I had my “Wizard of Oz” meets “Wizard of Westwood” moment at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in 1980, which I will explain later. But my awareness and fascination with basketball and UCLA began quite innocently. As an eight-year-old boy growing up in Centerville, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, our family attended a December 1966 holiday gathering at a neighbor’s home, the McDaniels. … [Read more...] about Dribbles & Scribbles: Sports Illustrated, UCLA, John Wooden and a Lifetime of Collecting Memories
Sneak(er) Peeks: The Evolution of Basketball Shoes on Basketball Cards from NBA Pioneers to Air Jordan
The release of the film Air earlier this year, a movie that chronicles the parallel ascent of Nike and Michael Jordan, got me thinking of the evolution of basketball shoes. Being a basketball card collector since the 1969 Topps “Tall Boys” were issued, and noticing every nuance of these cardboard gems over the decades, I began tracking the appearances of different styles of … [Read more...] about Sneak(er) Peeks: The Evolution of Basketball Shoes on Basketball Cards from NBA Pioneers to Air Jordan
Dribbles and Scribbles: Who are Basketball’s Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Jackie, Mays? A Crossover Comparison and Collector’s Guide
As we celebrate the NBA's 75th anniversary season many of pro basketball's pioneers and early stars are getting some well-deserved recognition. As these players, many that are not very familiar to today's fans, are remembered, it dawned on me just how young the sport of pro basketball is. It also struck me how under-appreciated and undervalued many of the cards … [Read more...] about Dribbles and Scribbles: Who are Basketball’s Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Jackie, Mays? A Crossover Comparison and Collector’s Guide
Dribbles and Scribbles: Basketball’s Unknown Hall of Famer and His Rare Autograph
In an ongoing series, long-time basketball autograph collector Tim Gallagher recounts memories of collecting in person signatures and brushes with greats of the game. What if I described a 6’11” center of Yugoslavian descent, that had traditional post moves, but shot from the outside like a forward and dribbled and passed like a guard? Who does that? That is easy, you say… … [Read more...] about Dribbles and Scribbles: Basketball’s Unknown Hall of Famer and His Rare Autograph
Dribbles and Scribbles: Al McGuire and the Strangest Autographed Item in My Collection
In the second of an ongoing series, long-time collector Tim Gallagher takes over the Editor’s Blog to share stories from 50+ years of chasing basketball autographs. An early morning visit with legendary coach and broadcaster Al McGuire after a sports talk radio interview more than 25 years ago led to my friends and I getting the strangest signed "collectable" in all … [Read more...] about Dribbles and Scribbles: Al McGuire and the Strangest Autographed Item in My Collection
Dribbles & Scribbles: A Little 80s “Magic” Restarts a Collecting Journey
In the first of an ongoing series, long-time collector Tim Gallagher takes over the Editor's Blog to share 50+ years of memories from chasing basketball autographs. ---- In the early 1980's a fortuitous convergence of geography, hotel ownership and a superstar player's absence from my collection reignited my passion for pursuing basketball autographs. COLLECTING … [Read more...] about Dribbles & Scribbles: A Little 80s “Magic” Restarts a Collecting Journey