In Memoriam: Chris from SASESportsSigs

Temporarily bringing this blog out of retirement to send out a RIP to a pillar of the hobby.

No one had heard from Chris over at SASESportsSigs for about two months, and his last Instagram post mentioned going to the ER with a fever and breathing troubles, followed by a positive Covid test. It wasn't like him to go that long with no info, so apparently someone reached out to him and got a response from his mother, informing that Chris died on February 23, 2021, only a week after his diagnosis.

For those who never saw his site (it's been linked here for a year), Chris was active in the online TTM community through his site and various forums for a good fifteen years, and had been a collector since at least the late 90s, maybe before.

The hobby has lost one of its best. I had it back in December, and it's not something I'd wish on anyone. I was lucky as I didn't land in the hospital and only have mild residual effects, but now this is the second person I know who has died from it.  So for those of you who aren't taking this virus seriously: why? When is enough enough?

Go get vaccinated. Seriously. And we'll see you soon at the ballpark, hopefully.

November (and early December) 2019

I'm sure a few of these names will need clarification, so I'll just get that out of the way now.

As you probably know by now, I'm a musician. I played bass and keyboards in a band called Leisuresuit Salesmen when I was in 8th and 9th grade for a talent show and New Year's Eve party, drums in a band called 45 Percent for my high school's variety show as a senior, drums (with some keyboard, guitar, bass, and vocal contributions) in CC40 in college (not the CC40 Blues Band that comes up first on Google, but a short-lived punk/alternative project from Boston that had the name long before they did), and drums and guitar with Death Before Breakfast for a few years. Recently I joined a new project called The Nothing. I was in my high school's orchestra as a percussionist. I also play a little mandolin and possibly could still play some trombone if I tried. I might record some solo stuff that I've written, and maybe some covers of some Great Lakes folk songs.

Anyways, my biggest influences and favorite bands list would likely change a lot from day to day, but the Top Five always tend to be Guns N' Roses, Weezer, Dropkick Murphys, the Funk Brothers (Motown's backing band), and the New Bomb Turks. You probably know the first two reasonably well, perhaps the third. The fourth is a little more esoteric since they were rarely credited-- the Motown marketing machine tended to concentrate on the singers while the musicians were left largely uncredited until Marvin Gaye released What's Going On, and then got pretty well screwed over by the label moving to Los Angeles with no warning given to them. Several of them found out by showing up to play and finding a note on the door. The Brothers finally started getting recognition on a wider scale with the release of the book and documentary Standing In The Shadows Of Motown. Only two of them are still living: guitarist Joe Messina and percussionist Jack Ashford.

Anyways, the last one, the New Bomb Turks, are a garage punk band of my fellow Clevelanders who assembled in Columbus, OH in the early 90s and accidentally kicked off the garage rock revival of the late 90s and early 00s. Without the album !!Destroy-Oh-Boy!!, there's a good chance you wouldn't know The Hives, The Hellacopters, The Vines, The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Black Keys, The Dandy Warhols, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, and a ton more. It wasn't until I was in high school, around 2000 or so, that I really started getting into punk rock. The Turks parted ways not long after, with their final album coming in 2003. And since I had parents who believed you might fall off the edge of the earth if you go west of Euclid, I never got out to many (any) shows.

Over the next 15 years, NBT would occasionally get together and play a couple shows, do a short tour, play a festival, whatever. None came near me though. The closest was Austin when I was in Wichita Falls, but having close to no disposable income at the time and having to work on weekends, I had to miss it.

So when I found out they were going to open for Rev. Horton Heat in Detroit and Chicago with the Voodoo Glow Skulls (both of whom I saw back in February together in Dallas), I knew I had to try to go. Long story short: we went to both shows, I got an album signed by two members, got one of the drummer's sticks, got called out from the stage by their lead singer in Chicago, and then had him swipe my hat and beat a couple people with it in Detroit. Awesome show, 10/10 would recommend. My only complaint is they did not play Defiled.

So, when you're asking yourself "Who are Eric Davidson, Jim Weber, and Sam Brown?" now you know. I missed having Brown and bassist Matt Reber sign my album, but I'm sure I'll get them eventually.

I also was able to get my grandfather's 12-string guitar from my uncle when we passed through Michigan. I need a new high G string (tee-hee-hee, yeah yeah, laugh it up) since it broke when I tuned it, but aside from that it's good.

NOVEMBER 9
Dave Schultz, c/o Hammer Enterprises, 2/2, 1 month, included fee of $10 per

NOVEMBER 12
Curtis Granderson, c/o Marlins ST, 1/1, 9 months

NOVEMBER 15
Ty Dillon, c/o Germain Racing, 4/4, 6 months
Bobby Knoop, c/o home, 3/3, 6 weeks

NOVEMBER 18
Nick Fotiu, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week
Ted Harris, c/o home, 3/2, 1 week, also signed protective index card

NOVEMBER 19
Tony Oliva, c/o Twins ST, 1/1, 9 months

NOVEMBER 20
Bobby Hebert, c/o home, 4/4, 1 week, personalized all

NOVEMBER 21
Phil Roberto, c/o home, 3/2, 1 week, added signed photo
Eric Nesterenko, c/o home, 3/3, 1 week
Jim Pappin, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week

NOVEMBER 22
Bob Froese, c/o home, 4/4, 1 week

NOVEMBER 23
Bert Marshall, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks

NOVEMBER 24 - Dallas Card Show
Rocket Ismail, 1/1

NOVEMBER 25
Dave Keon, c/o home, 4/4, 2 weeks
Ralph Backstrom, c/o home, 4/4, 2 weeks

NOVEMBER 26
Harry Sinden, c/o home, 1/2, 2 weeks, kept the second card
Don Marshall, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks
Fred Stanfield, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week
Alexei Yashin, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week
John Harrington, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week

NOVEMBER 29
Jim Rutherford, c/o team, 3/3, 3 weeks
Jim Schoenfeld, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Grant Mulvey, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Joe Watson, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Steve Janaszak, c/o home, 3/2, 1 week, also signed protective index card

NOVEMBER 29 - Voodoo Glow Skulls, New Bomb Turks, Rev. Horton Heat concert
Eric Davidson, 1/1

NOVEMBER 30
Mike Davis, c/o home, 3/3, 2 years
Mark Wells, c/o home, 3/2, 2 weeks, also added signed business card, paid $5 per
Phil Verchota, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Craig Patrick, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks

NOVEMBER 30 - Voodoo Glow Skulls, New Bomb Turks, Rev. Horton Heat concert
Jim Weber, 1/1
Sam Brown, concert-used drum stick

DECEMBER 2
Mike Anderson, c/o home, 4/4, 2 weeks

DECEMBER 3
Jack Ashford, c/o home, 1/1, 2 months

National Sports Collectors Convention, Days 4 and 5, plus aftermath, Indians, and TTM

READ MORE: Preview, Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four

NOTE: more photos will be added this week including the 8x10 and 11x14 photos.

A view of the show floor.

I'm back in Texas now after a 6:45 am flight to start my day.  That's 5:45 Central. As one who has never been a morning person, having to deal with pain in my ears and a screaming baby and flight attendants who twice forgot my drink order and weather that is 20 degrees hotter than what I left in Ohio, I arrived home tired and hot.

Saturday: Dad, Bobby Hull, and Johnny Football

Fortunately it was an awesome weekend that had bonuses beyond just attending the National, starting on Saturday.  My dad came down to the show in the morning, and we went down to check it out.  The first place we went was the Panini booth so I could show him a few of the products I've been involved in.  I even got a few boxes to show him, breaking some 13-14 Contenders, Titanium, and Crown Royale hockey. I had a few nice pulls, it was great seeing the stuff I worked on, and my dad seemed pretty impressed by the stuff going on in the card world.

Panini booth

I had set up something with one of our guys from acquisitions and we went over to try that.  I dropped my Milt Plum photo and ticket off with Dan from the SCF board and we headed over to the Case Break Pavilion.  Panini was on the stage breaking some Prime, with Bobby Hull joining them for an interview and to comment on the cards.  It's great to hear from one of the greats and he was hilarious. Only a hockey player could use both the terms "amalgamated" and "shitkicked" in the same breath.  I had talked to one of Panini's acquisitions guys about trying to meet Hull, who is my dad's all-time favorite player.  It looked like we would have a chance, but unfortunately later in the day he was sick and left the show early.

However, we were able to hit up a bunch of tables and I got to talk to a few people who could help me with some of my sets.  I also bought a bunch.  Saturday is the first day you really start to see prices occasionally drop and I foune one that had done so.  Originally they had a bunch of cards at $6 or 5 for $25.  They dropped them to $4 and 7 for $25.  And they had a bunch I needed.  For $41, I knocked out 6 for my football set, 3 for baseball, and picked up 2 I just wanted.  There were some tough signers included in there as well.  At another, I picked up a bunch, mostly basketball, at 3 for $1, as well as some Avs for my wife.

A few set hits

I also got Hanford Dixon and Al Oliver on 11x14 photos with my VIP tickets.  Oliver really liked the photo I had, and Dixon was his usual self, always fan friendly and taking time to sign a good 'graph.  It's just an H, a big loop. and an X, but he always adds his #29, "Go Browns" and his "Top Dawg" nickname.

A typical autograph line. Or a piece of it.

Saturday night was the big one: the Panini VIP Party. As an employee I asked if they needed any help for it and was told to show up a little before 7 and I could certainly assist them. What an event! Julius Erving, Kyrie Irving, Trey Burke, Joe Namath, Tom Glavine, Jose Canseco, Dominique Wilkins, and of course Johnny Manziel.  Plus a live set from DJ Kool of "Let Me Clear My Throat" fame. I got to chat briefly with Erving and Irving, and ended up near Canseco several times throughout the night. The dude is still huge. After I got done working, I got to go and rub elbows with the big spenders-- anyone wanting admission had to buy $7500 worth of Panini products at the show. And here I was, a guy barely able to afford to spend 1/20th of that getting to hang out with them. I love my job.

So while everything was going on, I went over and asked the aforementioned acquisitions guy if there was any chance I could get a photo with Manziel. As the only Browns fan at Panini (as far as I know), I figured I'd have a decent shot. About 15 minutes later, he told me to follow him to the back. After doing a quick interview and a couple photos, Manziel walked over, I got introduced, quickly told him I'm a huge Browns fan working at Panini and would love a photo with him. Manziel could not have been more accommodating. It would be easy for someone in his position to roll his eyes a bit and say "Alright, whatever, let's get this over." But he didn't: he seemed genuinely happy to meet a fan of the team, shook my hand, and posed for a picture, which I posted Saturday night/Sunday morning. I seriously spent the next 30 minutes wondering if that really just happened.

Sunday: The end of a week-long collectibles bender

I was pretty wiped out Sunday morning, but I still had autographs to get and money to burn.  I got Jeff Burroughs on my 11x14 photo (soon to be signed by Tom Grieve as well) and Gary Bell on an 8x10 photo. He added "Smoke em inside" to it as well per my request, quoting his line to Jim Bouton in Ball Four when Bouton asked him how to pitch to guys in a team's lineup. That was Bell's answer for every single one.  In the afternoon, I added Mike Hargrove on a 11x14 photo that he had never seen before, and Len Barker on several items-- my Tom Browning ball (completing a dual-signed by the only two pitchers to toss a perfect game in an Ohio MLB game since World War One), two cards (one for Chris), and a 11x14, celebrating the final out of the perfecto.

Grabbed two of Fedor. That's trade bait!

I also hit up a few more tables, finding one with a ton of hockey autos 3 for $1.  I was able to find several more set needs, knowing my 2004 Choice AHL Top Prospects down to only three unsigned, picking up Yann Danis for the 05-06 UD Rookie Class set, and adding a notorious toughie to my Topps Total set in Fedor Fedorov.  So overall, I added about 20-25 cards to my sets, plus picking up some trade bait and adding some higher-end items via the various signings. I also decided I'm going to start getting the 1972 Topps set signed as much as I can. I'll never complete it, but it would be a fun project to work on. At the very least, I'll get everything signed that I can and at least get the rest of the set unsigned but all together.

Everyone gets a photo with the Stanley Cup.
Cool people do it with the Hart Trophy.

Monday: A bit of IP graphing

On Monday I headed down to The Jake to try my hand at the players' parking lot.  I had pretty decent success-- at least a whole lot better than Arlington.  Ryan Raburn signed 2 cards just after I arrived, followed by 3 from Bryan Shaw, 3 from Marc Rzepczynski, 3 from Mike Aviles, 3 from John Axford, and 1 from David Murphy.  I wish the Rangers had easier access to players like this. The players' lot in Cleveland is fenced in and outdoors so it's easy to see them come and go and to call out to them as they walk to the door.  I stuck around and checked out the game as well with a guy from the show that I met on the hotel shuttle. Good game, Tribe took it to the Reds 7-1 as Corey Kluber once again had a great game. I also surpassed the 50% mark on my goal of 1500 sigs for the year.

The haul from the parking lot. Could have had Reds too
if I was any good at ID'ing them.

Tuesday: I went back to Ohio and my city was gone

Tuesday I mostly spent driving around Lake County. I tried to get in at my old high school but the driveway was under construction so I couldn't get in.  I did go to my old elementary/middle school at least, which is now owned by a college nearby.  I also drove around a few areas mentioned in an article I read on Dustin Spaller, a local athlete who was murdered in his early 20's. I never knew Dustin: he was a few years older than me but we attended the same school briefly. Our moms worked together at the local hospital. Of the places mentioned in the article, Just Teazin' was down the street from my house, I played Little League ball in Rec Park, we used to fill up at the BP station a lot, but Tony's is in what I had always heard was a pretty sketchy neighborhood. I drove around it a bit and it wasn't any worse than some areas I've been through, like Boston's Combat Zone, anything on the MBTA Orange Line, or a few areas of Wichita Falls. From the outside in the daytime it looks like just another bar or Italian restaurant. Granted, after something like this the area may have been cleaned up a bit-- signs are posted that the place is under 24-hour surveillance.  I drove by my old house for a bit and it's almost unrecognizable. New siding, new windows, if I didn't know the location and the shape of it like the back of my hand, I never would have known I had lived there for nearly 20 years. Show me a photo with zero context and I wouldn't know.

Fortunately a lot of things are still around.  Most of the businesses I know are there or have expanded and moved.  Mr. P's Pizza is gone, as is the Donut Stop, but taking their place are a barbecue joint and a cupcake shop.  Downtown, Puritan Bakery closed up, but the old Cards & Games from the Painesville Shopping Center moved in.  I stopped in and picked up a box of 1988 Score baseball just for the hell of it.  At the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor, it seems like every store space is filled.  There are only a couple openings and the mall appears to be doing very well.  I hit East Coast Frozen Custard for the first time in ten years, later finding they had opened a new branch at the Mentor-Painesville line.  Dick's Sporting Goods moved to the mall, and a card shop is also open near it.  I stopped in and talked to one of the proprietors for a while and left him my card.

The business card worked well all week.  I found a few people who may be able to help me out and I them.  I already found one auto for a guy who is collecting all the Fleer sets signed.  I also may have a guy for signed hockey stuff.

To finish things out, I went to my dad's place on Tuesday and he told me he was giving me all his old cards.  He didn't have many: most of his collection had been sold to a friend years ago.  At one point he said he had nearly every card from the late 50's and early 60's.  All he had left are the 1962 and 1963 Topps cards we found in Grandma's attic before she moved into an assisted living home in 1992.  And now 22 years later, he was passing them down to me. Here are a few photos...

Click to enlarge; Brunet lived next door to my dad in the 60's.

To finally top it all off, I had six TTMs waiting for me when I got home.  Each taking less than 3 weeks were Ken Schrom (5/5), Jamie Easterly (4/4), Gerald McNeil (3/3, all personalized), Danny Wuerffel (3/3, plus a donation request), Stevon Moore (3/3), and Matt Stover (4/3, enclosing a signed religious card).

The mailbox was busy while I was away.

I got to hit Melt and Friendly's, picked up chocolates from Malley's, and got another supply of Stadium Mustard. It had been ten years since I had Pierre's and East Coast Frozen Custard.  I love going back to Cleveland. I just wish I could do it more often.

Anyways, it was an amazing week and I can't wait to do it again, whether it's in the next three years for Chicago and Atlantic City or in 2018 in Cleveland again.  At the very least, now the planning starts for hockey season along with the end of baseball.  I'm sure I'll be cutting back on baseball a bit but we'll see.  At the very least, I've been told I should consider hitting Frisco this weekend.

I may also write a full-week recap of this on SCF or elsewhere. We'll see.

Until next time, Cleveland.

Update coming!

My luck has been absolute shit the last few weeks.

The Coyotes and Lightning stayed at the Casa De Impossible.

The Stars haven't had any alumni signers or practices.

The Olympics meant no hockey at all for a good chunk of the month.

The Rangers are all in Arizona for Spring Training.

So I haven't had much to say on here.  I have gotten a couple TTM's back at least, and tomorrow I should have a good post on tonight's big event with the Stars' Alumni for Mike Modano's banner raising, plus a Stars practice tomorrow, and a card show in Plano. So hopefully I'll have something worth putting up.

I'll say more on the TTM's in tomorrow's post, but I'll tell you at the very least it's one of my all-time favorite hockey players and probably my favorite football player (and one of the reasons I wear #21 in floorball).

It's kinda crappy but kind of good to have a month off.  I'm somewhat recharged, and ready to finish out hockey, get into baseball season, and get to writing a few TTM requests.

42 reasons I'm wearing #21 for floorball

A few months ago I started playing floorball. It's basically like street hockey in a gym with shorter sticks and a dimpled wiffleball that really hurts if you take one to the face or crotch. Apparently it's got backing to possibly be an Olympic sport in 2020.

How I started playing is actually related to autographs tangentially. After Arron, David, and I got the boot from the Omni going for the Capitals, we went to the AAC early and before Craig Ludwig signed, they had a demo of floorball. I tried it, I liked it, and I started playing the next week. Then I got recruited to play on defense for the Fort Worth Venom.

Now that I'm a member of the team, I get to actually have a jersey. I debated long and hard about what number to wear. I wanted something I hadn't worn before. So that eliminated 1 (Baseball 1995), 3 (Baseball 1993-1994, Basketball 1996-97, Soccer 1997-1998, and Hockey 2008-09), 5 (Basketball 1996-97), 7 (Hockey 2007-08), 11 (Baseball 1992), 13 (Broomball 2008-09), 18 (Soccer 1994, and Broomball 2009-10), 23 (Hockey 2001-02), and 50 (Baseball 1996). I considered 73 because I assign that to myself in every sports video game (except Madden since QBs and WRs can't wear it; I wear 11 there), but I just haven't been feeling 73 lately.

And so, after giving it some thought, I picked 21. I was going to give 21 reasons why I'm wearing 21, but there were too many. So I doubled it to give you...

42 REASONS WHY I'M WEARING #21

42 Trajan Langdon
Trajan Langdon was terrible. Dude could shoot like crazy but he was injury prone. If he farted too loudly, he might get whiplash. He had the defensive skills of a sea sponge, and was generally a liability on the court. He was also on the post-Price/Nance/Daugherty, pre-LeBron Cavs. On the plus side, he was smart enough to graduate from Duke with degrees in BOTH mathematics and history, and is now a scout for the Spurs. And his middle name is Shaka. That's awesome.

41 Nnamdi Asomugha
His name starts with a double consonant, which is awesome because no other names do that, except guys named Lloyd, and former major leaguer Kevin Mmahat. And I named my fantasy football team Asomugha To Mouth.

40 Paul O'Neill
My parents saw O'Neill play minor league ball in Cedar Rapids, IA before I was born. Lots of people said O'Neill was a massive jackass. Lots of people say I am too.

39 Cory Sarich
As a defenseman, it seems only appropriate that a d-man is the first hockey player to be listed here. The Hockey News says of Sarich "Usually plays a safe game from the back end. Owns thunderous body-checking acumen and defensive poise. Has the ability to put his stamp on a game physically. Plays through injuries and leads by example...  Isn't the fastest and most elegant skater out there." That sounds like me. Insert runner for skater, though.

38 Stan Mikita
Mikita and Bobby Hull (my dad's favorite hockey player) invented the curved stick, something that is now de rigeur in hockey and floorball.  Stan was a very edgy player early in his career with four seasons of 100+ PIM before changing his style and even winning two Lady Byng Trophies as the league's most gentlemanly player. The guy played 1958-80 with a single team. No one does that anymore.

37 Mark Osborne
You're probably all wondering who the hell he is. Osborne was one of the first players I remember for the old Cleveland Lumberjacks in the IHL, my home area's first hockey team of my lifetime. Effective checking forward with some scoring punch.

36 Tony Granato
One of the best American players ever. Sister Cammi also wore #21. Survived a crazy brain injury and even played five more seasons after it. Current assistant coach of my Penguins, former coach of my wife's Avalanche.

35 Doug Jarvis
Played in 964 consecutive NHL games. As someone who finds it hard to get up and go to an awesome job on back to back days and doesn't have to dodge flying bodies at it, this should serve as inspiration.

34 Kevin Edwards
One of my first experiences with anything related to school came in the late 1980's when my mom was in nursing school at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, OH. I'd usually end up at the daycare center there after my pre-kindergarten classes in the morning. Edwards played at Lakeland from 1984-86 before going on to DePaul University and a thirteen-year NBA career.

33 Brent Sutter
Eighteen years in the NHL, two Stanley Cups, 800 points (most between him and his five brothers), three 30-goal seasons, and 40 fights. Not too shabby.

32 Bob Lemon
Versatility was the key to Lemon's career.  He played 10 games as a third baseman, entered the Navy for World War II, then came back and won 207 games over 13 seasons as a pitcher. He placed Top-5 in the AL MVP voting three times and was a seven-time All-Star. He won a World Series as a player in 1948 and as a manager in 1978.

31 Jyrki Lumme
Lumme was my polar opposite: smooth skater, great puck handler, defensive liability, and soft as a turd. But he's Finnish and an awesome passer. I'll allow him to grace the list.

30 Espen Knutsen
Knutsen was one of the first good players for the perennially hapless Columbus Blue Jackets. Unfortunately his name gets unfairly attached to Brittanie Cecil, the young fan killed when a shot by Knutsen was deflected into the stands, killing her two days later. His career never regained the potential it showed after the accident. Brittanie's family has never held him responsible for her death.

29 Iman Shumpert
He needs to bring the flat top back. He had distinctive hair. I have distinctive hair. I know nothing about him as a player, because basketball.

28 Randy Moller
Tough defenseman, and hilarious broadcaster.

27 Sheldon Brookbank
Tough defenseman, though not as tough as brother Wade. Team-first guy, good shot from the point, shitty skater. Career potential, per THN: Rugged depth defenseman. Sounds like me.

26 Greg Swindell
Fort Worth native. Two stints as a Cleveland Indian. Opening Day starter in 1989 and 1991. I've met him a couple times and he's a good guy. Has an autistic son. World Series winner with Arizona. Hoping to see him again in Frisco this year for the Reebok Heroes Celebrity game.

25 Steve Leach
When it comes to the world of hockey fights, Steve Leach was what one would call a punching bag. In 95 career NHL fights, I can think of maybe five that he won. But the fact is he always showed up. Ultimate balls-to-the-wall, team-first type of player. Very few of us can be a Mario Lemieux or Bob Probert in our day to day lives, being the star or the heavyweight champ. Steve Leach was far from being Probert and even farther from being Lemieux, but dammit he showed up and tried his ass off. That's all any of us can really do in life.

24 Craig Coxe
Joins Leach in the willing but not able category. Coxe wasn't much better with maybe 10 career wins, but while he often found himself getting outpunched, he was an all-offense fighter who went with everyone in some absolute slugfests. See his two fights with Bob Probert to get an idea.

23 Jason Smith
Former captain of the Flyers and Oilers, calling him rugged would be an understatement.

22 Cam Neely
I know, the Bruins fans are screaming about how Seabass wore #8. But before the best trade in Boston history, Neely was wearing #21 with the Canucks. Current Stars' head coach Lindy Ruff kicked his ass a month before I was born. Neely avenged it twice in the following four years. 50 goals in 44 games on gimpy knees is pretty good too.

21 Dominique Wilkins
Possibly the most underrated basketball player in my lifetime (please note my basketball knowledge is also bordering upon zero). That's what happens when you're stuck on an obscure and perpetually mediocre team like the Atlanta Hawks. Point out the irony of my view of him compared to how I feel about Lebron James and the Cavs and I'll snipe you in the balls.

20 Sean Taylor
Carpe diem, memento mori. Big hitter. In a big bit of irony, after starting to clean up his life following some brushes with the law early in his career, Taylor was killed in 2007 when his house was robbed.

19 Dan Kordic
There has been a long tradition of Flyers' tough guys wearing #21. Kordic was in the middle of this streak. Brother of my favorite fighter John Kordic, Dan was bigger, with the same willingness to get into toe-to-toe slugfests, but with more power behind what he was throwing. Was in refereeing school for a while, but haven't heard anything about that in ten years or so.

18 Jamal Mayers
Again to THN: "Was big, strong, tough and determined, and also a far better skater than the average banger. Could win face-offs, play all three forward positions and kill penalties... Didn't have much of an offensive arsenal. Would take a few bad penalties on occasion. Played out of control at times. Wasn't a great pugilist and rarely won fights... Defensive energy forward and role player."

17 Sean O'Donnell
O'Donnell was the prototypical defensive defenseman of the late 90's through 00's. In other words, you never notice him unless he screwed up, and fortunately he rarely did. Played until he was 40, won a Cup in Anaheim, and was a +94 for his career despite being on some truly mediocre teams. I fart harder than he shoots.

16 Mike Hargrove
The guiding force behind the great Indians teams of my adolescence that just couldn't quite get that final push to win it all. Took a young team from the tragedy of Steve Olin and Tim Crews' deaths and turned it into a pennant winner in a year and a half. Still the best Indians manager of my lifetime (of course, there is little competition for that title with only Francona being anywhere close).

15 Stephane Quintal
Mostly wore 5 for his career, but originally had 21 as a Bruin. Great leader, excellent positional defenseman, not afraid to throw down the gloves when needed for about 15 years.

14 Bob Baun
Getting hit by Baun was like running into a water tower. Scored a Stanley Cup winning goal on a broken leg. Guy obviously had balls the size of Nebraska.

13 Hector Marinaro
Greatest indoor soccer player ever. Seven-time league MVP, 1,222 goals, 701 assists in 685 games. Tallied the winning goal in Cleveland's first sports championship of my lifetime. Currently the head coach for John Carroll University's soccer team in University Heights, OH.

12 Dave Brown
The best left hand in the business. Here's a few of those Flyers #21 tough guys: Brown, Kordic, Smith, Jesse Boulerice, Frank Bathe, Mike Busniuk, Jim Cunningham, Darryl Edestrand, Bill Flett, Don Gillen, Tony Horacek, Sandy McCarthy, Gary Morrison, John Paddock, Al Secord, Mike Siklenka... It's crazy. I have a Flyers jersey. I may get 21 put on the back with a name of just "GLOVE DROPPER" or something.

11 Roberto Clemente
It's interesting that Clemente's jersey number was exactly half of Jackie Robinson's. Clemente deserves the same recognition but only seems to get half of what Robinson got even though he largely opened the door for Latin American players to be successful in MLB. Great humanitarian, would probably have gotten another 300-500 hits in his career if not for the plane crash that killed him. Topps insisted on calling him Bob on cards for years. He hated it. I would too.

10 Jerry Toppazzini
Toppazzini was an excellent shot-blocking defenseman. He also was the last NHL position player to play goalie in a regular season game, spending the final 30 seconds of a game between the pipes in 1960 after the Bruins' goalie was injured. Back then teams didn't dress a backup and rather than wait for the emergency goalie to come from the stands to get dressed, Topper suited up. In 1965, it was finally required for teams to dress two goalies. If that doesn't scream "team player," nothing does.

9 World B. Free
See #41: World B.'s given name was Lloyd. Cleveland Cavalier from 1982 through 1986. You can't not like a guy who changes his name to World B. Free. Julius Erving said Free was one of the best scorers he ever played with. Also, read the last question of this interview.

8 Randy McKay
The guy had 20-goal potential (and he did it twice) and would fight anyone. Threw down with Dave Brown, Link Gaetz, both Kordic brothers, Terry Carkner, Gord Donnelly, Stu Grimson, Basil McRae, Ken Daneyko, Jeff Beukeboom, Ken Baumgartner, Louie Debrusk twice in one night, Jim McKenzie, Brad May, Darren McCarty, Darren Langdon, Craig Berube, Donald Brashear, Paul Laus, Brendan Witt, Tie Domi... The list goes on. Two-time Cup winner. Graduate of Michigan Tech, my dad's alma mater.

7 George McPhee
McPhee was 5'9" 170. If they weighed his balls, he'd be over 250. For more, I go to a poster known as pockmarx at DropYourGloves.com: "George McPhee was a little guy who had this crabs-in-a-barrel playing style that included much throwing of hands with some goal scoring and effective play mixed in. I remember a fight he had with Rick Tocchet... One of these days I'm going to see some player get in a fight and his nose is going to explode spraying blood and cartilage all over my TV screen. This fight came as close to any fight I've seen where that could have actually happened."

6 Andrew Ference
THN Scouting Report: "Can also play a physical game, despite his lack of size." When I played high school hockey I was the guy that finally got ice when the game was safely out of reach. The one thing I could do was hit though, despite being only about 5'6" 160 at the time.

5 Borje Salming
Also nothing like me as a player, but he's a Sami, and there's a good chance that I have some Sami blood in me somewhere as a quarter of my family comes from northern Finland, part of the area they inhabit. Other famous Sami include Joni Mitchell, Jaco Pastorius, and Renee Zellweger.

4 Warren Spahn
Spahn was born 63 years to the day before me. He was my dad's favorite ballplayer. Won a World Series and a Cy Young Award. He probably would have won  more in his career, but the award wasn't created until 1956 and was a single MLB award until two years after Warren retired. When someone names the greatest pitchers of all-time, Maddux, Ryan, Koufax, Gibson, Mathewson, and Walter Johnson all come immediately to mind. But yet, a lefty who pitched until he was 44 with 363 wins, 2500 strikeouts, thirteen 20-win seasons, and a career ERA barely over 3-- all while missing three and a half seasons for World War II-- seems to slip through the cracks.

3 Eric Metcalf
This says enough on why I would pick him. My normally stoic father was reduced to a nine-year old jumping up and down with the real nine-year-old in the house (me) and pointing at the TV, shouting "LOOK AT HIM GO! LOOK AT HIM GO!" when Metcalf ran back the second one. Sure, you could breathe on him hard and he'd go down, but aside from Josh Cribbs, the Browns have never had a player this electrifying.

2 Peter Forsberg
While I'm not a huge fan of him, he's my wife's favorite player of all-time. If it hadn't been for him, she never would have been into hockey, and we never would have met. So he gets a pretty good spot on the list. Two-time Cup winner, Triple Gold winner, Hart Trophy winner, career +238 rating.

1 Antoine Roussel
Roussel is rapidly becoming my favorite player. He's a pest, and I've always been a pest in every sport I play. I deliver borderline hits, I take late whacks, I have been known to slightly embellish once in a great while, I celly in annoying ways, I run my mouth, but I'll back it up if challenged. And I can chip in some scoring and defensive skill. Roussel is the same way. He was the first player to come to mind when I thought about what number I should wear.

BONUS REASONS
21 is also the target number of blackjack. Plus it's half of P.J. Stock's Bruins' sweater number of 42, and many people know that I am completely, unequivocally, 100% gay for P.J. Stock. And I was considering wearing 73, and 7x3=21. Also, 2+1=3, which-- as shown above-- I've worn in pretty much every other sport.

Also, I looked through some historical things: there have been 53 players in NHL history named Drew, Andrew, or Andy. I counted up what number each wore and for how many seasons. The leader was #21 with 32 player-seasons. The runners up were 25 (25 player-seasons), 9 and 35 (18 player-seasons each; Andy Moog wore all 18 of the seasons in #35), and 20 (17 player-seasons).

The 21st president was Chester A. Arthur, who succeeded James A. Garfield, who lived near my hometown. That's stretching it a bit, I know.

Anyways, it just seems right for me to wear.

Also, I'm having them put my family's original last name of Peltoperä on the back if we do names. I figure since so many Finns play floorball, I might as well try to bring some extra sisu to the squad and go by Antero Peltoperä. Why not, right?