My Post-Finals Pickup
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2024 12:37 pm
This is technically a mail day, but I thought I'd start a separate thread to see if anyone else has any cards they've grabbed to highlight significant moments in their personal life or as a sports fan.
I'm a Celtics fan and, as you all likely know, they recently beat the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Former Celtic Kyrie Irving has seemingly found himself a new home in Dallas. Kyrie's time in Boston was the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It was amazing to see Danny Ainge finally spend some of his draft picks to bring in a winning veteran. Upon his arrival in Boston Kyrie asserted himself as the team leader and for the first 30-40 games was a fan favorite. His offensive abilities are truly remarkable; having the ability to observe his skill game after game was a ton of fun. Things started to go downhill fast though. He was often injured the 2nd half of the 2017-18 season. The team was inconsistent on the court and off the court there was a lot of tension which was highlighted with Jaylen Brown often speaking up to Kyrie or calling him out in the media. Kyrie's injuries continued to limit his ability to be on the court and the team, lead by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, pushed through to the ECF where they eventually lost in 7 games to the team Kyrie forced his way out of.
The next season was even more challenging. It was clear that the team and Kyrie were not on the same page and by the all-star break there were rumors that he was working to get out of Boston. His departure was not graceful and his energy towards the team and city were contentious from that day forward. It was all highlighted by an evening in Boston where after the game Kyrie walked to center court to rub his foot into the Celtics logo. An action that is pity, but has true meaning to professional sports franchises. Kyrie has had nothing but negative things to say about the organization and the city for over 5 years.
Then the Celtics shut down his Mavs in the Finals. For the most of the series Kyrie was a relative non-factor.
I never saw it coming, but this was the one card I bought as a PC item to commemorate the Finals victory, a 2017-18 Flawless Gold Patch/Auto /10
I knew I wanted one card as way to tie my PC into the amazing memories I have of this season. Thankfully, I have pretty much all I need of Tatum, Brown, Horford, etc. I needed something different. Additionally, after getting past Kyrie I felt at peace with all that he brings to the table. I still think he's a jackass, but I can put that aside to appreciate his game and the significant impact (positive and negative) he has had on the current Celtics squad. Without him the team may never have seen the leadership potential in Jaylen Brown and they may have traded him, or they would have continued to try to build around ball dominant guards and lose sight on the need to have versatile wings, or Danny Ainge stays and continues to hoard draft picks. More notably though there are great memories of the moment the Celtics traded for Kyrie, the hope that he brought to the city, the ability for the team early on in 2017-18 to overcome the dreadful Gordon Hayward injury. Kyrie has left a mark on this team that continues to resonate in several way.
So I picked up this card as my "Finals Trophy" I never wanted to own a Kyrie card in my PC until a few days ago. I knew I didn't want a more basic Kyrie card, it had to be something special that I would truly appreciate. I'm a huge Flawless patch fan and now I own one of Kyrie's nicest Celtics cards. This hobby makes you do strange things sometimes!
Please feel free to share other cards you've grabbed to highlight memories.
I'm a Celtics fan and, as you all likely know, they recently beat the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Former Celtic Kyrie Irving has seemingly found himself a new home in Dallas. Kyrie's time in Boston was the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It was amazing to see Danny Ainge finally spend some of his draft picks to bring in a winning veteran. Upon his arrival in Boston Kyrie asserted himself as the team leader and for the first 30-40 games was a fan favorite. His offensive abilities are truly remarkable; having the ability to observe his skill game after game was a ton of fun. Things started to go downhill fast though. He was often injured the 2nd half of the 2017-18 season. The team was inconsistent on the court and off the court there was a lot of tension which was highlighted with Jaylen Brown often speaking up to Kyrie or calling him out in the media. Kyrie's injuries continued to limit his ability to be on the court and the team, lead by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, pushed through to the ECF where they eventually lost in 7 games to the team Kyrie forced his way out of.
The next season was even more challenging. It was clear that the team and Kyrie were not on the same page and by the all-star break there were rumors that he was working to get out of Boston. His departure was not graceful and his energy towards the team and city were contentious from that day forward. It was all highlighted by an evening in Boston where after the game Kyrie walked to center court to rub his foot into the Celtics logo. An action that is pity, but has true meaning to professional sports franchises. Kyrie has had nothing but negative things to say about the organization and the city for over 5 years.
Then the Celtics shut down his Mavs in the Finals. For the most of the series Kyrie was a relative non-factor.
I never saw it coming, but this was the one card I bought as a PC item to commemorate the Finals victory, a 2017-18 Flawless Gold Patch/Auto /10
I knew I wanted one card as way to tie my PC into the amazing memories I have of this season. Thankfully, I have pretty much all I need of Tatum, Brown, Horford, etc. I needed something different. Additionally, after getting past Kyrie I felt at peace with all that he brings to the table. I still think he's a jackass, but I can put that aside to appreciate his game and the significant impact (positive and negative) he has had on the current Celtics squad. Without him the team may never have seen the leadership potential in Jaylen Brown and they may have traded him, or they would have continued to try to build around ball dominant guards and lose sight on the need to have versatile wings, or Danny Ainge stays and continues to hoard draft picks. More notably though there are great memories of the moment the Celtics traded for Kyrie, the hope that he brought to the city, the ability for the team early on in 2017-18 to overcome the dreadful Gordon Hayward injury. Kyrie has left a mark on this team that continues to resonate in several way.
So I picked up this card as my "Finals Trophy" I never wanted to own a Kyrie card in my PC until a few days ago. I knew I didn't want a more basic Kyrie card, it had to be something special that I would truly appreciate. I'm a huge Flawless patch fan and now I own one of Kyrie's nicest Celtics cards. This hobby makes you do strange things sometimes!
Please feel free to share other cards you've grabbed to highlight memories.
