OT: Your one piece of prized sports memorabilia

[Scot-e]

My dad’s 1999 championship ring.

 

[Chasm64]

Copy of the first edition of Inside Sports with Larry Bird cover story

 

[GlastonTim]

View attachment 100757My dad’s 1999 championship ring.

Awesome! Back story?

 

[Scot-e]

Awesome! Back story?

In 1999 my brother and I drove down from Atlanta to meet my dad for the FF. He since has passed on- but was an huge UConn fan and supported the school. We are like many here- crazy UConn fans. Since then I only asked for one other ring from school which was last year- I thought the first and the latest would be great mojo to wear to games. Little did I know the “ latest” would not last that long. But the 1999 ring I would grab if my house was burning down before almost anything else.

 

[bdbdbdbd]

Program from 1996 Big East Final signed by WTIC's Arnold Dean, and program from 1999 Final Four signed by Jim Calhoun's nuns (apologies, I don't recall their names without digging out the program).

 

[GruntCakes]

I have a lot of memorabilia. Mostly UConn, Red Sox, Patriots.
Love this picture that I got at a UConn pre game auction a couple years back.
Hangs in the dining room aka the Red Sox room.

 

[Madmannsucks]

 

[Madmannsucks]

 

[Madmannsucks]

 

[Madmannsucks]

 

[Madmannsucks]

Can't find my DiMaggio/Gherig signed ball. But I have a collection.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

View attachment 100775

Damn that’s awesome!

 

[huskeynut]

I have an awards program signed by Jesse Owens - famed Olympic sprinter.

Got it when I was 15. It's now in a safe deposit box with my coin collections.

 

[T-Squared]

A piece of the court from the 1999 Championship game.

A poster of the opening tip of the 1999 Championship game, signed by Jim Calhoun.

 

[jibsey]

Clingan signed team photo from 2023 championship now on my grandson’s bedroom dresser. It ain’t gettin’ better!

 

[alexd]

My first place ribbon for the 4x100 relay at Duffy School 6th grade 1975 Field Day.

 

[husky8273]

View attachment 100775

great - how was that acquired?

 

[Rich]

 

[Madmannsucks]

great - how was that acquired?

Online auction with PSA certification.

 

[Monte]

A Ted Williams autograph

 

[DogMania]

My Dad took me to a Sox game in 1975. I was 9. After the game, at a stop light, Luis Tiant pulled alongside us in a gold Cadillac. My Dad scrambled to get something for him to sign and the light turned green. Luis reached down, picked up a ball and tossed it to him through the windows. The ball was signed by that whole 1975 team. Evans, Rice, Lynn, Yaz, Tiant, Bill Lee, Zimmer, Fisk, Petrocelli. I don't display it because it was signed in ball point pen and faded a little, so it's tucked away in a box somewhere.

I have a 1977 ball with all those sigs and more. My mom was the Avon Lady to the wife of Charlie Moss, the long time Sox trainer, who got the ball signed signed to give to me. Interestingly, my brother has a 1967 Impossible Dream season signed ball.

My other two items are a 2004 championship hat signed by Emeka Okafor and my Dear to Dream hard cover book that I was able to get signed by Jim Calhoun.

Oh, I almost forgot, I have some Sports Illustrated UConn Championship magazines that I framed, with Emeka's signature on one and Diana Taurasi on another one. I bought two so that I could frame them together since one side of the cover had Emeka on it with Diana on the other. In that frame I have two other UConn Magazines, but I can't remember what those are since they are packed away. I think one was a pre-NCAA Tournament SI mag and the other a preseason one.

I also have 3 mags framed set from the 1999 championship season with Khalid El-Amin on one cover and I think Ricky Moore on one of the others. I think Rip is on the 3rd one. Wow! I have to find some space somewhere to put those up. My current wife has become a big UConn fan and would love to see those hung somewhere in our home. Her late brother was an artist so there's not a lot of available wall space. Maybe my combo home office-spare bedroom would be a good candidate.

Though one of my favorite memories is one of the times me and HooperScooper went into Gampel Pavillion to watch the team practice when we saw JC look up at us and shake his head when clearing everyone else but us out of the building. I think it was Pat Sellers at the time, whom we had gotten to know (we knew Tom Moore as well), vouched for us. I think JC recognized us since we had done this yearly pilgrimage at least once or twice before. After receiving the stare of death, we looked at each other and laughed. I'll never forget that. I think he took a long look at me and shook his head when he signed his book years later...just kidding about that last part.

So many fun UConn memories. Maybe someone should start a thread on that topic or best sports memories if one has not already been started. I have a few others that come to mind but I've written far too much already.

 

[Rich]

View attachment 100772

Now that's awesome. Where'd you pick it up?

 

[RowdyFan]

I had Thurmon Munson autograph a baseball when he played for the Manchester(NH) Yankees. My Dad used to take us to the Waterbury Indians' game. Someone the family has Y. A. Tittle's autograph.

 

[Martin]

Everytime I get a new wallet I take whats in the old one and put it in the new one. Don’t laugh you are looking at a Nate Archibald autograph and from 1981 most of Waterbury Reds. I think the most prolific player to come through there was Gary Redus. I think he played catcher for the Reds for awhile. There may have been others. I used to have a Jim Spencer autograph too on a small piece of paper like the Nate one. I also have the Boston newspapers from 2004. “Why not us?!?”

 

[Martin]