I recently stumbled upon a website called autographalert.com, and I must say, it really touches on some hard-hitting issues in the autograph world. The one problem I have with it, however, is that (from what I could see) there was no author's name on who wrote these articles and many of the stories use anonymous and/or one-sided sources in the stories.

For those of you who have been longtime readers of Gavel Chat, you'll know that we are big on credibility and standing behind what we write.

I did a website lookup to see who autographalert.com was registered under (considering I searched their entire site twice and couldn't even find a contact name, just a generic email address) and this was the info that I turned up:

Registrant:
Autograph Alert

PO Box 297167
Pembroke Pines, Florida 33029
United States

Registered through: Broadband National, LLC
Domain Name: AUTOGRAPHALERT.COM
Created on: 16-Mar-05
Expires on: 16-Mar-09
Last Updated on: 16-Mar-08

Administrative Contact:
Mike Frost, Steve Koschal steve@paasaa.com
Autograph Alert
PO Box 297167
Pembroke Pines, Florida 33029
United States
(561) 582-4439



Now, from what I remember, Frost and Koschal are considered autograph authenticators. I also really think there is some interesting reading on their site, but I have little respect for any entity that writes nearly all negative articles, with many anonymous and/or one-sided sources. Also, I can't respect or seriously acknowledge a story that doesn't include a byline...

Makes no sense to me. If all this information is so important to the hobby, and they stand behind it, why on earth wouldn't they want credit for their findings?

And this may be a bit off topic, but is anyone from Gavel Chat Nation also hooked on Vitamin Water. I usually don't fall into the trap of a killer marketing strategy, and I'm convinced that the only reason I like this stuff is because it's really tasty, but I guess I'm not totally sure. Maybe I'm giving in to those cute Shaq and Lebron ads, or the plain, but ever-so-hip packaging. All I know is I have a yellow one in the morning for my energy and a XXX at night for my antioxidants. I wonder if Vitamin Water would sponsor the blog... Hmm.

Alright, I lied ... Kinda.

Wouldn't it be cool though, to see a box-break style crack of someone opening a 1952 Topps pack, or any important vintage pack for that matter?

Well, I'm throwing it out there. I'm inviting any interested parties to approach me with a pack pre-1985 at SportsFest and you will instantly become a star. I will video tape you opening the pack and post it on the blog.

To those of you who don't realize, Gavel Chat has become one of the most popular sports card and memorabilia blogs ever and thousands of people will see your mug on the blog. You will also be subject to a little Gavel Chat Mojo, which has not let anyone down yet, and you may pull a very valuable card as a result.

At the very least it will be tons of fun!!

Don't let Gavel Chat Nation down.

Note: The images for the post were borrowed from the Baseball Card Kid's website. The blog would like to give a shout out and special thanks to Mark Murphy for the use of these wonderful photos.

Maybe Kimbo's opponent should have watched the following video before he stepped in the cage Saturday night:

As Gavel Chat promised yesterday, we contacted Jose Canseco's agent, Bernie Gernay to get the lowdown on the former Bash Brother's recent boxing venture.

What I found very interesting was not that he was going to be fighting former pro football player Vai Sikahema, but Gernay told me that the person in charge of promoting the fight wants to sign Canseco to a two-fight deal. And guess who is at the top of the list for Jose's next opponent. None other than Mike Tyson.

If you think about it, Canseco and Tyson have a lot in common. Some people love them both and some hate them, but no matter what your opinion on these two guys, everybody wants to watch their every move, especially if it entails a boxing match.

Now you might think Canseco is just another one of those celebrity freak show boxing guys, but Gernay said that isn't the case.

"Basically what Canseco has trained in is Japanese Karate, Taekwondo and Muay Thai," said Gernay. "He's been doing this for years, not coming in there cold like some kind of a goofy celebrity boxing match with like Tonya Harding or something."

If the potential Tyson deal falls through, Gernay said that another possible future opponent would be former NFL sack legend Mark Gastineau, even though Gernay thinks a Tyson/Canseco bout would be a better match.

"Canseco is an incredible boxer," said Gernay. "He's doesn't do this piecemeal. He's completely dedicated to this. I don't think people are expecting what is going to happen on July 12th. It's going to be real interesting in Atlantic City that day."

Looks like Jeff Woolf, former co-owner of Universal Rarities auction and former partner of Tom Riccio is going to stick with the auction gig.

I would advise Gavel Chat Nation to check out the new auction site, Iconic Memorabilia. Iconic's auction is now live and there are some very obscure items that are, at the very least, fun to look at.

For those of you who might not know who Riccio is, you may have a chance to sit in on the next O.J. Simpson trial (they are struggling to find suitable jury members), because you've obviously been living in a box for the past year.

Riccio is the dude who set up the sting to get some of Simpson's alleged stolen memorabilia back from the man who had the stuff. Riccio taped phone conversations he had with the Juice, and the entire event that took place at the Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas.

Anyway, other than a few dealings I have had with Mr. Riccio, I have also had a few with Mr. Woolf. All I can say is Woolf has always been very good at customer service and I wish him the best.

SportsFest is in less than two weeks and I'm really hoping to meet some of my Gavel Chat readers. I plan on doing some video interviews with you guys and hopefully we will have a nice turnout.

I will have some fun prizes at our booth and will try to make sure everyone is entertained. If we're lucky T.S. O'Connell with do his patented stand-up comedy act.

By the way... I guess Jose Canseco is turning into a version of Mike Tyson, in more than one way. Some would say Canseco is a little off his rocker already, but now Canseco is doing something a little more Tysonesque and going to be partaking in a boxing match versus former NFLer Vai Sikahema. Click here.

I just put a call into Canseco's marketing agent Bernie Gernay to get the lowdown on what's going in Canseco's mind, and if he really thinks the former Major Leaguer stands a chance against Vai.

Click here to watch Sikahema take out some aggression on a goal post during a pro football game. I wouldn't mess with him.

Well, I guess you've gotta hand it to Upper Deck for its innovation. The card company just announced that it will be unveiling trading cards that feature some very ‘Rare Hair’ and Ancient Autographs. I've got to admit, I wasn't that thrilled with the idea of affixing body parts to baseball cards, but after seeing that UD put some super-rare cut signatures on these pasteboards, I felt a little bit better with the new product.

At the very least, they'll be a heck of a conversation piece.

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