Orlando's late game failure has put the Lakers up two games to none in the best of seven NBA Finals.
Barring divine intervention, the Lakers will add another banner to the rafters, Kobe will get richer and we'll forget about the NBA until draft day.
The Lakers of the 1970s were Chamberlain and West and Baylor and even Goodrich to a certain extent. The Lakers of the 80s were Magic, Kareem, Byron Scott and James Worthy. The Lakers of the 90s were Shaq and Kobe. The Lakers of the current era are...Kobe. And that's part of the problem. Pau Gasol is a nice player and Lamar Odom is a stud when he's zoned in, but when all is said and done, the Lakers are Kobe. He's already reached his popularity peak so you can't expect there to be much of an impact in the hobby.
The NBA could use another jolt from someone like Dwight Howard taking over the series to establish himself as a true superstar. Ain't happenin'. Howard was a no-show in crunch time Sunday night. He may become a winning superstar at some point and he's still popular with collectors, but he's going home this year and his fan base isn't likely to climb anymore in 2009. LeBron is big, but a championship would have boosted him into the role of young Jordan. It's wait 'til next year in Cleveland, though.
I hate to say the Lakers winning another title is going to be boring everywhere but in LA, but sadly, I think the nation will yawn its way through whatever games may lie ahead.
Speaking of the Lakers, we've carried at least one mainstream media outlet's story on David Kohler's Lakers collection. Now, the Long Beach newspaper has gotten the tour and given it a nice write-up. Kohler, for those of you who aren't totally in tune with the hobby, runs SCP Auctions.
Scam artists have been around the sports card and memorabilia hobby for decades now. It's not a new phenomenon.
The methods have changed and the scope of what's done has gotten larger at times because of the potential dollars involved in re-sealed wax packs, fake autographs, game worn jerseys that aren't real, doctored cards and anything else through which crooks think they can make a buck.
At one time, they operated only by mail order and through card shows. It was easy to be a scammer back then. Snail mail wasn't exactly the most efficient way to communicate with a large number of people. Hobby publications had no forum for collector interaction and you could go from town to town as a shady dealer and few ever really caught on.
The shady sellers are still out there. Now, they're primarily online. But as easy as it might be to rip off people through eBay or Craig's List, I suspect the 'marks' are a lot harder to find and the risks of being caught are much greater.
You can't hide for long in the hobby anymore. Online sales mean every questionable auction lot is susceptible to scrutiny and exposure. Take advantage of someone on eBay and chances are you'll be smoked out if an angry collector takes his case to the message boards. You can get away with it for awhile, but the visibility of your deeds makes it much easier to get nailed. Online, your tracks are easy to follow too. Screen shots, Google and Yahoo searches. Even your contact is not hard to obtain--whether you want it to be or not. Fraudulent activity is easy for law enforcement organizations to monitor.
The amount of hobby information now available in seconds makes it much easier for buyers to educate themselves on what makes an authentic jersey or helmet, how cards can be restored, what tampering signs to look for when buying old packs, how to spot fake autographs and just about everything else is available for the collector or wannabe willing to take some time and soak up the knowledge.
And if you're not willing to make that investment---as was true in the old days--you're going to get taken.
Few teams are more popular in the realm of game-used equipment than the Green Bay Packers and on June 5-6, fans and collectors will get a chance to latch on to some newer--and older--Packers memorabilia.
The team''s Pro Shop will hold its annual tent sale in the Lambeau Field Atrium. Many of the items for sale are fan apparel and the like, but the football operations staff also has provided practice- and game-worn items not normally available.
"Many of the football items are worthy of collectible status and will be priced accordingly," reads a team press release. Pants from a 2002 throwback game, other game-worn pants from recent seasons, and team travel bags used since the 1995 season, including the Super Bowl seasons of 1996 and '97 will be available.
I've posted on this topic once already this year, but it bears repeating.
This is a great time to be a buyer.
Houses. Cars. Stocks. Baseball Cards.
Prices are down and if you have the means, I think there are tremendous opportunities out there. We all tend to think in the short term, but if you can look past your next paycheck, invest now.
I just watched an online auction by one of the industry's top players end with prices on some graded, mint and near mint-mint cards at ridiculously low levels. While it's possible that the vintage sports card market is shrinking, a better guess is there just isn't much money being put into it because of the effects of the economy.
Most wealthy people get that way by buying when the market is bad, holding and selling when things are good. I'm no economist but I think it won't be long before things turn for the better. Banks are beginning to get their legs, loaning more money last month than they have been. Recovery won't be immediate, but those who have been buying good stuff over the last several months will be glad they did.
If you're strictly a collector, there are a lot of folks out there dumping nice quality older cards and memorabilia on eBay. Dealers at shows should be more than willing to make deals.
Dreams, Inc claims other outlets are dumping signed memorabilia and other material into the marketplace just to try and break even and that's why they're losing money. You can build a really nice collection by grabbing onto some of the deals that are out there. No one's giving away '52 Mantles, but it's a fun time to be shopping if you've got a small stash of cash to spend.
Tony Gwynn, Tom Seaver, Bruce Sutter, Bo Jackson and Phil Simms have been added to the guest list at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland.
I'll have to admit I was curious to see the kind of prices the Yankees and Steiner Sports would stick on the items from the old ballpark. Many were speculating that $2500 would be the going rate for a seat, but that didn't happen.
In fact, with some exceptions, I think the prices are not as bad as I was anticipating. I'm not saying a two foot piece of sod is worth $280, but when you consider the prices in some of the other recent stadium memorabilia deals, it's not all that bad.
Of course, the good stuff will come out later this summer when items associated with specific players are sold. You won't find the Babe's leftover shower shoes but I have a feeling as time goes on that there will be some items that appreciate in value.
Some people think the city of New York left tens of millions on the table with their $11.5 million deal. We'll see.
Meantime, here's some coverage from the Fox affiliate:
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The Dallas Convention Center will host the 2011 Super Bowl Experience Card and Memorabilia Show.
Beckett reported yesterday that this season's event will not be held.
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