With one stroke of a royal sharpie on February 24th 2024. Jim Calhoun at the EC3 show at Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino started our journey with the first signature on the Original Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame sign which opened in 1968.
The story began 40 years ago in 1985 when the Naismith Hall of Fame outgrew the original Hall of Fame and moved to downtown Springfield.
All 3 signs were discarded and a groundskeeper took the best of the three signs and stored it in a maintenance closet until his retirement in 2005. His son in law took possession and in 2016 I saw and expired Craigslist listing. I sent an email and 6 months later the seller responded and we agreed to $200 price tag and I drove 2 1/2 hours north of Worcester to take possession of the sign. It hung on my wall at home for 7 years before i started traveling with the sign trying to obtain all the autographs of every living Hall of Famer at the behest of good friend Paul Gesualdi.
