Adolph Rupp Autograph ABA Program Kentucky Colonels Wildcats Erving Moses Artis

Description

I've been a Dr J fan since his Squires days! When he went to the Nets I used to send off for game programs every few months - in the late 70s & 80s I used to get old ABA programs from a collector in Lexington.Funny thing is, he used to say if they had been autographed on the cover, then I would get them,look thru them & find autographs on the inside of them that he'd never mentioned!! Once I got this Colonels program from him that was autographed by Artis on the cover(which you can hardly see!) and when I looked thru it, there were also autographs by Issel,Red Robbins,Ron Thomas & Louie (he was funny - he autographed on the advertisement across from his bio-about a ballboy which I'm sure he had been mistaken for many times!!) I noticed this autograph on a page about Adolph Rupp,but it looked so perfect I thought it was a FACSIMILE (!) plus all the other autographs were in pen.I didn't give it much thought & stored them away for years. Then in the early 2000s I was looking thru them again, & noticed I had 2 Colonels programs, the same but with different covers - I looked thru the 2nd 1 & saw that the page with the Rupp article didn't have an autograph!! That meant the 1 in the Artis program WAS REAL!!  Apparently Rupp was at the game in his new PR role & the guy got him to sign along with the players!  The incredible thing is, he signed in felt pen, a page with a photo of him signing with a felt pen- almost like he was authenticating it himself!! This whole program is like a time capsule of the ABA - they played the Stars with a young Moses & the guy scored the game. I'm still not convinced I want to part with this, & if it doesn't sell it won't break my heart! I think the whole thing is heirloom or museum/HOF quality! Some of my prized Dr J stuff is going to nieces & nephews - I thought a diehard ABA or Wildcat fan would appreciate it more - in fact, I tweeted Calipari & Ashley Judd about it & haven't heard back from them (!!) so their loss would be your gain!!