I never had interest in doing this before, but I think as I’m getting older, I am realizing how unique and special my favorite players and teams are, and putting these collections on my office walls reconnects me with those times.
I don’t have many, but the ones I do are very special because of the memories they bring. My collection includes an autographed jersey and ball by Ernie Banks, a Celtic jersey worn and autographed by Larry Bird; a Dick Butkus autographed jersey, and a few other small collections of sports trips taken to Final Four and Ryder Cup events.
The Banks and Butkus jerseys remind me of times spent watching sports with my father.
The Bird jersey represents my college years when he played against the school I attended.
The others, more recently, remind me of great times with friends.
My favorite piece was one we designed and made, but I didn’t get to keep. It was a piece we gave to Chesterton basketball player Matt Nover when he graduated from Indiana University.
Since I knew Matt’s parents very well, I asked them to provide me with many of the pictures, awards, pins, ticket stubs, nets and other memorabilia they had collected over the past four years. We built a very unique shadowbox designed like the playing floor at IU, complete with the curved walls that separate the stands from the playing floor.
I presented the piece to Matt at a ceremony held in Chesterton, which included Coach Knight as a guest speaker. It was a great evening - one I’ll never forget, and hopefully the shadowbox of memories will allow Matt to reconnect that time for the rest of his life.
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