Top 10 For 2017

Last year's Top 10 (http://attmathletes.blogspot.com/2016/12/top-10-for-2016.html) included four football players, three baseball players, and three basketball players (two of which took the top two spots on the list).  This year's Top 10 was heavily dominated by football players (seven--5 QBs), along with two baseball players, and one racing legend.  If I extended the list, there was a basketball player at number 11, but for this year, they were shut out of the Top 10.  Overall, 2017 brought 60 successes.  Added with the 56 successes from 2016, I'm up to 116 ATTM successes!  And it's that time of year when I start sending a lot out again.  I sent out a handful this week and will do the same over the next several months, which are sure to be filled with plenty of old-fashioned New England cold and snow!

10: Le'Veon Bell (one of the top RBs and fantasy football assets in the league right now!)
9: Eli Manning (the first Manning to appear on the list, Eli has two Super Bowl rings!)
8: Steve Young (an all-time great QB who I remember rooting against growing up!)
7: Mario Andretti (one of the greatest racers of all-time!)
6: CC Sabathia (237 wins and still going strong, CC is hungry for another championship!)
5: Joe Torre (a great baseball player and a extraordinary Manager, he's a Yankees legend!)
4: Tim Tebow (he's a Met now, but he's best known as a QB who uses his platform for Christ!)
3: Tony Romo (the recently-retired QB is among the best to ever play for the Cowboys!)
2: Peyton Manning (one of the best QBs in NFL history and two-time Super Bowl champ!)
1: Bill Belichick (the all-time greatest NFL Coach, a Wesleyan alum, and Mr. Personality!)

Fred Couples

I golf like once or twice a year, and not very well.  That's about the same rate at which I send out golf cards, which I have almost none of.  But here's my first birdie late in the year!  Golf Hall-of-Famer Fred Couples signed the card I sent him and sent along another one that he signed as well!  And 269 is a solid score over four rounds.  He's won several PGA tour events with that score.  Thanks, Fred!
Mailed: 3-24-17
Received Back: 12-18-17
Turnaround Time: 269 Days

Bob Cousy

I couldn't find a Bob Cousy card in my collection for some reason, but luckily I still have a few more of these blank Upper Deck Collector's Choice cards.  This particular one went from blank card to Hall of Fame Autograph.  Thanks, Bob!
Mailed: 12-4-17
Received Back: 12-16-17
Turnaround Time: 12 Days

Bobby Brown

This guy is the man!  Bobby Brown not only played for the Yankees, but he is also a decorated War Veteran, a Medical Doctor, and a former President of the American League.  Brown won four World Series with the Yankees and is the last survivor of the 1947 World Series Champions.  I've been meaning to send him a letter and card to sign for a while now, but I couldn't find one until I recently pulled this oddly-shaped card out of a random cheap wax pack.  Thanks, Dr. Brown!
Mailed: 12-4-17
Received Back: 12-12-17
Turnaround Time: 8 Days

Failure Analysis

I have no problem with it if a player doesn't want to sign through the mail, but I'm slightly annoyed when I get back a facsimile signature on a photo 614 days later that I have to analyze.  Perhaps including a typed sentence on the back of the photo that the player can't sign everything or simply the world facsimile would do the trick.  Although as a side effect of this sort of thing, I'm becoming better at analyzing whether or not a signature is a real autograph or a facsimile, so thank you, Franco Harris!  This one is a facsimile.