No need to say sorry. It's just something I point out.
Honestly, I suggest the unplug/replug method. I do that here. Just be gentle and slow with it, and you won't have problems.
The distribution amp in the TBC-1000 is very good. It probably accounts for $100-200 worth of the unit's cost. So if you have a similarly-priced distro amp, then yours may be okay. The problem with most of those low-cost amps is that they're more like cheap "splitters" than powered distribution+amplification.
Some capture cards have break-out boxes, some do not. The ATI All In Wonder AGP Radeon cards, for example, have a purple "dongle" breakout. In fact, I'd have to say most cards have an external doo-dad of some kind, were you actually plug in wires. Only a few of them go directly into cards.
VCR to TBC to proc amp to capture card -- CORRECT! You've got it. You usually want the standalone TBC as soon after the VCR as possible, so it passes clean signals to everything else down the line.