The Firsts Of 2021

*coffee is ready, cards are on the table for pictures which means it's time for some cards over coffee either that it's time for me risking spilling coffee on them. I prefer a post.*

Even though I didn't set any collecting hobby goals for 2021, there are still certain firsts I look forward to accomplishing every year.

The list of those firsts are the following,

• The first major sort. Every year I collect a stack of cards until they fill a 1,000 count box, then I start to break it down and sort it out. This year I have filled two of those boxes thanks to random mail days and a trade with my father that just about filled one up. I plan to post that trade on here.
• The first big trade with each of "My Big Three". On Twitter, I have three guys in Shane, @90sNicheFBCard and @CardpocalypseNC that I do some pretty massive trades with every year. Most of the time we pull off two big trades a year. This year I am slacking on my end with pulling stuff -mainly because of not completing my first major sort-in doing my first major trade with each. I have done my first already with @90sNicheFBCard but am lacking with the other two. My goal is to get those done soon before June ends.
• The first rookie cards of 2021. This one I have accomplished for all sports, well not hockey. But, hockey isn't really a goal anymore. Yes, pun intended.
• And the first 2021 NY Giants cards, including rookies, of the year. This is currently my big chase.

*takes a sip, then continues on*

2020 football card season didn't quite have a draw on me as much as 2021 will. The 2020 Giants selected an offensive lineman in the first round and the rest was defense heavy. I try to get at least a card of each player regardless, but when it comes to chasing that type of draft, I typically don't. This year though, the Giants drafted WR Kadarius Toney in the first round and RB Gary Brightwell in the 6th round which gives me two players to chase this season. So I am pumped about upcoming releases to hopefully score a decent stack of these guys before the season starts.

So far this year, it's been college/no logo heavy early releases in Sage Draft, Leaf Draft, Onyx, and Panini Contenders Draft. Just recently did we finally get some NFL/draft releases in Score and Legacy which are the only two products to include new cards of NFL Veterans in actual NFL uniforms.

I have had no luck in finding Legacy, but I was able to find some Score, which has a good handful of Giants base cards to score. Yes, another pun intended.

Here are the ones I was chasing,

60 Daniel Jones – New York Giants
61 Michael Strahan – New York Giants
62 Saquon Barkley – New York Giants
63 Darius Slayton – New York Giants
64 Blake Martinez – New York Giants
65 Sterling Shepard – New York Giants
66 Golden Tate III – New York Giants
67 James Bradberry – New York Giants
68 Evan Engram – New York Giants

Ladarius Toney

Azeez Ojulari

Here is what I cut it down to,

60 Daniel Jones – New York Giants
61 Michael Strahan – New York Giants
62 Saquon Barkley – New York Giants
63 Darius Slayton – New York Giants
64 Blake Martinez – New York Giants
65 Sterling Shepard – New York Giants
66 Golden Tate III – New York Giants
67 James Bradberry – New York Giants
68 Evan Engram – New York Giants

Ladarius Toney

Azeez Ojulari

There were also some Giants inserts in 2021 Score I will be pursuing and landed a few of as well, but to get the ground running, the base comes first.

Here is the full gallery of what I have landed thus far,

(My first Giants card of him as Panini featured him in Packers gear in all of their 2020 products he was included in.)

(I think I have 3 of these now)

And another first I haven't mentioned, I also chase the first 2021 Giants draft class autographs. Last year I had quite a few gaps and still do, but this year I started at the top.....

 

Kadarius Toney autograph from Onyx. I had looked at quite a few from Score, but they were all $30 plus. This one I traded for from a buddy who snagged it for half of that.

There is still a long football card season ahead and I will have much to chase.

*takes a sip before closing up today's post*

I not only have a list of hobby firsts I like to complete, I also have a list of Coffee Firsts as well.

They are the following, 

• The First Hot Mocha
• The First Iced Coffee
• The First New Flavor Try
• The First Non Coffee Drink
• The First Pumpkin Flavored Coffee (fall)
• The First Mint Flavored Coffee (winter)

So far, I have accomplished the following,

• The First Hot Mocha
• The First Iced Coffee
• The First New Flavor Try
• The First Non Coffee Drink
• The First Pumpkin Flavored Coffee (fall)
• The First Mint Flavored Coffee (winter)

I am off to a roaring start with my Coffee Firsts. Two I can't even accomplish until later on this year and technically that third one could fall under that category as well.

I would enjoy to hear if any of you set any Firsts like this as well. Leave them in the comments. Hope everyone has a great rest of their day.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Monday Morning Cup: Pitt Of Despair

One mans love of NY blue comes to Cards Over Coffee as the season goes on. So it will be football, cards and coffee for this segment.

The new segment is called Monday Morning Cup and yes I know it's Tuesday, but the NY Giants first game of the season kicked off the new year of Monday Night Football. So we are having a Monday on a Tuesday. I am sure many of you have had those before.

*pours a cup of coffee, grabs a stack of Giants cards and takes some pictures. It's time to look back at last nights game*

This team had me very excited. All of the offseason talk about disciplinary coaching, Saquon being healthy, Daniel Jones muscle gain, offensive line upgrade, and the defense with some new additions all led me to believe this was a season of change. I had this team going 8-8 or 9-7 even with their tough schedule.

All of that build up for me who was pimped out in a Daniel Jones jersey for the game, then they actually played.

Last night the Giants fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers 26-16 in a game that brought The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The three headed monster and theme I plan on using for this segment throughout the season to break down each game.

*takes a sip of coffee, still sad from last night but will find some positives to talk about first*

THE GOOD:

The Giants used their franchise tag on Leonard Williams to a lot of disagreement from fans. But, he went out last night and looked the best he has yet for the Giants recording 4 tackles, 2 for loss and even a sack. It was great to see and something this team will need this year.

One of the bigger acquisitions for the Giants this offseason was tackling machine Blake Martinez, need a Giants card of him, who did not disappoint. He recorded 12 tackles and was all over the field. Something the Giants have lacked since they had Antonio Pierce.

Bradberry, the biggest of the offseason moves, recorded 5 tackles and defended 2 passes that would have led to big time plays. So far, so good for him.

Sterling Shepard stayed healthy and looked great making 6 catches for 47 yards. I hope this continues to be the trend for him this year.

Darius Slayton looking like the number one WR on the team with two TD receptions and over 100 yards. He is picking up where he left off last year and has a lot of chemistry with Daniel Jones.

*another sip of coffee before tackling the bad. At least this cup of coffee isn't bad*

THE BAD:

This one isn't all that bad for Daniel Jones because he did throw for 279 yards and 2 TD's against a solid Pittsburgh defense. It's the two interceptions he threw that puts him in the bad category. The first pick was an ugly in traffic throw,  but what really put him in this category was the second pick that came on a long 19 play drive. The Giants were Pittsburgh's 4 yard line when Jones rolled out and was hit with the ball flopping in the air and picked in the end zone that killed the game and ended all of the Giants momentum. He should have either taken the sack or threw it short to Saquon who was open for a few seconds. Not all his fault with how bad that oline was. The play was very reminiscent of one that Eli would have made though.

Not pictured, in the first quarter after a Pittsburgh punt return fumble, Daniel Jones was hit with what appeared was his arm going forward (it really wasn't) and fumbled the ball which was then recovered by the Giants for a Touchdown. This would have given them an early 7-0 lead. Instead, the call on the field was an incomplete pass and Coach Judge decided not to challenge it in which he would have most likely won the call. The Giants ended up settling for a field goal instead.

*holds back tears before summing up the ugliest part of the game, this will take a few sips to get through*

THE UGLY:

This has nothing to do with Saquon, this is all on the offensive line. When your star player rushes 15 times and only ends up with 6 yards, that's not good. That makes your team one sided on offense and that's how a defense wins games. The oline gave Saquon no holes to run though whatsoever. Sadly the leading rusher on the Giants was Jones who was running for his life a lot of times.

Evan Engram with so much potential but just can't quite get there. He dropped a wide open pass in the first quarter, got called on a Pass Interference in the second quarter, couldn't run block and ended up with only 2 catches for 9 yards. The two back up tight ends had more production then he did which makes you wonder if he is a prime trade candidate for the Gmen who could use Engram for other holes on the team.

Finally, let's talk some Dion Lewis. One, he had 7 seconds left to the first half and chose not to take the ball out on a kickoff. Secondly, Jason Garrett didn't use him. They saw the struggles with Saquon why not change the pace some and add Lewis in more? He had one carry for one yard. Even the Steelers put Conner on the bench and put in Benny Snell who had a big game after Conner was going nowhere. Not to mention he is one heck of a great receiver out of the backfield and only had one target?! Gotta utilize him more.

As the experts say, #comeonman

*finishes up cup number one, if I drank alcohol that would have been added to the cup of coffee to help me through last nights game. Instead, I will add creamer and pretend*

The Giants lost and had some ups and downs, but I will say they played better than most of their past 0-1 team starts. They were just outplayed by a better team is a better way to look at it. I think there are some things to build off of from Week 1, but the main focus really needs to be that offensive line. I don't know if they need to look to free agency, trades or moving some people around. Something needs to change or that 0-1 will be 0 and a lot more.