Collectable craze gone crazy

AKRON, Ohio – Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. should have his head examined for jeopardizing his $40 million contract by riding a motorcycle too powerful for a novice like himself.

Of course, the results from the CT scan probably would wind up on eBay the next day.

As Winslow lies in a hospital not knowing whether the injuries he sustained in Sunday’s motorcycle accident are career threatening, vultures are hawking crash-site debris at online auction houses.

One budding eBay entrepreneur, who claims to have recovered pieces of the Suzuki GSX-R750 and a tag from Winslow’s jacket, includes this classy preamble:

“If I was interested in this kind of stuff, I know someone else may be, as well. So here is your chance to own a piece of history from what may be a future Hall of Famer’s career.”

No wonder Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens says he cuts his uniform number off pairs of game-worn underwear. They could fall into the hands of some nutty collector like the yahoo who reportedly paid $25,000 for the jockstrap Nolan Ryan wore when he pitched his seventh and final no-hitter.

I’m assuming it doesn’t dangle from a rearview mirror as an air freshener, but in a world of sports collectibles gone mad, you never know.

We’re talking about a world where a discarded wad of bubble gum from slugger Luis Gonzalez’s mouth sold for $10,000. A world where middle reliever Jeff Nelson managed to fetch $2,000 for bone spurs removed from his right elbow.

At least Nelson’s transaction was made in the name of charity. Most are done out of pure greed.

Which brings us back to the Winslow accident. The tight end exhibited no common sense in popping wheelies and tearing through a parking lot at 35 mph. Winslow is lucky he’s alive to feel the sting of embarrassment.

But profiting from the misfortune of an athlete who’s not even sure he will play again? It’s crass. It’s tasteless. It’s an insult to collectors everywhere, even those whose fetishes run from quirky to absurd.

“That’s kind of morbid,” said Tony Fay of Beckett Publications, which chronicles sports collectibles.

Fay recalls the failed attempt of those trying to sell debris from the space shuttle Columbia disaster. EBay spokesman Hani Durzy said its site forbids items that are illegal, glorify murder, promote racial or religious intolerance or are deemed offensive. The Winslow auctions apparently don’t meet any objectionable criteria.

Richard Klein and Tracy Hackler, who work for Beckett Publications, say hardcore collectors look for historic and unique items. They cited the infamous Palace of Auburn Hills beer cup – the one that purportedly struck Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest, igniting a brawl. It recently sold for $100.

Not my idea of a conversation piece, but better than a jockstrap.

Klein said some collectors target particular athletes and coaches. They feel the need to possess anything owned and worn by that athletic celebrity.

“There might be someone out there who’s been collecting Winslow items since he was at the University of Miami,” he said.

Klein concedes to his own peculiar hobby of gathering items related to his June 11 birthday. In his office cubicle, he keeps an X-ray of the broken arm of former baseball player Rick Monday. Monday fractured it June 11, 1976. Klein bought the X-ray years later for $20.

Hackler and Klein agree that timing plays a factor in the sensitivity issue. There is little outrage over items supposedly found and sold from the 1912 wreck of the Titanic. Treasure hunters still comb the site of the plane crash where Knute Rockne died in 1931.

But Winslow hasn’t left the Cleveland Clinic. The swelling hasn’t subsided from his right knee. Do we have no shame? One online listing actually offered the shrub that Winslow uprooted in his spill. The item was removed.

“I tend to agree with you on this one,” Klein said. “It does cross a line.”

Not in the minds of some. As of late Friday afternoon, one of the three eBay listings for Winslow debris had 34 bids. The highest bid, $140.

I wouldn’t pay it even if you threw in a pair of Clemens’ underpants.