Following their embarrassing 44 - 6 loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys disappointing 2008 season came to a screeching end. In addition to kissing their Super Bowl  hopes goodbye, the end of the 2008 seasons marked the end of an era for Cowboys fans and players who bid a fond farewell to Texas Stadium. While Cowboys fans wouldn't mind forgetting their team's underachieving 2008 season, many are eager to preserve their many fond (and not so fond) memories of Texas Stadium, the team's home since 1971.  Thanks to a recently announced agreement between Steiner Sports and the Cowboys, fans and collectors alike will have a great opportunity to do just that.

Cowboys-Steiner Collectibles, a division of Steiner Sports, has produced a new line of memorabilia products that pay tribute to the now defunct Texas Stadium.  Some the Texas Stadium themed memorabilia items being sold by Steiner include stadium seats, game used jerseys, game used helmets, locker room chairs, autographed seat bottoms, stadium photographs, and commemorative collages. One of these products, a Texas Stadium Collage commemorates the last Cowboys game ever played in Texas Stadium on December 20th.  The farewell game resulted in a 33-24 Cowboys loss against the visiting Baltimore Ravens.

Two unique versions of the framed ticket collage will be produced to pay tribute to the game. One collage will feature a Final Game commemorative ticket, a 4"x6" photo from the final game, and a descriptive nameplate. The commemorative ticket displays the date Texas Stadium opened, 10-24-71, in the section, row, and seat part of the ticket.

The second version of the collage will feature this commemorative Cowboys ticket, two 5"x7" photos from the final game, the descriptive nameplate, and turf from the field at Texas Stadium. Each item comes with a Cowboys-Steiner letter of authenticity.

Additionally, fans who attended the final game have the option of sending their ticket stubs to Steiner, who will frame them in either of the aforementioned styles. be framed up in either style.  These framed pieces will be ready to ship out to customers by late January 2009.

Alternatively, fans will have an opportunity to purchase Texas Stadium Memorabilia at a live auction of remaining memorabilia on February 20 at Texas Stadium. After that, TxDOT will pay the city of Irving $15 million to use the site for seven years while it works to build a high-five type reconstruction on the triple freeway interchange.

As for the fate of the stadium itself, the city plans to either blow it up or tear it down in 2010. But, there are still other options. Movie producers are still thinking about paying the city to film the destruction. There is also a chance one developer will actually save the building and put a ski resort inside.

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Judge Jackie Glass, the same judge who recently sentenced O.J. Simpson to 9 - 33 years in prison, has ordered the immediate sale all of the footballs, pictures and other memorabilia that was collected as evidence during Simpson's Las Vegas Trial.  Simpson's memorabilia will be shipped to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office where it will be sold via public auction. The memorabilia will be sold in an attempt to satisfy some of the $33.5 million wrongful death settlement that Simpson owes the to Ron Goldman's family.

Glass, who sentenced Simpson to nine to 33 years in prison, also ordered all co-defendants to pay $3,650 in restitution to one of the victims, memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong.

Fromong sought more than $100,000 for property loss and medical bills resulting from the September 2007 armed robbery at the Palace Station Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Late last week, a judge in Santa Monica, California, ordered another of the victims, memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley, to turn over Simpson's Hall of Fame ring. Beardsley said he didn't have it, denying allegations that Simpson had given him the ring in exchange for favorable testimony at the Las Vegas trial. He said Simpson told him he lost the ring on a golf course 12 years ago. Experts estimate the value of the ring to be as high as $200,000.

David Cook, attorney to the Goldman family, wants to forgo the Sheriff's Auction in favor of selling the valuable football memorabilia on eBay. Cook told CNN, “Sheriff's sales are traditionally distress sales, to be very polite. We are going to try to obtain an order from the court to authorize this stuff with evidence stickers attached (to be sold) on eBay, America's yard sale.”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Earnest Graham will trade autographed memorabilia items for toys.

Gifts can be traded for autographed T-shirts, photographs, mini-helmets and footballs at participating SunTrust Banks in Fort Myers, Sanibel Island and Lehigh Acres through Tuesday, Dec. 23.
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The toy drive's goal, in conjunction with Graham's charitable organization, Earnest Giving, Inc., is to collect 2,000 gifts for children who have been identified through various agencies.

“We are very appreciative of SunTrust Bank's partnership with this project,” said Tim Irving, managing director of Earnest Giving. “Earnest and his family will distribute the gifts to kids and their families.”

Graham, who led the Bucs in rushing this season until suffering a season-ending ankle injury.

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Upper Deck announced Friday that they will be orchestrating a special Green Bay Packers promotion in partnership with 10 different newspapers in the Wisconsin market. For 24 straight days Upper Deck will unveil a new metal mini-helmet collectible card coupon featuring a standout Packers player that collectors can redeem for the actual card at participating retailers in their area.

Collectors in the Wisconsin Area who are interested in participating in the contest need only scan through their daily newspapers in search of the corresponding collectible card coupons each of the 24 days.  These coupons can be used to purchase a different Packers mini-helmet card each day for $3.29. Every day a different card will be released, starting with linebacker A.J. Hawk this Sunday. Collectors will receive a free collector’s album with their first mini-helmet card purchase. The talented lineup of Green Bay stars includes Greg Jennings, Ryan Grant, Donald Lee, Aaron Rodgers, Donald Driver, Brandon Jackson, Charles Woodson, Aaron Kampman, Jordy Nelson and Will Blackmon.

Wisconsin newspapers taking part in the program include: The Reporter; Green Bay Press-Gazette; Herald Times Reporter; Marshfield News-Harold; Oshkosh Northwestern; The Post-Crescent; Wausau Daily Herald; The Sheboygan Press; Stevens Point Journal; and the Daily Tribune. Participating retailers include: Kwik Trip Stores, Express Convenience Centers, Walgreens, FOX Convenience and Festival Foods.

Coupons will publish every day with bonus coupons publishing on Sundays for fans to collect any previously released mini-helmet card (while supplies last).

The Upper Deck Company issued a press release Monday afternoon to announce the debut of its first-ever, retail collectible line of All-Star Vinyl Sports Figures.  The first wave of these 9 inch tall sports figures, scheduled for release next week, will include various NFL Stars including Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, LaDanian Tomlinson, Eli Manning, and Tony Romo.  Subsequent releases will depict stars from the other primary professional sports associations - the MLB, NBA, and NHL.

Dave Sanders, director of Upper Deck Authenticated, had this to say regarding the new ASV product line,“We’ve made great strides in our own hobby marketplace with earlier launches of the All-Star Vinyl line, which was configured in extremely limited quantities for the hardcore sports and vinyl figure collector.  But now the popularly comic-stylized look of the ASV line will be available to sports fans and consumers through a new retail-based configuration sold exclusively at Toys ‘R Us stores.  While the All-Star Vinyl line has had a niche following within the sports figure hobby, we’re really looking forward to exposing more and more consumers to our ultra-hip sports vinyl figures.  With the holidays fast approaching, there’s no better time to unveil a cool collectible like this one.”

The next ASV release will be a basketball themed product.  NBA Stars LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett will all make appearances in the set which is currently slated for release in December.  This will be followed by yet a third Upper Deck ASV product in February of 2009 which will feature sports legends from a mix of different sports.  The Sports Legends Series will include Tiger Woods and Muhammad Ali, among others.

Each All-Star Vinyl Figure will be paired with an exclusive Upper Deck trading card of the featured athlete.  The MSRP for each individually packaged figure is $19.99 - $24.99 and can be purchased via the Toys-R-Us Website and retail location nationwide.

Tom Riccio, one of the sports memorabilia dealers robbed by O.J. Simpson in a Las Vegas Hotel Room last September, has released a "tell all" book about his life story.  ‘BUSTED’ features, among other things, Riccio's first hand account of the highly publicized crime involving Simpson.

On September 16, 2007 O.J. Simpson was arrested and held without bail on charges related to the armed robbery of sports memorabilia from Riccio's hotel room in the Las Vegas’ Palace Station Hotel and Casino.  Simpson has been found guilty on all charges and may spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Riccio's book will tell his side of the story by answering lingering questions such as:

• Why did Riccio find himself in the middle of what is being called, The Most Famous Robbery in U.S. History?
• Why was Riccio considered by both the Prosecution and the Defense to have been the most important witness in O.J. Simpson’s Las Vegas trial on charges of armed robbery?
• Why is Riccio the only person in a position to say what REALLY happened on September 13, 2007 at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino?

"Busted" goes on to tackle the bigger issues of crime and corruption in the memorabilia industry. Riccio addresses what he considers to be the shady underbelly of  the sports memorabilia industry, collectables, and celebrity auctions.  Part memoir, part expose, the book outlines Riccio's entire life.  It begins by telling the story of Riccio as troubled NJ born teen with a treasured baseball card collection and goes on to describe how he ended up on a road that led to dealing in stolen goods, prison, escape, and parole.  The book concludes by describing Riccio's struggles to re-establish his name within the memorabilia industry, and of course, his role as a key witness in O.J. Simpson’s trial.

BUSTED can currently be purchased on amazon.com as well as at bookstores nationwide.

Following the recent conviction of O.J. Simpson, Newsweek charged reporter Brian Braiker with the task of investigating the shady underbelly of the multi million dollar sports memorabilia industry.  Braiker turned to Bill Huggins, owner of the House of Cards memorabilia shop in Silver Spring, Maryland for the inside scoop.  Huggins is well known throughout the hobby for his high profile online memorabilia auctions.  Here are some highlights of Braiker's interview with Huggins:

NEWSWEEK: You may have heard that O.J. was convicted.

Bill Huggins: I watched the whole thing last night! Thomas Riccio [who set up the meeting between Simpson and the memorabilia dealers], I've known him for years. He's always been a little on the shady side. When I heard his name was involved in this thing, I knew something mysterious was going on. I don't know who the legal owner of this stuff is.

NEWSWEEK: Is there a very shady element to the sports memorabilia trading business?

Huggins: In relation to autographs and or counterfeit or reproduction cards being passed off as originals, absolutely.

NEWSWEEK: How much of your job involves sussing out what's real and what isn't?

Huggins: We're a big auction company and all of our autographs and cards go through major third-party authentication before they reach our catalogue. It's hard to tell some guy that, gosh, he has had this card in his family for 40 years and the story that dad and grandpa have been telling him just isn't right. It's tough sometimes.

NEWSWEEK: How much sports memorabilia is owned by the players themselves typically?

Huggins: It's up to them, how much they keep and how much they sell. Back when O.J. was playing, they weren't changing uniforms every 10 minutes-or every inning in baseball or every timeout in basketball-so they would be truly "game used."

NEWSWEEK: Do they do that? Change uniforms a lot so they can sell them?

Huggins: Cal Ripken, when he was doing the streak, was changing jerseys every inning. Changing socks, changing bats, changing hats. They literally had a wardrobe ready for him so they could say, "Hey this jersey was worn by Cal Ripken in a major league game when he was approaching the end of the streak." A lot of it comes down to meeting demand. A lot of guys have this phobia where they don't want to sign, they don't want their stuff out there. If there's no supply and big demand, guess what: somebody's going to fill that supply with bogus stuff.

NEWSWEEK: What's the demand for O.J. memorabilia today?

Huggins: Very little.

What's a rookie card worth?

Huggins: Book value, it would probably list for $75 or $100. I don't know anybody who's collecting O.J. memorabilia right now. If they're buying an O.J. Simpson card, it's to fill a set and he is classified as "another card I need," rather than the "O.J. rookie card that I need."

NEWSWEEK: So why would he go to such lengths to get his stuff back?

Huggins: If you ask me: bad advice, or he made a horribly bad decision. How dumb can he be? I just don't get it. Especially with his past, you would think this guy would be squeaky clean for the rest of his life. Go get a U.S. Marshal if you have the rights to this stuff. Go get the state police.

NEWSWEEK: You go to a lot of trade shows. Have you seen him make an appearance?

Huggins: We were at the national convention in Chicago two years ago. All of a sudden there was a buzz: O.J. Simpson was in the room. From what I understand he walked in with his little entourage, set up at a table, and they were signing autographs and taking money!  The show promoter found out about it, got some security and ordered him out of the building. All he did was walk across the street to the Embassy Suites hotel where I was staying. And they set him up in there and there was a line there for a couple of hours-people paying money to get his autograph.

The jury deliberated for a grueling 13 straight hours on Friday and as the day drew to a close, they announced that they had reached a verdict.  Shortly before 11pm they announced that they had found Simpson guilty of kidnapping, armed robbery and 12 other charges for gathering up five men a year ago and storming into a room at a hotel-casino, where the group forcibly seized sports memorabilia from two dealers which was collectively worth several thousands of dollars.  Ironically enough, the conviction came 13 years to the day after Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend.

Judge Jackie Glass denied a request for Simpson to be released on bail and he was led away in handcuffs. He will sentenced on December 5.  Paramedics were called as Simpson's sister Carmelita fainted shortly after watching her brother led away to a cell.

Immediately following his arrest, Simpson told police that he had simply been attempting to recover personal items from the memorabilia dealers.  The items, he claimed, had be stolen by the duo from his trophy room.  He went on to tell police that he was unaware that his accomplices were armed with guns.  Simpson's story was refuted by four of his five accomplices in the crime, all of which struck plea deals with prosecutors and testified against Simpson.

Experts predict that Simpson will likely be sentenced to life in prison.

Early Thursday Morning The Mile High Card Company announced the start of their Fall Internet Auction. Bidding is open to all registered members of Mile High's Auction Website until 11:00 pm EST on October 1, 2008. Registration for the auction is still open, but don't wait until the last minute to sign up as the registration approval process takes 24 - 48 hours.

The auction includes an incredible assortment of rare vintage baseball cards, football cards, and basketball cards, as well as a virtual treasure chest of baseball memorabilia. Some of the highlights of the auction include:

• Babe Ruth Autographed Baseball Graded a NM 7 by PSA/DNA
• A complete set of High Grade PSA 1952 Bowman Large Football Cards (2nd best grading ever by PSA)
• 1916 Babe Ruth M101-5 Sporting News #151 Rookie Card Graded PSA 7 (NM)
• 1948 Bowman Bruce Hale #15 Basketball Card Graded a PSA 10 (One of only nine PSA 10's in existence)
• 1914 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson Graded SGC 80

To find out more about The Mile High Card Company's Fall Internet Auction, check out the auction portion of their website.

Bruce Marziani, a lifelong Philadelphian who is inexplicably a fan of the division rival Dallas Cowboys, was recently robbed of over $3,000 in football memorabilia while attending a Cowboys game.  He flew down to Dallas to catch last week's Monday Night Football Game between the Eagles and Cowboys.  While he was at the game his hotel room was broken into.

"When I was just a young guy, my parents came home with an Eagles jacket for me. I don't remember if it was for my birthday or for Christmas, but I made sure to let them know that one was going back. We were going to do things the right way," said Marziani.

Some of the football memorabilia Marziani brought with him on his trip to Dallas included a mini helmet signed by Troy Aikman and a 75th anniversary official NFL Cowboy game autographed program.  He brought these and other items hoping to get more players to sign them.

"All of a sudden I know, I've gotta get on my plane and I'm a bag short and my memorabilia's gone," said Marziani.

Marziani said money cannot replace what's been taken, but he had hoped to get some restitution from the hotel where he was staying.  Unfortunately for Marziani, the hotel told him that they are not able to reimburse him for his loss since their policy is to have visitors lock major valuables up at the front desk - which he neglected to do.