Some answers are obvious: I have rookie cards of my all-time favorite athletes from the big three – George Brett, Joe Montana and Julius Erving.

I am a huge George Brett fan. Not only was he the local hero when I was growing up, but I pattered my style of play after Brett. That would explain the arthritic hips, the knobby knees and the ankles that all are paying me back for not taking better care of them in my youth.

I also named my son after him. “Brett,” of course, not “George” – the wife wouldn’t let me. My son joined probably thousands of little boys – and many girls – in the Midwest named after the Royals all-time hero.

In addition to building sets, I also have collections of my favorite players. Probably my biggest beef with the sports card industry is directly related to my overwhelming effort at one time to collect every card ever made featuring George Brett. Not only did card companies continue to produce George Brett cards long after his retirement, but they produce many in limited quantities – including those dreaded 1-of-1’s that cost more than my rent.

In 1992, Upper Deck created a Joe Montana gold card (card No. 1 in the subset), that I would have to say is my favorite card. I think I paid about $16 for it in eBay, including postage.

The design is simply beautiful. The entire card, front and back, is 24K gold and limited to 2500 made.

I have since found two other cards with gold fronts that stand out: A 2001 Upper Deck Harmon Killebrew (card No. ES8) from the Endless Summer set, and a 2001 Upper Deck Ty Cobb (No. C1) from The Class of ’36 set.

Beautiful, simple cards.

One of my most recent favorites I have only had a few weeks.

I won on eBay a 2011 Topps Leather Nameplate of Royals first baseman Billy Butler with the sole intent on getting it signed.

Butler is one of the nicest guys in baseball, and often stops and signs until everyone is satisfied. Getting his signature on the leather, just above his name, was far easier than getting the card itself.

Other “heroes” that I grab all the cards I can find include, from baseball, Nolan Ryan, Johnny Damon, Dan Quisenberry, Dick Howser and a host of current and former Royals players; from football, Len Dawson, Barry Sanders, Priest Holmes and Derrick Thomas, and current hero Tony Gonzalez; from basketball, Larry Bird and Reggie Miller, and current hero Kevin Durant; Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux from the NHL; pro wrestlers Harley Race, Terry Funk, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle and “Jumpin’ Jim Brunzell – my childhood favorite; and Brock Lesnar and Ken Shamrock from mixed-martial arts.

I also keep my eye out for a sentimental favorite.

Ed Sprinkle was a multi-time Pro Bowl end for the Chicago Bears (1944-55). Genealogy websites also show him as a distant cousin of mine.

Sprinkle was known as “the meanest man in pro football,” a tag that probably cost him the NFL Hall of Fame.

I am aware of only two cards, his 1951 Bowman “rookie” card and a 1988 Chicago Bears Fan Convention card. I own four of the Bowmans and one of the fan convention card, along with an autographed photo he sent me when I wrote an argumentative essay on his exclusion into the Hall of Fame while a budding journalist in college.

Favorite cards don’t have to be expensive. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

1970-71 Topps #123 Pete Maravich Rookie Card - Beckett valued at approx $300

Pete Maravich, the most prolific scorer in college basketball history, could really put on a show. In three seasons at LSU, “Pistol Pete” scored 3,667 points, averaging 43.8, 44.2 and 44.5 points a game — and that was long before the shot clock and the 3-point shot. Incredibly, he also scored 50 or more points in 28 games, including a record-breaking 69 points against SEC rival Alabama during his senior year.

“One of these nights,” he excitedly predicted during his sophomore year at LSU, “I’m going to hit all my shots, forty shots maybe. I’ll hit ’em all.” That night never came, but there were many other nights during his college career that will be remembered forever.

Thriving on acrobatic displays never seen before — or since — Pistol Pete delighted college crowds across the country during his three-year varsity career.

There’s one game, in particular, that I’ll never forget. LSU was playing my beloved Iron Dukes of Duquesne in the championship game of the 33d Annual All-College Tournament in frigid Oklahoma City in late December 1968, during Maravich’s junior year.

Duquesne was 9-0 at the time and ranked ninth in the nation — yes, that was before the school’s thirty-year slide into hoops oblivion, from which the Dukes are just now re-emerging under coach Ron Everhart — and heavily favored to win the tournament.

A record crowd of 8,336 fans jammed into Oklahoma City’s State Fair Arena that cold night to get a glimpse of LSU’s wonder boy, the greatest showman in the history of college basketball. Not many were there to see Duquesne. In fact, the arena’s staff had misspelled Duquesne as D-E-Q-U-E-S-N-E on the sign adorning the team’s locker room.

The local newspapers spelled it incorrectly, too.

In any case, LSU (6-1) had advanced to the championship game by coming from behind to defeat previously unbeaten Wyoming 84-78 in the first round and by pounding defending champion Oklahoma City University, coached by the legendary Abe Lemons, in the semi-finals by a score of 101-85. Maravich had scored 45 and 40 points, respectively, in those two games.

I remember being glued to my radio, listening to Ray Goss, the longtime voice of the Dukes, marvel at Maravich’s offensive display — not only his deadly outside shooting, but his uncanny ball-handling skills and dazzling passes — as the Tigers unexpectedly jumped out to a 48-46 halftime lead.

Duquesne fans breathed a sigh of relief, however, as the Dukes seemed to pull comfortably ahead in the second half. With 8:24 remaining, Duquesne led 76-66.

That’s when Pistol Pete went on a tear, seemingly hitting every shot he took — and from every angle — including ten straight free throws in the final four minutes. The Dukes, then boasting one of the best defensive squads in the country, allowing just 57.3 points per game, could do nothing to stop the slender sharpshooter.

Red Manning, Duquesne’s coach, tried double and even triple-teaming him, but nothing worked.

“Oh, my,” I remember Ray Goss saying every time another off-angle Maravich shot — many that looked like they didn’t have a prayer when they left his hands — miraculously found the net.

Maravich ended the night converting on 18 of 36 shots from the floor and 17 from the charity stripe for 53 points as LSU stunned Duquesne in the final minute, 94-91. Luckily, this was before the 3-point field goal; otherwise, Maravich probably would have finished the game with 62 or 63 points since most of his shots that night were launched from incredibly long distance.

Maravich, who scored 138 points in three games to break the previous tournament record of 121 set by Furman’s legendary Frank Selvy in 1953, was deservedly named tournament MVP.

1971-72 Topps #55 Pete Maravich DP - Beckett value of $10 to $25

“I gave Pete full rein tonight,” said LSU coach Press Maravich, Pete’s father. “When the pressure is on, he’s at his best.”

That was an understatement.

The way Maravich played, LSU could have beaten anybody in the country that night.

The Dukes recovered and had a great season before losing to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.

At 7-1, it appeared that the Tigers might have been destined for great things that year, too — possibly even a trip to the elusive NCAA tournament — but instead they struggled to finish the season at 13-13.

It was a disappointment that Maravich grew even more accustomed to during his 10-year career in the NBA, never once playing for a champion.

That fact, however, hardly diminishes his reputation as basketball’s greatest showman of all time.

The moppy-haired kid with the floppy socks from Aliquippa, a suburb of Pittsburgh, gave the fans in Oklahoma City — not to mention a stunned Duquesne team from the Steel City — a performance of a lifetime.

1972-73 Topps #180 Artis Gilmore Rookie Card (Beckett valued at $10-$20)

After winning 49 of 55 games at Jacksonville University, resulting in two NCAA appearances — including the 1970 national championship game against UCLA — Artis Gilmore was drafted by the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels in 1971.

Signing a 10-year multimillion dollar contract, Gilmore led the league in field-goal percentage, rebounds, and minutes per game in his rookie season, winning him not only the Rookie of the Year award, but also the league’s MVP. He was also named to the ABA’s All-Star team — the first of four such honors in his five years in the league.

Over the next four years, Gilmore won the ABA’s rebounding title three more times and was again named the league’s MVP in 1974. He also led the Colonels to an ABA championship in 1975, a year before the league folded.

In five seasons in the ABA, Gilmore didn’t miss a single regular season game, appearing in all 420 games.

When the ABA merged into the NBA in 1976, players from the Kentucky Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis — the two remaining ABA teams not included in the merger — took part in a dispersal draft hosted by the NBA in August of that year. Gilmore, who was probably the greatest center in ABA history, was selected by the Chicago Bulls.

In his first three seasons with the Bulls, Gilmore continued his prolific rebounding and scoring prowess while establishing one of the highest field goal percentages in the league. Incredibly, he also played in 246 consecutive regular season games during his first three seasons in the NBA, expanding his professional record to 666 contests in which he never missed a game.

Gilmore, who was traded to San Antonio in 1982 before joining the Bulls again in 1987, ended his professional career with the Boston Celtics in 1988.

In his eighteen years of professional basketball, Gilmore scored 24,041 points and pulled down 16,330 rebounds. He also blocked 3,179 shots, including 1,431 during his five seasons with the Kentucky Colonels in the now-defunct ABA.

Gilmore’s career .599 field goal percentage — he hit a sizzling 67% of his shots with the Chicago Bulls in 1980-81 — makes him the all-time NBA leader in that category. Shaquille O’Neal is second on the NBA’s all-time leader list at .582.

1973 TOPPS BASKETBALL #89

Nobody was more stunned and surprised than LaRue Martin himself when the Portland Trailblazers selected him as the NBA’s overall top draft pick in 1972.

Though not a particularly highly-touted player in college — the lithe center didn’t receive nearly the media attention of some of college basketball’s other big men of his era — Loyola of Chicago’s Martin had caught the eye of professional scouts with outstanding back-to-back performances against UCLA’s Bill Walton and Jim Chones of Marquette during his senior year.

His game against UCLA was a turning point in Martin’s collegiate career. Though his team was buried in that game — losing 92-64 to the top-ranked Bruins, who were in the midst of their historic 88-game winning streak — Martin outplayed Walton, scoring 19 points and grabbing 18 boards. He repeated that outstanding performance the next day, outscoring Marquette’s Jim Chones 32-23 in another losing effort.

The wiry 6’11” and 200 pound Martin averaged 18.2 points per game for the Ramblers while pulling down 15.9 rebounds per game en route to setting a school-record 1,062 rebounds.

In 1972, Portland won a coin flip for the right to the top choice in the NBA draft. The Trailblazers surprised everyone by choosing the skinny Martin — a string bean compared to most of the league’s bigger centers — while Buffalo, which lost the coin toss, snared North Carolina’s Bob McAdoo, who went on to become the NBA’s leading field goal percentage shooter.

The 6’9” McAdoo was only a junior but made the draft as a hardship case.

Martin, who was also picked by the ABA’s Dallas Chaparrals but preferred to play in the more established NBA, was a complete bust in the NBA, possibly the worst first-round pick in the league’s storied history.

Spending much of his career on the bench, the lanky Martin appeared in 271 games during his four-year NBA career, averaging a paltry 5.3 ppg and 4.6 rebounds while shooting a dismal 41.6 percent from the floor.

One sportswriter called him “the poster child for NBA draft busts.”

The Trailblazers traded Martin to the Seattle Supersonics after four seasons, but were reportedly stuck paying him more than $200,000 a year for the next two years after he was waived by Seattle before the start of the 1976-77 season. Under the deal with Seattle, the Sonics would have given Portland a third-round draft choice while paying $40,000 of Martin’s salary for 1976-77 and $80,000 in the final year of his contract, with Portland paying the balance.

“He has basically good skills,” said the legendary Bill Russell, who was coaching the struggling Supersonics at the time, but “he’s not been coached any place he’s been.”

Much to the Trailblazers’ chagrin, Martin wasn’t picked up by any other NBA team — nobody wanted him, to put it mildly — and retired from the game.

Having turned to alcohol as an outlet, Martin landed a job driving a UPS truck before eventually working his way up to a senior management position in public relations — a position that he still holds today.

At the age of thirty, Martin briefly tried to make a comeback, but was placed on waivers by the Indiana Pacers along with NBA veteran John Kuester and rookie forward Dick Miller, a University of Toledo standout, shortly before the beginning of the 1980-81 season.

Earlier that summer, Martin had written a letter to Pacers’ coach Jack McKinney asking for a chance to try out for the team. McKinney obliged. Unfortunately, Martin had been injured during most of the team’s training camp.