Sports Collectibles – Page 4 – The Intelligent Collector Magazine

‘March Madness’ Might Apply to More Than Just College Basketball

The game net from the 1982 NCAA Basketball Championship, which swooshed from Michael Jordan’s game-winning shot for the UNC Tarheels, realized $31,070 in an August 2011 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

The first reference to the “Final Four” in an NCAA publication was in the 1975 Official Collegiate Basketball Guide. On page 5 in the review section written by Ed Chay of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chay wrote: “Outspoken Al McGuire of Marquette, whose team was one of the final four in Greensboro, was among several coaches who said it was good for college basketball that UCLA was finally beaten.”

The first time “Final Four” was used capitalized was in the 1978 Basketball Guide.

In 1994, Bill Clinton was the first sitting president to attend the Final Four. Clinton saw his home state Arkansas Razorbacks win the National Championship.

Sitting presidents who did not make it when teams from their home states made the Final Four include FDR (NYU 1945), Ike (Kansas 1953 and 1957), Nixon (UCLA 1968-74), and Gerald Ford (Michigan 1976).

The only player to play for two schools in the Final Four Championship game was Bob Bender in 1976 with Indiana (won) and in 1978 with Duke (lost).

I am waiting for some clever news writer to associate the current presidential primary races with the March Madness sobriquet. If not, you heard it here first.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is President and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

The Day in 1978 that Coach Woody Hayes Went Berserk

Coach Woody Hayes was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

By Jim O’Neal

On Dec. 29, 1978, a Clemson player intercepted a last-minute Ohio State pass and Clemson went on to defeat the Buckeyes 17-15 in the Gator Bowl.

After the interception, OSU Coach Woody Hayes goes berserk and punches the Clemson player in the throat. Hayes then charges a game official and abuses him. Accounts vary as to exactly what was said.

Up until this time, teams under Coach Hayes at Ohio State University had won 13 Big 10 league titles and five National Championships. Coach Hayes had also won the College Football “Coach of the Year” three times (the award is now called the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award).

None of this seemed to matter the day after the game. Coach Hayes was fired after 28 years of outstanding service. However, this only pertained to football. He continued to both teach at OSU and mentored students. In 1983, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Players and coaches admired his spirit of competition and remind us that in 1968, while leading arch rival Michigan 44-14, OSU scored another touchdown and went for a two-point conversion. Accused of “running up the score,” Hayes was asked … why? Hayes quickly replied “because I couldn’t go for 3!”

OSU went on to win the game 50-14.

Incidentally, the quarterback who threw the interception that got Hayes fired, Art Schlichter, was a four-year starter at Ohio State and a first-round draft in the NFL. Schlichter had a terrible gambling addiction that started early and plagued him for 30 years. He lost all of his money (and all he could borrow) and was in and out of prison for a long time.

He was the first NFL player to be suspended for gambling after Alex Karras and Paul Hornung in 1963.

We rank him No. 4 on the all-time worst draft picks, a group that is headed up by No. 1 Ryan Leaf.

After Now-Legendary Ali-Liston Bout, Boxer Turned Down Politics

The gloves that Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston wore in their 1965 match realized $956,000 at a February 2015 auction.

By Jim O’Neal

In 1960, Cassius Clay won the Olympic Gold Medal in Rome in the light heavyweight division. On this date, Feb. 25 in 1964, he scored a TKO over Sonny Liston and became the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.

Two days later, he announced he had joined an African-American Muslim group, the Nation of Islam, and became Muhammad Ali.

On May 25, 1965, I agreed to drive three of my friends to the Anaheim, Calif., “Theater in the Round” to see the big-screen TV rematch between Muhammad Ali and Liston. They were fighting in Lewiston, Maine. Traffic was bad and we were running a little late.

I volunteered to get four beers at the concession stand while they secured our seats. The service was also a little slow.

Oops.

Ali knocked out Liston in the first round (officially 2:12), which is still the fastest in heavyweight championship history. I did not get to see the knockout live, but the replays were interesting and the beer was cold. We may have had a second round.

Later, someone suggested to Liston he should try politics due to his high name recognition. His reply is still one of my favorites: “I would rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia.”

Classic Liston.

Nearly 55 Years Ago, Nicklaus Got His Start with an Unspectacular Payday

This gold Rolex wristwatch presented to Jack Nicklaus for his 1980 U.S. Open victory realized $33,460 at an August 2013 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

On Jan. 8, 1962, a chubby, 21-year-old pro golfer picked up a check for $33.33 after tying for 50th (last place) with Billy Maxwell and Don Massengale in the Los Angeles Open.

The tournament was played at Rancho Park in West Los Angeles.

Thus began the pro career of the best golfer of all time – Jack Nicklaus, who went on to win 18 Major Championships (the record) … six Masters, five PGA, four U.S. Opens and three British Championships (The Open). He also won two U.S. Amateur Championships.

He would go on to win 73 PGA tournaments and 10 on the Champions (Seniors) before retiring in 2005.

His pro winnings were $9,102,462 and in 2004 he was named the Golfer of the Century/Millennium. Golf Magazine named him Golfer of the Century for 1888-1998.

On that sunny day in California in 1962, I had decided to follow Phil Rodgers, who shot 62 (9 under par) and won the tournament by 9 strokes … 21 better than Nicklaus.

Who knew?

P.S. Billy Casper was the first golfer to win more than $200k in one year ($205,168 in 1968). In 2015, caddy Steve Williams earned $1.27 million.

P.P.S. Since the prize money for last place in 1962 was $100 and Maxwell, Massengale and Nicklaus each got $33.33, what happened to the extra cent? Yes, I know it takes a curious mind to think of this, but you have to pay attention to the small things.

Ray Chapman, Burleigh Grimes, Gaylord Perry and the Notorious Spitball

Ray Chapman appears on this 1916 M101-4 Altoona Tribune baseball card.

By Jim O’Neal

In August 1920, Ray Chapman became the first and only baseball fatality when he was hit in the head by a spitball thrown by Carl Mays.

The spitball was officially banned in 1920, but 17 active spitball pitchers were exempted for the balance of their careers. Eight were in the National League and nine in the American League.

The last legal spitball was thrown by Burleigh Grimes of the Pittsburg Pirates on Sept. 10, 1934.

However, the practice continues yet today in a variety of very clever ways, including petroleum jelly and other techniques to mar the surface of the ball. Some use nail files, belt buckles, etc.

Several times these practices have been confirmed after a player retires and recounts his career in baseball articles or biographies.

Perhaps the most famous was Me and the Spitter: An Autobiographical Confession, written by the great pitcher Gaylord Perry, in which he describes his particular tricks.

Perry is the first pitcher to ever win the Cy Young Award in both leagues … 1972 AL Cleveland and 1978 NL San Diego. His record also includes five-time All Star … five-time 20-game winner … 314 games won with 3,534 strikeouts … Hall of Fame in 1991.

Most pitchers are generally poor batters and Perry was particularly inept. In his sophomore year in 1963, his manager Alvin Dark famously predicted, “They will put a man on the moon before he hits a home run.”

On July 20, 1969, one hour after Neil Armstrong landed Apollo 11 on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit a home run.

Rocky Marciano Remains the Only Undefeated Heavyweight Champion

Rocky Marciano gave this pendant to actor/comedian Joey Bishop, who then gifted it to Sylvester Stallone after the first Rocky film came out in 1976. The pendant realized $25,000 at a December 2015 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

On Sept, 21, 1955, Heavyweight Champion Rocky Marciano defeated Light Heavy Champion Archie Moore for his 49th consecutive win.

Exactly 30 years later to-the-day, IBF Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes was a strong favorite to tie Marciano’s win-streak record, but lost in a stunning upset to Michael Spinks.

Marciano defended his championship six times and was never beaten in his career. In 1951, he beat 37-year-old Joe Louis in an upset and Louis retired … permanently … after the fight.

Marciano had a remarkable KO record of 87.75 percent and only one boxer – Ezzard Charles – was able to last 15 rounds.

On Aug. 31, 1969 – a day before his 46th birthday – Marciano died in a tragic plane crash near Newton, Iowa (en route to Des Moines). The pilot hit a tree two miles short of the runway.

Marciano remains the only undefeated Heavyweight Champion, 49-0, and boxing experts rank him No. 9 or No. 10 on the all-time best list. He was the inspiration for the Rocky film series that Sylvester Stallone used to great advantage.

In Super Bowl’s Afterglow, Let’s Remember All-Time Great Paul Hornung

This 1957 Topps Paul Hornung trading card #151, PSA Mint 9, realized $28,800 at a February 2017 auction.

By Jim O’Neal

Super Bowl I was played on Jan. 15, 1967, in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum (yes, I was there) and the Green Bay Packers (NFL) defeated the Kansas City Chiefs (AFL) in a lopsided game, 35-10.

The only player on the Green Bay roster who did not play was the all-time great Paul Hornung, due to a pinched neck nerve.

Hornung was an all-around player that Coach Vince Lombardi had labeled “the most versatile player in football.” He played halfback (primarily), but also quarterback and placekicker (field goals and PAT).

In 1960 (the last year of 12-game seasons), he set the single season scoring record of 176 points … a record that lasted 46 years until 2006, after the league had extended the season to 14 games. The following year, 1961, he set the NFL record for most points scored (19) in an NFL Championship game.

Later in his career, he became the oldest player to score five touchdowns in a single game (29 years and 354 days old).

But it all really got started at Notre Dame, where he also played basketball. In 1956, he won the Heisman Trophy despite playing on a mediocre team. Mighty Notre Dame was 2-8 that year and Hornung was the only player to win the Heisman with a losing team. Many consider Hornung the greatest all-around player in Notre Dame history.

The Heisman Trophy was named in honor of John Heisman, who was a coach at Georgia Tech when the team beat Cumberland College 222-0 in 1916. In that game, kicker Jim Preas had 16 straight point-after-touchdowns, a single game record. Sportswriter Grantland Rice wrote, “Cumberland’s finest play was when halfback Allen circled right end for a 6-yard loss.”

Back to Paul Hornung. As a player, he was the first (only?) to win the Heisman, be drafted first in the NFL, win the NFL MVP, and then be inducted into the High School, College and NFL halls of fame.

He also had a great sense of humor. He often said, “Never get married in the morning. You just never know who you might meet that night.” However, he did get married in the morning and when asked about it replied, “Well, if it didn’t work out, I didn’t want to blow the whole day.”

P.S. Hornung and Alex Karras were suspended for a year in 1963 for alleged gambling. Commissioner Pete Rozelle ran a tight ship.

How an ‘Oops’ Turned Into a Popular Magazine Feature

This signed Charles Lindbergh photograph realized $3,883 at a September 2007 auction.

By Jim O’Neal

In 1928, Time magazine was chagrined when they realized they had left Charles Lindbergh off the cover after he made his historic transatlantic flight.

So the editors came up with a novel provision and literally created a new feature: “Man of the Year.” Naturally, the first was Lindy, and it started an exciting new trend that also boosted sales.

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In 1920, The New York Times wrote a scathing editorial that scoffed at the idea of rockets being launched into space. They opined that “they would need something better than a vacuum against which to act.”

Forty-nine years later, after Apollo 11’s 1969 launch, the Times published a retraction. “It is now definitely established a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere.” The Times regretted the error.

●●●

On Jan. 1, 1902, Michigan beat Stanford 49-0 in what would later become the Rose Bowl. This first game was called the “East-West” and Stanford was so beat up (physically) that they quit with eight minutes left to play.

The attendance was so poor (8,500) the promoters dropped football for the next 14 years. They switched to polo, chariot races, ostrich races and even an elephant-camel race.

The first official Rose Bowl was 1923.

That first Michigan team, dubbed the “Point a Minute Team,” won all 10 games with combined scores of 555-0.

I suspect this may have included the first serious college recruiting efforts. (Do you think?)

●●●

In 1973, a Florida shipbuilder by the name of George Steinbrenner bought the New York Yankees from CBS for $10 million. Four years later, he paid right fielder Dave Winfield $20 million for one season.

Last year, the team franchise was valued at $3.2 billion – second only to the Dallas Cowboys at $4+ billion.

In his initial press conference, Steinbrenner promised he would not interfere in the day-to-day operations of the team. (However, he did not specify how long this would last. My guess is sundown on day two.)

In Texas, that’s called the Golden Rule – “He who has the gold, makes the rules.”