2013 Blowout purchase #3: a Michigan BIPPing, part 3

Today you get to see the final nine cards of the 28-card TK Legacy Michigan auto lot I picked up a few weeks ago.  As a reminder, you can see Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.  Today's gonna be a little different since only six of the cards are football--there's also a basketball pair and one from hockey as well!

Dan Dworsky 2004 TK Legacy Special Career (Architect) auto (#030/150)

Dworsky was primarily a LB, but also played FB and C for Michigan from '45-'48 (and earned a pair of letters as a wrestler as well!).  He was a member of the '47 and '48 undefeated champs coached by legendary Wolverine Fritz Crisler.  After a lone pro season, he finished his degree in architecture and went on to a fantastic career in that field.  This card, from a subset that highlights non-football accomplishments of several alumni, celebrates a career that includes Michigan's Crisler Arena (basketball), named after his favorite coach; designing the block "M" seating at the Big House, UCLA's Drake track and field stadium, and lots, lots more.

Dworsky actually has a second card in the six-card subset specifically highlighting designing Crisler Arena.  The others include a pair of cards honoring astronaut Jack Lousma, plus one each for broadcaster Jim Brandstatter and some former president named Gerry Ford.  I haven't seen much of the other cards, but Dworsky has a nice signature, and he's very welcome as a new member of the PC!

Forest Evashevski 2002 TK Legacy QB Club auto (#283/500)

"Evy" was a native Detroiter who played QB at Michigan from '38-'40.  A smallish high school player due to skipping a few elementary school grades, Forest was so hardcore that after a rough tackle of a punt-returner that knocked him out, he suffered a CEREBRAL HEMORRHAGE that should have ended his playing career right there, but he joined the Wolverines a couple years later instead.  As an excellent blocker, he was very effective in the aforementioned Crisler's (gimmicky, if you consider it today) single-wing system, in which he blocked Michigan legend Tom Harmon to the 1940 Heisman.  Evashevski later coached Iowa to some good seasons, including the 1958 national title, and was their AD for a couple years as well.  He died in 2009 at the ripe old age of 91.  And as you can see here, he had a fantastic signature, plus he rocked the old-timey leather helmet!  Welcome to the PC, Evy.

Chris Floyd 2002 TK Legacy 1997 National Champions auto

Floyd was a FB from '94-'97, which means that yes, he played for the '97 National Champs!  Another Detroiter, he never got to touch the ball a ton, but did rush for a pair of TDs that year while blocking for RBs Chris Howard and Anthony Thomas.  Floyd was one of five players that year to get drafted, going in the 3rd round to the Patriots.  He would play three seasons combined with the Pats and Browns before retiring.  As with everyone else today, he's new to the PC, and his autograph here looks very cool.

Dennis Franklin 2002 TK Legacy QB Club auto (#58/300)

Franklin ('71-'74) is fairly well known as Michigan's first black QB, but he deservedly prefers to be remembered as much more than that.  Hailing from Michigan pipeline Massillon, Ohio, Franklin's stats are somewhat reminiscent of a more recent Michigan QB--Denard Robinson.  He led the Wolverines in both passing offense and total offense all three years he started, and the team went 30-2-1 under his leadership, good for three straight Big Ten titles (tied with OSU), including the famous screw-job in '73 that saw the conference unfairly choose the Buckeyes to go to the Rose Bowl over Michigan.  Dennis, who has an awesome name, by the way, was a later-round draft pick of the Lions, who converted him to WR, but his pro career was brief (and honestly, who wants to play for the Lions, anyway?).  He's since gone on to successful careers as a TV exec and real estate agent.  I wish him a warm welcome to the PC in the form of this great autograph!

John Herrnstein 2003 TK Legacy Cover Boys auto

Herrnstein came from another family of Michigan Men, with his father, grandfather, and great uncle also suiting up for the Wolverines.  As for John, he was an excellent athlete, successful in both football and baseball, '56-'58.  A productive FB/LB, Herrnstein saw his football career end early in 1958 due to a bad knee injury, but MLB's Phillies came calling, and John would appear in the Majors for the Cubs and Braves as well, tallying 8 HR in 239 games over five seasons.  He was actually involved in the trade that sent Fergie Jenkins from Philadelphia to the Cubs in 1966.

This Cover Boys subset is very cool and I actually have one other of these:  Steve Smith's (Indiana, 1983).  This one highlights what's probably John's career highlight game:  1958 against USC, in which he rushed for a personal best of 144 yards while scoring twice against the Trojans in a narrow 20-19 win at the Big House.  Considering how little space he had to work with, Herrnstein did an amazing job with his very legible signature, and I'm happy to officially welcome him to my collection.

Leo Koceski 2003 TK Legacy 1948 National Champions auto

Leo was nicknamed both "Bugsy" and the "Canonsburg Comet," a callback to his birthplace.  Plus, as we all know, 50% of nicknames are in the form of birthplace + alliterative noun.  If you want to see an example of how amazing technology is nowadays, have a look at this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article from December 31, 1948!  My favorite quote:  "Ever since I was in the sixth grade...I had wanted to go to Michigan.  It seemed too good to be true when they accepted me."  Me too, Leo, me too (though I'd argue I knew long before then that I wanted to be a Wolverine!).

Koceski was a dynamite running back despite his relatively diminutive stature, and he enjoyed a great career for the Wolverines, including winning the '48 National Championship.  He was another player that was an excellent athlete, good enough to be captain of the baseball team in 1951.  For all that, and his very well done signature, I heartily welcome him to the PC!

The next three cards come from the Michigan MultiSport Varsity Club set put out by TK Legacy in 2004:

Steve Grote 2004 TK Legacy Varsity Club auto

I couldn't find a whole lot about Grote, but he was co-captain of the '76-'77 Big Ten Conference champs who made it all the way to the Elite Eight, plus started and ended the season ranked #1 by the AP.  He's got a really nice signature, and I can always use new members for my Michigan basketball PC!

Dave Strack 2004 TK Legacy Varsity Club auto

Strack attended Michigan from '43-'46, but is perhaps more well known for his tenure as Wolverines basketball head coach from 1960-68.  Besides a trio of Big Ten titles, he (and Cazzie Russell, of course) took Michigan to their first NCAA title game in 1965, losing to legendary coach John Wooden's UCLA squad.  I'm happy to have added another member to the basketball PC today, especially one with such a nice signature.

John Matchefts 2004 TK Legacy Varsity Club auto

Matchefts, a Minnesotan high school virtuoso, starred for the '51-'53 National Champ Wolverines hockey teams and averaged a pair of points-per-game.  He later coached Colorado College (1966-71) and Air Force (1974-85) before being inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame.  That's a nice signature to go along with a classic hockey pic!

This purchase obviously did wonders for the size and diversity of my Michigan collections--mainly football, of course.  The new totals for the three sports involved are:

• Football:  710 (120 unique players)
• Basketball:  19 (8)
• Hockey:  63 (23)

And better yet, the four-sport total continues to near a huge milestone.  In the meantime, I can't be happier about picking up 27 fantastic new PC cards for such a reasonable price!

I'll be back soon with more stuff, including an eBay purchase I've been meaning to post, plus lots more COMC cards!

COMC haul #10: What's Red and Blue and Maize All Over?

(Note:  all COMC haul posts can be accessed here)

Just a quick one today as I'm off to see Michigan take on Notre Dame in some hot (or cold, as the case may be) puck action at Yost, tonight at 7:35.  It's been a bit of a shaky start for Michigan Hockey so far this season, but that was to be expected after losing our outstanding walk-on senior goalie, regardless of how much fresh talent came in.

This evening happens to be a special event:  after some excellent off-season renovations, Yost Ice Arena will be rededicated in an intermission ceremony.  Here's a couple quick shots as a reminder of what the old barn looked like earlier this year, outside and in:

It should be a great time, and while I was thinking about bringing that up on the blog, I thought I'd take the opportunity to show off one of my several hockey pickups that were part of the COMC haul:

Red Berenson 2004-05 In the Game Franchises US West auto

This is a beautiful signature (on a somewhat ugly card) of former NHLer and current legendary Michigan coach, Gordon "Red" Berenson.  He definitely doesn't have very much in the way of autographs, so I tend to grab what I can of him, and in this case the price was right at under $4.50.  It's actually my third autograph of him as I own a pair of TK Legacy 'graphs, one that includes star goalie Marty Turco and one of Red solo.  You might also remember that I met Red in-person last year and snagged his signature on a Michigan game-used puck:

Red had a very productive career as a player, but he'll go down among the all-time greats when he retires as Michigan's hockey coach (which will hopefully be never) because of the job he did reinvigorating college hockey's greatest historical program.

So hopefully I'll get to witness yet another win for our esteemed coach.  Go Red, and GO BLUE!!

Card show report: 5/5/12: Michigan stuff edition

Yesterday's TMV post covered most of my day's activity at a show during which I landed a couple autographs from former Michigan QB Rick Leach.  I did want to make sure to highlight the small handful of Michigan pickups I nabbed, though.  Each and every one of these seven cards represents a new member to their sport's PC, which I was thrilled about, not to mention the relatively low price I paid for each:

2004 TK Legacy Michigan autos:

Ali Haji-Sheikh:  K, 1979-1983 

Curt Mallory:  DB, 1989 

Greg McMurtry:  WR, 1986-1989 

John Kolesar:  WR, 1985-1988

Mike Lantry:  K, 1972-1974

Ron Johnson:  HB, 1966-1968

These ran me $3 each, which I consider a steal when they tend to go for at least twice that, even for more obscure players, online.  I now have 75 different Wolverines players and coaches in my football PC, and I hope to continue growing that number, most likely through the TK set.

And then I also picked up this beauty:

Andy Hilbert 2005-06 In the Game Nameplates Silver patch (1 of 20)

Yeah, it's from a Providence Bruins jersey instead of a Boston patch, but it's still a very cool card, plus a new player for my hockey PC!  Hilbert was a pretty good forward for the Maize and Blue who hasn't done much in the NHL, but as always, I'm more than happy to have something of him in the PC.

That's it for the show stuff, but I have a few different eBay things coming in the next week or so, then plenty of other stuff to scan up/show off.  As Rick Leach wrote in my book yesterday, GO BLUE!

Check out my blowout: day 2: Be a Player, not a hater

Previously:  day 1

I'm back today with more from my huge COMC purchase.  Back on Monday I showed off the three basketball hits I picked up for myself.  Today, in honor of the highest remaining seed left in the CCHA tournament (and a team that'll hopefully win Friday and Saturday night), we're moving on to a few Michigan hockey pickups from that package.  Notice I said "a few"--I have more for a later date.

It just so happens that all three of today's cards hail from the same set, which made them a perfect choice for one post:

Brendan Morrison 2005-06 Be a Player Signatures auto:

I've made multiple promises to myself to get more stuff of the former Hobey Baker winner, and I finally made some more progress on that front.  I now have two relics and two autos of Morrison, putting him one card behind current hockey leader Marty Turco, so that's progress in and of itself.
This is a pretty cool card for a sticker auto, although it's unfortunate that the autograph area consumes almost half the card.  The rest of the layout and photograph are very sharp, though, and I do like the autograph.  Plus, of course, I really like the way the card goes with the other two you'll see below. 

Mike Comrie 2005-06 Be a Player Signatures auto:

This is my third Comrie (all autographed), which is a nice start to a PC of a player who just retired last month after a solid, if brief, NHL career.  I'm sorry to see him hang 'em up so soon since he was such a force in his short time with Michigan, but I suppose there's worse things than being a young, wealthy retiree married to Hillary Duff, right?

Mike Knuble 2005-06 Be a Player Signatures auto:

Today's other Mike is former Red Wing (among other teams) Knuble.  A prolific four-year scorer at Michigan, he played for Detroit his first two pro seasons and joined them in winning the '97-'98 cup before moving on to the Rangers, then Bruins (as pictured here), Flyers, and finally Capitals.  Up until this season, he'd scored 20+ goals every year since '02-'03, but this year has been quite a downer as his stats are pretty terrible across the board.  Maybe he can find his way back to a team that knows how to use wily veterans as effectively as anyone--say, somewhere close to his old stomping grounds?  Just a thought....

Tune in again soon for more from this ginormous package as I have some hockey left, a good amount of baseball, and tons of football to show off.  This could take a while!

Jesus saves, Michigan scores!

So here's what I did with MY weekend:

College hockey is a passion of mine here in Ann Arbor because, like football, Michigan has what's historically the best program in the history of the sport.  It's also the case that attending hockey games in person at Yost Arena is WAY more fun than Wolverine football games because our hockey fans are just better at being louder and into the game.  It doesn't hurt that our student section, pep band and gameday traditions are unparalleled.

The old barn:  Yost lit up after Saturday night's game

All that said, this weekend was about the second round of the soon-to-be-defunct Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) conference playoffs.  Michigan finished second in the conference this year and drew a first-round bye, then played Notre Dame this weekend in the usual best-of-three series.

Game 1 on Friday night looked like it would be a laugher when Michigan scored just over a minute in.  It actually proved to be a nail-biter thanks to both goalies standing on their heads, especially Michigan's former walk-on, inspiring mighty-mite, Shawn Hunwick.

Michigan dominated much of the action, though the Irish had their own good chances, but the score refused to change.  Meanwhile, most of the arena's occupants were glued to their phones following the Wolverines' progress in the Big Ten basketball tournament and their nail-biter of a matchup against Minnesota.  A miraculous comeback led to overtime, during which Michigan finally pulled away and earned an exciting win.  When the score was posted on Yost's brand new scoreboard, the whole arena lost it.

Although Michigan had plenty of golden opportunities, the lead remained 1-0 going into the third.  Hunwick made some ridiculous saves, but Notre Dame finally capitalized around halfway through the period, bringing on overtime...and ANOTHER overtime when an extra 20 minutes just wasn't enough to settle things.  Fortunately, just three minutes into the second extra period,

Flower Mound, Texas' Chris Brown found the upper right corner of the Irish net, the roof of the building blew off and everyone FINALLY got to go home, but not until the student section proudly raised the Texas flag (told you our fans are the best!), something they're known for, such as celebrating fan favorite Carl "Bork" Hagelin with the flag of his motherland, Sweeden.  All in all it was an exciting, tiring night of heart-attack hockey (and basketball), and everyone went home dreaming of sweeping away leprechauns with brooms.  I got a little ahead of myself, though, since I was sitting over by the banner, and decided to get a better shot of all of our hockey titles:

Saturday night's game two was a little bit different (fortunately).  Michigan fans had bittersweet hopes that it would be the final game for seniors Luke Glendenning, Greg Pateryn, David Wohlberg and most of all, hockey Jesus Shawn Hunwick.

This time it took until one minute was LEFT in the period for the Maize and Blue to open up the scoring, but that's exactly what senior David Wohlberg did, sending Michigan into the locker room with tons of momentum.  The second period featured two more Michigan tallies, including a second from Wohlberg, before the Irish finally responded with a goal of their own.  Then it was time to

daaaaaaaaaaaaance!  It's still the best student tradition in college hockey, and it's only gotten better since, once the band plays the final verse, the students kick off one final encore a capella.  The whole building gets into it and it really gets you ready for the final period, which actually ended up being a bit more exciting than I thought it would.  Down 3-1 late, Notre Dame opted to pull their goalie, then Michigan was randomly penalized with under two to go, meaning it faced a 6-on-4 essentially the rest of the game.  The Wolverines were up to the task, though and never did allow a special teams goal this weekend.  So it was time to celebrate!

 First with each other, then,

saluting the crowd before making plans for Joe Louis Arena and the semi-finals next Friday.

I've been going to the Yost-hosted rounds of the CCHA tourney for years and I've only seen Michigan go to a third game once; no surprise there since Michigan has now made 24 straight trips to the Joe, another one of our hockey team's incredible streaks.  After the bitter disappointment of last year's NCAA finals loss, there's hope for yet another title run, and hopefully one of the most deserving players ever, Shawn Hunwick, gets to go out a winner.  GO BLUE!