Saban = GOAT

Unless you live under a rock, you know who Nick Saban is. How you feel about him though, may differ depending on who you ask. Nick Saban is widely viewed as not only one of the greatest coaches of his generation, but of all time as well. Boasting a collegiate record of 274-67-1 (.803), it is no surprise as to why. How did Saban go from a boy in Fairmont, West Virginia to the king of the NCAA?
Saban’s first title was almost 60 years ago, he quarterbacked his high school to a West Virginia state title in 1968. From there, Saban continued his playing career at Kent State University, home of the Golden Flashes, where he was a defensive back. Saban was known to seek contact and always looked to make a big hit. It was the choice of being a Golden Flash that helped start his coaching career. After his degree in 1973, Saban joined the program as a graduate assistant and later joined the staff. Here, he would learn under Don James, a coach Saban still holds in high esteem.

Saban did not stumble into the Alabama job he holds today. The legendary coach had to endure years of paying his dues and learning from other opportunities. Saban would act as an assistant coach at programs such as Syracuse, West Virginia, Ohio State, Navy, Michigan State and even the Houston Oilers of the NFL before he got his first look as a head coach. That look would come from the University of Toledo in 1989. Saban came in and made an immediate impact, boosting their record by 3 wins with a 9-2 inaugural season record.

Saban’s time at Toledo was short lived, the next season he found himself two hours East in Cleveland as the Browns‘ defensive coordinator where he spent four years and refers to them as the “worst of my life”.
Saban pivoted back into the realm of college football taking over at Michigan State in 1995. The first three seasons were improvements from the three-season predating the Saban era, but not by much. In 1998 the Spartans did upset #1 ranked Ohio State in the Buckeyes stadium, the biggest bright spot of his time there. Saban led the 1999 team to a 9-2 regular season record and resigned before the team could play their Bowl game.

Saban ended his time at Michigan State to take over the LSU Tigers program in November of 1999, leading them to two SEC Championships as well as a BCS National Championship in 2003 with a win over the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners. Saban’s success at LSU caught the eye of the NFL and Saban found himself as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2004.

The Miami job would start out hot with a 9-7 opening season but the 2006 season would bring trouble. With Daunte Culpepper not panning out in Miami and a rollercoaster of a schedule, Saban found himself with his first losing season ever as a head coach at 6-10. That would be the last of Nick Saban and Miami.

January 3rd, 2007. A date that will go down in Alabama football history. Coach Nick Saban announces he will accept the head coaching offer from the University of Alabama. While there, Alabama has won eight SEC championships and six national championships. More impressive, they have won seven SEC titles and four national championships in the last ten seasons with a record of 128-13 (.908). We will just have to wait and see how many the King of the NCAA retires with.

Shop our Nick Saban Alabama Crimson Tide autographed jerseys, footballs, helmets and more HERE now! Don’t forget we offer custom framing options for jerseys and photos to make your fan cave EPIC!

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-Tucker, a Military Brat pup hailing from Connecticut, loves going for relaxing walks, ear rubs, scratching rugs, and eating entire bowls of chicken enchilada meat before his family can eat it! A HUGE fan of the Yankees, Giants and most things New York (with the exception of a borderline-unhealthy obsession with LeBron James), TuckTuck is so excited to get to blog about his favorite thing – SPORTS.


NFL Post-Minicamp Fantasy Football Sleepers

If you are a die-hard Fantasy Football fan like each of us at Sportscollectibles.com, you have already started to do your research on the upcoming fantasy football season. But if you haven’t started yet, we will help you out with our favorite fantasy sleepers for this Fall’s NFL Season.

Almost everyone knows about the flowing blonde mane out in Duval County, Florida, sporting the #16 jersey, but not enough people are drafting him high enough and that is why he kicks off our sleeper list. Trevor Lawrence is a golden-haired and golden-armed quarterback who can make all of the throws a coach asks of him and more. With a new coaching staff after the Urban Meyer project didn’t quite work out, former Super Bowl Champion Coach Doug Pederson is looking to take the Jacksonville Jaguars to the next level. They spent heavy on the offense adding weapons for Lawrence to target like Christian Kirk and Evan Engram and even beefed up the offensive line with guard Brandon Scherff. Everyone should be on the lookout for Lawrence to be drafted in the later parts of their fantasy draft and can get some real value.

The next sleeper on our list is Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones. The former Michigan Wolverines standout is looking to capitalize on the departure of Austin Hooper, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. There are plenty of targets that are left on the table and Peoples-Jones looks to be in line to take a good share of them. If you are playing in a PPR (Points-per-Reception) League look no further than #11 by the Lake.

Another receiver that is looking at a breakout year is Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman. The Ravens traded away Marquise Brown to the Arizona Cardinals this offseason and Lamar Jackson will need a new number 1 receiver to hit when Mark Andrews is double-covered by defenses on third downs. Baltimore is a run-heavy offense, but they run a considerable amount of play action which could play into Bateman racking up big plays when the defenses get worn down by the J.K Dobbins-led rushing attack. Watch out for Bateman to have a big year in fantasy this year and is still being taken later in drafts.

The last fantasy sleeper we have is the Florida State Seminoles 2013 Heisman Trophy winner and National Champion Jameis Winston. The New Orleans Saints starting quarterback was hurt last season and is coming into this year with a chip on his shoulder. The Saints are a dark horse to make the playoffs this season and it is because of Winston. He has gotten better every season since entering the league and the Saints have some serious weapons on offense. They boast three major wide receivers with All-Pro Michael Thomas, newly acquired Jarvis Landry and 1st round draft pick, Ohio State Buckeyes TD record holder, Chris Olave. To make things even more unfair they have Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill getting plenty of touches as well. Jameis Winston looks to be the beneficiary of having a plethora of weapons at his disposal and could very well win plenty of fantasy leagues this year.

Just be sure to remember us when earn your big Fantasy Super Bowl winnings! 😊

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-Barkley is the best boy ever! He’s been with the SportsCollectibles.com team for 3 years and couldn’t imagine doing anything else! He enjoys LONG walks around the neighborhood and playing fetch. His hero is Air Bud. His favorite foods are pizza and tortilla chips. His favorite teams are the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs.


Warriors Join Dynasty History

We find ourselves at the end of yet another NBA season. The Golden State Warriors closed out the Boston Celtics in six games, securing their fourth title in 8 seasons and cementing them in NBA history as a top-tier dynasty.
Before this season, only four teams have been able to capture four titles in an eight-year span. The Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili trio brought the San Antonio Spurs to four titles spanning from 1999 to 2007. The legendary Chicago Bulls duo of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen won six titles from 1991 to 1998, arguably one of the most dominant teams to ever grace the court. The Boston Celtics and legendary Bill Russell took the fourth title in an eight-year span accomplishment to a new level. The Celtics may have won four titles in an eight-year period but what is most impressive is the eleven titles in thirteen years. The Celtics won every title from 1957 to 1969, besides ‘58 and ‘67. That feat is unheard of in todays landscape. The Lakers were the first team to accomplish the feat and the only franchise to do it twice. The first time was a stretch in the 1950s. Then known as the Minneapolis Lakers, they won titles in ‘50, ‘52, ‘53 and ‘54 led by league pioneer George Mikan. After that, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy helped the Los Angeles Lakers franchise explode back onto the scene winning titles in ‘80, ‘82, ‘85, ‘87 and ‘88. Understandably, its a nine-year span, but with five rings it’s worth the mention.

This Golden State Warriors run has been special, especially this year. Centered around the future Hall of Famer players Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, they have created a change in the way the game is played, focusing heavily on three-point shooting. That scoring ability was on full display in the 2022 NBA Finals. The Warriors attempted 43 or more three-point shots in three of their six games this series. That accounts for three of the top six spots ever in NBA Finals history, this team shoots at a historically high clip. The Warriors attempted 42.5 three-point attempts per game in the NBA Finals and Steph Curry was the only player in double digit attempts per game sitting at 11.8 attempts per game. Curry hit at a 43.7% clip shooting 11.8 three-point attempts per game. Read that sentence again.

Andrew Wiggins exploded onto the scene this playoff run and especially in the Finals. Wiggins, who was the #1 overall pick in 2014, had a lot of expectations coming into the league that many believed he has not lived up to. The 27-year-old out of Kansas showed his abilities and tenacity this Finals run, leading the team in rebounds (8.8 RPG) and blocks (1.5 BPG) while still being the second scoring leader per game in the series.
Klay Thompson and Draymond Green both seemed to struggle in terms of their usual production on the games biggest stage but were still able to contribute to key moments and big shots. Klay chipped in 17 PPG on 35.1% shooting from deep. Draymond, who found himself with more fouls than points at one point, turned it around in the last two games and lead the team in assists over the six games.
My biggest notice of the series was the play of young upcoming star in Jordan Poole. The 23-year-old out of Michigan played with no fear, was a huge spark plug for the team and hit an insane half court buzzer-beater because, why not?

This Golden State Warriors team was unlike others we have seen before them. There was no Kevin Durant to give the media an excuse as to why the Warriors are champions. There was no excuse that they were playing a Lebron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers team that is injured or missing key players. This was a complete team, built from the ground up and this Finals propelled Stephen Curry into a top-10 argument for greatest players to ever grace the hardwood. Shop our selection of NBA Collectibles and Memorabilia including autographed jerseys, basketballs, autographed shoes, signed basketball trading cards & much more today as we close another chapter of history and await the dawn of a new season.

SC.com Blog Dog:


-Tucker, a Military Brat pup hailing from Connecticut, loves going for relaxing walks, ear rubs, scratching rugs, and eating entire bowls of chicken enchilada meat before his family can eat it! A HUGE fan of the Yankees, Giants and most things New York (with the exception of a borderline-unhealthy obsession with LeBron James), TuckTuck is so excited to get to blog about his favorite thing – SPORTS!


College Football 2022-2023 Primer

After an amazing 2021-2022 season with the Georgia Bulldogs defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide in the National Championship in Indianapolis 33-18 the next season is already right around the corner. Big man Jordan Davis is no longer holding down the ferocious Bulldogs defense but no worries for Bulldogs fans because Jalen Carter will be a top 5 NFL Draft pick next year will be making SEC Quarterbacks sweat bullets.

Speaking of talented SEC quarterbacks next season Stetson Bennett IV and Bryce Young will be torching SEC defenses next year with a rare combination of arm talent and athleticism. Bryce will be under a tremendous amount of pressure trying to defend his Heisman Trophy and become the second player to ever win the Heisman Trophy in back-to-back seasons since Archie Griffin from the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes will be trotting out an incredibly talented duo of their own with C.J. Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba which might make the most explosive duo in the NCAA. Smith-Njigba already set Rose Bowl records last season and will look to be a Top 5 NFL Draft Pick as well.

As we look to the Lonestar State, the Texas Longhorns are looking to make a ton of noise this season with a deadly trio of their own. Ohio State transfer and former top recruit Quinn Ewers is pairing with wide receiver Xavier Worthy and Heisman candidate running back Bijan Robinson. Bijan is widely considered the best running back in all of college football and will look to light up the scoreboard in Austin again with much more help from their air attack considering the significant quarterback upside Ewers is bringing to Campbell-Williams Field.

College Football fans everywhere can’t wait for this upcoming season to start, and neither can the players. If you are like us and can’t wait for this season, come, and check out some of our amazing NCAA Memorabilia and get geared up for the season. Get yourself an Autographed Full-Size Helmet or an Autographed Jersey from your favorite player. Remember, we have several custom framing options to fill your fan cave with your favorite athlete’s jersey or photo. Call us today at 800-793-9793 for more information or to inquire about having your own items sent to us for framing.

SC.com Blog Dog:


-Barkley is the best boy ever! He’s been with the SportsCollectibles.com team for 3 years and couldn’t imagine doing anything else! He enjoys LONG walks around the neighborhood and playing fetch. His hero is Air Bud. His favorite foods are pizza and tortilla chips. His favorite teams are the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs.


CaptKirk42s Trading Cards Blog

CaptKirk42s Trading Cards Blog is a personal trading card collecting blog that focuses on sports and non-sport cards of CaptKirk42’s personal card collection. The main focus is baseball and football, but other sports and non-sport entertainment is covered. There is a strong emphasis on vintage cards but also the newer cards get some post time. A sister blog “Curly W Cards” covers baseball in Washington DC in trading cards.

Captain Kirk’s cards are rare and valuable. His blog is fresh daily and offers content for collectors and newbies. If you consider yourself a serious card nut, you have to check out Capt Kirk’s Cards! His blog has fun speciality days like Mascot Monday & Washington Wednesday that his followers love.