MAF, I'm an Idiot.

Marc Andre Fleury, I am an Idiot.

I will continue to rock my White Reebok Practice Jersey with your name emblazoned upon the back and play with swagger in my Sport Gold Replica's of your old pads.

You beat the best in their house on the biggest stage of the game. You deserved that Conn Smythe after the game you played keeping the Wings at bay. You earned a share of that trophy with perhaps the most exciting save in Stanley Cup History, although it was in desperation.

Perhaps you can go back to "teh sportzgoldz beeboxers pads" that us hockey players fawned over as recently as a year ago.

Perhaps, you don't have to do a damn thing. Your the best at your position right now.

Enjoy that Cup. Take it apart. Eat cereal out of it. Find some kid to place inside the Lord Stanley's Chalace. Use it as a dog bowl. Throw it in a river for a night. Just don't defaecate in it (or at least don't tell anybody about it).

Naming Wrong's

Brief and to the point.

Why was it necessary to ruin such a beautiful name for a stadium such as Shea Stadium, Joe Robbie Stadium, or the Skydome?

With such a rich history behind Shea Stadium and the reason why it's named, why would they sell the naming rights to CitiBank? What's Ironic is that it has yet to effect the way those who travel to Queens Borough call the new Ballpark.

I figured I'd give a little free plug today for what I think are some pretty awesome shirts. Over at No Mas, they have devised a cool little T-Shirt Campaign that I plan to purchase a few shirts from. Right now I believe they only have Shea Stadium and Joe Robbie, but eventually they plan to add other cities.

Give them a look. You won't be disappointed in their creativity or design.

Wearing Out Your Welcome

While most are glued to the 2009 MLB Draft, my eyes are set on the Stanley Cup Finals. With hockey's holy grail in sight, it's become evident that the National Hockey Leagues version of the New York Yankees is about to take center stage.

With a powerful lineup boasting such stars as Nicolas Lindstrom, Pavel Datsuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, and Marian "Benedict Arnold" Hossa- the roster is packed with explosive scoring punch at every position.

Not to mention the ever youthful Chris Osgood, and this team should be repeating and hoisting the Cup around the Mellon Arena ice.

But could this be the end for Marc Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh. This would prove to be the second straight year that Fleury has led the Penguins to the finals only to be a disappointment. This year he has been able to steal one game from the Red Wings after being swept last year but he's done nothing to prove naysayers wrong.

With the two poor goals in Game One at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, I quite honestly gasped watching as even an amateur college goaltender such as my self would have been prepared for the big rebound most boards behind the net produce.

If Mr. Fleury can manage to contain his flair for the theatrics this series should be going to 7 games. With luck, one of my favorite goaltenders in the NHL won't wear out his welcome in Pittsburgh after negating the talent of Sidney Crosby and Evengi Malkin for a second additional year.

The first class city and hardworking people should never settle for second fiddle, and my feeling is that they won't.

Want and Haves List

It's come to my attention that Blogspot tends not to give additional pages for different topics.

Hopefully I can edit this post as time moves forward, but only time will tell.

My want lists right now, are very crudely:

2009 Topps Heritage (need most Short Prints).
2,,38,39,42,45,56,74,82,96,114,154,179,200,207, 259, 286, 346, 347, 361, 379, 394, 399,
407,

Short Prints
427,428,429,430,431,433,434,435,436,437,438,439,440,442,443,444,446,447,448,450,451, 452,454,455,457,459,460,461,462,464,467,469,470,471,473,474,477,478,481,482,483,
484,485,486,488,490,492,493,494,498,499,500?


2009 Upper Deck (I'm pretty close to completion so why not)
509 Doug Slayton
539 Aubrey Huff
601-Brandon Phillips
611-????
652-Volstad
712-James Loney
746-Carlos Gomez
906-Brandon Boggs
935-Daniel Cabrera
992 Indians Check List
1002-Trevor Cahill
1003 Jordan Schafer


2009 UD Goudey (Close to the base set 220)

Any Mike Piazza Cards in addition to Game Used and Autographs

Any Mike Piazza Cards of him as a Florida Marlin

John Vanbiesbrouck Cards

Marlins Cards and Autographs

Some Sports 8x10's.

I currently have a massive box of UD 2 to sort out, and over 220 2009 Topps Heritage and Inserts to trade to help fill wants. Let me know if theres anything you'd like.

Forecast: 75% of Rain, 25% Chance of Respectable Attendence

One of the basic facts of life is the inevitability of rainfall. It's coming, prepared or not.

However Major League Baseball (MLB) really did it this year for the Florida Marlins. As many of us South Floridian's know, come June there is no need to water your grass or plants til October hits. That happens to be the rainy season for Miami.

MLB screwed the Marlins into 3 straight rain delays this weekend, and 7 in the past 10 home games against the Diamondbacks and Giants.

The reason: The Schedule called for the Marlins to spend the last week of April and 3 weeks of May almost exclusively on the road.

Why would MLB not try to work with the Marlins and eliminate the fear of rain for about 15 home games this year.

Sports Progamming tends to make a running joke of the Marlins attendence records as much as the Lions and Pirates ability to actually compete.

They need to realize once and for all, that South Floridian's refuse to pay top dollar for a product that has a 50/50 chance of never seeing the field.

Until the Florida Marlins get their beautiful new Ballpark on what is now the gravesite of the Orange Bowl, the Marlins will never draw more then 12,000 fans a game in the Stadium formerly known as Joe Robbie (Dolphin Stadiun, Dolphins Stadium, Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Construction Site A).
_____________________________________________________
Note for Out of Towners: Joe Robbie Stadium is a 23 Year old Football Stadium built in 1987 to sustain a Major League Baseball Franchise if ever an opportunity arose. Joe Robbie Stadium seats over 60,000 for football, however it is reduced to 30,000 for baseball. The Marlins were purchased by a businessman who looked to have the Stadium occupied with a tennent year round. Although the Marlins have been sold 3 times in their 20 year history all money generated by Parking, Concessions, Luxury Boxes and Team Shops goes directly to the owner of the Stadium (which is the Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross). Which explains the 2 "Fire Sales".

Welcome to Card Cluster

Welcome to Card Cluster---
Over the next few months, I'm slowly going to start developing a portfolio of sorts to determine whether I should continue with a change of Majors in College. I'm going to work through a wide range of sports topics. Topics I plan to stick to are: Sports as a business, as a means for competitiveness, a escape from life, and also the ever growing space between players and their fans. Collecting Cards will be a big topic here and I plan to have numerous guest posters. This by no means will be a one man operation. Although I will play a large role in content, I plan for this to be a place where anyone can speak their mind and get feedback from the masses.

Right now-- My brief history:
I'm a Florida Marlins Fan, but also grew up rooting for my Grandfathers team-The New York Mets. Growing up, My favorite player was Mike Piazza due to his Italian Descent and the fact that Piazza is a cool name to say while at the age of 7.

I'm a Mike Piazza Card collector, and I try to focus on his playing days with the Florida Marlins (all 3 hours of it). Despite the lack of a huge history with the Marlins he has about 25 Cards, which makes it a lot easier to collect.

I'm also a Student at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, FL You might remember this school from a little scuffle with UM in the Fall of 2007, or the most recent hiring of Isiah Thomas.

My majors as of right now are Criminal Justice and Political Science, but with a slow eye towards law school once I can afford it. Although, now a day's my mind has been drifting. I love to write, have since a young age. No, I've never tried to get published-but it comes natural to me.
Combine that with my love of sports and anything competitive and I've decided to test the waters before the next semester and more than likely beyond.

With my mind somewhat stuck, I want to get a feel for being a broke Sports Journalist--thanks Mr. Lebatard to sparking these creative juices.

It won't be easy, but one things for sure. If this comes naturally, I may just end up a Sports Marketing and Journalism major.

Who knows, I might even be able to develop such a distinctive voice in the sports world that I become synonymous with broadcasting. Don Cherry, Joe Buck, Dan Fouts, and Dennis Miller--look out, the next crappy broadcaster is born right here.