PART 1 ♦ PART 2 ♦ PART 3 ♦ PART 4 ♦ PART 5 ♦ PART 6 ♦ PART 7 ♦ PART 8 ♦ PART 9 ♦ PART 10 ♦ PART 11 ♦ PART 12 ♦ PART 13 ♦ PART 14 ♦ PART 15 ♦ PART 16

This Pats jersey haunts me every year at the convention: I always get excited to see the old-school red jersey in the massive game-worn jersey section, I always get doubly excited for the "33" (my favorite number) and then I always pull it out and realize it's for Joe Peterson, who played three games for the Pats during the 1987 strike and was apparently 5 feet, 4 inches tall. No way I could wear it … nor would I want to wear it since he was a scab. By the way, I turn 42 next month.

Gorgeous Red Sox jersey from the immortal 1975 season (belonging to Jim Willoughby) that was being auctioned off at a later date. That was my biggest gripe with this year's convention: too many splashy displays by auction houses that weren't actually selling anything (just promoting future auctions). If you're going to do that …

… do it like the Gray Flannel guys, who bring killer stuff from their future actions AND sell a few extras, as well. This was one of their neater Basketball Hall of Fame auction pieces: Wilt Chamberlain's practice jersey from the ABA's San Diego Conquistadors, an impossible find because the NBA sued the Q's and prevented Wilt from playing even one game for them. (He ended up coaching them instead.) The jersey went for a crisp $13,200 last week.

One more Grey Flannel piece: a Buffalo Braves warm-up jacket from Mike Davis (circa 1971) that eventually fetched $19,200. I adored this one. The most expensive uniform from that Hall of Fame auction? Julius Erving's 1974 ABA Eastern All-Stars jersey went for $132,000 as part of the Al Trautwig Collection. Yes, THAT Al Trautwig. Once a ball boy for the Nets and a stick boy for the Islanders, Trautwig apparently saved everything and finally cashed out in this auction. You're right, this is too much information.

Something I never saw before this year's convention: Fight-worn boxing shorts for Tommy Hearns, Julio Cesar Chavez, Larry Holmes and others. The bad news: These things are expensive. Like, five-figures expensive. The good news: They smell like stale blood, stale sweat and fromundacrotch cheese. Oh wait, that's also bad news. I don't see this market catching on.

We're cheating with a photo from 2010's convention in Baltimore. That's me holding Sam Bowie's game-worn warm-up jacket from his Nets days. About two weeks after touching this jacket, I tripped in a parking lot, twisted my right knee … and it hasn't felt quite the same since. True story.

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