OT: Mancave

Submitted by BlueUPer on

The topic of memorabilia comes up once in a while (some posters have amazing collections of UMemorabilia.)  Well, I just completed my Mancave and have a few cool items.  I am always looking for new items or ideas and was wondering;  what do you have in you mancave?

I have been collecting for a while and have put together a smallish but decent collection. 

Autographed pics of :  the 3 Heisman winners, Woodson, Desmond and Tom Harmon, Bo Schembechler, Bo Jackson, Denard and Tate, Rick Leach, Elroy Hirsch and Old Style commemorative Crazy Legs can, Magic, Jim Leonhard, Seaver, Starr, Rose, Nitschke, Mattingly, Reggie Jackson, Favre, Dirt from:  Yankee Stadium, the Metrodome, Tiger Stadium, and Churchill Downs.  My favorite -- Pics of my son who was All State in Hoops and Football --bragging, sorry!  

So...whatta ya got?

  

 

 

GoWings2008

December 19th, 2013 at 10:28 AM ^

While cleaning out her basement, my mother found an old Red Wings hockey stick, signed by the we think 1967 Detroit Red Wings team, including Gordie Howe.  She found it the same year that the Wings won the Cup and put copies of the front news pages into a shadow box with the stick. 

My point is to make sure you frame or encase those items you have for posterity.  You'll be glad several years from now. 

Ron_Lippitt

December 19th, 2013 at 10:32 AM ^

Lucky enough to have procured an autographed Bo picture back in college. ('90) I swear, if I could I would just build a shrine around that one 8x10 image, and fill all the rest out with generic Michigan flair, I'd be thrilled.

Spock

December 19th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^

Just my opinion, but I didn't do a sports-themed basement because it's too cliché. I have the big TV with surround sound, but instead of sports, I have many framed posters for some of my favorite movies.

Wolverine Devotee

December 19th, 2013 at 10:42 AM ^

Probably my helmet that's signed by Mike Hart & Denard Robinson--The all-time leading rusher and the all-time leader in QB rushing yards respectively. When someone breaks their records, that player will sign it.

Also I bought a Sports Illustrated cover signed by cover boys, Tom Maentz & Ron Kramer from A2 Sports Memorabilia run by Ken Magee (shop has been featured on this site & MVictors). He told me that the print was part of Ron Kramer's personal collection & was sold to Magee when he passed away.

Just some pics. Things have changed. These were taken in February before the Kramer pic. I am also buying a Michigan night stand/end table soon.

Record book I completed this summer

Wolverine Devotee

December 19th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^

There are five main sections

  1. Program Information- An overall look at the program history like the all-time record, conference record, home/road/neutral records. Also the Michigan Football Legends, team captains and mythical national championships broken down by selector.
  2. Series Records- A colorful (literally) look at Michigan's series scores against teams. The B1G teams, conferences, schools from other divisions, non-NCAA/defunct schools and dormant rivalries like Chicago & Syracuse.
  3. Year-By-Year Information- This is the beast of the book. Every single player to wear every single jersey number, 1-99, with their position & years listed. This document was 200 pages long. This section also includes a broken down look at Michigan against AP ranked teams, in night games, in indoor games, games not played on Saturday, neutral site games, bowl games, spring games and much more.
  4. Individual Awards & Accolades- Speaks for itself. Awards and honors. From B1G Weekly awards to All-Americans with each of the selecting organizations listed
  5. The Team (x3)- Every single team photo, 1-134 with the captions showing which player is which. Also head coaching profiles in the back giving a quick look at their careers.

Originally, this book was six sections. But the statistical records are growing to large for this book to hold everything, so I've split statistical records off into its own book. Now it can have a more detailed & expanded setup.

There is also a Recruiting Book. Everything from player rankings, all-state selections, recruiting service rankings, HS all-star games.

Crazy part: this is just football. I'm almost done with men's basketball.

Wolverine Devotee

December 19th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^

Also my cool story bro:

People found out about all of this in my HS (I'm a senior) and the yearbook is doing a "personality profile" on me, my room & books. I really don't care for the attention & am kind of embarrassed but I'm glad the book is getting attention because I started this beast when I was 12 years old and just finished it shortly after I turned 18.

Started off as pen & paper when I was young and I eventually transformed it into this once I got my MS Office certification & mastered the program.

People look at me like I'm insane. I know I am.

GoWings2008

December 19th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^

Quite impressive, young man.  I think that's great.  To have that attention to detail at your age tells me you will do well in college and your professional career.  That you have these organizational skills now is an indicator to your future potential.

Now, all that said...after college, I suggest you down play this side of your personality until AFTER a girl gets to know you really well.  :-)

Thorin

December 19th, 2013 at 11:36 AM ^

You know that there are girls your age on Facebook, right? If I were your dad, I would ban you from M-Den and get you a skateboard and a fake ID for Christmas. Go outside and get some fresh air.

JohnnyV123

December 19th, 2013 at 10:44 AM ^

Don't have a mancave yet but all I have are a team picture signed by the marquee guys from the 1995 football team and a Sid Abel autographed puck. Really need to get some more.

My birthday was yesterday and I received the "heroes of Michigan football" deck of cards along with the books Go Blue! Michigan's Greatest Football Stories by Steve Kornacki and 98-21-1 The Story of the Heisman and the Michigan Man by Martin Gallagher. Those will be going on a shelf in the future mancave.

JeepinBen

December 19th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^

Don't rush. You'd be amazed how quickly you can accumulate stuff in general, but also michigan/man cave stuff.

I have good friends who graduated a few years before me and we're amazed at their tailgate set up, but they made a good point. If you spend $100-200 per year, (buy a tent, then a grill, then some tables, then some more chairs) after 5 years or so you'll have a kick ass setup, and you didn't blow $1000 at a time trying to get something together. Make little acquisitions/upgrades and before you know it, you'll have quite a collection.

MikeCohodes

December 19th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^

I do have some stuff in my mancave. The prizes of my collection (all Chicago sports teams, sadly no good UM stuff yet aside from my diploma)

An Ernie Banks autograph on a scorecard, a Jeremy Roenick autographed picture, a Jim Harbaugh autographed Bears sweatshirt (from his playing days for the Bears), a John Paxson autographed Bulls pennant, and an autographed photo of Mike Singletary.  All are autographs that I got in person from the player in question, as opposed to bought.

The Paxson autograph has a bit of a cool story bro backstory to it. If you remember the OJ Simpson murder case, he had flown to Chicago the night of the murders. It was to play in a charity golf tournament at my dad's country club. I was there with my dad, who was president of the golf board, and would've had OJ as his playing partner. Instead, OJ flew back home upon learning of the news (not that he didnt already know) of his exwife's death, so instead my dad was partnered with Paxson and I got his autograph instead.

pdxwolve

December 19th, 2013 at 11:02 AM ^

Everyone I know who built a mancave discovered later that they were just creating more rooms for their wives and children to fill up with their own stuff. Seriously, it's probably 10 guys, but I do live in the matriarchal society also known as Portland, OR.

Incidentally, signed Alan Trammell bat, Ali autograph, and photo of best friend and I at JLA with Chelios hoisting the cup in the background (that one is staying on the wall).

 

Monocle Smile

December 19th, 2013 at 11:14 AM ^

So I guess my entire condo is a man-cave, but it's pretty empty. It's a difficult habit to break when you've been borderline nomadic for a couple of years. I guess I have a signed photo of Suh that I got from a charity auction.

Laser Wolf

December 19th, 2013 at 11:18 AM ^

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like "man caves" almost always come off looking like a boring Buffalo Wild Wings. Just not my personal preference. I'd rather spend the money used for memorabilia on quality audio and video hardware.



Also, I hate the phrase "man cave."