Latest news with #sportsmemorabilia
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
More than an average billionaire, Jim Irsay presided over Indianapolis Colts' golden era and helped fight stigma
The range of exhibits that caught Jim Irsay's roving eye at auctions through the decades offer clues to his enduring curiosity about the world. One day, he could be purchasing Abraham Lincoln's pocketknife to place among the rest of his presidential memorabilia. The next, he might splurge $6.18 million for the championship belt worn by Muhammad Ali after winning the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman . He was determined to own the left-handed 1969 Fender Competition Mustang wielded by Kurt Cobain in the Smells like Teen Spirit video. Equally so, he became sacred keeper of the 120-foot-long original scroll manuscript of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Irsay once turned down an offer of $1 billion for his eclectic collection of sporting, musical and historical artefacts. He didn't need the money. As owner of the Indianapolis Colts, the 65-year-old's personal wealth was at least four times that. More importantly, he couldn't countenance so much stuff of cultural significance being cossetted away in a private home in the Middle East. One of the joys of his life was sharing his largesse with the public, regularly dispatching a travelling exhibition featuring Elvis Presley's Martin acoustic guitar, David Gilmour's 'Black Strat' and the bass drum Ringo Starr thumped on the Ed Sullivan Show on nationwide tours. READ MORE Far removed from the typical plutocrat owner of an NFL outfit, by the time Irsay inherited the Colts from his late father at 37, he'd already been knocking around the team for more than two decades. On the way to the top job, he put in a stint in just about every department, including a spell laundering kit. As boss, he gifted each employee a card with $100 in it on their birthdays and often walked around pre-season training doling out wads of cash to stunned supporters. Adored by fans, players, and coaches alike, his former quarterback Peyton Manning reacted to his sudden death last week by calling him the man who turned Indianapolis into a football town. Quarterback Peyton Manning and team owner Jim Irsay were influential figures during the Indianapolis Colts' most successful era that culminated in a Super Bowl triumph in 2006. Photograph:'Playing for a team that Mr Irsay ran was an honour,' said Pat McAfee, another Colts alumnus turned ESPN host. 'He was funny, brilliant, unique, and somehow still wildly relatable.' A sometimes bizarre, often tumultuous life, his personal highlight reel is a suitably eccentric affair. There's a well-worn video of him, a patrician in a business suit, wigging out to Meek Mill's Dreams and Nightmares with his players in a demented locker-room celebration. It was a transformative innovation that made the league more competitive and compelling Lesser-spotted footage exists of his eponymous rock band, a group whose ranks were often bolstered by guest appearances from the likes of Mike Mills (REM) and Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top). Then there's jerky home movies of his post-collegiate career as a competitive powerlifter, a sport he turned to in his youth because 'I was a little fat, shy kid with glasses'. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top performs during the Jim Irsay Collection exhibit and concert in California last year. Photograph:That pastime certainly impressed players who would often gather in the weights room to see if the owner's son could really break the 700lb barrier. His achievements in the gym caused him residual hip and back problems and ultimately led to him becoming addicted to painkillers. Between issues with opioids and alcohol, there was a DUI arrest that earned a suspension from the league, at least 15 trips to rehab and an incident in 2023 when first responders found him unresponsive in his bedroom following a suspected overdose. If his struggles were constant, embarrassing and inevitably made news, his candour about them won plaudits. 'Any way I can take away from the stigma is good,' said Irsay. 'A lot of people don't understand the disease. They think you choose an addiction. What's really important is that you can be honest and talk about an illness. There are millions of death certificates that don't read 'alcoholism', but that's what it is. Instead, they say, 'heart attack', 'stroke', 'liver disease' or something else. I know it's not perceived as a disease, as something like cancer. Hopefully that will change.' In between amassing one of the world's great collections of musical instruments, from Elton John's Steinway Model D grand piano to The Edge's Gibson Explorer, he spent $2.2 million on the original manuscript of the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, a tome freighted with personal meaning given his battle with the bottle and his father's before him. Jim Irsay developed hip and back problems that led to an addiction to painkillers. Photograph:After forking over $4.5 million for Cobain's guitar, the singer's family immediately donated a portion of that money back to Kicking the Stigma, the non-profit Irsay established to try to improve the conversation around mental illness and addiction. Even as he failed to slay his own demons and he faded from public view over the last year of his life, his philanthropy helped many of those suffering just like him. The youngest general manager in NFL history at 24, he made a genuine impact on America's national game. Aside from presiding over the Colts' greatest era, when they won one Super Bowl and were serial contenders, he was part of a four-man committee that devised the salary cap in the 1980s. It was a transformative innovation that made the league more competitive and compelling, driving the box office. Under his canny stewardship, the club his father paid $19 million for in 1972 – which will now be run by his three beloved daughters – is worth $5 billion. 'Irsay's personality, oftentimes,' wrote Nate Atkins in The Indianapolis Star, 'was like a middle finger to the character map in Succession.' As fitting an epitaph as any.
CBC
15-05-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Ontario Paralympian asks thieves to return hockey equipment, sports memorabilia after break-in
Social Sharing A Canadian Paralympic gold medalist is asking thieves who stole a hockey bag of equipment and about $30,000 worth of sports memorabilia to give the items back. Paul Rosen, a former goalie for the Canadian men's sledge hockey team team and a motivational speaker who lives in East Gwillimbury, Ont., says he found out last Friday that his storage unit in Newmarket, Ont., had been ransacked and looted. His goalie glove was among the items stolen. Rosen said the incident has left him in shock because it's not the first time someone has stolen one of his Paralympic prized possessions. In 2007, his gold medal was stolen from a charity event and returned a week later. "I couldn't believe it, to be really honest with you," Rosen said on Thursday. "As soon as I walked in, and I saw everything just all over the place, the first thing was, oh my god, my equipment, my hockey bag was in there." Then Rosen said he realized his goalie glove and mask were gone. "They destroyed everything. They threw everything on the floor, smashed things," he said. Break-in happened sometime in last month, police say York Regional Police said on Thursday that officers responded to a commercial break-in at a basement storage unit in the area of Davis Drive and Yonge Street on May 9. Police said the break-in happened some time in the last month and they have no descriptions of suspects. The hockey bag contained Rosen's personal Paralympics equipment, while the sports memorabilia belonged to his non-profit organization, Stop Concussions. "The destruction is what really bothers me," he said. Rosen said what hurts the most is the loss of his prized glove because he used it to help Team Canada win gold at the Paralympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy in 2006. The win was Canada's only first-place victory in the sport. The glove is embroidered with his name and nickname and has spikes on it. "It was the last thing I had, the last actual thing that I can hold and remember from those games and I've had a crazy life since then with addiction and mental health and struggles, so it really does mean a lot to me," he said. Rosen said there were no security cameras at the storage unit and he had no insurance. In January 2007, someone snatched his Paralympic gold medal during an autographing session with fans in Toronto. After a media frenzy and a scolding from former hockey commentator Don Cherry on Hockey Night in Canada, someone dropped it in a mailbox. The medal turned up at a postal sorting station in Toronto, and police returned it. Now Rosen said he is hoping another team effort can get all of his cherished possessions back. "My address and my name and my phone number are on the bag. Just give it to someone and get it back to me," he said. Sports artifacts are important, local councillor says Ron Weese, a town councillor for Aurora, Ont. and president of Sport Aurora, an advocacy group that represents several sports organizations in the town, said Rosen is an inspiration to many athletes because he has risen to the top despite challenges. "We understand completely how artifacts and items are important for people because they represent the most important days of their lives, the most important moments of their lives many times. And so that's a matter of inspiration for them and everyone else," Weese said. Weese said he hopes somebody will come forward to say they have found the items. "Every single piece is important," he said. Rosen suffered a leg injury during a hockey game as a youth, and the resulting damage, infections, and pain to his leg plagued him for years until his lower leg was amputated above the knee when he was 39. During rehabilitation, he joined the Canadian men's sledge hockey team and took part in the 2002 and 2006 Winter Paralympic Games.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man pleads guilty to selling counterfeit items at local mall kiosk
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Over a month after his arrest by federal agents, a local man has pleaded guilty to charges of trafficking counterfeit goods. Emre Teski, a 25-year-old Turkish national, was arrested at the Fairfield Mall in March. On Friday, the Department of Justice announced the man has pleaded guilty in federal court to selling counterfeit sports memorabilia and footwear from a kiosk in the mall. Teski was taken into custody on March 6 by federal agents after suspicions arose of him selling trademarked replica soccer jerseys and hats, as well as replica Nike footwear. Court documents show he had replica jerseys from multiple soccer clubs, including FC Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami. According to federal authorities, Teski illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 through a port of entry in Mexico. In 2024, he was ordered to be deported, but appealed the decision and was given permission to work while his appeal made its way through the system. Teski had been running the kiosk in the Fairfield Mall. When law enforcement became suspicious, they sent an undercover investigator whom Teski sold counterfeit Nike footwear to. When officials raided Teski's stand in March, they took him into custody and seized nearly $150,000 in counterfeit goods. Officials say the charges Teski pleaded guilty to are federal crimes, and could carry sentences of up to 10 years. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
McClaren Racing CEO Zak Brown reveals that he owns $242,788 Mickey Mantle ‘lewd' document
McClaren Racing CEO Zak Brown revealed himself to be the owner of perhaps the most vulgar piece of sports memorabilia of all time during a recent podcast appearance. When asked about his most precious collectibles on MLB's 6-1-1 Podcast hosted by former Philadelphia Phillies teammates Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard this week, the leader of Formula 1's top team shared that he has a 1972 document written by Mickey Mantle in which the hall of famer details a sex act he claims to have been a part of at Yankee Stadium in response to a prompt asking for his 'most outstanding experience' at the ballpark. Mantle signed the document with his name and the inscription 'The All-American Boy.' It was sold at auction for $242,788.80 by Leland's in December 2022 (images of the NSFW document can be seen on Leland's website), but as is standard practice, the buyer's identity was not revealed at the time. Advertisement 'Probably the most unique is, I don't know if you guys ever remember the Mickey Mantle 'lewd' letter. And if not, you gotta Google it. This is beyond rated R,' Brown told Rollins and Howard. 'It wouldn't happen today, but Mickey Mantle could pull it off. It's a bit of a legendary letter … I bought that for my collection.' Marty Appel, a Yankees executive at the time the document was written, told Leland's at the time of the auction how the document came to be. 'I was the Yankees Assistant PR Director then, with Bob Fishel my boss,' Appel told the auction house. 'We wrote to many ex-Yankees for a 1973 50th anniversary Yearbook feature on 'greatest memory.' That is my handwriting on 'Dear Mickey' and 'Bob Fishel.' Mick's response is indeed his, in his handwriting, but it was meant to shock the very straight-laced Bob Fishel on whom he was always playing practical jokes. The item is authentic, but the intent was bawdy humor, not depiction of a real event. I called Mick when I received it and said, 'We're going with the Barney Schultz home run in 1964' and he laughed and said 'Of course.' I held the letter for decades (never showed Bob Fishel), finally gave it to Barry Halper, and from there it slipped off to others over time.' Brown's Mantle fandom goes back to childhood, when he had a direct encounter with the then retired player and his colorful use of language. 'I've actually got the best story ever on baseball,' Brown told George Brett's Golf Underground podcast. 'I was a big Mickey Mantle fan. So I find out he plays golf at Preston Trail Country Club, which is kind of like the start of my sales career, I'm 13 years old. So I call in every day and say, 'Is Mickey Mantle in? Is Mickey Mantle in? Is Mickey Mantle in?' Two weeks go by and they go, 'Hold on.' And I have no appreciation for golf, no idea he's on the golf course. Fifteen minutes, he comes back, picks up the phone, and I go, 'Is this Mickey Mantle?' and he starts swearing at me and hangs up the phone. He thought it was a prank call. I go in my room, I'm crying. Mickey Mantle just called me every name in the book. I tell my mom what happened, she calls him back, says, 'You just cussed out my kid' and he felt terrible and said, 'Come to Dallas, I'll spend half a day with your kid.' I got on a plane three days later, spent half a day with Mickey Mantle at the Hilton in Dallas, Texas when I was 13 years old. So I was one of those stalker fans.' Advertisement His sizable baseball memorabilia collection goes beyond Mantle items, though. 'I guess the most unique — I mean, put aside jerseys, because I've got, and it's all game-used stuff, I've got (Ted) Williams, Mantle, (Willie) Mays, (Hank) Aaron,' he told the 6-1-1 show. 'So that stuff's amazing, but probably the most unique is, I've got Pete Rose's rookie trophy, which I think is pretty cool. When he had his issues, he sold everything, so his 1963 Rookie of the Year trophy, I've got. Albert Pujols gave me one of his Gold Gloves, which was really cool. … And then I've got Jimmie Foxx's 1932 All-Star trophy. So those are like, unrepeatable.' In addition to his baseball items, Brown also has a one-of-a-kind car collection. Under Brown, McClaren won the 2024 Formula 1 Constructor's Championship for the first time since 1998 and currently lead the standings in 2025. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.
