Day 2: Counting the Shots

30 Day Challenge: Day 2

I went to my first Mariners game of the year on Friday. The game turned out well with Felix Hernandez putting in a great effort and the bullpen held the slim lead that the offense gave them.  A 2-1 victory is about right for any game that Felix pitches.  

The main highlight of the evening was the stadium giveaway.  The day before the Mariners installed a statue of Ken Griffey Jr.  After being inducted into the Hall of Fame this was inevitable as he is one of the most, if not the most, beloved players in Seattle history.  On game night the Mariners gave out a replica of the statue, which features Griffey with his signature swing.  

Onto day 2 of the challenge!

• Music: A song with a number in the title
• Coheed and Cambria - 33
• Trading Cards: A card with more than one player on it
• 1996-97 Collector's Choice Mini #M135

Coheed & Cambria are often compared to Rush both musically and lyrically.  The lead singer of Coheed has a high falsetto voice much like Geddy Lee of Rush.  Coheed doesn't lean too hard into prog-rock like Rush but Coheed is definitely inspired by the genre.

Both singers wrote about the fantasy genre.  Part of the appeal of Coheed was that each album was a concept album part of a larger story.  I never followed the story to completion (if it even ever happened) as I dropped off from the band before that.  Still, I can appreciate a band with a larger vision.

"33" can either be interpreted as part of the overall Coheed story or it can be interpreted as a song about Patrick Ewing.  The story I heard was that Claudio Sanchez (the lead singer) was at a Knicks game watching Patrick Ewing play from the upper level and was inspired to write a song about him.

I'm willing to believe that the song is about Ewing.  Ewing wore number 33.  Lyrics include such phrases as "Patrick short flip and outside / boundary lines" as in he's throwing a pass to the out of bounds.  Another lyric includes "well nothing looks right from up here / i'm still unclear about the things you might have said."  Since Claudio was watching the game from high above in the arena, he could not make out what Ewing was saying on the court.

No matter the true meaning, it's a fun theory.

I could not pass up the opportunity to post a Patrick Ewing card after writing about a song that may or may not be about Patrick Ewing.  I only have eight cards of his in my collection so it was a difficult choice to pick out which card I would feature.  Actually, it was an easy choice, a Collector's Choice.

The minis from Collector's Choice were always a treat to pull.  The fact that this one features all elite players who are part of the Hall of Fame makes it even better now.

I would not be opposed if this type of three-panel card made a small comeback.  In baseball there seems to be some fatigue over true minis as neither Gypsy Queen nor Diamond Kings had minis this year.  Although I could envision card companies seeing this type of card as too labor intensive (not to mention acquiring three separate photo rights) to reproduce a similar card noways.