200 Posts... Jeez Took Long Enough

Yup. It took almost two years but  I finally broke the 200 post barrier. I'm not sure if it's an accomplishment or not (heck it seems some bloggers kick out 200 posts a week) but it feels good.  I might take the occasional unannounced break from posting, but I haven't come close to feeling burnt out on writing about sports and trading cards (and occasionally Chicago).  To celebrate the 200th posting lets take a look at what brings you folks to this site.

All numbers are from blogspots "stats" page which probably aren't the most accurate in the world but look way better than sitemeters so we'll go with them.

As of my writing this post folks have viewed 24,855 pages on this blog. Of those 24,000 odd visits 13,872 of them are from the United States, 2,126 from Canada (thanks Captain Canuck!), South Korea checks in with a strong 554 page views which is almost double the amount of people from France (260).

The most popular post is the one I wrote about Carl Crawford signing with the Red Sox. It's been viewed 991 times (yet no comments). The post that surprises me the most is the third most visited page, a quick throwaway piece where I tried to come up with a new nickname for Steven Stamkos.  Apparently "Stamkos mustache" is a popular search term.

Speaking of search times, I'm glad to say "Hopeful Chase" is the number one term used to find the site with 314.  However, as was my nefarious plan, "Sidney Crosby shirtless" is number two with a bullet. In just over three months or so it's already directed 216 folks to my humble piece of Internet real estate. I love that "Joe Flacco mustache" and "Ricky Hatton fat" round out the top four.

As far as sites that refer traffic my way there is a bit of an upset.  I thought the blogroll would be number one, but despite the 361 referrals it is actually second.  Riding on Night Owl's coattails (or having my blog on his blogroll) has led 378 folks this way.  Which is odd, because I don't think we actually talked to each other until a couple of months ago when we pulled off a small trade.

It looks like most of you are running Windows when you take a look at the site (70%), Mac users are second at 9%.  A combined 4% of you guys (and gals) are apparently reading the site via a smart phone of some sort.  Sorry about that, it can't be easy to read my rambling thoughts on such a small screen.  Heck I can barely do it when I type these words down.

Finally, thanks to the folks who took the time to leave the 245 comments.  I do really appreciate the feedback, all of which has been positive so far, hopefully it improves the writing.  Hopefully I have at least another 200 posts in me that y'all find somewhat entertaining.

Thank you!

Quick Hits - Pending Weather Event Version

* I am not worried about Brian Roberts missing two days of camp because of a sore neck. Not worried at all. He’ll be fine, yeah it’s not a lingering problem. Just breathe easy and it will be fine.

* Good-bye Dan Ellis. We’ll always have your twitter high-jinx and that one night in Phoenix.

* Actually, I like the Dan Ellis trade. A lot of fans think it’s a precursor to a larger deal, but I think it’s Yzerman taking advantage of a team in need (Anaheim) and getting rid of an unwanted asset to clear $1.5 million off of the books for next year. Dan Ellis had no future in Tampa and would have been shopped in the off-season or bought out. Now if he can find a suitor for Mike Smith…….

* I haven’t written much about Liverpool this year, mainly because I no longer have FSC so I haven’t actually watched a game since December. I’m not quite sure how I feel about rooting for a team that’s linked directly with the Red Sox (for those that don’t know John Henry and New England Sports Ventures are the owners of Boston’s baseball team and they bought Liverpool this fall).

On one hand I’m glad that the team has stable ownership, but can’t stand the thought that Liverpool’s success might some how help the Red Sox. As for the departure of Fernando Torres, well El Nino, you gave us some fine memories, but that’s about it. I think you started to turn the fan base against you when you started complaining that the Premier League was too physical for you. Have fun at Chelsea.

* Oh and who else is a part of NESV? Jeff Vinnik - owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning. So let's review. In about a year, one of the teams I dislike the most (the Red Sox) have woven themselves firmly into my primary rooting interests. Their owners own my favorite hockey team and Premier League team. To top it off they used their vast resources to lure my former favorite player, Carl Crawford, away from the Rays. As Cam Neeley once said...."Wanna kick my dog while you're at it?" John Henry you are my sports nemesis!


* Should I write another post insinuating that Lecavalier might not fulfill his full potential because of Matt Cooke? All Vinny has done since then is mold himself into the best player on the team (3 goals and 7 points since I wrote that one).

* Random thing that I used to get a kick out of - when you did a Google search of “Toe Nash”, my old blog used to be the first hit. Now it’s down to the third or fourth. Still one of my favorite pieces that I wrote.

* December snow is fun. February snow is annoying.

* Despite my general disregard for the NBA I am amazed at the ineptitude of the Los Angeles Clippers scouts. Take a look at their draft history I am 100% sure that given 30 minutes of research I could have had more success with drafting talent.

* Have you ever expected a card to be waiting for you in your mailbox and it has yet to show up? Man, even as a 30-something year old it’s a let down. Well maybe tomorrow.

* I ordered a bunch of padded envelopes off of eBay and they arrived today. When my better half saw the packaging she rolled her eyes and guessed that it was another bobble head (which I haven’t even bought in years!). I think she was more disappointed when she saw that they were envelopes. But it was a deal! $0.29 an envelope even with shipping!

* The first trades from the Allen & Ginter trade away have trickled in. I really like this year’s Topps and need to sell some stuff on the Bay so I can justify buying a box.

* Song I'm inexplicably listening to way too much on my iPod right now - Aloe Black's I need a Dollar

That’s all.