I've been so busy I almost forgot the game was today. That off week threw me for a loop. I'm saving my vintage Bulldog cards for the games against Florida, Auburn and Ga. Tech, so here's a couple of old Vol cards today.
Hey, that's a Colt, not a Vol. Don't worry, he played for Tennessee.
Bert Rechichar was drafted by the Browns in 1952 and moved on to the Colts the next year. While the position on the card says halfback, Bert was more of a two way player. Make that a three way player actually, as he logged time on offense, defense and special teams. His best position was at defensive back, where he picked off 31 passes in his career.
See, I told you he played for Tennessee. You just have to check the back. While D-back was his primary position, he also did a lot of kicking for the Colts. He had a leg, too. In his first field goal attempt in 1953
he kicked one 56 yards so set the distance record in the NFL. This record stood until Tom Dempsey kicked a
63 yarder in 1970. His leg was strong but not too accurate. He kicked a 91% clip on extra points but was only
31 for 88 on field goal attempts. He made up for it with his play of defense though as he was a three time pro bowler.
Here's Bert's 1956 Topps card, look familiar? Bowman shoulda sued even though they had been bought by Topps already. Topps did make one signifigant change to the card and they stuffed the frot of Bert's pants with about three rolls of toilet paper. Topps wanted everyone to know they had the manliest cards around.
Here's the back of the '56 card, a pretty tight design if you ask me. Bio, stats, cartoon and a nice big number with a football around it. Backs like this is why Topps keeps mining their old sets for designs. The Topps card still says halback as the position, but you'll notice they put his kicking stats on the back. Bert never distinguished himself on offense as far as his stats were concerned. He caught 7 passes for three touchdowns, but his only rushing attempt went for a loss of one. The text talks about his "amazing kicking accuracy (35%??) and the fact that he was in the Cleveland Indians farm system for a while. If things had gone a little differently, David of Tribe Cards might be after Bert's cards instead. The cartoon featuring "Hoppy" Dave Middleton gave me a good chuckle.
Ok, that's enough love for Tennessee, go out and KILL 'em Dawgs!
WOOFWOOFWOOFWOOFWOOF!
UPDATE: Good home victory against a rival. The penalties are getting ridiculous. We need to fix that against Vandy next week, because the schedule is brutal after that. As for
tonight's game, GO LSU!!!
My Google-Fu is failing me today, probably because I'm too geeked about the game to care. I'll figure out who Claude from Waycross is later.
I got cold beer, Tabasco-flavored peanuts in the shell, burgers and dogs and I'm ready for to see a new Lindsey Scott moment as the Bulldogs win the SEC East today.
Ken Kavanaugh was retired from the NFL for five years by the time this card was released. Ken starred as a receiver back when teams just didn't pass all that often. Even so he was the Southeastern Conference MVP in 1939. Oh yeah, he also played Defensive End. That was hardcore football in those days. Ken was drafted by the Bears after his college days and played 8 seasons in Chicago. He missed the 42-44 seasons as he served as a bomber pilot in World War 2. He was a productive receiver for the Bears and amazingly still held four team records at the time of his death in 2007.
As you can see, the wonderful '55 back has the requisite exclamation point in the writeup and one of the weirdest cartoons ever. Anthropomorphic pigs in football gear (but no pants) prancing about in suggestive poses. I think the cartoon right there ensures a Bulldog victory, don't you?
Hey, that's a Colt, not a Vol. Don't worry, he played for Tennessee. Bert Rechichar was drafted by the Browns in 1952 and moved on to the Colts the next year. While the position on the card says halfback, Bert was more of a two way player. Make that a three way player actually, as he logged time on offense, defense and special teams. His best position was at defensive back, where he picked off 31 passes in his career.
See, I told you he played for Tennessee. You just have to check the back. While D-back was his primary position, he also did a lot of kicking for the Colts. He had a leg, too. In his first field goal attempt in 1953 he kicked one 56 yards so set the distance record in the NFL. This record stood until Tom Dempsey kicked a 63 yarder in 1970. His leg was strong but not too accurate. He kicked a 91% clip on extra points but was only 31 for 88 on field goal attempts. He made up for it with his play of defense though as he was a three time pro bowler.
Here's Bert's 1956 Topps card, look familiar? Bowman shoulda sued even though they had been bought by Topps already. Topps did make one signifigant change to the card and they stuffed the frot of Bert's pants with about three rolls of toilet paper. Topps wanted everyone to know they had the manliest cards around.
Here's the back of the '56 card, a pretty tight design if you ask me. Bio, stats, cartoon and a nice big number with a football around it. Backs like this is why Topps keeps mining their old sets for designs. The Topps card still says halback as the position, but you'll notice they put his kicking stats on the back. Bert never distinguished himself on offense as far as his stats were concerned. He caught 7 passes for three touchdowns, but his only rushing attempt went for a loss of one. The text talks about his "amazing kicking accuracy (35%??) and the fact that he was in the Cleveland Indians farm system for a while. If things had gone a little differently, David of Tribe Cards might be after Bert's cards instead. The cartoon featuring "Hoppy" Dave Middleton gave me a good chuckle.
Who played football where? That's right - AUBURN. Suck on it, Tide.
Bright Pink Pants!!!
This is a 1952 Bowman football card. This is the large sized version and is the size of Bowman's '53-'55 sets. There is also a mini version of the set in the size of their '52 baseball cards. I think these are the first large sized cards from Bowman. The change in size was probably a reaction to Topps' huge '52 baseball set.
Claude was one of many Georgia All-Americans from the olden days. The d-back from Waycross served in the Marines and was later drafted by the Steelers. He played for two years in the league and I guess he went on to use that marketing degree as I can't find any recent information on him. No time to look now, it's almost kickoff! Maybe Claude will be there in spirit to pick off a couple passes from Beecher or Smelley (the guy's actual name*) or whoever will be quarterbacking the Cocks today.
I think he was kidding. Then again, dogs around here do love their Braves.
Man, I need this right now. There's too many horrible stressful annoying things going on right now. Three hours a week listening to the Dawgs on the radio is just what the doctor ordered. Man, I hope Larry is calling the game today. Damn, I need Larry to be calling the game today. The perfect combination of homerism and pessimism with a dash of Lady Luck added for flavor.
Here's the back of the card. A nice photo of Marcus showing off his many stickers on the bench is paired with some fun facts about Ohi- wait, what??
