November 10th game, when they take on Devin Setoguchi and the Minnesota Wild. At the moment, I'm not able to find any tickets at reasonable prices.

But I'm hoping I'll be able to find some the week of the game, so I can sport my BlackArmor #16 jersey.

Okay. So I have to know...

Who do you have making the Stanley Cup Finals?

And who's going to win it all?

For the past four or five seasons, I've felt it in my heart that it was going to be the Sharks' year. And we all know how that went. Once again, I have that feeling. I'm just hoping that I'm finally right.

Okay it's time to eat and get ready to watch the Sharks take on the Coyotes. Sayonara!

I'm gonna make a change... for once in my life.

I don't like change. Never have... and probably never will. But today... I'm making an exception. And it involves an allegiance I've had to one of my sports teams for close to three decades.

Although it's been something I've been pondering for the past few years... a post on the blog... Mint Condition pushed me over the edge. This morning Jordan posted "It sucks to be a Yankee fan when everybody wants you to lose." I immediately understood how he felt... not because I'm a Yankee fan, but because I too support a team that is expected to win year in and year out. And simply speaking... it's not fun anymore... and it hasn't been for awhile.

In the early 80's "Showtime" arrived in Los Angeles and I was introduced to professional basketball. Since then... I've been a die-hard Lakers fan.

But sports is suppose to be entertainment. It's suppose to be fun. And everyone has their own interpretation on "fun". Some love teams to support a city. Other people love their team, because it's a family tradition. Sometimes it's because their favorite player plays on the team. The list could go on and on, but for me... I chose the Los Angeles Lakers, because they were fun to watch and I tried to model my game around Byron Scott and his baseline jumper. Plus... it didn't hurt that they were always winning championships.

And for the next twenty-something years... I proudly supported them. Byron, Magic, Wilkes, McAdoo, Kareem, Worthy, A.C., Mychal, Cooper, Rambis, Van Exel, Eddie, Fish, Shaq, Kobe, Rodman, Horry, Devean, Lue, Shaw, Madsen, Fox, Rush, Walton, Malone, Payton, Odom, Sasha, Farmar, Mihm, Kwame, Ronny, Smush, Radmanovic, Mbenga, Pau, Crittenton, Ariza, Shannon, Powell, Morrison, Artest, Barnes, and Caracter.

But the fact is... there's no fun in supporting a team that "buys" their championships... at least for me that is. I've made the comparison in the past... like I said, it's something that has been on my mind for awhile now... and I'll explain it again to help all of you understand. The Lakers are basketball's version of the Yankees, the Cowboys, and the Red Wings. The majority of fans either love them, or hate them. And the reason is because they're not afraid to spend money to buy banners for their fans.

All of these teams are known for dishing out the big dollars to lure the big name athletes, who are expected to bring championships to their cities. And when they do... it's expected... and when they don't, it's catastrophic. And as a result, it's taken the fun out of the game for me. So starting today... I'm moving on to smaller and less talented things.

Today, I've decided to swing my support to the local Golden State Warriors, who are a lot less popular... and less talented, but are honestly a lot more exciting to watch. They're like the A's of basketball. I love the fact that there's no pressure for them to win a championship.

Now I realize that I'm going to be goat in the eyes of both teams' fans. Lakers fans will call me a traitor. Warriors fans will call me the unwanted stepchild. But... I'm okay with it. I realize, I need to earn my stripes here in the Bay Area.

However... it's impossible to throw away almost three decades of support for the purple and gold. As a result, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the Lakers. Kobe will still my favorite player in the game. But the next time they're in Oakland, I'll be pulling for Monta, Stephen, Dorell, and David. And guess what... they won't be in the hunt for a NBA title, but at least they'll be fun to watch.

I'm sure I'm going to hear a lot of flak about this decision, but as a blogger... I must be held responsible for my actions. So have at it...

What do you think about my decision?

And just for kicks...

What teams do you hate the most?

Happy Friday everyone... have a good weekend. Sayonara!

My "Lefty" Project

Steve Carlton and I have a lot of things in common.

#1 We're both southpaws.

#2 We both played baseball.

#3 We both have been to Candlestick Park with our baseball gloves.

#4 We both have trading cards.

#5 We both were born in the 20th Century.

I could go on and on, but let's be serious... you get the point.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that "Lefty" was one of my favorite pitchers growing up. I mentioned that I wanted to start collecting every regular issue Topps base card of Carlton a few times in the past and recently (...Joe) from The Sandlot offered me his 1967 Topps card.

Well... I jumped all over that trade and now I'm the proud owner of this beauty:

1967 Topps #146

From there... the ball just kept rolling and rolling. So far, I have either picked up or pulled the following cards:

1970 Topps #220

1971 Topps #55

1972 Topps #420

1976 Topps #355

1977 Topps #110

1978 Topps #540

1980 Topps #210

1981 Topps #630

1982 Topps #480

In addition to the cards above, I've purchased the following cards off of COMC's:

1968 Topps #408

1973 Topps #300

1974 Topps #95

1975 Topps #185

Which means, I'm down to his $200 1965 Topps rookie card, his 1969 Topps card #255 (books for $30), his 1979 Topps card #25 (books for $3), and the remaining 80's Topps cards, which runs through the 1987 set. Hopefully I'll be able to find these in some common bins at either the flea market or the next card show I attend.

I'm also considering going after his Topps Traded issues from the 1972 and 1987 sets, along with some of the more popular parallels such as his 1975 Topps Mini & of course his Topps Tiffany parallels from the 1984 thru 1987 sets.

In the meantime, I'm stoked to have these two cards in my collection.

1977 Topps Cloth Stickers #11

1983 Topps Traded Premiums #1

I have no aspirations of becoming a super collector. However, I am faced with the dilemma of deciding if I want to collect his autographs and memorabilia cards. As of now, I'm content with buying autographs if they're under $20, and memorabilia cards that are $2.50 and cheaper.

Right now, I have two or three of his signatures and possible five or six memorabilia cards. Unfortunately, they're sitting in a box at my parent's house.

Since this post contains a bunch of different Topps regular issue base card designs, I was wondering...

What's your favorite Topps design of all-time?

I have two: 1956 and 1983. The 1983 Topps set has been a favorite since I was a child, because I love the action shot, with the small portrait show in the bottom corner. This set also features the rookie card of Tony Gwynn, my all-time favorite player.

1983 Topps #482

1956 Topps #30

Over the years, I've grown to appreciate the 1956 Topps design as well, especially the Jackie Robinson card, which might be the centerpiece of my collection. Like the 1983 Topps set, it too features a portrait and action shot of the player.

On a completely separate note, I just received a phone call from my friend who informed me that Steve Jobs passed away. I've been a fan of Mr. Jobs and Apple products since around the time I started collecting cards in the early 80's, so this is sad news indeed. My thoughts go out to his friends and family.

Have a good evening and sayonara.

Have you forgiven Pete?

I was hanging out with my parents a couple of months ago and we started reminiscing about my childhood. Eventually the topic of how strict my father was when I was little became the popular topic.

Now... before you get the wrong idea... let me say that my father is my idol and if I had children myself... I'd raise them like he raised me and my siblings.

Papa Fuji lives his life by a certain code of conduct... one that values respect, loyalty, honesty, responsibility, perseverance, humility, benevolence, and honor. And he instilled these character traits into all of us.

Nevertheless... one thing I've noticed is... the old samurai warrior within him has softened with age. My niece raised her voice to her dad (my brother) and he immediately put her in check. Later when only the adults were around, my dad gave my brother a hard time about being too tough on my niece... which shocked all of us... because my father would have introduced us to the belt had we done the same to him. This eventually led to a long and interesting... late night discussion on a great many things... which I won't bore you with.

One thing I do want to share with all of you is the fact that... I think I'm getting softer with age too. And Pete Rose is the prime example.

When Rose was banned from baseball back in 1989... I was upset and disappointed in his choices. What would possess the guy to bet on baseball and especially his own team? Then... to lie to everyone... including his fans for 15 years... that just made it worse. I'm glad he came clean in 2004, but the only impression that entered my mind was "he's only doing it to sell his autobiography".

As years have passed by... my opinion of Rose has changed... and recently I've decided that in my eyes he's paid his debt. What he did was wrong... and 22 years ago... it was unforgivable. But I'm older now and I'm less stubborn and more willing to forgive & give people second chances.

I'm not ready to induct him into Cooperstown. The fact is... he broke a rule and lied about it.

My father raised me to protect the family name and to make good decisions, because we can't change the past. However... he always reminded me that if we make a mistake, it's important that we learn from it. After reading his interview in The Sporting News (June 6th issue)... it sounds like Rose has learned his lesson. He's also apologized for his actions... which made me think: What else can he do to make things right?

I don't have the answer to that question... and I'm still debating whether or not MLB should lift his ban. What I do know is that his crime of betting on baseball is no worse than players using PED's. And if players like Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens eventually get inducted into Cooperstown... it's only fair that Charlie Hustle does too. Which leads us to our question of the day:

Have you forgiven Pete?

&

Do you think he's Cooperstown worthy?

Oh and before I forget... the above Pete Rose card is the only autograph that I own of the all-time hit king. I first read about the autograph on one of Wax Heaven's posts. Then Chris over at Project '62 picked up a "lot" of 10 sets of 1985 Topps Pete Rose, which contained an autographed card in each set. He turned around and offered them up for $28 shipped, so I jumped all over it and added myself to the list. If you're interested in reading more about the card you can read these two posts:

Project '62's post on the 1985 Topps Pete Rose card

Cardboard Icon's post on the 1985 Topps Pete Rose card

Have a great week everyone. I'm off to find the Yankees/Tigers game on the internet... since the Padres & the A's aren't in it, I'll be cheering for everyone except the guys in Yankee pinstripes. They have enough World Series titles... let someone else win it for once. Sayonara!

Before Bonds, McGwire, & Sosa... there was Maris.

On October 1st, 1961, Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's single season home run record that had been set in 1927, when he hit his 61st off of Boston's Tracy Stallard. Controversy has surrounded this record for the past 50 years, because 1961 also marked the year MLB extended their season from 154 games to 162. As a result there are still people who feel that there should be two records: one for the 154 game season & another for the 162 game season.

I personally am against the "so called" asterisk and was saddened to hear how poorly people treated Mr. Maris during the experience. According to Baseball Almanac, Maris once said, "It would have been a helluva lot more fun if I had not hit those sixty-one home runs." Can you imagine accomplishing such an amazing feat and being hated for it?

Well you won't find any Maris hating on this blog. I've never considered myself a Maris fan, mainly because he's primarily known for his days in Yankee pinstripes. In fact, I had to dig deep to find a card of his in my collection.

It's his 1959 Topps card that I picked up back in the early 90's from the card show I worked at. I bought it because it pictures him with the Athletics... who happens to be my favorite team.

The fact is... you don't have to be a Maris fan to be able to appreciate his amazing record that stood for 37 years.

Happy Anniversary Mr. Maris! You're a legend in my book.