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Is Phil Jackson the greatest coach in professional sports history? Although I was a huge Chicago Bulls fan during the 90's like many young wannabe ballers during that time, I don't believe the Zen Master deserves the title. I think there are essentially two schools of thought on Mr. Jackson. You either believe he's the greatest coach in professional sports because of the 11 Championship rings or you think he was in the right place at the right time with the right players. I believe the later is true.

Sure, there had to be some level of coaching involved to win those 11 rings, but he also had the best players of their respective time periods in their primes with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'neal and Kobe Bryant. I think he should have won as many title as he did. What do you think? Is Phil Jackson the greatest coach in professional sports history?

I think it's pretty safe to assume that most collectors have a variety in their sports memorabilia collections. Sure, there are certain players, teams and sports we all collect, but I know many collectors who have great collections featuring items from all sports. I'm sure there's even a reader or two that has a modest cricket or football (soccer) collection they're building. With that said, many of us still have one sport or player from a particular sport that we focus our collections around and I'm no different.

I recently inventoried my sports memorabilia collection and am now able to break my collection down into the four major sports. I know I collect a lot of hoops memorabilia, but I was surprised to see how diverse my collection actually has become. To beak it down for you, 48% of my collection is basketball related, 20% football, 19% baseball and 13% hockey. I do realize how dorky it was to inventory my collection to get these percentages, and I'm assuming many readers aren't as dorky as me. So I made the poll a little simpler: What sport do you collect the most?

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been collecting more any more hockey cards/memorabilia lately and today has gotten to a fever pitch. I'll be posting a few recent hockey eBay wins over the weekend, but tonight is all about Game 7. I'm a huge fan of a multitude of different sports and sporting events, but there really isn't too much better in sports than an NHL Game 7. The series between the Sharks and Red Wings has certainly been entertaining and tonight should be no different, but who will win?

We all have our favorite's who we collect and there are plenty of reasons for those favorites. Sometimes it's a hometown player or a legend who brings back fond memories. However, there are certainly players who are at the top of the hobby that everyone would like to collect, but their cards/memorabilia might be out of reach for some collectors including this one. I thoroughly enjoy collecting cards, posters and kicks from my favorite players, but I also wouldn't mind adding an Upper Deck Exquisite or Panini National Treasures RC of Mr. Blake Griffin to my collection. They're about $1,000 out of my price range, but this did give me a good idea for a blog question. More specifically, what young/rookie player at the top of the hobby world right now would you start collecting regardless of finances?

Sports memorabilia can be many things to many people, but there is one thing sports memorabilia is for all collectors. Whether you collect trading cards, posters, autographs, magazines or kicks, sports memorabilia is expensive. However, value and expense can mean different things to different people. I define expensive as anything that cost money. So I try to keep my memorabilia budget as low as possible while still adding quality items to my collection. Since I collect every type of trading card, sneaker, magazine and poster under the sun, creating a budget is difficult and most certainly necessary.

I pride myself on searching patiently for good deals, but a good deal to me might not be a good deal to another collector. It all depends on a collectors sports memorabilia budget. My budget is approximately $85 a month. I might spend well under that in a giving month, but never over that amount. An easy way to calculate what you spend on sports memorabilia per month is to divide the 60 day Buying Total Amount on your eBay page as many collectors us eBay as their primary source when adding to their collections. You can also add hobby shop and retail store purchases to that total.

To get a better idea of what fellow collectors are spending on sports memorabilia on a monthly basis I encourage readers to participate in the poll below. This will help all readers to get a better idea of what their fellow collectors are spending on the hobby. Thanks and… "Enjoy Every Rip of the Pack".

All three of the major trading card manufacturers (Panini, Topps & Upper Deck) recently released 2010 football products in the last week or so. So which product is best? I understand Upper Deck SP Authentic Football is not even near the same price point as Five Star or National Treasures, but it was just released and makes for a nice three product comparison.


All three have their pros and cons. National Treasures has some very nice rookie patches, shields and auto's. Topps Five Star features booklets, inscription auto's and only on-card auto's. Finally, Upper Deck SP Authentic gives collectors 24 five card packs with 3 hits per box for $125, but no NFL team logos (if the college thing bothers you). So what does all this mean for collectors? It's simple, choice.

All the early preview images released by each company for these products look fantastic as usual, but there's more to a product than a few preview images. Here are eBay search links you can checkout to get a better idea of each product (Panini National Treasures, Topps Five Star and Upper Deck SP Authentic). So which overall product do you like better? Please feel free to comment on which product you chose and why?

Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly are amongst a few of my favorite Yankees ever and are certainly revered by many other Yankee fans. Although "Donnie Baseball" is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Winfield is, and this card is the only card I have that features a Yankee who is in the Hall. Cards of guys like Ruth, Berra, Mantle, DiMaggio and Gehrig cost a bit more than my price range can handle, so this Mattingly/Winfield jersey card is the best I've got for this post.

Basically, I want to know what current New York Yankees or Yankee prospects you think will eventually be enshrined in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame when their career(s) are over? You can vote for as many players as you want. If there's a player or prospect not included in the poll, feel free to add in the comments section. Thanks for reading and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Who do you think will shine during the NBA All-Star Weekend?

Albert Pujols will report to Cardinals spring training tomorrow regardless of whether he has a contract extnsion or not. However, if he and the Cardinals do not agree on an extension by the time he reports, Pujols says he will enter next offseason as a free agent. There's no questioning Pujols ability on the field. He's worth being paid as the best player in baseball, but for how long? It's being reported that Pujols wants somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 million a year for 10 years.

Sweet, sweet acetate!

Derek Jeter is coming off of his worst statistical season in his 16 season MLB career. With pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training in under a month (28 days), I'm starting to get excited about the upcoming MLB season. One of the biggest questions for my favorite team is whether Derek Jeter can bounce back from a season in which he batted .270, hit 10 hrs and stole 18 bases. Also, despite winning a Gold Glove, 2010 saw a diminish in Jeter's range at the shortstop position.

So the question is, what type of season is Jeter going to put together this year? The poll options consist of some of Jeter's best and worst season averages. What do you think?

- Make sure to checkout the card contests/giveaways I'm holding to try your luck at winning some free Panini cards (click here).

So it looks like Vince Young will be available for your NFL team to pick up this off-season. There's no questioning the former 3rd overall pick's physical talent. However, it seems the Tennessee Titans are not happy with the quarterbacks maturity and professional development.

I get that Young is a dynamic 27 year old football player, but I do not want him as the starting quarterback of my Bills. That's actually really saying a lot with Ryan Fitzpatrick at the helm in Buffalo. Not that there really is any chatter about Young coming to the Bills. Ultimately, I think Young will end up in Arizona or Miami. Both make some sense as physical talent/potential typically win out with pro GM's (accept with teams like the Patriots). They just draft and sign smart, professional football players and keep on winning.

So that's my take. I'm voting "No" in this one. What's your vote?

The Orlando Magic pulled off a series of trades that essentially brought Jason Richardson, Gilbert Arenas, Earl Clark and Hedo Turkoglu to the Magic Kingdom and expelled Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat and a 1st RD pick. I like what the Magic did yesterday. They attempted to correct the personnel mistakes of the past two years in one frenetic Friday night. I know the loss of key role players Gortat and Pietrus is questionable, but I think what the Magic did will work. The question is, how well will it work?

So we all know the NFL is a quarterback driven league, but what's the most important position after the Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? You're probably saying, "Well that's easy… long-snapper", but I don't think it's such a cut and dry question.

The importance of protecting the QB's backside with a quality left tackle can't be understated. Conversely, getting to a QB with a terrorizing DE or LB can change the entire course of a game. Lets not forget the confidence a reliable RB can give you, and those primadonna WR's can certainly put the fear in an opposing defensive coordinator.

For me, there's nothing like a completely dominant DE rushing the opposing QB or a stonewall LT, but I have to go with a monster Defensive Tackle. The right DT can setup the rest of a defense. That's particularly true in the 3-4 defense and goes without saying you need two DT's in a 4-3 defensive scheme. Know thinking about it, maybe the long-snapper position doesn't have quite the same importance as I may have assumed. There's no denying the fact that the success of an NFL team depends on every team member, but which position is more important?

'03 Upper Deck Ultimate Auto RC

No, not the Jason Williams who hooped it up with Randy Moss during his high school days, nor the former New Jersey Nets Jayson Williams. I get confused myself with so many NBA'ers named Jason Williams, but I'm talking about the former Duke University star from earlier in the decade. I'm sure many fans and collectors have forgotten about the once dynamic point guard. It's been almost a decade since his playing days, and there have been a plethora of point guards in Chicago since. Although I'm not a huge fan, Derrick Rose is doing a great job of making Bulls fans forget about Mr. Williams. I know he's currently a collegiate basketball analyst for ESPN, but he was at one time an unstoppable force on the court. He was one of the most explosive guards I've ever seen and could also stroke it from deep. I watched the former N.J. State Mr. Basketball Award winner play in high school and thought there was nothing he couldn't do. While at Duke, it seemed that was true. Unfortunately for Williams, we truly are the sum of the decisions we make, as positive or reckless as those decisions might be.

'03 Upper Deck Ultimate Dual Jersey RC

Mr. Williams was well on his way to a great start of his NBA career as the #2 overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls until a motorcycle accident nearly claimed his life after his rookie season. Williams hit a streetlight in Chicago in '03. He did not have a licence to operate a motorcycle in Illinois, nor was he wearing a helmet. In fact, Williams was not supposed to be on a motorcycle at all as his contract with the Bulls stated. He suffered a number of horrific injuries that put walking agin in jeopardy, never mind playing professional basketball. Williams actually made a comeback in 2007 with the N.J. Nets averaging 3.8 points 0.6 assists and 2.6 turnovers/game, but was released after 5 games.

I recently picked up a few RC's of Williams as I'm a dork for basketball history, and he's certainly apart of that history. There's no questioning Williams' place in collegiate basketball history. In only 3 years, he managed to become the 5th all-time leading scoring when he left Dunk with 2,079 points and lead the Blue Devils to the 2001 NCAA Championship. Williams also won the Naismith and Wooden Awards as college basketball's best player in 2002. He is often regarded as one of the best collegiate players ever, and is on many top 100 lists. So what NBA history would Williams have cut out for himself had he not gotten hurt? How would Jay Williams' NBA career have turned out?