Cobb/Edwards and the T206 Honus Wagner

[Leon]

I am somewhere in the middle on the Okeefe issue(s). I like Mike personally, and have come to like most of his reporting, but my only qualm was not showing ANY of the good side of the hobby in "The Card". I have stated that before so it's no secret. Also, Mike did quote me verbatim in the Daily News, so I am appreciative of that. And of course I was appreciative of him speaking at our Dinner last year also. My guess is that we will see some more juicy stories come out this year. I would say that if you are an auctioneer and are doing anything wrong you might be on notice...and that includes showing stuff sold but it not really selling. If you are an auctioneer and have done that, then be on the lookout. If you have done nothing wrong then all is good. regards

edited to add that I don't mind a little sensationalism in journalism. It's their job to sell books...and a $20 card sale isn't that exciting...but a $100k+ (attempted sale) of a fake card, by an otherwise legit auctioneer and 2 idiots, is.

[barrysloate]

Leon- when you write, be it a book or an article, you need a point of view, or a thesis. O'Keeffe's reason for writing "The Card" was to expose fraud in the baseball card industry. As an investigative reporter that is his job. I am sure he recognizes there are fun aspects to collecting baseball cards, but that had nothing to do with his book.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Leon- when you write, be it a book or an article, you need a point of view, or a thesis. O'Keeffe's reason for writing "The Card" was to expose fraud in the baseball card industry. As an investigative reporter that is his job. I am sure he recognizes there are fun aspects to collecting baseball cards, but that had nothing to do with his book.

Barry- I agree. And as someone who read the book, and is in the hobby quite a bit, I was only critiquing it. Overall, it was ok and was interesting........

[barrysloate]

There is no question that fraud and scandal make for good entertainment. O'Keeffe understands this, and his paper, The Daily News, lives by that credo.

There are any number of reasons one might critique "The Card", but the fact that the author left out the fun parts of the hobby is inconsequential.

[calvindog]

Barry, you should only know what Woodward and Bernstein left out of their Watergate reporting -- all the warm and fuzzies about Nixon and G. Gordon Liddy. Those investigative reporters can sure be cold bastards.

[barrysloate]

Good investigative reporting can be brutal, but that's the way the game is played.

[Leon]

I guess only if you want to a be a "fair" reporter, would you want to report everything. There is no room for that kind of nonsense when trying to make money, I understand that (I guess).