Pics From the Winter Hockey Classic

As you know, I'm a avid hockey fan. And if you happen to love hockey too then you know that the Winter Hockey Classic was played this afternoon on New Years day at Fenway Park. Below are some pics I found featuring this great new hockey tradition. I hope that one day soon they play under a Southern California sun.

BTW, congratulations to the Bruins on a great win in overtime. Also, the USA Olympic hockey team was officially announced after the game and 3 Kings players made it onto the roster. They are hard hitting forward Dustin Brown, defensemen Jack Johnson and rising star goalie Jonathon Quick.

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A little gift to take home found on the seats at Fenway.

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One of the greatest traditions in sport- the post game handshake.

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UPDATE: Here are some more pics found on TwitPic of the Winter Classic.TwitPic Link:

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In other hockey news, a World Junior Hockey Championship tournament game between the USA and Canada was played on New Years Eve. Unfortunately, USA lost in a squeaker during the overtime shootout. Below are video highlights and go here for a nice write-up from MayorsManor.

Have a Safe and Happy New Years Celebration

Have a great New Years Celebration and thank you for reading.

Also, please be safe out there tonight. Please do not drink and drive. To help, go here for some information on FREE rides available throughout the southland.

Orange Countians can ride the OCTA bus system for FREE from 6pm on December 31 – 4am on January 1.

If you will be at a New Years celebration in OC near OCTA routes 43-Harbor, 50-Katella, 57-Bristol/State College, or 60-17th St./Westminster Bl., you will have transit service available all night.

Neighboring counties are also offering special FREE holiday fares.

In Los Angeles, Metro will offer a special holiday FREE fare program for all Metro Bus and Metro Rail lines operating on New Year’s Eve. Metro will also offer 24-hour service, every 20 minutes on the Metro Red, Purple, Blue, Green Orange and Gold Lines from 9pm on Dec. 31 to 5 am on Jan. 1.

In Riverside County, the Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) again will provide FREE rides on all fixed route buses between 6 p.m. until the end of service that evening. On January 1, RTA buses will operate on a Sunday schedule.

In San Diego, MTS, in partnership with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Sycuan, will be offering FREE “Night Owl” service on December 31. Beginning at 9 p.m. and running through the night , all MTS bus and Trolley rides will be FREE of charge. Most bus routes will end at their normally scheduled time, but Routes 7, 11 and 901 and the Trolley will run throughout the night. On New Year’s Day, When one person pays for a bus or Trolley fare, a friend or family member rides free.

"Where Is Rob?" -Clap- Clap-ClapClapClap

Here is another Improv Everywhere prank sprung at a Knicks game. This would be a blast to pull off.

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2009 Topps 206 Dodgers

Topps recently unveiled their "206" set and the collecting world seems very happy about it. Personally, I'm not a bit fan of the cards. I just don't like the photos and backgrounds of the Boys in Blue. Besides, the set pales in comparison to the cards it is meant to resemble- the famous tobacco cards from 1909 called T206. One thing to note is that it marks the 100th anniversary of that vintage set.

Below are the Dodger base cards. There are three old-time Dodgers included in the set- Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson. A mini version of each card is also available.

Jon Broxton

Chad Billingsley

Roy Campanella

Andre Ethier

Rafael Furcal

Orlando Hudson

Matt Kemp

Clayton Kershaw

James Loney

Russell Martin

Juan Pierre

Manny Ramirez

PeeWee Reese

Jackie Robinson

As has become commonplace, several cards have parallel short printed cards inserted in packs. Below is a example of the Roy Campanella base card (on the right) and it's short printed brother (on the left).
Gold bordered mini cards are also included.
Limited "one of one" printing plates are also part of the set. Below is a Rafael Furcal printing plate.
Another premium are silk version of every mini card in the set. I believe they are numbered to 50. Manny Ramirez's silk card is below.A game-used jersey relic of James Loney is below.
An even cooler game-used bat relic card of Jackie Robinson is below.
Clayton Kershaw's inserted autograph card is below.

Card of the Week: Bo Breaks Bats

Bo Jackson could do anything. He played 2 major sports and, according to Nike, he could do more than that. Above is a 1991 Score card of Bo Jackson breaking his bat, and below is the greatest sports commercial ever made.

Blog Kiosk 12/27/2009

• Santa Tommy
• Check out the Hall of Fames biography on 1st time HOF ballot ballplayer Eric Karros.
  
• Raul Mondesi, the politician? Are you kidding me?

  "Most of the people, they don't have anything," said Mondesi, who grew up in crushing circumstances just a few miles away. "I know what they need, how they feel."
  
  Asked for specifics, however, and the closest he comes to a campaign pledge is repeating a desire to build a basketball court in every neighborhood.
  
  "The first thing," said Mondesi, who didn't study beyond grade school, "is to try to show the young people how to play sports."

• GCRL makes a custom card of Sandy Koufax using the 1967 Topps design. I too have always wondered why they excluded him from the base set that year.
• John Sickels of Minor League Ball puts together his Preliminary Dodger Prospect list.
  
• Topps signs an exclusive memorabilia deal with Stephen Strasburg.
  
• Christmas trees from around the world.
  
• Oh No! A Volcano is about to erupt in the Philippines. My family does not live near Mt. Mayon, but it's still scary to think about anyway.
• Here is a great interview with collector and appraiser Mike Gutierrez at the Collectors Weekly.
  
• The Hockey Card Shows 12 Days of Christmas.