Michael Jordan, considered by most basketball pundits to be the greatest basketball player, was only the 3^rd player selected in the 1984 college draft. That sounds a little hard to believe, but it’s true. The Houston Rockets selected Hakeem Olajuwon with the first pick, and the Portland Trailblazers then selected Sam Bowie.

                Jordan then fell in the laps of the Chicago Bulls, who then became a perennial champion a few years later.

                There has been a lot of debate over whether Jordan should have been selected higher. In fact, Olajuwon was a great player with Houston. However, Bowie, an often-injured star at Kentucky was a victim to knee problems, and his professional career was short lived.

                And Jordan, you ask? Well, the guard from the University of North Carolina became the face of the National Basketball Association (NBA), that’s all.

                Actually, Portland filled a need when they selected Sam Bowie, so they cannot be blamed. After all, Tom Brady was the 199^th pick in the 2000 college football draft by the New England Patriots. And for all you Dallas Cowboy fans, Tony Romo was not even drafted.

                But as for Michael Jordan, it is well-documented that he flourished as a high school senior at Laney High in Wilmington, North Carolina. He then took his talents to his nearby university at Chapel Hill, much to the delight of legendary coach Dean Smith.

                Jordan dominated professional basketball from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. He led the Chicago Bulls to six world championships, and was the Most Valuable Player of the NBA five times.

                Ever since he was a youngster Jordan had wanted to become a professional baseball player. After he retired from the Bulls the first time, he joined the Birmingham Barons as an outfielder. He couldn’t hit well enough to make a real try, and in 1995, he returned to the Chicago Bulls. He later joined the Washington Wizards, and finally retired for good in 2003.

                In 2006 Jordan purchased a part of the Charlotte Bobcats, and became its majority owner in 2010.

                To this day, Michael Jordan is extremely visible across the world. Besides being the owner of a professional basketball team, he is in several television commercials, and hosts a golf tournament.

                Jordan is also very popular among collectors. His items are highly coveted, and sell for astoundingly high prices at auction. A few examples will suffice. A Michael Jordan designed Chicago Bulls championship ring from 1992-1993 went for $9000 at auction, while his 1994 signed minor league baseball contract went for over $15,000.

                Jordan’s game worn 1987-1988 Chicago Bulls jersey sold at auction for nearly $18,000, while his 1984-1985 game worn original Air Jordan shoes went for slightly over $31,000.

                Items from Jordan’s playing days at North Carolina are in high demand. For example, the 1982 college basketball championship game net from Jordan’s game-winning shot went for over $31,000 as well. That shot was against Georgetown in a 63-62 victory.

                How about his 1991 NBA All-Star game-used uniform? In that game Jordan scored 26 points, as he led the East squad to a 116-114 victory. The jersey went for $55,000.

                Finally, Jordan’s 1983 game-used jersey from his University of North Carolina Tar Heels days. College jerseys are always a big hit among collectors as there are so few of them, and this one was no exception. As expected, this college jersey went for top dollar. It went for $95,000.

                Jordan items are still very popular, long after his playing days were over. He is still recognized as a great player, and his legacy still prevails.

                Michael Jordan basketball cards are still very collectible, especially his 1986 Fleer rookie cards. His signed shoes are greatly in demand.

                Among basketball players, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain are the most collectible.

                If you have an opportunity to acquire a Michael Jordan item, go for it. You probably have a real winner. A slam dunk.

Horse Racing

             If you are like most people who go to a horserace you wage on a particular horse because of its name, or maybe on how it looks. Sure, there are some people who study the racing program, and bet on a horse because of the jockey or even the trainer.

                But lets face it, most people who are novices at the track, and don’t mind too much losing a few dollars, will have fun just betting on the horses with unusual names.

                Pity the poor horse with a name of I WAS A MISTAKE, or I’M A LOSER, or DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ME. The horses have to bear being called those names their entire life.

                And to think that horse racing has been called the sport of Kings. It makes you wonder what some of the kings called their horses. Prince? Duke? Earl?

                But how did horse racing become so popular and remain that way to this day? After all, its origins date back to about 4500 BC among the nomadic tribesmen of Central Asia, the ones who first domesticated the horse. The ancient Greek Olympics had events for both chariot and mounted horse racing.

                Modern horse racing had its origins in the 12^th century, when English Knights returned from the Crusades with Arab horses. For the next 400 or so years, Arab stallions were imported and bred to English mares to produce horses that had both speed and endurance. English nobles started to wager on their own on races between the fastest of the horses.

                And so began betting on the ponies!

                During Queen Anne’s reign in the 18^th century, horse racing became a professional sport. Racing evolved to the point where spectators bet as well. Tracks sprung up all over England, and large purses of money were offered to attract the best horses. Owning and breeding horses for racing became very profitable. The first central governing authority was formed in 1750 in England, and called the Jockey Club. It still regulates English racing to this day.

                As you might expect, British settlers brought horses, and horse racing as well to America. The first racetrack in America was laid out in 1665 on Long Island. However, organized racing in the United States did not exist until 1868. By 1890, there were over 300 tracks operating in the United States. As there was no governing authority by then, many track had criminal elements. Finally, in 1894, the country’s biggest track and stable owners met and formed the American Jockey Club.

                In the early 1900s, an anti-gambling feeling almost wiped out the sport. By 1908, only a couple dozen tracks remained. In that same year, pari-mutuel betting on the Kentucky Derby was introduced, and a turnabout occurred. State legislatures allowed horse racing in exchange for a portion of the money wagered. Horse racing started to flourish again. Horses like Man O’ War captured the imagination of people across the country.

                After a decline in the sport during the 1950s and 1960s, the sport bounced back in the 1970s, due in part because of such horses as Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed. All three of those horses won the American Triple Crown, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. The popularity of the sport has continued to this day.

                Wagering on the races has been the main appeal of the sport, and the reason that horse racing has survived. Betting at American tracks is done using a pari-mutuel wagering system. Under this system a fixed percentage of the total amount wagered is taken out for racing purses, state and local taxes, and track operating costs. The remaining amount is divided by the number of individual correct wagers, to determine the payoff, or odds, on each bet. The odds are continuously calculated and posted on the track toteboard during the open betting period before each race.

                Naturally, horse racing items are very popular among collectors.

                A lot of three Triple Crown horse racing jockeys signed photographs, signed by jockeys Edgar Prado, Ron Turcotte, and Steve Cauthen sold for slightly over $200.

                Four silver racing trophies owned by actor Jack Klugman were sold at auction for $2750.

                However, two gold horse racing trophies were individually auctioned for much more, one for $13,000, and the other for $31,000, which was awarded to Stagehand for winning the Santa Anita Handicap in 1938.

                And for those real horse racing enthusiasts, a signed race worn silk from 2002 was auctioned for $457. Try fitting into one of those. I know I could not.

Baseball Cards Manufacturers

            Through the years leading manufacturers of baseball cards, according to Scott Malack, Chief Operating Officer of Coach’s Corner, of Souderton, Pennsylvania, have included Topps, Fleer, Score, Upper Deck, and Donruss (formerly Leaf).

           Quickly summarizing these five companies, Topps first started issuing baseball cards in 1951. For a few years, Topps and Bowman were hard-fought competitors, with Topps finally buying out Bowman after the 1955 baseball card season. From 1956 through 1980 Topps was the only company issuing major league baseball card sets. Topps was quite successful in signing virtually every major league player to an exclusive contract, and only companies promoting products such as cereal, meat products, and soda were able to fall outside the exclusive Topps agreement, and promote baseball cards. For the next couple of decades, manufacturers such as Fleer tried to get around the Topps agreement with players, but to no avail. Finally, after court decisions in 1980 and 1981, Fleer and Donruss could issue cards, but not with gum (Fleer issued cards with team logo stickers, and Donruss issued cards with puzzle pieces). 

             Topps has successfully produced variations of baseball cards, such as with special inserts, baseball coins, and posters. It has also been successful in distributing other sports cards, as well as sets of non-baseball issues, such as of astronauts and presidents.

             The Fleer Corporation started in 1914, and ironically, in 1928 one of its employees  Walter Diemer invented bubble gum. The first bubble gum was called Dubble Bubble. When it was first made, the only food coloring at the plant was pink, and therefore, at first, bubble gum was pink.

             Through the years Fleer has issued various types of cards, such as of movie stars, the Three Stooges, Hogan’s Heroes, football and basketball. In 1959 it produced its first set of baseball cards (a Ted Williams set), and is a major manufacturer of baseball cards every year.

             The Donruss Company started in 1958, and was named after its two owners, Don and Russ Wiener. Donruss also produced various types of sets of cards, based on television shows and musical groups, and in 1981 issued its first set of baseball cards. Eventually Donruss was bought out by a company that also purchased the Leaf Company that had issued cards in 1948-1949. The Donruss name has been kept on the U.S. baseball card sets.

             Score cards were first issued in 1988, and have featured action photographs on the front and a small portrait photograph. The uniqueness of their cards has made Score a major player to this day.

             Upper Deck first started issuing cards in 1989. Its cards have been unique in that the Company included a hologram on the back of each card as a deterrent to counterfeiters. Even though the price of the Upper Deck cards has been higher than the price of its competitors’ cards Upper Deck cards are very popular.

             Of these major companies Topps continues to lead the way. Each company has unique features, and sometimes a player’s card will be more valuable on Donruss or Upper Deck, rather than on Topps or Fleer or Score, or vice versa. For example, Donruss may have issued a rookie card before any of the other manufacturers, and for that reason it may be more valuable.

            Make sure that when you organize your baseball card sets that you keep everything straight. It will make your life easier.

Ice Hockey

            Very few people can doubt the fact that the sport of ice hockey is an extremely popular sport across the world. It is so popular that it is credited with being the national sport of Canada, and the medal play in the Winter Olympics is truly a highlight of those games every four years. Although the sport had risen to astounding heights in Canada, the sport has not yet reached the same level in America, despite the fact that the majority of the National Hockey League teams are based in the United States.

            Despite all the folklore about playing hockey on frozen ponds, there is doubt as to where and how ice hockey, one of the world’s most played sport, actually got started.

            The simple answer is that nobody really knows how the sport got started. Some historians track hockey to an Irish game known as hurley. Other people say that ice hockey was derived from lacrosse, that was played by the Micmac Indians of Nova Scotia. Still others place Northern Europe as its birthplace. Thus, there is no definitive answer as to its origins, at least up to the mid-1800s.

            It was at that time that ice hockey, as we know it today, took shape, and became a Canadian product. In the 1850s, the first logged ice hockey game was played, and in the 1870s, the first set of rules were written by a group of students from the prestigious McGill University in Montreal. Their rules set up the use of a puck, which replaced a ball. In 1880, the first amateur hockey league was established. Its popularity in Canada was well rooted before the sport finally debuted in the United States around 1893.

            Ice hockey does have the oldest sports trophy in Northern America, the Stanley Cup. The Governor General of Canada originally presented a perpetual trophy to the top hockey team. The name of the Governor General was Lord Stanley of Preston at the time, and the trophy became known at the Stanley Cup.

            Most of the original principles of the game have stayed pretty much intact. However, the number of players from a team on the ice has changed from nine to the present-day six. Through the years there have been several different leagues. The two best known are the National Hockey Association, which found in 1909, and of course, the National Hockey League, formed in 1917. Actually, American teams first became part of the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1924. It appears that the NHL is going to continue to rise and expand. Perhaps the greatest players were Wayne Gretzky, who played both in Canada and the United States, and Gordie Howe, who played for the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL. It is certainly one of the most bloody of all sports, especially during the time when the goalies did not wear a mask. The goalies were open targets. The goalies now need to wear a mask, but they suffered numerous injuries for many years, and most of them had multiple injuries, and multiple teeth that needed to be replaced.

            Sports collectors covet historical sports jerseys. As few examples sill suffice.

            A 1966-67 hockey jersey of the incomparable Bobby Orr sold for over $191,000 at a Heritage auction. Orr, a defenseman, was regarded as a truly great player, one during hockey’s golden ages. Orr played most of his career playing for the Boston Bruins.

            Of course, the “Miracle on Ice” hockey game was the semifinal game of the 1980 Winter Olympics. The United States, a decisive underdog, played the Russia team, while some people believe that the Russia team was one of the greatest of all time. The U.S. won, leading commentator Al Michaels to utter his famous words, as the event unfurled. Well, the uniform that USA forward Mike Eruzione wore when he scored the winning goal sold for a whopping $657,250 at auction. In fact, an Olympic gold medal from the 1980 Olympics fetched $310,700 at auction. What an historic sports memorabilia piece.

            Keep in mind that not all hockey memorabilia is of jerseys. In fact, the C57 “Hockey Series” complete set went for sale of the 1912 Olympic team. The graded card set sold for $89,625.

            Hockey is certainly a game for the ages. The historic jerseys and sports memorabilia are iconic.

            How fitting for a truly great sport.

          Let's face it, all of us have gone to an event, whether it be a sporting event, a play, or even a movie. When we get to our seats, or possibly when we get home, we throw away the ticket stubs.

            Sounds familiar? Of course it does. 

  

            Why should you keep the tickets, other than to remind you of who you went with, and when. But to keep ticket stubs just to be keeping them, what’s the point?

            Well, not so fast. Yes, it is true that in all but very rare circumstances, that ticket stubs, and even full tickets have no significance. Absolutely none. However, there are some unique situation when keeping the ticket stub might pay off. It’s rare, but it does happen. Usually with sporting events.

            I’ll give you an example. Take the basketball game that Wilt Chamberlain scored his record 100 points. Well, if you have a ticket for that March 4, 1962 game, played in Hershey, Pennsylvania, you can sell it for a cool $1000-$2000. If you have the entire ticket it would be worth a lot more.

            But granted, who thinks of keeping their tickets, unless of course, you had gone to the game and knew that it had historical significance.

            Let's go back a bit and trace the evolution of collecting sporting tickets.

            As the sports memorabilia craze exploded, collectors began thinking of the various items that could be linked to a major sporting event. Of course, there are balls, bats, caps, jerseys, and even scorecards. Well, if there are scorecards then why not tickets? Bingo.

            However, the significant games and events must truly be historical. There could be championship games, or ones in which milestones were reached, or ones in which records were broken. That’s why the ticket to the Wilt Chamberlain record setting game in Hershey is so valuable.

            Of course, the ticket must be in demand. For example, a ticket to a game in which a pitcher threw a no-hitter might be in demand in local area in which the game was played, but probably not anywhere else. But take a ticket for a Super Bowl, or a World Series game, or even to the last game of Stan Musical or Derek Jeter. Now those tickets are worth some money. If Musial or Jeter had signed those tickets then they would be worth even more.

            There are some collectors who do collect tickets of games that they have an interest in, even if they are not valuable. For example, there are some collectors who collect tickets of games of opening games of a particular team, or games in which players hit for the cycle, or even games in which baseball managers made their debut. Use your imagination.

            To give you some idea how much ticket collectors will pay for a treasured item, consider the following.

            Remember when Muhammad Ali used his birth name of Cassius Clay? Okay, now do you remember his epic heavyweight championship fights with Sonny Liston? Well, a ticket stub from his first fight with Liston went for almost $600.

            A ticket stub from the Brooklyn Dodgers game of September 24, 1957 went for $1150. You might be asking yourself why that ticket would be sold for so much. Well, it was a ticket from the last game at Ebbets Field, before the Dodgers moved West.

            A ticket from Game 1 of the 1919 World Series went for $1200. That was the World Series that was associated with the infamous Black Sox scandal.

            Three full tickets to different games of the 1924 World Series were sold for $3250.

            A ticket stub from Game 4 of the 1918 World Series went for almost $24,000. The fact that Babe Ruth set the World Series record for the most consecutive scoreless innings increased the value of the stub.

            Signed ticket stubs can be very valuable. A 1923 World Series Game 6 ticket stub was sold for almost $72,000 because it was signed by Babe Ruth.

            Finally, a ticket stub from July 4, 1939 signed by Lou Gehrig went for $95,600. That was Lou Gehrig Day at Yankee Stadium at which he delivered his “Luckiest Man Alive” speech.

            One time I had a caller on one of my radio show who wanted to know if a ticket stub from a game that was never played was worth anything. To better explain, teams will print tickets to, lets say, World Series games that they never play in. No, those tickets are not worth anything. There are good mementos of possible better days.

James Naismith

Basketball fans, see if you understand these rules:

1.       The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.

2.       The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands (never with the fist.)

3.       The time shall be two 15-minute halves, with five minutes’ rest between.

Think you know these rules? Well, as you may have guessed, they are three of the original thirteen rules of basketball. That’s right. They were first published in January 1892, in the YMCA International Training Colleges’ (Springfield, Massachusetts) newspaper, The Triangle.

Of course, the rules were written by one of their teachers, James Naismith. He was given 14 days to develop an indoor game that would capture the interest of students who were confined indoors during the cold weather. Under the gun, Naismith selected features of soccer, field hockey, and other outdoor sports for his new game. In theory, he wanted to eliminate body contact between players. (That certainly did not happen.) As his physical education class at Springfield was only composed of 18 men; basketball originally was played by nine men on each side. The first games used half-bushel peach baskets as targets, and a stepladder was used to retrieve the ball after a goal. The original rules also prohibited walking or running with the ball.

So who was this Naismith fellow anyway?

Well, he was born in Canada in 1861, and raised by his uncle. He taught physical education at McGill University in Quebec before his days at Springfield. In 1898 he was hired by the University of Kansas to coach basketball, teach physical education, and serve as chaplain.

Naismith was shocked by how popular basketball became, but thought that wrestling and gymnastics were just as enjoyable. By the early 1900s, basketball was played between universities. One of Naismith’s students at Kansas was none other than “Phog” Allen. Allen would later be known as the “father of basketball coaching.”

At the 1936 Summer Olympics, the first year that basketball was an Olympic sport, Naismith presented medals to the three winning North America countries, the United States, Canada, and Mexico. At those Olympics he was also named the honorary president of the International Basketball Federation.

Dr. James Naismith stayed with the University of Kansas until 1937, and died two years later.

As basketball has become an immensely popular worldwide sport, Naismith’s name has been associated with the sport. Naismith himself would have been surprised to learn that his original basketball rules, which were fewer than 600 words in length, has now grown to contain more than 30,000 words.

Naismith is commonly called the inventor of the game of basketball.

Collectors are willing to spend a lot of money to acquire any Naismith-related item.

For example, an “Acme Thunderer” whistle owned and used by James Naismith sold for $13,145 by Heritage Auctions in 2006. The whistle was used by Naismith during his University of Kansas tenure.

Naismith’s 18 handwritten pages of notes from the 1936 Summer Olympics also were auctioned. In those pages he expressed his pride at being at the Olympics. The pages sold for nearly $7,000.

A basketball card which Naismith signed shortly before his death in 1939 was sold for nearly $18,000.

A full draft typed manuscript with Naismith’s handwritten notes of a 72-chapter book from the 1930s titled “Basketball: Its Origin and Development” went for almost $39,000.

Other notes by Naismith regarding the birth of basketball went for almost $54,000, while his own handwritten manuscript detailing the first basketball game was auctioned for $71,700 in 2006.

However, it is the 13 Original Rules of Basketball that were handwritten by James Naismith while he was teaching in Springfield, Massachusetts, that has had the most value.

In December 2010, those original rules were auctioned by Sotheby’s for $4.3 million. They were then donated to the University of Kansas for display.

Jersey Joe Walcott

Okay, I know we’ve all heard stories of athletes who end their playing days…   and turn out bad. They get busted, arrested, murder their business partner, and yes, even commit suicide. You see it on the news and in the papers all the time.

Well, lets not stereotype them all.  One of the New York Knicks, Bill Bradley became a U.S. Senator, as did pitcher Jim Bunning. Some have become police officers, doctors, and even the Sheriff of Camden County, New Jersey. I’m getting a little ahead of myself. But that's what happened to Arnold Cream.

Cream was better known as Jersey Joe Walcott, as his boxing idol was Joe Walcott. He used “Jersey” to identify to people where he proudly hailed from. After his father died, he quit school and worked in a soup factory (not surprising, because Camden, New Jersey is the home of Campbell Soup). He was the oldest of a dozen children, so he felt he better be making some money to help out.

He turned his attention to boxing. His first professional fight was a first round knockout when he was 16 years old. He was impressive, and he was encouraged to pursue the sport.  It was exactly what he needed.

Walcott never looked back. He was on a mission. After 17 years in the ring he finally had the opportunity to fight for the World Heavyweight title. He lost to the Brown Bomber Joe Louis, in a fight which went the distance, at that time 15 rounds.

Determined to reach boxing’s pinnacle, four years later at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh he won the World Heavyweight title by knocking out Ezzard Charles in the seventh round. He was the oldest boxer, at that time, to become the world’s heavyweight champion. He successfully defended his title the following year against Charles.

Walcott had attained what he wanted, but he needed to keep defending the title that others wanted. For one, the undefeated Rocky Marciano, the upstart from Brockton, Massachusetts, who had never been floored. Jersey Joe changed that, by knocking him down in the first round. Marciano settled himself, and threw a punch in the thirteenth round that ended the brawl. In their rematch eight months later, Walcott was knocked out in the first round.

So much for the boxing career. He went on to co-star with Humphrey Bogart and former boxer Max Baer in “The Harder They Fall.”  He later was the referee in the first Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston fight in 1965.

After that 1965 fight, Walcott decided to change direction, and worked for the Camden County, New Jersey Corrections Department. In 1971, he was elected Sheriff in that county. He was looked upon as an authentic success story, which indeed he was. A ten-year stint as Chairman of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission followed. Then Jersey Joe Walcott retired.

Walcott’s memorabilia are highly desirable. Signed photographs fetch as much as $1500. Autographed magazines have gone for nearly $400, and even cut Walcott signatures can go for a couple hundred dollars. A wire photo of him and Hubert Humphrey went for almost $60.

Not bad for a high school dropout who wanted to make enough money to support his mother, sisters and brothers.

He was a universal role model, not only to aspiring boxers. Far from it. Jersey Joe Walcott was a living example of how a person with very limited education could utilize his talents and constructively benefit society. He focused on contributing in the same area that he knew all his life, Camden, New Jersey. Good for you, Jersey Joe Walcott.

Collectible Retired Basketball Players

        The National Basketball Association is the youngest of the major professional sports leagues of baseball, football, and hockey, having been formed in 1946. In fact, a highly valuable lithograph was issued in 1996, which commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the NBA.

Of course, many of today’s players, such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and others, are known throughout the world. However, that’s because of the shrewd marketing of the NBA, and in particular, its former commissioner David Stern.

However, before the 1979 draft, which produced Larry Bird and Earvin (Magic) Johnson, and before the 1984 draft, which produced Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton, Charles Barkley and others, there were some very good players. Many of those players are very collectible.

The most collectible basketball players who are not in uniform these days are: Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Pete Maravich, George Mikan, Bob Pettit, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Bob Cousy, Earvin (Magic) Johnson, and Julius Erving.

There are others who are quite collectible as well, including Patrick Ewing, Elgin Baylor, and Bill Bradley, but are not at the same level as the aforementioned.

It should be pointed out that Julius Erving is a very collectible player, and some of his items  have been among the most sought after of all basketball memorabilia. But Erving spent the first several years of his playing days with the American Basketball Association (ABA), showcasing his talents for the league’s New York Nets and Virginia Squires, before the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. His ABA Virginia Squires road jersey went for $190,000 and his 1974 New York Nets championship ring sold for $461,000.

  Putting Erving aside, the retired NBA players at the top of the collectible list are Michael Jordan, Pete Maravich, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. Jordan’s jersey from the 1991 NBA All-Star game has sold for $55,000. However, his 1983 game-used University of North Carolina jersey went for $95,000, and a pair of original Nike Air Jordan shoes have gone for over $31,000.

How about Pete Maravich? His popularity, as well as his iconic status, seems to be escalating every year. His ballhandling skills have been compared to those of the legendary Celtic Bob Cousy. But how about these auction prices? Maravich’s 1970-71 game-used Atlanta Hawks rookie jersey sold for nearly $51,000. A 1967-68 jersey that he wore while he starred at LSU went for $89,625. But the most striking Maravich item was a 1977 Pete Maravich-signed basketball from the game played on February 25, 1977. By that time Pistol Pete was playing for the New Orleans Jazz. On that February night, Maravich scored 68 points against the New York Knicks. So, how much did a signed ball from that game fetch? A cool $131,450. That’s right.

Oscar Robertson is another player whose popularity seems to have risen recently as well. Robertson spent his time in the NBA in the small market cities of Cincinnati and Milwaukee, but his brilliance was always recognized. Of course, collectors are often swayed by marketing hype, and playing in a small market does not usually provide that luxury. But lately, the values of his items have taken a sharp rise. Hey, if anyone can average a triple double for an entire year in the NBA, then his items should be valuable. And they are. The Big O’s 1963-1964 Cincinnati Royals jersey sold for over $57,000. His 1970-71 jersey with the Milwaukee Bucks went a bit higher, at almost $66,000. That jersey was worn during Milwaukee’s NBA championship season, the year that he teamed with Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) to bring the trophy to the team that had just joined the NBA a couple years earlier. A third Robertson jersey, this one from the ABA vs. NBA All-Star game in 1972, sold for over $31,000.

Bill Russell, the great defender of the Celtics, who also served the team as a player-coach, has been admired through the years, and his game duels with Wilt Chamberlain were legendary. Russell’s game-used Celtics jersey sold for $65,000, while his 1959 All-Star jersey was auctioned for $25,000. Even Russell’s 1957-58 Topps card in Mint condition fetched $16,730.

 Wilt Chamberlain’s items have consistently sold for high amounts. He was considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, at least before Jordan entered the NBA. He was so dominating that, at various times, in his storied career, he led the league in scoring, rebounding, and assists. Chamberlain’s jersey from the 1967 All-Star game sold for $45,000, and his 1972 Lakers jersey went for $30,000.

Chamberlain’s iconic status can be reflected in some of his statistics. He averaged over 50 points a game in the 1961-62 season, the same year he averaged playing 48.5 minutes per game (remember, his Philadelphia Warriors team played in some overtime games). Actually, it was in that 1961-62 year that he scored his historic 100 points in a game. In the March 2, 1962 game against the New York Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Chamberlain, who always had the reputation of being a poor free throw shooter, actually made 28 of 32 free throw attempts. A ball that was used from that game went for $48,000.

By the way, Wilt Chamberlain’s rookie jersey from 1959-60, is worth close to $100,000, but has not been to auction for many years.

Of course, in a few years, some of the current stars, such as Kobe Bryant, may be retired, and their items will be highly collectible.

But for now, the collectibles of Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and other present-day stars will be discussed in an upcoming article on the most collectible current NBA players.

Cricket

              Did you know that the world’s second most popular sport, next to soccer, can sometimes take days to complete a match? You may know that I am referring to cricket. Although the sport is not popular in North America, it is in most other parts of the world.

                But how did it all come about?

                To be accurate, the origins of cricket are not known, although there is a reference of a similar game being played in Kent, England in the days of King Edward I around 1300. Around 1550 in Guildford, England, a game was played similar to cricket using a bat and ball. However, the first recorded cricket match took place in Kent, southeast of London, in 1646, and grew wildly popular in England during the 1700s. William Goldwyn published the first description of the game in 1706, and the first “laws of cricket” were set forth in 1744. The world’s first cricket club was formed in the 1760s in Hambledon, England, and the game as it is known today started to take shape in the 1770s. Nobles saw their servants and tenants playing the game, and realized that it was such an entertaining sport that they wanted to play it as well. In addition, the game lent itself to betting. Members of the royalty formed their own teams, and stakes on the matches were exceedingly high.

                Gradually, the center of the cricket universe became London. A leading London club was the White Conduit in Islington, and was led by George Finch.

                A controversy has always centered on the delivery of the ball. By the 1860s some bowlers had experimented with the overarm delivery, although it had been originally outlawed. The underarm and round-arm styles were still practiced in the 1800s, but by World War I, both styles disappeared. By 1878, Australia had fielded an entirely overarm attack, and the rest of world followed suit.

                Cricket has generally remained the same during the part roughly 150 years. Changes have been made regarding covered wickets, the weight of the balls, and protective clothing, among others, but in general, the game has stayed the same. England has always been a powerhouse, naturally, but so has other countries in which the English monarchy has ruled, such as the West Indies and India. All this time, most people in the United States in particular have only a vague idea on how the game is played.

                Despite the obscurity from many sports fans across the world, there are collectibles that have sold at auction. For example, cricket shin guards have periodically been auctioned. In a 2008 Heritage auction, a vintage pair of shin guards, each about 22 inches high, which were used as protection, were auctioned. Surprisingly, there were only few bids on the item. The shin guards were auctioned for nearly $360.

                In another auction, this one a Roland auction, a group of six vintage cricket bats were auctioned. There were same cracks and chips in bats, and it is unclear how much usage the bats had. However, the group of six cricket bats were auctioned for $200. As they were all vintage, most likely the high bidder may very well thought of displaying them rather than actually using them. However, it is somewhat unusual to be the high bidder on a group of six bats. But since cricket items are rarely auctioned, and since cricket items are not typically sold in a United States sporting goods store, it may be that the bidder figured that this was the perfect opportunity to acquire some cricket equipment that could not be obtained easily by some other means. However, now the person had six items when most likely he redly only wanted one or maybe two.

                However, it is possible that when cricket becomes more popular in the United States, and elsewhere, that those six vintage items might indeed become valuable treasures.

Lacrosse

               A bit of sports trivia that often stumps even the most knowledgeable sports “genius” has to do with a former football star and Hollywood actor. However, as prominent as Jim Brown was on the football field, he was often considered a better college player at Syracuse in another sport, lacrosse.

                Jim Brown was an All-American at Syracuse in lacrosse. In fact, after his days as a Syracuse Orangemen, he could have gone pro as a lacrosse player if he had the right opportunity. However, he didn’t, and the rest is history, so to speak.

                Nowadays, many colleges have lacrosse teams, and there is a professional lacrosse league, but most Americans are unaware of how the sport is played. Even more people wonder how the game actually got started. Well, a brief capsule of the sport will help.

                Lacrosse was started by Native American Indians. Its original name was stickball. The game was generally played first in the St. Lawrence Valley area by the Algonquian tribe, and followed by other tribes around the western Great Lakes. The early games were looked upon as major events, which took place over several days. The games were played over large areas, as much as a few miles. There were no set number of players, and sometimes even as many as a thousand or more players participated at a time. Early rules included that the ball was not to be touched by a player’s hand. There were no boundaries. Players raced to be the first to catch the ball once the game started. Deerskin balls filled with fur replaced wooden balls. Netting was made from deer sinews. Players used paint and charcoal to decorate their faces and bodies when they prepared for a game.

                The Native American Indians played lacrosse for a few reasons. It was not only a game played for recreation and religious reasons, but also to toughen young warriors for war.

                A French Jesuit, Jean de Brebeuf, wrote about the game being played in 1636 by the Huron Indians. He gave the game the name “lacrosse”. The game was introduced in Canada in 1834, and a Canadian dentist, Dr. William George Beers, founded the Montreal Lacrosse Club in 1856. Beers later drew up rules which included sharply reducing the number of players, as well as introducing a redesigned stick and a rubber ball.

                The popularity of lacrosse in Canada grew fast, and by 1860 lacrosse had become the country’s national game. In 1876 Queen Victoria watched a lacrosse game. In 1883 a touring Canadian lacrosse team, as well as a team composed of Iroquois Native Americans visited Scotland.

                The sport began being played in countries across the world, and as a result lacrosse was played in both the 1904 and 1908 Summer Olympics. Ironically, Canada won the gold medal in those Olympics.

                In 1967 the first men’s lacrosse world tournament was played in Toronto. This time the Mt. Washington (Maryland) Lacrosse Club won, representing the United States.  In 1971, the International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Association was founded, and three years later the men’s International Lacrosse Foundation was started.

                In 2008, the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) was formed from the women’s and men’s international lacrosse associations. Its focus is to have lacrosse become an Olympic sport again.

                Of course, collectors have had their eye on lacrosse collectibles. In a 2011 Heritage Auction, a Canadian silver plated lacrosse trophy cup from 1881 sold for almost $3000. It had been part of the Malcolm S. Forbes collection, one of the world’s most renowned private collections. Heritage also auctioned a nearly complete “lacrosse series” card set from 1910 for $2629.

                A Peterboro lacrosse club medal from 1893 which was awarded to John Mein was sold at auction in February 2014 for almost $700 by Heritage, while a lacrosse stick from around 1900 sold for $444 in a June 2014 auction.

                It is apparent that the sport of lacrosse has still remained popular for hundreds of years. Although it probably will never reach the level of followers as other sports have, lacrosse has persevered and been played and enjoyed by people of all ages and nationalities, even Jim Brown.